The Crows of Coppershell Bay Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• 1: Set Up
• 2: Aim of the Game
• 3: Choose a Character
  • Anatomy of Character Cards
• 4: Time
• 5: Story Cards
  • Anatomy of Story Cards
• 5: Taking a Turn in Town
• 6: Day and Night
  • 6: Taking a Turn During Night Time
• 7: Quests
  • 7a: Taking a Turn on a Quest
  • 7b: Fighting Hazards
  • Anatomy of Hazards
  • 7c: Leaving a Quest
• 8: Levelling Up
• 9: Making the Game Harder
• Example of a Day, a Night and a Quest
• A Guide to Coppershell Bay
  • Coppersand
  • The Scrapyard
  • Bay Carnival
  • Burrow Glade
  • Chemists' Guild
  • The Market
  • Miners' Guild
  • The Crows' Nest

Components

8 Location Cards — You will visit Locations during day time, taking actions there to gain Gems and resources. As the game progresses, Location cards will be flipped to reveal their more challenging side.

2 Carnival Cards — By visiting the Bay Carnival Location, you can pay to play 1 of 4 different mini games. With a bit of luck, you'll win some of the Gems you need to pay off your debts.

6 Quest Cards — By visiting The Miners' Guild Location you can attempt Quests in the mines. Each Quest has 2 cards: one describes the Quest and its set up, the other displays a map of the mine.

Day & Night Card — The game is played over 3 days and 2 nights. The day and night card keeps track of the time, which is spent when you take certain actions at Locations and during Quests.

2 Character Cards — You play as 1 of 4 different characters, each with a pair of unique skills. This card keeps track of your Strength, Agility and Experience Points (XP), all of which will increase during the game.

Purse & Rucksack — Your Purse keeps track of how many Gems you've earned. You'll need 60 Gems before the end of the third day to win. Your rucksack is where you keep your items (brews and tools). You can hold up to 6 different items here.

28 Story Cards — Story cards are drawn when you carry out actions at Locations or during Quests (e.g. fishing or digging). They are also used to determine the events and hazards you'll encounter during Quests.

Story's End Card — Each time you reveal the Story's End card, it's time to pay your taxes and discard rotten supplies. Then shuffle the discarded Story deck to form a new deck to draw from. The first time you do this, also flip the Story's End card.

4 Special Cards — These are drawn when you complete certain tasks or explore certain chambers during a Quest. The Quest card will always tell you when these are drawn, and when they're kept.

4 Life Tokens — Lives are a measure of your character's state of health. If you run out of Lives, you lose the game.

4 Pep Tokens — Pep is a measure of your character's energy. Pep can be spent in a variety of helpful ways.

6 Item Tokens — These are placed in your rucksack to show which items you have in your inventory.

Strength, Agility & XP Cubes — These are placed on your character card to keep track of your stats.

The Timer — This is placed on the day and night time card to keep track of the time.

6 Mine Tokens — These are used during Quests. The underside of each mine token is numbered.

Gem Token — This is placed in your Purse to keep track of how many Gems you have.

You — This is you. You will move around Locations and Quest chambers as you take your turns.

6 Sided Die — This is used in a variety of situations, such as fighting and determining luck.

1: Set Up

1. Place the day and night card so the day side is showing. Place the timer on the → square of day 1's time track.
2. Place the 8 Location cards clockwise around the day time card so the blue banner side is showing. Do this in numerical order of the number shown next to the card's title, followed by the Miners' Guild and the Crows' Nest Locations.
3. Place the 2 Carnival cards next to Bay Carnival, and the 6 Quest cards next to the Miners' Guild, any side up.
4. Place the Story's End card on the table so the blue banner side is showing. Shuffle the 28 Story cards. Place them face down on top of the Story's End card.
5. Keep the remaining cards and tokens close to hand.

2: Aim of the Game

To have 60 Gems in your Purse before the end of the third day. Once you have enough, visit The Crows' Nest Location.

3: Choose a Character

Choose 1 of the 4 characters to play. Place your character card, purse and rucksack on the table in front of you.

Anatomy of Character Cards

1. Your name.
2. Your starting item. Place an item token on this item in your rucksack.
3. Your skills. At the start of the game choose 1 of these skills to use. Later on, you'll be able to use both skills.
4. Strength (S). This is used when fighting hazards.
5. Agility (A). This helps you flee hazards. A high Agility also makes certain actions (such as fishing and digging) easier.
6. XP. You earn XP through the game. When your XP reaches a LEVEL X square, you've levelled up (see page 19).
7. Your Lives (heart) and Pep (lightning bolt). Keep these tokens near your character card. You start the game with 4 of each.

