By Jove Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Number of Players, Age and Duration
• Equipment
• Object of the Game
• Getting Ready to Play the Game
• Playing the Game
  • The Beginning
  • Gods/Goddess
  • Heroes
  • Perils
  • Oracles
  • Potluck
  • Labyrinth
  • Quest of the Golden Fleece
  • Taxes
  • Helen of Troy
  • Hades
• Bouncing
• Deals
• Calling a Count
• Coin Penalties
• End of Game
• Time Limit Game
• Note to Parents and Teachers
• Note to Players

Number of Players, Age and Duration

• Number of Players: 2 to 6
• Recommended ages: 10 and up
• Duration of Play: 45 minutes to 2 hours

Equipment

• 1 playing board
• 16 Orange Potluck Cards
• 1 pair dice
• 50 Blue VAP Awards
• 6 player pawns
• 12 Tan Minotaur
• 60 gold coins
• Labyrinth Awards
• 8 Hero Images with 12 Yellow Golden Fleece stands
• Quest Awards
• 40 Ivory Oracle Cards

Object of the Game

To be the first player to collect:

• 16 gold coins
• 8 Vanquish A Peril (VAP) Awards
• 1 Labyrinth Award
• 1 Quest Award

Getting Ready to Play the Game

1. Decide on length of play. See TIME LIMIT GAME at end of Instructions.

2. Open game board. Shuffle Oracle and Potluck cards and place them on their designated places on the board.

3. Select player pawns and place them on the Beginning.

4. Choose one player as Patron. This player distributes and collects coins; VAP, Quest and Labyrinth Awards; and Hero Images. If coins or awards run out during play, the Patron may request that players turn in awards and give them credit slips he has written on pieces of paper in return.

5. The Patron gives each player 4 gold coins. The Patron places the Hero Images in their plastic stands at the edge of the board until they are claimed by players who land on Hero spaces or are awarded them by Oracle cards.

6. Roll dice to choose first player. Highest roll goes first. The turn passes to the left.

Playing the Game

1. During each turn, roll both dice and move your pawn clockwise the designated number of spaces. Follow the instructions written on the board spaces and the special instructions described below.

2. The spaces listed below have special instructions: The Beginning, Gods/Goddess, Perils, Oracles, Potluck, Heroes, Labyrinth, Quest of the Golden Fleece, Taxes, Helen of Troy, and Hades. Refer to the instructions below when you land on one of the spaces listed.

The Beginning

Each time you pass the Beginning you receive:

• 3 gold coins for passing the Beginning as a Mere Mortal
• 1 gold coin if you own a Hero.

Gods/Goddess

Jupiter (Jove), Neptune, Apollo, Venus. The gods representing these spaces can help or hinder your travel, depending on the number you have rolled to reach their realm.

• Doubles (1&1, 2&2, etc.) offend the gods. If you arrive at a god's space with doubles, go directly to Hades.
• Protected Turn. Any other throw pleases the gods and they will grant you a Protected Turn. To do so:
  1. Take another turn and advance to the space indicated by the dice.
  2. Because of the god's protection, nothing bad can happen to you. You play the space you land on only if it is to your advantage. For instance: You may battle a Peril, but you only accept the results if you win. You may draw a Potluck or an Oracle card, but only follow the commands if they are favorable.
  3. Protection only lasts one turn immediately after you have landed on a god's space.
• Protection does not extend to Double Fives. If you roll double fives from a god's space, it will take you to the next god's space where that god will send you directly to Hades. (See Doubles above.)

Heroes

Ulysses, Hercules, Achilles, Hector, Aeneas, Perseus, Theseus, and Atalanta. Of these, Hercules is the most powerful. The other seven have equal power.

• If you land on a space of an unowned Hero, you may claim the Hero Image from the Patron.
• If you land on a space of an owned Hero, pay the owner one gold coin. If you have no coin, go back to the Beginning. You do not receive a coin there.
• A lost Hero Image is returned to the Patron unless other instructions apply, as in a Battle or Oracle card directions.

Perils

You will encounter 11 red Peril spaces during your travels.

• Each time you land on a Peril space, you must battle the character pictured there.
• Your Hero, if you have one, must represent you in battle.
• If you have more than one Hero, choose one.
• With no Hero, you battle as a Mere Mortal.
• Initiate battle by throwing one die to represent the Peril. Try to beat that roll by throwing the second die:
  • 3 times if Hercules represents you.
  • 2 times for any other Hero.
  • 1 time if you are a Mere Mortal.
• If the number on the second die is the same or greater, you win and may collect a VAP Award. If the second die is less, you lose and must:
  • turn in your Hero Image.
  • turn in a VAP Award, if you have one.
  • go back to the Beginning.

Oracles

When you land on one of the four Oracle spaces, consult the wise and infallible Oracles by drawing an Oracle Card and following the printed instructions. For cards that require you to give up possessions, if you do not have the amount required, give up what you have. If ordered to give up half your possessions and you have an uneven number, give up the higher amount. Example: You're told to give up ½ your 5 gold coins. Give up 3.

