Bottlecap Vikings Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
• Gameplay
• Resolving Valkyries
• Winning the Game
• City Abilities
• Action Spaces

Components and Setup

1 Octagonal "bottlecap". Place this in the center of the table. If playing with 4 players, place the side with the 4p indicator up. Otherwise, use the other side.

8 Trapezoidal board spaces. Place these around the bottlecap, with the shortest edge of the trapezoid touching one of the sides of the bottlecap. This should form a larger octagon, which is the playing board. You may place any side face-up, and you may place them in any order. This constructed board is called a "rondel".

22 Valkyrie tokens, 5 red and 17 grey. Shuffle the 5 red tokens together in the box lid with a number of grey tokens based on how many players are in the game:

• 2 players = 7 greys
• 3 players = 12 greys
• 4 players = 17 greys

4 city cards. Give each player one of these. These have two sides. For your first game, it is recommended that players all use the side that is identical to each other. For future games, you may choose which side you use.

20 player tokens in 4 colors. Give each player all the tokens of one color. This means each player should have one gold, ship, wood, and hut token, as well as a winged helmet token that is used to track glory points.

Whichever player most recently plundered something will be the start player. They should put their ship token next to a board space of their choice. Then the other players, in clockwise order, should place their own ship tokens next to any board space of their choice.

Each player should put their hut token on the viking face space at the bottom of their city card.

Now each player receives wood, gold, and glory based on their position in turn order, and the number of players playing (advancing their wood, gold, and winged helmet tokens along the meters on the edge of their city card so that the arrow points at the amount they currently have). For example, when playing with 3 players, the 1st player would get 1 wood, 1 good of their choice (goods are wood and gold) and 3 glory points to begin with. City improvements (when playing with 4 players) allow you to advance your hut token one space along one of the white lines - this is covered in more detail later.

Starting resources by position in play order and number of players

Position in play order	2 players	3 players	4 players
1st	1 good of their choice (wood or gold) and 2 glory	1 wood, 1 good of their choice, and 3 glory	1 wood, 1 good of their choice, 3 glory, and 1 free city improvement
2nd	2 goods of their choice and 2 glory	1 wood, 2 goods of their choice, and 3 glory	1 wood, 2 goods of their choice, 3 glory, and 1 free city improvement
3rd		1 wood, 3 goods of their choice, and 3 glory	1 wood, 3 goods of their choice, 3 glory, and 1 free city improvement
4th			1 wood, 4 goods of their choice, 3 glory, and 1 free city improvement

Gameplay

Beginning with the start player, players will take turns moving their ship and taking actions. Play proceeds clockwise around the table. The first player to either advance their hut token to the space depicting a throne at the top of their city, or advance their point token to the throne at the end of their point track, wins immediately.

On your turn, you MUST move your ship 1, 2, or 3 spaces clockwise around the board.

Possible movement: 1, 2, or 3 spaces around the board.

After moving do the following in order, when applicable:

• There is a red "damage line" indicator on the bottlecap when playing with 2 or 3 players. Pretend the red line extends further, between the two nearest spaces. When your ship moves across this line, you must take 1 damage by taking a random token from the box lid of Valkyries.

• If you end your movement by the same space as one or more opponents, this constitutes an attack. All players in that space (including you) suffer 1 damage by taking a Valkyrie token at random from the box lid. For the purpose of resolving Valkyries (see "Resolving Valkyries" below) - everyone involved takes their Valkyrie tokens before checking to see if the Valkyries arrive. In the unlikely event that you run out of tokens during an attack, players who could not draw damage tokens are still considered to have them for the purpose of resolving Valkyries.

• Then, you may choose to execute the action on the space beside where you land. Some actions have 2 parts separated by a green line, you may optionally perform one or both of them, in any order:

  • Spaces indicate that you are to gain or lose things. Gains are preceded by a green "up" arrow, losses are preceded by a red "down" arrow. For example, a space showing a red down arrow with wood and gold, followed by a green up arrow with glory, indicates that you lose 2 wood and 1 gold, and then gain 1 glory.

  • If part of the action causes you to lose gold, wood, or glory, you must have enough gold/wood/glory to cover all the losses, otherwise you cannot perform the action. You also can not have more wood, gold, or glory than your meter can hold (usually 10). Any gains that would take you above that amount are forfeited.

  • When you are instructed to gain or lose gold, wood, or glory, adjust the tokens alongside your board so that they point at the number indicating how many you have. Your winged helmet that indicates glory also tells you what your current "viking helmet level" is. For example, when playing with the identical side of the player board, if your winged helmet is at 3, 5, or 6 glory, your viking helmet level is 1, 2, or 3 respectively. If your glory token was here, your viking helmet level would be 2.

  • When you gain a hut (city improvement symbol), you may potentially advance your hut token on your city board (this is a "city improvement"). To do this, your glory token must be equal to or beyond the number of viking helmets indicated on your city card above your hut token's current position, and you must pay the indicated amount of gold. If you satisfy both requirements, you may move your hut token to one of the ability spaces in the next tier above it, following the white path lines. You acquire the ability printed there permanently.

Resolving Valkyries

When you take a Valkyrie token as damage, look at the color. If it is red, AND as a result there are now 4 or more red Valkyrie tokens total currently assigned as damage amongst all players, the Valkyries arrive and carry off the dead based on how much damage (of any color) each player currently has.

If you have...	After a 4th red Valkyrie is drawn, this happens to you:
1 Damage	No negative effect. Mix all your damage back into the box lid.
2 Damage	Lose 2 Gold, then mix all your damage back into the box lid.
3 Damage	Lose 1 Glory, then mix all your damage back into the box lid.
4+ Damage	Lose 1 Glory and 2 Gold, then mix all your damage back into the box lid.

