Deukalion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• End of the Game
• Victory Points
• The Game Board
• Game Preparation
• Explanation of Play
• The Kylix
• Sails
• Styx
• Order Cards
  • Orders
• Action Cards
• Create a Settlement
• Combat Rules
  • Attacking Another Ship
  • Fight for a City or a Settlement
  • Attack on the Hydra
  • Attacking Another Player with the Hydra
• Game End
• Quick Rules

Components

• 1 game board
• 1 Hydra (sea monster)
• 4 ships
• 4 ship plans
• 40 fighters (10 per player)
• 15 treasures (3 per color)
• 30 action cards
• 16 order cards
• 14 victory point cards
• 5 dice (each with the numbers 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3)
• 1 Kylix (dice cup - the Greek word "Kylix" is a kind of drinking cup common in ancient Greece)
• 1 sheet of stickers

Before the first playing of the game, we encourage you to read the complete rulebook. If you already know how to play, the Quick Rules serve as a fast overview.

End of the Game

The player who reaches the victory point total first wins the game. Depending on the number of players, there are different winning thresholds:

• With 2 players: 16 victory points
• With 3 players: 14 victory points
• With 4 players: 12 victory points

Victory Points

The following things count for victory points: fighters on settlements, victory point cards and fulfilled order cards.

There are 5 possible ways to obtain victory points:

1. A fulfilled order card. Each order card shows two orders. The player who fulfills one of the two orders puts the card face up before himself and receives the victory points shown on the card.
2. A settlement. The players create settlements by placing 1 or 2 fighters on the spaces of the settlements. Vacant settlements can be settled by the players without a fight, but occupied settlements must be conquered. Fighters who are left behind count as victory points (1 or 2) for their owner. If a player loses the settlement, he also loses the victory points!
3. Defeating the Hydra. If a player wins a fight against the Hydra, he takes a victory point card.
4. Majority of the fighters in the Underworld. If a player has the most fighters in the Underworld, and then sails to the Styx (river of the underworld) in order to bring his fighters back, he may take 2 victory point cards. Exception: in the 2 player game, he may take only 1 victory point card.
5. Bringing treasure to Athens (without fulfilling an order). If a player sails to Athens (on one of the anchor spaces) and brings any treasure there, he can take a victory point card.

Important! Players can review how many victory points anyone has at any time.

The Game Board

• Athens (with 5 anchorages)
• Styx (2 spaces)
• 8 cities: Korinth, Mykene, Sparta, Thera, Kreta (Crete), Rhodos (Rhodes), Zypern (Cyprus) and Halikarnassos
• 4 settlements: Ephesus, Salamis, Argos and Lindos
• The center: on this space the Kylix (dice cup) is placed.

Underworld: If a player loses fighters to the Underworld, they remain here until the player brings them back again.

Styx: A player that sails to a Styx space may bring his fighters back from the Underworld (see "Styx").

Ships: Each player sails with his ship over the game board.

Hydra: The sea monster can attack the ships of the players at any time (see "Attack on the Hydra").

Fighters: Each player uses his fighters in order to protect himself against attacks from fellow players or the Hydra, and to garrison settlements or cities.

Order Cards: 2 order cards are always laid face up on the game board. If they are fulfilled, they are worth victory points.

Victory Point Cards: Each victory point card is worth 1 victory point.

Action Cards: All action cards are positive and help the players to fulfill orders, to win fights or to sail farther.

Adjacent spaces: Often a ship must be on an "adjacent space" in order to do certain things. The indicated spaces (in the illustration) are "adjacent" to Rhodos; spaces on a diagonal are not considered "adjacent".

Treasures: The treasures are distributed before the game on the city spaces. The players conquer treasures and bring them to Athens in order to fulfill orders. If a player conquers a treasure and it does not fit on his ship board, he may place a fighter into the Underworld. This is the only way to voluntarily send fighters to the Underworld.

Ship boards: Each ship board has 10 places for the fighters and treasures of the player. The ship boards lie beside the game board on the table.

Kylix: The active player rolls all 5 dice in the Kylix. He then decides how he wants to place the Kylix - which die is assigned to which action - in the center of the board.

Game Preparation

Before the first playing, stick the stickers on the Hydra, the ships and the fighters (1 sticker per fighter).

1. Place the 15 treasures randomly on the treasure spaces of the cities (1 treasure per space).
2. The Hydra is placed on its launching space.
3. The action cards are shuffled and placed face-down on the space "AKTIONSKARTEN".
4. The order cards are shuffled and placed face-down on the green space "AUFTRAGSKARTEN". The two top cards are turned over and placed on the two green spaces next to the face-down deck of order cards.
5. Place the victory point cards on the blue space "SIEGPUNKT KARTEN".
6. The Kylix with the 5 dice is placed in the center of the board.

Each player receives:

• 1 ship, the ship board and 10 fighters of one color
• 3 action cards from the deck
• 1 order card

The cards are held secretly. Each player puts his fighters on his ship board.