Potluck

If you land on one of these two spaces you must draw a card from the Potluck pile and read the message out loud. It will reveal a strength or a weakness of a Hero and reward or penalize the Hero's owner.

Note: Return used Oracle and Potluck cards face up to the bottom of the decks. Reshuffle a deck when all of its cards have been used.

Labyrinth

When you land on the Labyrinth space you must enter the Labyrinth during your next turn, unless you already have a Labyrinth Award. Enter and move counterclockwise around the 6 spaces of the maze according to the roll of ONE die until you either:

• are sent back to the Beginning by losing a battle with the Minotaur Peril (see Perils above);
• are Bounced back to the Beginning by another player (see Bouncing below);
• or land directly back on the Labyrinth space on the outside track.

(You must roll the exact number to get back to the Labyrinth space or continue to go around the Labyrinth.)

You collect your Minotaur Award when you are safely on the outside track. Once you have earned a Labyrinth Award, you do not have to re-enter the maze unless you are sent there by an Oracle. You may gamble that you can get through again. If you succeed, collect 5 gold coins. If you fail, give up your Labyrinth Award. (You do not win coins with your first Labyrinth Award.)

Quest of the Golden Fleece

The rules for the Quest are almost the same as for the Labyrinth. They differ in two ways:

1. The last space in the Quest Adventure is "Scylla and Charybdis" on the outside track. You receive your Quest Award only when you have successfully passed that space.
2. You may exit the Quest Adventure by the roll of any number that will take you onto the outside track.

[Source gap: the posted text reads "Quest Award" at the end of item 1 and begins item 2 on a separate line. The two items are joined here into the sense of the printed text; no wording has been added.]

Taxes

[Source gap: the Taxes space is listed on the board in the posted text, but the posted text gives no instructions for it.]

Helen of Troy

[Source gap: the posted text begins this space's instructions mid-sentence. The opening of the rule is missing; only the following remains as printed.]

...your dice. The player with the highest roll wins the war. The loser must give the winner a Hero Image and a gold coin, if owned. If both rolls are the same, no one wins and no possessions are exchanged.

Hades

If you land on Hades during the normal course of play, you are simply "Passing By" and may continue your travels during your next turn.

You are sent to Hades by:

• throwing doubles and landing on a god space, thus offending the gods; or
• drawing an Oracle Card that sends you there.

You can get out of Hades by:

• throwing doubles on any of your next three turns;
• paying 3 gold coins to the Patron before any of your next three turns;
• turning in an Oracle Card which permits you to leave Hades; and
• leaving after sitting out three full turns.

When you leave Hades, continue your travel around the board.

Bouncing

If you land on any space occupied by another player, with the EXCEPTION of the Beginning, the Land of the Lotus Eaters or a player "in" Hades (not just Passing By), you may either Bounce that player back to the Beginning or collect 1 gold coin from that player for allowing the player's pawn to remain. You may also arrange some other trade or Deal (see Deals) for letting the pawn remain in the space you occupy.

[Source gap: the Land of the Lotus Eaters is named as an exception here, but the posted text gives no rules for that space.]

Deals

When it is your turn, before you throw the dice, you may try to make a deal with another player involving the sale or trade of Heroes, gold coins, or "Hold" Oracle Cards. Adventure Awards and VAP Awards may not be involved in a Deal. You may also try for a Deal when you are Bouncing another player.

Calling a Count

Players' possessions must be kept in plain view at all times. You may call for a count during any of your turns and ask all players to reveal their card and coin count.

Coin Penalties

When you are instructed to pay half your coins, pay the highest number of an odd amount. (With 5, pay 3). If the penalty requires more coins than you have, pay what you have and forget the rest.

End of Game

The game ends when one player has collected the necessary items: 16 gold coins, 8 VAP's, a Labyrinth and a Quest Award.

Time Limit Game

The winning game score is determined by points:

• Gold coin = 1 point
• Adventure award = 8 points
• VAP Awards = 2 points

At the end of a set time limit, the player with the most points is the winner.

Note to Parents and Teachers

Alternative play: to be decided before game begins.

A tie in a battle with a Peril (when the final throw of the second die is the same as the first), can be settled by the player telling a story involving either the Hero or the Peril. (See By Jove Stories.) If other players agree that the story is acceptable, the player wins and receives a VAP award.

Young Players: To make losing to a Peril less severe, omit the return of a VAP Award penalty.

Note to Players

All the mythological characters you have met playing By Jove are featured in the By Jove Stories booklet packaged with this game. Though the stories, written by a well-known, award winning author, are exciting on their own, we think that you'll find the game even more enjoyable after you've read them. By the same token, the game will make you curious about the stories.

Please let us know YOUR experiences with the game and the book in BY JOVE.