Age of Conan: The Strategy Board Game – Adventures in Hyboria Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up the Game
• Conan and His Adventures
  • Conan Reference Board
    • Characteristics
    • The Mood Wheel
    • Experience Track
    • End of the Game
  • New Conan Dice
    • Conan Dice Icons
  • New Adventure Cards
• Story Cards
  • Drawing and Playing Story Cards
  • Requirements to Play a Story Card
  • Resolving a Story Card
• Spies
  • Placing Spies
  • Using Spies
  • Conan and Spies
• Additional Options
  • Prisoners (3 or 4 player game only)
  • Companions
  • Legendary Items
• Revised Rules
  • Alternative Conan Bonus Card
  • New Richest Kingdom Bonus
  • Sieges
• Errata and Clarifications

Components

• This Rulebook
• 102 cards:
  • 29 new Adventure cards
  • 9 Companion cards
  • 1 Conan Bonus card
  • 20 new Kingdom cards (5 per Kingdom)
  • 9 Legendary Item cards
  • 4 new Objective cards
  • 30 Story cards
• 25 plastic figures:
  • 20 Spy figures (5 per Kingdom)
  • 3 different Conan figures (Adventurer, Mercenary, General)
  • 1 Conan Experience marker, 1 Mood Wheel marker
• 1 Conan Reference board
• 18 Adventure tokens
  • 3 Companion tokens
  • 3 Legendary Item tokens
  • 12 Additional Adventure tokens
• 24 Prisoner tokens

The components list prints the first Conan figure as "Adventurer"; the rest of this rulebook and the Conan reference board call it "Conan the Warrior".

Setting Up the Game

To start the game, use the normal Age of Conan setup, with the following changes or additions:

1. Place the Conan reference board beside the game board. Place the mood wheel marker on the "Conan the Warrior" mood wheel, on the leftmost +1 step, and place the experience marker on the first step of the experience track (indicated by the silhouette of the "Conan the Warrior" figure). Place each of the three Conan dice (white, gray and black) in the middle of the appropriate mood wheel.

2. Each player takes three spy figures with the color of his kingdom.

3. Replace the adventure deck of the Age of Conan game with the new adventure deck included in this expansion.

4. Shuffle the story cards to form the new story deck, and place it near the game board. Each player draws two story cards.

5. Add the new kingdom cards to the existing kingdom cards of each nation in play, and shuffle them to form the kingdom decks.

6. Add the new objective cards to the existing objective cards, and shuffle them to form the objective deck. The "Forced Labor" card is only used in 3 or 4 player games.

7. Shuffle the companion cards to form the new companion deck.

8. Shuffle the legendary item cards to form the new legendary item deck.

9. Add the new adventure tokens (including companions and legendary items) to the existing adventure tokens, and place all of them in an opaque container.

All prisoner tokens (see page 12) are set aside for later use.

Conan and His Adventures

Adventures in Hyboria expands the role of Conan significantly, and the new rules in this section modify the rules for adventures in the base game (see Age of Conan rulebook, pages 17–18, "Conan's Adventures").

The main innovations are the use of story cards and the introduction of an experience system for Conan, handled through the Conan reference board.

Story cards add a greater level of detail to Conan's adventures, and add a new level of interaction between players. Story cards allow Conan to grow in importance, accumulating experience and improving his fighting capabilities, as indicated by the Conan reference board.

Conan Reference Board

The Conan reference board tracks the progress of Conan through his career.

The board is divided into three sections; each section summarizes the characteristics of Conan at one stage of his growth as an adventurer (warrior, mercenary, general).

Each section of the reference board is characterized by:

1. Title
2. Set of numerical characteristics
3. Mood wheel
4. Special Conan die
5. Experience track

Characteristics

There are three characteristics for Conan: Strength, Agility, and Cunning.

Their values grow as Conan advances in experience.

These three attributes are used when Conan is attempting to complete a story card (see "Story Cards," page 8).