Beginning with the youngest player, each player places his ship on a free anchor space (next to Athens). The ships start from there.

Explanation of Play

The youngest player is the starting player, with play proceeding clockwise around the table.

When the "active player" is taking his turn, it is possible that the other players will be able to sail their ships and take other actions.

The explanation in detail:

1. The active player rolls the 5 dice with the Kylix and sets them in front of himself.
2. While the active player considers how he would like to place the Kylix into the center of the board, all fellow (non-active) players may each set sail in turn order. The die in the center of the Kylix is the maximum number of spaces that they can sail. This starts with the player to the left of the active player.
3. The fellow (non-active) players can create settlements, fulfill orders, and attack cities or other ships. Note: the fellow players may choose not to sail and instead take back 2 fighters from the Underworld.
4. As soon as all of the fellow (non-active) players are finished, the active player places the Kylix in the center of the board. The position of the Kylix shows how many dice pips are selected for each action.
5. The active player may choose to execute the various actions with the Kylix in any order. The individual dice results apply to the action symbols they are next to:
   • draw action cards
   • bring back fighters from the Underworld
   • move the Hydra
   • set sail... and possibly attack a settlement, city or fellow player and/or create a settlement.
6. If a player fulfills an order card during his turn, he places it face up in front of himself.

Example: Player A rolls with the Kylix and sets it in front of herself. The die in the center shows "3". Player B sails 3 spaces and creates a settlement. Player C does not move and instead takes 2 fighters back from the Underworld. Player D sails 2 spaces and attacks Rhodos, in order to take a treasure. Player A places the Kylix in the center of the game board and takes her turn.

The Kylix

Each die should fall into one of the 5 recesses. Otherwise, shake the Kylix gently until all the dice lie in a recess.

The middle die shows the maximum number of spaces that the other players can sail during the active player's turn. The 4 remaining dice show the 4 actions that the active player will do (in any order): set SAIL, move the HYDRA, draw ACTION CARDS, and bring back FIGHTERS.

After the movement of the fellow (non-active) players, the active player places the Kylix in the center of the game board and does the following actions (in any order):

• Hydra: The die shows how many spaces the Hydra may be moved. The Hydra moves horizontally and vertically (not diagonally) and only on water spaces. Exception: it may not enter the anchor spaces or the River Styx spaces. The active player does not have to use the maximum movement of the Hydra.
• Action Cards: The rolled number means the following:
  1. = all inactive players take an action card.
  2. = no player receives an action card.
  3. = the active player takes an action card.
• Fighters: The die indicates how many fighters the active player may bring back from the Underworld.
• Sails: The die shows how many spaces the player's ship can sail. The ship moves horizontally and vertically (not diagonally). The player does not have to use the maximum movement of the ship.

Sails

• Ships may only sail on water spaces (also on the Styx spaces and on the 4 spaces around the center), but not on cities, settlements and the center of the game board.
• If you sail a ship onto a space with another ship, your movement ends.
• Anchor spaces are safe; you may not attack another ship on these spaces. Several ships can be on an anchor space at the same time.
• Ships cannot enter the space the Hydra occupies. Exception: if the order "Defeat the Hydra!" is face-up on the board or is in a player's hand, then a player attacking the Hydra may move into the same space with it. Then movement ends on this space.
• The movement of the ship ends as soon as a player fulfills an order, reaches a Styx space, creates a settlement and/or tries to conquer a city or settlement.

Styx

An inactive player may bring all of his fighters back from the Underworld if he sails his ship to a Styx space. If not all of the fighters fit on the ship board, the remaining fighters must remain in the Underworld, or the player may put treasures off of his ship board onto open treasure spaces in cities.

If several players have the largest number of fighters in the Underworld, the player may not take the 2 victory point cards, as he does not have a majority.

Multiple ships may be on the Styx spaces at the same time. They are safe spaces (like the anchor spaces); you may not attack another ship on these spaces.

Order Cards

An order is a task of the Gods... for example: "Bring 1 red treasure to Athens!" or "Defeat the Hydra!". Each player receives an order card before beginning the game which goes hidden into his hand and which only he may fulfill. When a player fulfills this order card, he may place it face-up in front of himself to claim the victory points on the card. He does not draw a new order card for his hand.

Important! As soon as one of the two face-up order cards is fulfilled, a new order card must be drawn from the pile and placed face-up.

1. The player who fulfills one or more orders immediately places the order card in front of himself and gets the appropriate victory points. An inactive player can also fulfill one or more orders. This is also true if the active player fulfills more orders later in his turn.
2. If two players fulfill an order card at the same time, they both receive 1 victory point card. The order card is taken out of play.

Example: Player A sails to Athens (landing on an anchor space) and has a green and a red treasure on his ship board. He can then fulfill the order "Bring a green treasure to Athens!" and takes the order card and places it in front of himself. He places the green treasure on a free treasure space in any city and turns over a new order card. It reads: "Bring a red treasure to Athens!" Player A immediately fulfills this order, since he is located in Athens and has a red treasure on board. He also takes this order card and puts the red treasure on any treasure field.