You start with 2 Strength, 2 Agility and 0 XP. Place the matching cubes on the leftmost squares of their tracks to show this. You then increase either your Strength or Agility to 3.

Place the 4 Life and Pep tokens near your character card. You will lose (−) and gain (+) these throughout the game, but you can never have more than 4 of each. If you lose all your Lives, you die and lose the game. If you are ever instructed to lose Pep (−lightning bolt) and you have none left, you must lose a Life (−heart) instead. You cannot choose to spend Pep if you don't have any left.

Place the rucksack and purse next to your character card. In your rucksack, place an item token on the item matching the starting item shown on your character card. When you use an item, discard its token. You can carry up to 6 items, but a maximum of 1 of each type of item (e.g. a maximum of 1 shovel).

Lastly, place the Gem token in your purse to show you have 2 Gems. Throughout the game you will gain and lose Gems. The purse is double sided to show how many Gems you have. You cannot have more than 60 or fewer than 0 Gems.

4: Time

This game is played over 3 days and 2 nights. After taking any action showing the hourglass icon, move the timer 1 square along the current day or night's time track. When the timer reaches the flip square of the track, the card is flipped to swap between day and night time. During the day you'll visit Locations and attempt Quests. During the night you'll sleep, eat and work, or continue your current Quest.

5: Story Cards

Story cards are drawn during Quests when you enter Story chambers (see page 15), and when you take the loot, acquire, fish, dig and forage actions (these are explained below).

When you loot or acquire, draw the number of Story cards shown (e.g. if you're told to loot 2, draw 2 Story cards). Gain the Gems or item shown on the card (see example below), adjusting your purse or placing an item token on that item in your rucksack, then discard the Story card. Remember you can only carry 1 of each type of item.

Anatomy of Story Cards

1. The card's name. This only applies when you draw the card in a Story Chamber. Cards with a blue banner are events. Cards with a red banner are hazards (see page 17).
2. The fish this card provides when you take a fish action.
3. The material this card provides when you take a dig action.
4. The card's instructions. These only apply when you draw the card in a Story chamber. Hazards must be fought, events have options (you may choose 1 option).
5. The Gems this card provides when you take a loot action.
6. The item this card provides when you take an acquire action.
7. This card's lucky charm, comprising of a face and a number. The face is used in luck-based situations, the number is used in fights.
8. The forageable (or forageables) this card provides when you take a forage action.

When you fish, dig, or forage, draw the number of Story cards shown (e.g. if you're told to dig 1, draw 1 Story card). Place or tuck these cards next to your rucksack as shown: fish to the left, forageables beneath, and materials to the right. This is your supply. When you use cards from your supply (e.g. when you sell fish) they're discarded. After taking an action, you can have no more than 6 fish, 6 material and 6 forageable cards (i.e. 18 in total). If you ever have more, discard excess cards of your choice straight away.

When you fish, dig or forage at Locations, you suffer penalties when you draw cards showing an exclamation mark next to your findings. The Location card describes these penalties. A high Agility lets you ignore a certain amount of exclamation marks each turn. An exclamation mark is always ignored when you fish, dig or forage during Quests.

When you reach the Story's End card, follow its instructions at the end of your turn (pay taxes, discard cards from your supply, then reshuffle the Story deck to draw from again).

5: Taking a Turn in Town

To take a turn in town during daytime, move to any Location (or stay in the Location you're already in). Choose an action there, following the instructions on the card (actions are also explained in more detail on pages 24-32). Keep taking turns in this way until it's night time, or until you attempt a Quest.

After taking an action showing the hourglass, remember to move the timer 1 square along the current day's track.

Example: At Burrow Glade you can forage or relax.

6: Day and Night

When you move the timer onto the rightmost square of the day time track, flip the card to show it is now night time. Place the timer on the → square on the night time track.

6: Taking a Turn During Night Time

If you're on a Quest when night time starts, you stay in the mine but all hazards add 1 to their Strength. If you're in town when night time starts, place your meeple on the night time card. You can sleep, make dinner and/or work until it is daytime again. You can't visit any Locations during night time.

Example: You roll 2, so flip The Scrapyard.

When you move the timer onto the flip square of the night time track, it is day time again. Roll the die and flip the Location card showing that number, so the red banner side is displayed. If that card has been flipped already, flip the next numbered Location (i.e. don't flip the Miners' Guild or the Crows' Nest), going clockwise. Then flip the night time card so day time is showing, and place the timer on the → square on the next day's time track.