The Mood Wheel

The mood wheels represent how Conan's temper affects his deeds, from his melancholies to his "gigantic mirth." As Conan grows in experience, he becomes wiser and less temperamental.

The marker placed on the wheel indicates the current mood of Conan. The numerical value indicates a bonus when Conan is attempting to complete a story card (see "Story Cards," page 8).

Advancing the Mood Wheel Marker

When a player plays a story card, he may advance the marker clockwise on the mood wheel by spending gold (one step for each gold spent).

Additionally, the mood wheel marker advances clockwise along the wheel, after a player attempts to resolve a story card: for each success rolled on the dice when resolving a story card, the marker is advanced one step.

Experience Track

Conan gains experience when story cards are played (see "Story Cards," page 8), or when Conan eliminates a spy (see "Spies," page 10). Players keep track of Conan's experience advancing a marker on the experience track at the bottom of the board. For each point of experience gained by Conan, the marker is advanced one step on the track, following the direction shown by the arrow on each box.

The track is divided in three consecutive sections. When the experience marker reaches the end of a section (marked with a gray or black arrow, and the silhouette of a Conan figure), it continues to advance along the track, to the next section.

Conan as Warrior, Mercenary, General

When the experience marker is inside a section, Conan is considered to have all the features connected to that section (characteristics, mood wheel, die type), and he is represented by the appropriate Conan figure.

As soon as the marker advances to the next section (marked on the track by a gray or black arrow, and by the silhouette of the new figure to use):

• The mood wheel marker is moved to the '0' space on the next mood wheel
• The new type of Conan die replaces the current die
• The new type of Conan figure replaces the current figure

End of the Game

Conan's experience, as indicated by the experience track, has a strong influence on the game ending.

The empire point icon is shown prominently halfway through the experience track's section of "Conan the Mercenary".

• Conan can be crowned as king during the third age of the game only if the experience marker has already reached or surpassed the empire point icon. The prize gained for crowning Conan remains the same (+3), but the number of points scored through a majority of tokens of the same type is now shown on the experience track. Instead of +5/+2 points for each type, the player who crowned Conan gains the number of points indicated on the experience track, based on position of the marker (from 2 to 6 points).
• If the Conan experience marker has not reached the empire point icon on the experience track, Conan cannot be crowned by a player during the third age. So, the game continues, until the fourth and last adventure card of the third age is completed. If the game ends while the experience marker is not on a numbered step, bonuses for adventure tokens are not awarded to the players with majorities.

"Sudden Death" End

If the experience marker ever goes beyond the last step of the track, the game is immediately over.

All rules for winning such a game are the same as in a game where the last adventure card is completed. As Conan does not become king, all players get their bonuses for majorities in adventure tokens (+6/+3 in this case).

New Conan Dice

When Conan is involved in a contest where he would normally add one die, a special Conan die is used, instead of an ordinary additional combat die.

The die to use depends on the current experience of Conan, as indicated by the color of the dice shown in the hub of the mood wheel:

• White for Conan the Warrior
• Gray for Conan the Mercenary
• Black for Conan the General

Conan Dice Icons

A combination of new and old icons appear on the faces of each new die. Here are their description and related game effects.

• Axe/Shield: This result normally counts as a failure. It is considered a success, if a strategy card or kingdom card effect allows any of the two icons to be considered a hit. This result counts as two successes, if a strategy card or kingdom card effect allows both icons to be considered a hit.
• Sorcery Banned: This result counts as a failure; additionally, it prevents the rolling player from spending a sorcery point to gain any benefit for the length of the contest.
• Gold: This result counts as a success only if the rolling player immediately spends one Gold.
• Hit/Reroll: This result counts as a success; additionally, the rolling player can roll again any number of the normal combat dice he just rolled.
• Hit: This result counts as a success.
• Hit/Conan: This result counts as two successes.

New Adventure Cards

A new deck of adventure cards entirely replaces the old adventure deck.

Differently from the old cards, these new adventures cards only refer to a province, not to a specific Conan story.

