Dawn of Mankind Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
• Gameplay Overview
• Gameplay in Detail
• Final Scoring
• Appendix: Progress Cards
• Appendix: Action Tiles
  • First Column (Childhood)
  • Second Column (Post-Adolescence)
  • Third Column (Adulthood)
  • Fourth Column (Elders)

Components and Setup

5 INVENTORY MATS – Place one face-up in front of each player. Return any left over to the box, they will not be used this game.

40 CLAN MEEPLES – Place 8 clan meeples in a single color on each Inventory mat. Return any left over to the box.

1 GAME BOARD – Place this in the center of the table, within easy reach of all players. The board depicts terraced columns of action spaces. Each terrace/column represents a stage of life for your Clan meeples. The first (highest) one is childhood, the second is post-adolescence, the third is adulthood, and the last are your Clan elders.

Game Progression: Child — Teen — Adult — Elder

19 ACTION TILES – Place these on the board spaces which match their outline and background. Each tile goes on a specific space. Some tiles have a different front and back, select which one will be face-up at random.

8 ART CARDS – Shuffle these in a face-down deck and deal 4 face-up along the bottom of the board, inside the slots with the paw-print symbol. Place the remaining deck nearby.

4 ART TRACKING CUBES – Place one of these in the square space in the first line of each of the face-up Art cards.

44 PROGRESS CARDS – Separate these by name. Pull out any cards with a player count indicator on the back that exceeds the number of players playing the game, and return those to the box. Stack each name group with the lowest-costed card on top, the next highest below that, and so on until the most expensive card is on the bottom. Randomly select 5 of the stacks to place along the top of the board, inside the slots with the flame symbol. Return any left over to the box, only 5 stacks get used in any given game.

20 RESOURCE MARKERS (5 each of Fruit, Meat, Hides, and Tools) – Place one of these on the zero space of the matching track on each player's Inventory mat. Return any left over to the box. When you gain or lose resources during the game, adjust the markers accordingly to show how much you have of each. During the game, a cooking pot icon indicates you may choose either Fruit or Meat. A question-mark icon means you may choose any resource. You can never have more than 8 of any single resource, if you gain more than you can have, any excess is lost.

84 VICTORY POINT TOKENS – Place these in a pile as a general supply. When you gain Victory Points, take Victory Point tokens from the general supply with an appropriate total value. If you lose Victory Points, discard the appropriate amount of your Victory Point tokens back to the general supply. Make change as needed, there is not intended to be a limit on these. The total value of the Victory Point tokens you have is not public knowledge, you may keep tokens you have acquired face-down in front of you to hide this information from other players.

5 SETUP CARDS – Shuffle these and deal a number of them to the center of the table equal to the number of players in the game. Return any left over to the box.

The player who most recently handled a club will be the Starting Player for the game. Beginning with the player to the RIGHT of the Starting Player, and proceeding COUNTER-CLOCKWISE, each player will take four setup turns.

ON YOUR TURN, EITHER:

• Choose a Setup card, gaining the resources shown by adjusting the Resource markers on your Inventory mat, and discarding the card back to the box. You may not select this option if you have already chosen a Setup card.

OR

• Place one of your Clan meeples on the Ready Area in one of the first three columns of the board. You may not select this option if you already have 3 Clan meeples on the board.

  • You may only have one meeple in each column.

  • When placing in the 2nd or 3rd column, you must place on a Ready Area that has no other Clan meeple(s) on it, if possible. Otherwise, you must place in one of the Ready Areas with the fewest Clan meeple(s) in that column. If there is a tie for fewest Clan meeples, you may choose amongst the tied spots.

After 4 turns, once every player has gained the resources from one Setup card and placed 1 of their Clan meeples in each of the first 3 columns on the Game board, you are ready to begin!

Gameplay Overview

Players will take turns choosing to either perform an action or rest. When you perform an action, move one of your Clan meeples from a Ready Area forward along a line to an Action tile, bump any opposing Clan meeples off that tile into the next Ready Area, and then perform the action shown on the tile. When you rest, move all of your Clan meeples that are on Action tiles into the next Ready Area, and "Spoil" your food resources by reducing them to the max levels shown on your Inventory mat. At the end of your turn, if you have 60 VP tokens or more, the game ends immediately. Players score bonus points for their resources, meeples, and Progress tiles, then the player with the most points wins!