7: Quests

When you visit the Miners' Guild, you can attempt Quests. This is explained on the Miners' Guild card and in detail on page 31. Once you've chosen a Quest, place both its cards on the table as shown. Complete any special set up rules for the Quest, then place your meeple on the mine's starting tunnel (the arrow).

7a: Taking a Turn on a Quest

Move your meeple along the tunnel until you reach a chamber. Follow the rules for the type of chamber you have reached as shown below. Your turn then ends.

Story chamber. Draw a Story card and follow the instructions or choices on it. The card is then discarded. The number shown in a Story chamber is its depth. The depth is added to the Strength of hazards fought there, and deducted from your dice rolls on RANDOM cards (to a minimum of 1).

Action chamber: You may spend time to do this action as often as shown (e.g. hourglass to forage 2 times). An exclamation mark is ignored here, so no penalties are suffered when you draw it.

Quest chamber: The Quest card tells you what happens in Quest chambers, both during set up and during play. Some Quest chambers have hazards you must fight. Quest chambers generally involve using mine tokens.

Penalty chamber: Roll the die. If you roll 1-3, suffer the penalty shown in this chamber.

Special chamber: Draw and resolve (or keep) the Special card matching the letter shown.

After resolving the chamber, take your next turn by moving along any tunnel leading from it until you reach another chamber or the exit. You must move after resolving a chamber. You always resolve a chamber, even if you have already visited it.

7b: Fighting Hazards

When a Story card or a Quest chamber shows a hazard, you must either flee or fight it. NOTE: whenever you draw a hazard card while taking an action, the hazard is ignored - you only count the relevant icon (e.g. when fishing, only count the fish).

FLEE: Spend Pep. Roll the die and add your Agility. If the total is less than the hazard's Agility, lose a Life. Either way, discard the Story card and take your next turn by moving to a connected chamber.

FIGHT: Roll the die and add your Strength. This is your attack. You may spend Pep to reroll. If you do, you must accept the second roll.

Anatomy of Hazards

1. The hazard's name. Hazards are denoted by their red banner.
2. The hazard's Strength. This is increased by 1 when you fight the hazard at night. It is also increased by the depth of the Story chamber you're currently in.
3. The hazard's Agility. This number must be matched to flee the hazard without losing a life.
4. An illustration and description of the hazard you're facing.
5. If you defeat the hazard, follow these instructions.
6. If you fail to defeat the hazard, follow these instructions. Then either fight again, or flee.

NOTE: Hazards are only counted as such when they're drawn from resolving Story Chambers. The hazard is ignored when you draw a Story card when resolving an action (e.g. fishing). Only icons relevant to the action (e.g. fish in the top left corner of the card) are counted.

Roll the die again, adding the hazard's Strength. If you're in a Story chamber, also add the chamber's depth. If it's night time, also add 1. This combined total is the hazard's attack.

You may now spend 1 Gem to use the lucky charm. If so, draw a Story card. Add the number shown next to the lucky charm face to your attack, then discard the Story card.

If your attack was equal or greater: you defeat the hazard. Follow the IF YOU WIN text on the card, or the instructions on the Quest card if the fight took place in a Story chamber. Take your next turn by moving to a connected chamber.

If the hazard's attack was greater: follow the IF YOU LOSE text on the Story card, or the instructions on the Quest card if the fight took place in a Quest chamber. You must then either fight again or flee.

7c: Leaving a Quest

You leave a Quest by moving out of the mine via the exit. If you completed the Quest, collect your reward as shown. Then, if it's day time, move to any Location. If it's night time, move to the night time card. Take your next turn as usual.

8: Levelling Up

Whenever you are told to gain XP, you gain 1 XP. When your XP reaches a square showing LEVEL 2, 3, 4 or 5, you level up and can improve your character in one of the following ways:

1. Fighter. Add 1 to your Strength.
2. Acrobat. Add 1 to your Agility.
3. Meditator. Restore all lost Lives and Pep.
4. Merchant. Gain 1 Gem per level you just reached.

When you reach LEVEL 3, also flip the Miners' Guild Location. You can now only attempt deep Quests. You can now also use both of your character's skills for the rest of the game.

9: Making the Game Harder

During set up, place the Story's End card so the red banner side shows, then flip The Crow's Nest Location. Depending on how difficult you'd like the game to be, roll the die 1-3 times and flip those Location cards so the red banner sides show. If you want to make things even harder, add 1 to each hazard's Strength.

Example of a Day, a Night and a Quest

1. Peth decides to go fishing at Coppersand. He moves the timer along the day track, then fishes 3 times. He catches 4 fish which he adds to his supply, but he drew 2 exclamation marks. His Agility is only 3 so he resolves the first 2 penalties shown on the Coppersand card (in this case losing 1 Pep AND discarding 1 fish card from his supply).