Their function and use is essentially the same as in the base game. The new cards identify the destination of Conan's journey and the number of tokens to place on the adventure track.

Cards from the new adventure deck are drawn as usual (see Age of Conan rulebook, page 9, "Set up Conan and the Adventure Deck", and page 20, "Create the Adventure Deck").

The rules for placing and collecting adventure tokens also remain the same as the base game.

Story Cards

As Conan travels across the land, a player may play a story card as soon as he is in an appropriate location. Then, he may try to complete the story, using the new mechanics (Conan's stats and mood). If you are successful, not only you reap the rewards, but you also have a chance to take control of the Barbarian away from the current Conan player.

Each story card features:

• Title: The title refers to a specific Conan story (for example, "Queen of the Black Coast").
• Playing Location: The conditions required to play the card (either the name of a province – in black – or area – colored).
• Plot: Flavor text outlining the plot of a Conan story.
• Experience: The white number at the bottom.
• Characteristic: It indicates which characteristic (strength, agility, cunning) is used to resolve the story card.
• Modifier: The adventure token type (Monsters, Women, Treasure) which may be used to grant a reroll when resolving the story.

Drawing and Playing Story Cards

All players, at the start of the game, draw two story cards and add them to their hand. A player may never have more than two story cards in hand (three cards in a two–player game).

Any non–Conan player, at the start of his turn, can play (or draw) a story card, following the steps of the revised turn summary.

Conan Step

• Conan Player: Move Conan. If the acting player is the Conan player, he may move Conan. If he moves Conan closer to the adventure's destination province, he takes the rightmost token from the adventure track. If he does not move Conan closer, he must discard the rightmost token. When the move is completed (even if Conan remains in the same province), he may attempt to eliminate a spy in the province containing Conan.
• Non–Conan Player: Story Action. If the acting player is a non–Conan player, he may now play a story card from his hand OR he may draw a story card. If he now has more than the maximum number of story cards in his hand (two, or three in a two–player game), he must choose and discard one.

Play–on–the–table cards step

The player spends gold to play from his hand play–on–the–table kingdom cards, and to refresh used play–on–the–table cards.

Fate die step

The player chooses one fate die, selecting one action to perform among the options provided.

Requirements to Play a Story Card

Every Story card indicates the requirements that must be satisfied to play the card:

• If the name of a province is shown, the card can be played when Conan is in the named province, or in a province adjacent to it.
• If the name of an area (Central Hyboria, The North, The South, The East) is shown, the card can be played when Conan is in any province inside that area.

Resolving a Story Card

When a player plays a story card, he completes the following steps, in order:

1. The player advances the experience marker on Conan's experience track a number of steps equal to the card's experience value.
2. The player may spend one or more gold tokens to advance the mood wheel marker an equal number of steps, clockwise, on the mood wheel.
3. The player rolls a number of combat dice equal to the current value of Conan's characteristic specified by the card, plus a number of dice as indicated by the current position on the mood wheel. One die is always the appropriate Conan die; the other dice are normal combat dice. Each die scores one success on a result of Hit or Hit (Attacker), and two successes on a Hit+Conan.
4. If the test is successful, the player receives a reward, and a new bidding for Conan begins.

Story Card Test

A Story card test is considered passed if the rolled dice score three or more successes.

If the test is not immediately successful, the player may flip one of his hidden adventure tokens, of the type indicated on the story card, face up. The player may then roll a number of dice up to the number on the revealed token again. The revealed token remains face up for the rest of the game.

If the test is successful, the player who played the card gets a reward. The player draws two adventure tokens. He looks at them secretly; then, he may keep one and trade the other immediately for gold or sorcery (based on the icons on the token).

Bidding for Conan

Bidding for Conan immediately begins after the successful play of a story card (not when Conan reaches the destination). Apart from this important difference, the bid is otherwise resolved in the same way as in the Age of Conan base game.