Gameplay in Detail

Players will take turns, beginning with the Start Player and proceeding CLOCKWISE around the table.

On your turn, you must either perform an action OR rest.

TO PERFORM AN ACTION, DO THE FOLLOWING (IN ORDER):

• Select one of your Clan meeples that is in a Ready Area.

• Move the Clan meeple forward (following the arrows) along a line to one of the connected Action tiles that does not have one of your other Clan meeples on it. Lines may connect up or branch, you may take any of those connections or branches as long as you are moving forward to an action tile that an arrow is pointing at.

• If you crossed a newborn icon and you have 0, 1, or 2 Clan meeples in the first Ready Area on the board, immediately take a Clan meeple from your Inventory mat and put it in the first Ready Area. You may never have more than 8 Clan meeples on the board at one time.

• If you crossed an art icon and you have the resources shown in the same line as an Art Tracking cube on any of the Art cards, you may Create Art by losing the resources shown on that card and immediately gaining the indicated value of Victory Point tokens from the general supply. If you gained Victory Points this way, slide the Art Tracking cube down to the next line. If this was the last line on the card, the cube slides off the card entirely. Place the Art card on the bottom of the deck and draw a new one to replace it, putting the Art Tracking cube in the space on the first line of the card. You may only create one piece of art at a time.

• If another player had a Clan meeple on the Action tile you moved to, move that Clan meeple forward to the Ready Area in the next column.

• If you are able to, Perform the action on the tile you just moved to. You may not choose to forgo the action if you are able to perform it. Lose the resources, points, and Clan meeples indicated, then gain the benefits shown. If you cannot lose everything that it instructs you to lose, then you cannot perform the action. Some actions do not require you to lose anything in order to gain something, or may require you merely to have a certain amount of something but not lose it. There is a reference for all of the Action tiles at the end of the rules.

  • If there is an art icon you may Create Art by following the same rules described previously – lose the resources shown on an Art card next to an Art Tracking cube, gain the Victory Points shown, and advance the Art Tracking cube.

  • If there is a newborn icon and there are fewer than 3 of your Clan meeples in the first Ready Area on the board, you may move one of your Clan meeples from your Inventory mat to the first Ready Area. You may not do this if all 8 of your meeples are already on the board.

  • If there is a progress icon you may select a Progress card you have not previously acquired from the top of one of the stacks of Progress cards. Pay the resources shown (if any) and place the card in one of the slots on your Inventory mat. If it is a "Cooking", "Religion", or "Storytelling" Progress card, it must be placed directly on top of the corresponding pre-printed space on your Inventory mat, it overrides what is printed there. Otherwise it may be placed in one of the three slots alongside your mat OR on top of one of your existing Progress cards to override it. At most you may have 6 Progress cards active (including the three you start with that are pre-printed on your Inventory mat). A description of all the Progress cards is at the end of the rules.

TO REST, DO THE FOLLOWING (IN ORDER):

• Move all of your Clan meeples that are on Action tiles into the Ready Area in the next column (moving down one terrace).

• Any of your Clan meeples that are past the last "elder" terrace (and are now along the shore) proceed to the next great adventure, and are moved off the board and back to your Inventory mat.

• You may choose to Cook Food or Expand Your Tribe.

  • If you Cook Food, you may lose the food shown on the "Cooking" Progress card or pre-printed on your Inventory mat to gain the Victory Points indicated. You may make lose either Fruit or Meat, and you may only make the exchange once per rest.

  • If you Expand Your Tribe, lose ALL your Fruit and Meat AND 3 Victory Points. Move one of your Clan meeples from your Inventory mat to the first Ready Area on the board. You may only do this if you have at least 3 Victory Points to give up, and only if there are 2 or fewer of your Clan meeples in the first Ready Area already.

• Spoil food – If you have more than 3 Meat, lose Meat until you only have 3. If you have more than 6 Fruit, lose Fruit until you only have 6.

At the end of your turn, if you have 60 or more value in Victory Point tokens, you must reveal them all. The game ends immediately, proceed to final scoring. Otherwise, the turn is passed to the next player clockwise around the table.

Final Scoring

EVERYONE GAINS VICTORY POINTS AS FOLLOWS:

• 2 Victory Points for each Progress CARD you acquired during the game (this does not count those pre-printed on your Inventory mats). If you acquired the Storytelling Progress card, you gain 3 Victory Points for each Progress card you acquired instead.

