Bargain Quest: The Black Market Expansion
Bargain Quest: The Black Market Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 10 item cards
- 8 Hero Cards
- 6 Employee Cards
- 6 Black Market Upgrade Cards
- 24 Black Market Item cards
- 9 Monster Cards (3 each of Rank I, II, III)
- 2 folding Item Shop Boards
- 1 Rulebook
Overview
This rulebook explains how to introduce new content from The Black Market Expansion into Bargain Quest. Some elements like the item shop boards, new employees, and new items can simply be placed alongside their respective components from the base game.
An Expanded Hero Deck
The Black Market expansion introduces 8 new heroes to Bargain Quest! However, all good adventurers know that a balanced party is the key to success, and if there are too many heroes in the deck there is a risk of only 1 or 2 classes being represented in a given game, and that's bad for business! (It is also bad for gameplay.)
Therefore, if you are playing with an expanded roster of hero cards, (either from this expansion, or others, such as the Chaotic Goods expansion) it is recommended that you replace Step 9 of Setup with the following:
Step 9 of Setup (replacement):
Sort the hero cards into stacks based on their class icons. Single class heroes should be sorted into four separate stacks, one for each of the four class icons. All of the remaining hero cards (those with multiple or no class icons) are sorted into one stack.
Shuffle each stack facedown and randomly select a number of cards without looking at them. For the single-class heroes select 2 cards from each of the four stacks. For the remaining heroes, select a number of cards equal to twice the number of players.
Shuffle the selected cards together and place them facedown within easy reach of all players. This is the hero deck. Return the unused hero cards to the box without looking at them.
The Black Market
The Black Market Upgrade is a new Upgrade card that grants players additional control over the Supply Step and access to the strange and unusual world of Black Market item cards!
Setting Up the Black Market
During Step 4 of Setup, shuffle the Black Market deck (containing the Black Market items) and place it facedown near the item deck.
During Step 7 of Setup, sort the Black Market Upgrade cards into a deck, placing it alongside the Storage and Display Upgrade cards. All cards in that deck should have the side displaying the cost in the upper left corner of the card faceup.
A player can purchase a Black Market Upgrade card during the Upgrade Step as they would any other upgrade card.
Illicit Services
Certain upgrade and employee cards in this expansion have a black seal in the top left corner and a star icon instead of a numbered cost. These are Illicit cards and require a player to pay in star tokens rather than coin tokens. Otherwise they behave like other cards of the same type.
Note that effects that increase or reduce the coin cost of upgrade or employee cards do not effect the star cost of an Illicit card. [sic: printed as "do not effect"]
Using the Black Market
After a player has purchased the Black Market Upgrade they are granted access to the Black Market deck. At the start of the Supply Step, in addition to their normal item cards, they are dealt 1 card from the Black Market deck. Then, they must discard 1 card from that hand before drafting (they may discard the Black Market item card if they so choose).
After the card is upgraded to the +2 level, the player will instead be dealt 2 cards from the Black Market deck. Then, they must discard 1 card from that hand and also draft an additional card from that hand.
Remember, you can use the Black Market Upgrade's ability to discard powerful cards that you wish to prevent rival players from drafting.
Gainful Employment Variant
This variant is designed to increase the availability and value of employee cards and the advantage gained by the player with the Quest token. Overall, it provides a slightly different game experience and is intended for players who are already somewhat familiar with the game's employee options.
At the start of each Upgrade Step, place 4 employee cards faceup near the upgrade decks instead of 2. These are the available employees for this round. These employees are not replaced by new employees from the employee deck after being purchased. Thus, when a player purchases an employee they are also reducing the number of options available to players later in the Upgrade Step.
At the end of the Upgrade Step, shuffle the remaining available employees together and place them on the bottom of the employee deck.
You'll want to carefully consider which upgrades and employees best suit your plan and playstyle!
Playing Bargain Quest with more than 6 players
The two additional shop boards included in this expansion are provided to add more aesthetic options to your game. However this also makes it possible to play Bargain Quest with more than 6 players. Be aware, these games tend to be notably longer and more chaotic. In particular, it becomes significantly more challenging to predict which hero you will get during the Shopping Step each round.
If you wish to play Bargain Quest with more than 6 players, follow the rules for a 5-6 player game as described in the base game with the following additional rules:
Monster abilities that affect the player (or players) with the most star tokens also affect the player (or players) with the second-most star tokens.
During the Upgrade Step if there are no cards remaining in an upgrade deck, add 1 additional employee card to the available employees for each empty upgrade deck.
Variable Hero Stats
Certain hero cards have a question mark (?) listed as their base Attack and Defense values. This means that these values are variable and are determined by the hero's ability text.
Some cards reference the Attack and Defense values of a card in the discard pile. If that card has variable values, treat its Attack and Defense values as 0.
For example: the Shaman's variable Attack and Defense values are considered 0 while the Jester is the top card of the discard pile.
Clarifications
Discarding Heroes
Some card abilities may cause the players to discard a hero card in play and replace them as though they are defeated. The discarded hero is not actually defeated, so if the hero successfully survived when confronting the monster the player still gains 1 star token even if the hero is discarded later in the Adventure Step.
Replace the hero as you would a defeated hero: draw another hero card from the hero deck and place it in the center of the table with the other surviving heroes. Place coin tokens on its card equal to the purse value listed in the upper right hand corner of its card.
The Unspeakable One
This expansion introduces The Unspeakable One, a new Tier III monster card with abnormally high values for its two combat stats (shown with the shield-and-skull and crossed-skull icons). It is important to remember that if none of the heroes successfully wound this monster during the Adventure Step, the players still place 1 wound token on this monster as normal. (Or 2 wound tokens in a game with more than 4 players, see page 10 and page 13 of the Bargain Quest base game rulebook.)
Card Text
The following card abilities are printed in this rulebook. Each is shown with its card art.
Corrupt Sheriff (Monster): Raise Taxes - The cost of all upgrade and employee cards is increased by 5 coin tokens.
Unspeakable One (Monster, Tier III): Unfathomable - After any hero successfully wounds this monster OR survives, that hero's shop gains 3 additional star tokens and the game ends immediately.
Illicit Contact (Employee): At the start of the Shopping Step, you may draw 3 cards from the Black Market deck. Then, discard this card.
+1 Black Market Upgrade (Upgrade): After cards are dealt during the Supply Step, add 1 card from the Black Market deck to your hand. Then, discard 1 card from that hand. During the Upgrade Step, instead of purchasing a card, you may pay 1 star token to flip this card over.