Face–up Adventure tokens

Adventure tokens that were flipped face up to reroll dice when resolving a story remain revealed for the rest of the game.

Face–up tokens cannot be used again to modify a test to resolve a story card, and cannot be counted when assigning artefacts during the age change phase.

Face–up tokens are otherwise counted normally when determining majorities at the end of the game, or for the purpose of crowning Conan.

Spies

Spies are a new playing piece available to kingdoms, and each kingdom has a set of five spy figures to use during the game.

In Adventures in Hyboria, players can spread their influence over the Hyborian kingdoms with the subtle use of spies. The presence of a spy can help your chances to conquer a province, forge an alliance, or hinder the attempts of your enemies to do the same.

Placing Spies

Each player starts the game with three spies, and receives one additional spy at each age change phase (up to a maximum number of five spies per player during the third age).

At the start of the game, and during each age change phase afterwards, players place all their available spy figures.

• At the start of the game, players must place their three spy figures, one at a time, in turn order, right after the first bid for Conan (starting with the Conan player).
• At the end of the first and second age change phase, players pick up all the spies they still have on the board. Then, they place all their available spies (including the new one and those used in the previous phase), one at a time in turn order (starting with the first player).

Spies cannot be placed in friendly provinces: they can only be placed in provinces that are either neutral or controlled by another player, and cannot be placed in a province which already contains a spy (either friendly or not).

Using Spies

If a contest starts in a province containing a spy, its controlling player may remove the spy to roll an additional die. The player must choose to use the spy before either player in the contest rolls his dice.

In detail, there are two possible cases for using spies:

• A player has a spy in a province where he starts a contest: Before the contest, he may remove the spy to add one die to his contest roll.
• A player has a spy in a province where another player starts a contest: Before the contest, he may remove the spy to add one die to the contest roll of either the attacker or the defender.

Spies removed because they are used will be available again in the next age change phase. They may sometimes become available sooner due to the effect of some kingdom cards.

Conan and Spies

If during the first step of the Conan player's turn (that is, before he uses a fate die) Conan is inside a province containing a spy, the Conan player may attempt to eliminate the spy.

To eliminate a spy, the Conan player rolls a number of combat dice equal to the number currently indicated by the mood wheel. The Conan player may spend one or more gold tokens to advance the marker on the mood wheel first.

If the roll yields at least one success (Hit, Hit+Conan or Hit (Attacker)) – the spy is successfully eliminated. Conan also gains experience – advance the experience marker one step on the track.

Eliminated spies are permanently out of the game – they will not come back during the next age change phase. An eliminated spy may re–enter play only through the effect of certain kingdom cards.

Additional Options

Prisoners (3 or 4 player game only)

Whenever a player eliminates another player's control token, emissary or army unit, he takes one prisoner token of the appropriate kingdom. If no tokens are available for that kingdom, the player does not receive a token.

Players can reclaim their prisoners during the first and second age change phase, according to the following rules:

• A player may reclaim one of his own prisoner tokens from another player, giving him one prisoner token of that player's kingdom. The other player must accept the trade.
• A player may reclaim one of his own prisoner tokens from another player, by giving him 1 gold for each prisoner token. The other player must accept the trade.

When players finish reclaiming their prisoner tokens, players must discard any prisoner token of another kingdom not reclaimed by its owner.

Then, they may discard prisoner tokens of their color they reclaimed during this age change phase, and put in play one new army unit or emissary, in their home province, for every discarded token.

At the end of the game, the player with the most enemy prisoner tokens in his possession (that is, those gained during the final age of the game) gets an award of +3 empire points. Prisoner tokens cannot be exchanged or bought at the end of the game.

Note: This new rule is in addition to the "Crom, Count the Dead!" rule, and does not replace it.

Companions

Three new special adventure tokens, called companion tokens, are added to the pool at the beginning of the game.

As with all adventure tokens, companion tokens may be drawn to be placed on the adventure track, or drawn by the Conan player as reward for when Conan reaches the destination province, or as an adventure/story card reward.