• 1 Victory Point for each of your Clan meeples that is currently on the Game board. If you acquired the Storytelling Progress card, you instead gain 2 Victory Points for each of your Clan meeples on the Game board.

• 1 Victory Point for every two Fruit and/or Meat you have at the end of the game, and 2 Victory Points for every 2 Tools and/or Hides you have at the end of the game. For example, if you had 1 Fruit and 3 Meat, you would Score 2 Victory Points for your leftover food.

  • If you acquired the Religion Progress card, instead gain 2 Victory Points for every 2 Fruit/Meat, and 4 Victory Points for every Tool/Hide you have.

The player with the most victory points, wins! If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Clan meeples on the board wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player who can put their 8 Clan meeples in a single, unsupported stack first, wins.

Appendix: Progress Cards

ADAPTABILITY – When choosing to "perform an action", after you move onto the Action tile and bumped any opposing Clan meeples off of it, but before you perform the action, you may choose to move your Clan meeple to one of the adjacent Action tiles in the same column, and take the action depicted on this new Action tile instead. Do not bump opposing Clan meeples off the new Action tile, only the one you initially moved to.

MEDICINE – When choosing to "perform an action", after choosing your Clan meeple but before moving it, you may choose to perform the action on the Action tile immediately before the Clan meeple's Ready Area. Then move the Clan meeple forward as normal, triggering art and newborn icons along the path and bumping opposing meeples off the next Action tile as normal, but do not perform the action printed on the destination Action tile.

COOKING – This Progress card must be placed on top of the "Cooking" progress ability that is pre-printed on your Inventory mat. When choosing to rest, this allows you convert food into points at the more favorable rate of 3 Fruits for 4 Victory Points, or 2 Meat for 4 Victory Points. However you may no longer choose the "Expand Tribe" option when resting.

RELIGION – This Progress card must be placed on top of the "Religion" progress ability that is pre-printed on your Inventory mat. At the end of the game, during final scoring, you now gain 2 Victory Points for every 2 food (Meat and/or Fruit) you have left over, and you gain 4 Victory Points for every 2 items (Tools and/or Hides) you have left over.

STORYTELLING – This Progress card must be placed on top of the "Storytelling" progress ability that is pre-printed on your Inventory mat. At the end of the game you now gain 3 Victory Points for every Progress card you acquired during the game, and 2 Victory Points for each of your Clan meeples that is still on the Game board at the end of the game. Please remember that you may not acquire more than one Progress card of the same name during a single game.

BASKET – Every time you perform the action on a "GATHER" Action tile, gain 2 Fruit in addition to what the Action tile provides.

DOG – Every time you perform the action on a "HUNT" Action tile, gain 2 Meat in addition to what the Action tile provides. Please note that while the "FISH" Action tile looks similar to the "HUNT" Action tiles, they are not the same thing.

NEEDLE – Every time you perform the action on a "HUNT" Action tile, gain 2 Hides in addition to what the Action tile provides. Please note that while the "FISH" Action tile looks similar to the "HUNT" Action tiles, they are not the same thing.

FIRE – Every time you perform the action on a "TOOL" Action tile, gain 2 Tools in addition to what the Action tile provides.

LEADERSHIP – Every time another player (not yourself) acquires a Progress card while you have a Leadership card, you gain 1 Victory Point.

DYES – Every time you advance an Art Tracking cube, gain 1 resource of your choice (Fruit, Meat, Hide, or Tool). You do not gain this until after you pay the costs for the art.

Appendix: Action Tiles

This is a reference for all the Action Tiles. Some tiles have a different front and back, so more faces are listed here than there are physical tiles.

First Column (Childhood)

TOOL – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) to gain 1 Tool.

PICK FRUIT – Gain 1 Fruit.

PLAY – Lose 1 Meat to gain 2 Victory Points.

FISHING – Gain 1 Meat.

CARRION – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) to gain 1 Hide.

DANCE – Gain an amount of Victory Points equal to the number of your Clan meeples currently on the game board, minus 2. For example, if you had 5 Clan meeples on the Game board, you would gain 3 Victory Points. If you had only 1 Clan meeple, you would lose 1 Victory Point (1 minus 2 is negative 1). It is ok to dance by yourself, civilization is different now than it was back then.