If a player can not afford their penalty they pay what they can.

Winning the Game

If you ever advance your winged helmet token that indicates glory so that it is on the space with the throne (this is the "10" space on most boards), or advance your hut token to the most expensive ability on your city card, the game is over and you win.

City Abilities

The ability spaces on the city card are printed on the city board panels below. Each ability is acquired permanently when your hut token advances onto its space.

White card

• When you gain 1 or more wood in a turn, gain an additional wood at the end of that turn.
• When you gain 1 or more gold in a turn, gain an additional gold at the end of that turn.
• When you gain 1 or more glory in a turn, gain 1 wood at the end of that turn.
• When your ship lands at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap, before taking the action, lose 1 damage.
• You may move up to two additional spaces on each of your turns. Gain 1 glory when you advance your hut to this space.
• Ignore 1 of your damage when resolving Valkyries - you count as having 1 less damage than you really do for the purpose of determining the negative effects.
• When you pass over another player without beginning or stopping on their space, take 1 gold or wood from them, then give them 1 gold or wood. (This does count as "gaining" the resource received.)

Brown panel

• When your hut token advances to this space, resolve Valkyries for everyone immediately, regardless of how many red tokens are in play.
• Before taking an action at any space, you can gain one damage to reverse the direction you are moving around the bottlecap for future turns (Continue moving this new direction until changed again).
• Each time you gain damage, draw an additional Valkyrie token. Then return one of the damage tokens (of your choice) you just drew to the box lid. The returned token is not considered when checking for Valkyrie resolution, it is treated as if you never had it.
• When you gain 1 or more glory in a turn, lose 1 damage at the end of that turn.
• When you land at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap, gain 1 gold.
• Gain a city ability that matches any other city ability that any player has printed on their city board this game, except for "win the game".
• When you land at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap, before doing the action, you may switch any two spaces that are adjacent to each other. Ships don't move with the spaces, they stay still.

Green panel

• When another player loses 1 or more damage in a turn, you gain 1 gold at the end of that turn. This doesn't count damage lost from resolving Valkyries.
• When you start a turn at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap, you can move up to 3 additional spaces that turn.
• Before taking an action at any space, you may lose 1 point to lose all damage.
• When you gain 1 or more glory in a turn, gain 1 gold at the end of that turn.
• When any player gains a hut advancement, you gain 1 wood at the end of that turn.

Purple panel

• When you land at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap, before taking the action, gain 1 wood.
• You may move up to two spaces further on each of your turns.
• Whenever you are attacked by one or more players in a turn, gain 1 gold at the end of that turn.
• Whenever any player gains a hut token advancement, you gain 1 gold at the end of that turn.
• When advancing your hut token to this space, rotate the bottlecap to any new orientation, and gain 1 glory.
• When you lose 1 or more damage in a turn, gain 1 gold at the end of that turn.
• Ignore the damage line on the bottlecap - you do not take damage from it. (4 players: gain 1 glory and lose 1 damage when you gain this ability).

Yellow panel

• When advancing your hut to this space, gain 1 wood per wood you have, OR gain 1 gold per gold you have. (This doubles your current wood or gold).
• When you gain 1 or more wood in a turn, gain 1 gold at the end of that turn.
• You may move up to one additional space on each of your turns. Gain 1 wood and lose 2 damage when advancing your hut to this space.
• When you attack 1 or more other players, take 1 gold or wood from each of them, then give each 1 gold or wood. This does count as "gaining" the resource received.
• You cannot gain damage while at the space beside the helper on the bottlecap. (This also means you cannot perform actions there that require you to take damage).
• Lose all your damage when you advance your hut to this space.
• Gain 1 wood when advancing your hut to this space. Gain 1 additional Viking helmet permanently when advancing to this space (do not advance your winged helmet when doing this, this does not gain you any glory).

Action Spaces

Each action space is printed on the bottlecap board. Where an action has 2 parts separated by a green line, you may perform one or both parts, in any order. Where a space shows a hut, you need the required viking helmet level to use it.

• If you have the required viking helmet level, you may pay the gold cost indicated on your city card to advance your hut.
• Lose 1 gold and 2 wood to gain 1 glory; AND/OR Lose 2 gold and 3 wood to gain 1 glory.
• Lose 1 gold and 2 wood to gain 1 glory; AND/OR Lose 1 gold, 2 wood, and gain 1 damage to gain 1 glory.
• Gain 1 gold; AND/OR If you have or are tied for the most damage currently, gain 1 gold.
• Gain 1 wood; AND/OR If you have or are tied for the least damage currently, gain 1 wood.
• Lose 1 wood to lose 2 damage; AND/OR Lose 2 wood to lose 4 damage. (For example, if you chose to do both, you would spend 3 wood to lose 6 damage).
• Gain 1 gold; AND/OR Gain 1 damage to gain 1 gold.
• Lose any amount of gold to gain the same amount of wood, plus one.
• Gain 2 gold. If you are attacked while here, lose 1 gold.
• Lose 1 wood to lose 3 damage; AND/OR Lose 3 wood to lose all your damage.
• Lose any amount of wood to gain the same amount of gold, plus 1.
• When you land here, if you have less gold than wood, gain 1 gold; If you have less wood than gold, gain 1 wood. (If both were equal when you landed here, you would gain 1 of each.)
• Gain 3 wood, minus 1 for every viking helmet you have, to a minimum of gaining 1 wood from this action.
• Gain 3 gold, minus 1 for every viking helmet you have, to a minimum of gaining 1 gold from this action.
• Gain 1 wood; AND/OR Gain 1 damage to gain 1 wood.