Badland Wolves
Badland Wolves Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 25 Loyalty tokens
- 5 Wolf cards
- 60 Scrap cards
- 55 Hunt cards
Setup
First, each player chooses a color by placing a Wolf card along with 5 matching Loyalty tokens on the table before themselves. Be sure to leave your Wolf card with the white side up. (The Loyalties & Allegiance section below explains why.)
Next, place the shuffled Hunt and Scrap decks face-down in the center of the table. The Hunt cards are thought of as encounter cards, while the Scrap cards serve as action cards.
Lastly, each player is dealt two Scrap cards (be sure to keep your scrap hand private). With no limit to your hand, you'll gain more and use them throughout the game.
To start: Play is turn-based in a clockwise manner. The player to have last pet an animal goes first.
For Your Turn
You take on the title of Lead Wolf and get two options to choose from; you must either lead a Hunt or Scrap, you cannot do both. The main focus of hunting is to gain Scrap cards, while the motivation for Scrapping is to fight other wolves for their Loyalty tokens.
The Hunt
- If you choose to lead a Hunt, you must first risk a single Loyalty token in your possession (any color) by moving it towards the Hunt deck.
- Then allow the other wolves a chance to join the Hunt by doing the same. Wolves must be wary of the Loyalty token they choose to risk; a Hunt's outcome could cause them to lose it.
- Once the hunting party has been decided, the Lead Wolf will draw the top Hunt card and reveal the animal on that card to everyone. The outcome is directed to the Lead Wolf, but will oftentimes also impact the other wolves in the hunting party. Discard the Hunt card once the outcome is completed, allow the hunters to retrieve their risked Loyalty tokens and end the Lead Wolf's turn.
Take note: If a wolf has no Loyalty tokens, they may still lead a Hunt for their turn, but they cannot join any Hunts until they've gained a Loyalty token to risk.
Hunting example: If a Bison is drawn, the Lead Wolf will draw and privately view five Scrap cards. If they hunted alone, they'd keep all five cards. If two other wolves joined the Hunt, the Lead Wolf would split the cards 2-2-1 among the hunting party. The Lead Wolf must always share the number of Scraps as evenly as possible among the hunters, and only the wolves that joined the Hunt can be affected by the outcome of the Hunt.
Loyalties & Allegiance
The five Loyalty tokens of your color are your own Loyalties. If you gain three or more of a wolf's Loyalties, you gain their Allegiance and they must flip their Wolf card to the colored Allegiant side to signify that they're now an Allegiant wolf.
Benefits of Holding a Wolf's Allegiance
- Your Allegiant wolf cannot initiate an attack against you for their turn, except when using a set of Scrap cards with the Collect icon. They may also still impact you negatively on Hunts they lead.
- If you join a Hunt that your Allegiant wolf is leading and Scraps are to be shared, they must always give you the second most.
- The Guardian Wolf ability allows wolves in an Allegiance to call for help from one another when being attacked by another player. If the called-upon wolf agrees to take over the defense, they become the Guardian Wolf. If the Guardian Wolf beats the Attacker, they get to pull a random Scrap from both the Attacker and the wolf that called for their help. But if the Attacker defeats the Guardian Wolf, they gain a Loyalty token of their choice from both the original Defender and the Guardian Wolf.
Winning
The first wolf to hold the Allegiance of two other wolves will be crowned the new Alpha of the Badland Pack, and you don't need to keep Loyalties of your own color to win.
Appendix
Here you'll find descriptions of all cards and additional explanations of language that is used throughout Badland Wolves.
Terms
Risked Loyalty: A risked Loyalty is a Loyalty that has been put forward by a wolf to show that they are leading or joining a Hunt.
Wild Loyalty: A Wild Loyalty is the Jackalope card after it has been caught by a wolf. Read the description for the Jackalope card in the Hunt section below.
Lead Wolf: The Lead Wolf is the one whose turn it is. They may choose to either lead a Hunt or Scrap.