HUNT – Lose 1 Tool to gain 2 Meat and 2 Hides.

TRAP – If you have at least 1 Tool and at least 1 Fruit, Gain 3 Meat. (You do not lose Tools or Fruit from this).

TOOL – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) to gain 2 Tools and 1 Victory Point.

BARTER – Lose up to to 6 resources of your choice (any combination of Fruit, Meat, Tools, and Hides) to gain the same total amount of resources of your choice in any combination. For example, you could choose to lose 3 Tools and 3 Fruit in order to gain 4 Hides and 2 Meat.

NEWBORN – Move 1 of your Clan meeples from your Inventory mat to the first Ready Area on the Game board. You may not perform this action if you currently have 3 Clan meeples in the first Ready Area.

Second Column (Post-Adolescence)

HIDES – Lose 1 Meat, 1 Tool, and 2 Hides to gain 10 Victory Points.

FISHING – If you have at least 2 Tools, Gain 3 Meat. (You do not lose the Tools).

HUNT – Gain 2 Meat.

STUDY – Lose 1 Hide, then select the top Progress card from one of the available stacks and lose the amount of resources shown on it (if any), and gain that Progress card. You must be able to pay both the initial Hide cost and the additional cost printed on the Progress card in order to perform this action. You may not select a Progress card you have already acquired.

GATHER – Gain 3 Fruit.

BARTER – Lose up to to 5 resources of your choice (any combination of Fruit, Meat, Tools, and Hides) to gain the same total amount of resources of your choice in any combination. For example, you could choose to lose 1 Meat and 3 Fruit in order to gain 2 Hides and 2 Tools.

HUNT – Lose 1 Tool to gain 2 Meat and 1 Hide.

NEWBORN – Lose 1 Food (Meat or Fruit) to move 1 of your Clan meeples from your Inventory mat to the first Ready Area on the Game board. You may not perform this action if you currently have 3 Clan meeples in the first Ready Area.

GATHER – Gain an amount of Fruit equal to the number of your Clan meeples currently on the Game board, minus 2. For example, if you have 6 Clan meeples on the Game board, you would gain 4 Fruit from performing this action (6 minus 2 equals 4).

Third Column (Adulthood)

STUDY – Select the top Progress card from one of the available stacks and lose the amount of resources shown on it (if any), and gain that Progress card. You must be able to pay the additional cost printed on the Progress card in order to perform this action. You may not select a Progress card you have already acquired.

TOOL – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) to gain 3 Tools.

FISHING – If you have at least 3 Tools, gain 4 Meat. (You do not lose the Tools).

HUNT – Lose 1 Tool to gain 3 Meat and 1 Hide.

BEAST – Lose 2 Tools to gain 2 Hides and 4 Victory Points.

Fourth Column (Elders)

SHAMAN – Lose 1 Meat and 1 Tool to gain 5 Victory Points.

HIDES – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) and 1 Hide to gain 5 Victory Points.

FINAL EXCURSION – Move your Clan meeple which is performing this action back to your Inventory mat to Gain 2 Meat and 3 Victory Points.

IMPART WISDOM – Move your Clan meeple which is performing this action back to your Inventory mat to gain an amount of Victory Points equal to the number of your Clan meeples currently on the game board.

GATHER – Gain 3 Fruit.

STUDY – Lose 1 Food (Fruit or Meat) and 1 Tool, then select the top Progress card from one of the available stacks and lose the amount of resources shown on it (if any), and gain that Progress card. You must be able to pay both the initial Food and Tool cost and the additional cost printed on the Progress card in order to perform this action. You may not select a Progress card you have already acquired.

EXPLORE – Move your Clan meeple which is performing this action back to your Inventory mat, then lose up to 7 resources of your choice (any combination of Fruit, Meat, Hides, or Tools) to gain 2 Victory Points for each of those resources you lost. For example, if you chose to lose 4 total resources, you would gain 8 Victory Points.

BURIAL – Move your Clan meeple which is performing this action back to your Inventory mat, then lose 1 Hide to gain 7 Victory Points.

GATHER – Gain an amount of Fruit equal to the number of your Clan meeples currently on the Game board, minus 2. For example, if you have 4 Clan meeples on the Game board, you would gain 2 Fruit from performing this action (4 minus 2 equals 2).