2. Next, Peth goes to Bay Carnival. First he visits the seer, moving the timer along the day track to peek at the next 4 Story cards. He then visits the stalls, paying 2 Gems and moving the timer again to play a carnival game (Fortune Forage). He wins 8 Gems, so gains 1 XP and flips the Bay Carnival card so the red banner side is showing.

3. It's getting late, so Peth decides to relax at Burrow Glade. He moves the timer along the day time track and chooses to gain 1 Life.

It's now night time, so when he finishes his action the day time card is flipped, with the timer placed on the → square of the night time track.

4. At home, Peth moves the timer along the night time track to get some sleep (gaining 1 Pep), then moves the timer twice to go to work twice (earning 4 Gems). It is now daytime. Peth rolls the die to flip a Location. He rolls 6, flipping the Market card so the red side shows.

5. Unfortunately, The Market is where Peth wanted to start his day. He's planning to attempt a Quest at the Miners' Guild and wanted to buy tools beforehand. He now has to pay higher prices for them. He buys a clock and a torch, adding them to his rucksack by placing item tokens on those items.

6. At the Miners' Guild Peth chooses a shovel and decides which Quest he'd like to attempt. He's LEVEL 2, so must choose a shallow Quest. He chooses Finding Mr. Boydell, takes the matching mine map and places the cards side by side on the table. He then follows the Quest's set up rules. He places his meeple next to the mine entrance tunnel. His Quest is about to begin!

7. Peth moves into a Story chamber so draws a Story card. He's found some gamblers, and chooses to join their game. The choice is resolved, then the card is discarded.

8. Peth moves into the adjoining action chamber, where he can spend time to fish 2 times. He draws 2 cards and adds the fish to his supply. Although both cards show an exclamation mark, it has no effect during a Quest so is ignored.

9. Peth moves into a Story chamber with depth 2. He draws a Story card and encounters a hazard: creeping rot. Peth decides to fight so rolls the die. He rolls 4, then adds his Strength (which is 3), giving him an attack of 7. He then rolls for the hazard and rolls 3. The rot's Strength is 4 and the fight is taking place in a Story chamber with 2 depth, so the rot's attack is 9. The rot wins. Peth now follows the IF YOU LOSE instructions on the creeping rot's card. He decides to flee instead...

10. Peth moves into a Quest chamber that might contain the elusive Mr. Boydell. He reveals the mine token there to see, and it's a 4! He has found Mr. Boydell. Time to go.

11. When Peth leaves the mine he collects his reward (1 XP and 3 Gems). It's daytime so his next turn is taken in town. He can visit any Location and take an action there.

A Guide to Coppershell Bay

The following pages describe each Location's available actions in more detail.

For your first game, I recommend getting acquainted with Coppershell Bay by visiting each Location in numerical order. So, first stop by Coppersand for a spot of fishing and beach combing, then call in at the Scrapyard to find materials for crafting tools.

When you've done that, visit Bay Carnival to try your luck at one of the stalls. Then head to Burrow Glade to relax and forage before calling in on the Chemists' Guild to craft some brews and sell any spare forageables.

Finally peruse the wares at the Market and sell some fish from your rucksack, then swing by the Miners' Guild to see if they've got any Quests that need completing.

Coppersand

GO FISHING: Spend time, then fish up to 3 times, adding each card to your supply in the usual way. You can choose to stop fishing at any time.

Then count up all the exclamation marks next to the fish on these cards. If your Agility is 4 or 5, ignore 1 of these exclamation marks. If your Agility is 6, ignore 2 of these exclamation marks. Now resolve each penalty shown on the Coppersand card, up to and including the total remaining exclamation marks.

EXAMPLE: You fished 3 times and drew 3 exclamation marks. Your Agility is 5, so you ignore the first exclamation mark. The total remaining exclamation marks is 2, so you lose 1 Pep and discard 1 fish card from your supply.

If you now have 7 or more fish in your supply and Coppersand hasn't been flipped, gain 1 XP and flip Coppersand so the red banner side is showing.

GO BEACHCOMBING: Spend time, then roll the die 2 times. Collect Gems equal to the difference between the 2 numbers rolled (e.g. if you roll 2 and 5, gain 3 Gems).

The Scrapyard

DIG FOR MATERIALS: Spend time, then dig up to 3 times, adding each card to your supply in the usual way. You can choose to stop digging at any time.