Whenever a player takes a companion token (whether by random draw or from the adventure track), he can immediately trade it for either 1 gold token or 1 sorcery token (player's choice), or discard it to bring into play a companion card. In the latter case, he draws one card randomly from the companion deck. Then, he places the card face up, with his play–on–the–table cards.

During the game, each companion may be used once to trigger the special ability described on the card.

When used, the companion card is tilted on its side to show it cannot be used again.

The adventure token value shown on the card may not be used during the game, but it is considered for the purpose of crowning Conan, and to assess majorities at the end of the game.

Legendary Items

Three new special adventure tokens, called legendary item tokens, are added to the pool at the beginning of the game.

Legendary items create negative effects for your opponents, rather than beneficial effects for you (like companions do) – especially, but not exclusively, to hinder their use of Conan. This represents Conan encountering the evil sorceries and ancient relics that lie waiting in the darkest places of his world.

Legendary items enter play as companions cards do. Similarly to companion tokens, when you draw or take a legendary item token, you can trade it for gold or sorcery, or discard it to draw a card from the legendary item deck.

Each legendary card in play can be used once for its special ability, then it is tilted on its side to show it cannot be used again. Its adventure token value is used at the end of the game for the purpose of crowning Conan, and to assess majorities.

Revised Rules

Alternative Conan Bonus Card

An alternative Conan bonus card is included in this expansion. It has an alternative effect to the equivalent card of the base game: the player with the Conan bonus card receives two strategy cards at the start of a Conan bid (instead of only one).

When the game starts, players choose which of the two Conan bonus cards (the old one, or the new one) they want to use for the current game.

The rules for assigning the Conan bonus card do not change: assign the card randomly in the first age, or to the player with the lowest score in empire points during the age change phases.

New Richest Kingdom Bonus

The "Richest Kingdom" bonus awarded at the end of the game is revised as follows.

All players add up the kingdom rating of the provinces containing friendly towers and cities. The player with the highest total gets the bonus (unspent gold tokens do not count for the total anymore).

Sieges

Defending armies may now retreat from a siege. In this case, the control marker is forfeited immediately and the attacker may immediately start a campaign to conquer the now–neutral province.

Errata and Clarifications

The following section includes errata and clarifications to the first edition rules of Age of Conan.

The province of Nordheim is a coastal province for all purposes (for example to award objectives or for the purposes of card effects).

Page 3

Under "Components," the following items have been listed with wrong quantities; here are the correct numbers: 10 raider tokens, 38 gold tokens, 15 sorcery tokens, 15 Crom, count the dead! tokens.

Page 6

Under "Important Terms," coastal provinces: A coastal province is a province that shares a border with the Western Sea, the Vilayet Sea or the Southern Sea.

Page 10

In "The Conan Player Turn" box, the example wrongly states that an adventure token is returned to the token container if the Conan player decides not to move Conan towards his destination. Such a token is discarded instead.

Page 12

Under "Emissary Movement," the first paragraph wrongly states that an emissary may never enter another player's home province. The correct rule is: Your emissaries may enter the home province of another player, but you may never start an intrigue contest or collect gold there.

Page 13

Under "Using Strategy Cards in Contests," the second paragraph, closing sentence should read: If a player wishes to use a strategy card, he must play it before any contest dice are rolled for a contest.

Page 15

The rules governing the effect of raider tokens on contests should read as follows: If a neutral contested province contains one or more raider tokens, the defender counts any axe results in any contest roll (intrigue and military) as successes. Discard one raider token after each roll.

Page 15

While the rule as described under "Presence of Raider Tokens" on page 15 is correct, the location of the paragraph under the chapter "The Military Contest" erroneously seems to apply only to military contests.

Page 16

Under "Outcome of a Battle Contest Roll," the third paragraph should read: After the contest roll is completed, the attacker may choose to end the battle and retreat to the province his army previously occupied, if the province is a friendly one. Otherwise, the attacker cannot choose to retreat.