Hunter: A Hunter is any wolf that has currently risked a Loyalty to Hunt, including the Lead Wolf.
Scrap Hand: Your Scrap Hand signifies the Scrap cards that are in your possession.
Scrap Cards
Tooth & Claw (20 cards): This is the standard Scrap card to be used as either an Attack or a Defense.
Frenzy (5 cards): This is a doubled strength Tooth & Claw. When used as an Attack, the Defender must react with a Frenzy or one of the following combinations:
- Tooth & Claw pair
- Tooth & Claw / Thorn Tied
- Tooth & Claw / Ravenous
Please note: If the Defender reacts with a combination that includes either Ravenous or Thorn Tied, play that card's special outcome as in all other instances.
A Frenzy may be used in defense of any attack just as a Tooth & Claw, but it's best to save for situations that warrant its special ability.
Ravenous (4 cards): Along with countering an attack, this card allows the Defender to immediately steal a random Scrap from the Attacker.
Crow's Ally (4 cards): This allows you to view a Wolf's hand before making a decision to attack. There is no penalty in deciding not to attack after seeing their cards, it simply ends your turn.
Thorn Tied (4 cards): Along with countering an attack, this card causes a role reversal: the Attacker is now the Defender and must immediately react as such. Just as in any Scrap rules, the new Defender is at risk of losing a Loyalty.
Antler, Bone, & Skull (6 cards each): These must be collected in matching sets of three. A set may then be used to steal any Loyalty from a Wolf of your choice, regardless of any Allegiance. The targeted Wolf may not defend themselves.
Example: The Lead Wolf chooses to Scrap, playing a matching set of three Antlers against another Wolf. This allows the Lead Wolf to immediately take any one Loyalty from that Wolf and ends their turn.
Feather (5 cards): Usable in the same way as the Antler, Bone, and Skull cards. However, the outcome differs in that you retrieve all of your own Loyalties from every wolf.
Hunt Cards
Deer, Bighorn Ram, & Bison (6 cards each): These allow the Lead Wolf to draw a set number of Scrap cards to share among the hunting group. Only the Lead Wolf may view the drawn cards and decide how they are shared. In the event of an uneven ratio of cards to hunters, the Lead Wolf benefits themselves first, then chooses which hunter gets second most and so on.
- Deer: draw two Scraps, share between Hunters.
- Bighorn Ram: draw three Scraps, share between Hunters.
- Bison: draw five Scraps, share between Hunters.
Example: The Lead Wolf draws a Bison on a Hunt with two other wolves, so the Scrap cards get split 2/2/1.
Rabbit (7 cards): The Lead Wolf draws a Scrap card to keep for themselves.
Cougar (4 cards): The Lead Wolf draws a Scrap card to keep for themselves and then takes a second turn.
Jackalope (2 cards): This acts as a Wild Loyalty. For the Lead Wolf to keep it, they must discard three Scrap cards. If they choose not to, they can draw two Scrap cards for themselves and then re-shuffle the Jackalope into its deck.
Once caught, a Wild Loyalty remains theirs for the rest of the game. It cannot be risked in a Hunt or stolen and cannot be used towards in-game Allegiance benefits. You may catch more than one.
If returning the card to the Hunt deck, be sure to shuffle the Jackalope in randomly to be freely drawn again.
Rattlesnake (4 cards): Forces only the Lead Wolf to discard a Scrap card from their hand, if possible.
Porcupine (4 cards): Forces all Hunters to discard a Scrap card from their hands, if possible.
Weasel (4 cards): The Lead Wolf steals a random Scrap card from any Hunter to keep for themselves.
Grizzly Bear (4 cards): If hunting alone, the Lead Wolf must discard their entire Scrap hand. If not alone, they must select another Hunter to do so.
Crow (4 cards): The Lead Wolf may switch any Hunter's risked Loyalty with another Hunter's risked Loyalty, including their own.
Fox (4 cards): The Lead Wolf may steal a risked Loyalty from any other Hunter.