Then count up all the exclamation marks next to the materials on these cards. If your Agility is 4 or 5, ignore 1 of these exclamation marks. If your Agility is 6, ignore 2 of these exclamation marks. Now resolve each penalty shown on the Scrapyard card, up to and including the total remaining exclamation marks.

EXAMPLE: You dug 3 times and drew 2 exclamation marks. Your Agility is only 3 so no exclamation mark is ignored. Therefore the total remaining exclamation marks is 2. You lose 1 Pep and discard 1 material card from your supply.

CRAFT TOOLS: Each tool needs materials to craft it (e.g. gloves require rope and cloth). Discard the cards containing these materials from your supply and add the tool to your rucksack. You can also craft Gems and XP.

Bay Carnival

VISIT THE STALLS: Spend time and pay the amount of Gems shown. Choose any 1 carnival game to play. The carnival game's card will explain its rules. You can only play each carnival game once during a game.

If you win 7 or more Gems in 1 carnival game and Bay Carnival has not been flipped, gain 1 XP and flip Bay Carnival so the red banner side is showing.

VISIT THE SEER: Spend time and pay any Gems required. Draw the top 4 cards in the Story deck, look at them then return them to the top of the Story deck in any order, face down.

BUY SOME FOOD: Pay the amount of Gems shown to gain the Life and Pep shown.

Burrow Glade

GO FORAGING: Spend time, then forage up to 3 times, adding each card to your supply in the usual way. You can choose to stop foraging at any time.

Then count up all the exclamation marks next to the forageables on these cards. If your Agility is 4 or 5, ignore 1 of these exclamation marks. If your Agility is 6, ignore 2 of these exclamation marks. Now resolve each penalty shown on the Burrow Glade card, up to and including the total remaining exclamation marks.

EXAMPLE: You foraged 3 times and drew 1 exclamation mark. Your Agility is 4, so you ignore that exclamation mark and therefore don't have any penalties to resolve.

If you now have 7 or more forageables in your supply and Burrow Glade hasn't been flipped yet, gain 1 XP and flip Burrow Glade so the red banner side is showing.

RELAX IN THE GLADE: Spend time to gain 1 Life or gain 2 Pep.

Chemists' Guild

SELL FORAGEABLES: You can sell 2 or more identical forageables from your supply to gain the Gems shown (e.g. sell 3 mushrooms to gain 4 Gems). The cards containing these forageables are discarded from your supply (you don't get to keep any unused forageables on these cards).

BUY BREWS: You can buy any of the brews shown by paying the required amount of Gems for each. Add these brews to your rucksack. Remember you can only carry 1 of each type of tool in your rucksack.

Note that you cannot buy the XP brew.

CRAFT BREWS: 2 forageables are required to craft each brew (e.g. the Life brew requires a snail and a feather) except the XP brew, which requires any 3 different forageables.

Discard the cards containing these forageables from your supply (you don't get to keep any unused forageables on these cards), then add the brew to your rucksack.

The Market

BUY AND SELL: You can:

• Buy as many tools (i.e. shovel, torch, clock and gloves) as you can afford, at the price shown. Remember you can only carry 1 of each type of brew in your rucksack.
• Sell any items from your rucksack at the price shown. Remember to remove these items from your rucksack.

SELL YOUR FISH: You can sell fish for the amount of Gems shown on the Market card.

• 1 fish (any icon) = 1 fish of any colour.
• Starfish = 1 starfish.
• 3 different coloured fish = a set of 3 different coloured fish.

Discard the cards containing the fish you sold from your supply (you don't get to keep any unsold fish on these cards).

Miners' Guild

ATTEMPT A QUEST: Choose 1 tool to add to your rucksack. Then choose a Quest card matching the depth stated (either shallow or deep). The Quest card will tell you what you need to do to complete the Quest, the reward for doing so, and any special rules that apply during set up, during play, or both.

Place the Quest card and its accompanying map side by side. Set any mine tokens on the board as directed and place your meeple on the entrance. You now start your Quest.

Each Quest can only be attempted once per game. You cannot leave the mine until you've reached the exit.

As soon as your character reaches LEVEL 3, flip the Miners' Guild card so the red banner side is showing.

VISIT THEIR LIBRARY: Spend the amount shown in time and Gems to gain 1 Strength or 1 Agility.

The Crows' Nest

PAY THE CROWS: Pay 60 Gems from your purse, then roll the die 5 times.

Each time you roll, consult the chart to see what the Crows demand from you (e.g. if you roll 3 you must discard 1 item from your rucksack). If you're unable to meet the demand, lose a Life instead.

If you're still alive after the fifth roll, you have won the game! Your debts are paid and this last 3 days will just be an unpleasant memory.

THE END.