Orders

1. Treasures to Athens. Players can receive victory points for bringing treasures to Athens, if they:

• sail to a city (ending their move on a neighboring space) and successfully attack this city, or
• have a successful fight against a fellow player who has one or more treasures.

If a player receives a treasure, he puts it on a free space of his ship board. If there is no place free, he may place a fighter into the Underworld.

As soon as the ship of the player reaches an anchor field, he can deliver the treasure to Athens! The player puts the treasure on a free treasure space of any city.

If the order card was an open one (on the board), he takes it and receives the victory points on the card. If there is no order card face-up on the board, the player may take a victory point card instead.

2. Attack a fellow player. The player sails onto the same space with another ship in order to attack it. If the aggressor wins, he puts the order card in front of himself. The fellow player is also considered defeated if you successfully defend yourself against his attack.

3. Sail to the named city with X number of fighters.

4. Sail to the named city with X number of action cards. In order to fulfill this order, the player must have at least the shown number of action cards in his hand. He sails to one of the adjacent spaces next to the city mentioned and discards that number of action cards face-down to the bottom of the action card deck. He then takes the order card and puts it in front of himself.

5. Defeat the Hydra. Only if this order card is face up or in a player's hand are they allowed to attack the Hydra.

Action Cards

Most action cards lose their effect after they are played and are immediately placed under the action card deck.

Only the action cards "Pegasus", "Favor of Hades" and "Golden Fleece" remain valid after they are played. They remain face up before the player who played them for the remainder of the game.

All players may play action cards at any time, as many as they want. They may play them as soon as they have drawn them from the deck.

Create a Settlement

In order to create a settlement (Ephesus, Salamis, Argos or Lindos), the player sails to a neighboring space of the settlement and places the shown number of fighters (1 or 2) from his ship board into the settlement.

These fighters cannot be used in fighting so long as they are located in the settlement. Only when another player conquers the settlement later in the game can the player get back his fighters. When defeated, they are placed in the Underworld and can then be brought back to the ship board.

If fighters of another player are already located in a settlement, they must be attacked in order to settle it with your men.

Each settlement counts as 1 or 2 victory points for the player whose fighter(s) are there at the end of the game. The number of victory points corresponds to the number of fighters.

Each player may settle as many settlements as he desires.

Combat Rules

Attacking Another Ship

1. Both players take all fighters on their ship boards into the hand and "roll/throw" them. The position of the fighters determines the number of combat points a player has for that battle:
   • Each fighter who is lying with his cross upward counts for 0 points and is placed in the Underworld.
   • Each fighter who is lying with his cross down counts for 1 point and is placed back on his ship board.
   • Each fighter who is lying on his side or standing counts a half point (1/2) and is placed back on his ship board.
2. Both players add their combat points. The player with more points wins. In case of a tie, the defender wins.
3. The winner can either take a treasure from the ship board of the loser... or he can take an action card from the deck. Additionally, the winner must move the loser's ship 3 water spaces to an empty space.

Fight for a City or a Settlement

In order to attack a city or a settlement, the ship of the aggressor must stand on a neighboring space.

The player rolls all fighters of his ship board. Both cities and settlements have conquest values (e.g. "4" in Halikarnassos and "1" in Ephesus). If the player obtains more combat points than the conquest value of the settlement or city, he wins the fight:

• City: The player may take one of the treasures and place it on his ship board.
• Settlement: The fighters of the player who had previously held the settlement are placed in the Underworld and replaced by 1 or 2 fighters of the winner.

Example: In order to create a settlement at Ephesus, the player leaves a fighter there. Ephesus has a conquest value of 1 - an aggressor must thus have at least 1 combat point in order to conquer the settlement from another player. In Halikarnassos there are 3 treasures on the board. Halikarnassos has a conquest value of 4 - an aggressor must thus roll at least 4 combat points in order to take a treasure from the city.

Attack on the Hydra

The player sails to the space where the Hydra is. He rolls all of the fighters on his ship board. If the player obtains 5 combat points or more, he defeats the Hydra. The player puts the order card face up in front of himself and moves the Hydra 3 spaces to a free water space.

If the player rolls less than 5 combat points, he loses the fight and the player to his right shifts the attacking ship 3 spaces to a free water space.

Attacking Another Player with the Hydra

The player moves the Hydra to the space with the ship of a fellow player so the Hydra can attack.

The attacked player rolls all of the fighters of his ship board.

If the attacked player rolls 5 or more combat points, he wins against the Hydra and may take a victory point card. If the "Defeat the Hydra!" order card is face up or in the hand of the winning player, he takes the order card instead of the victory point card. He then shifts the Hydra 3 water spaces to a free water space.

If the attacked player rolls less than 5 combat points, he loses and the player to his right moves his ship 3 spaces to a free water space.

Game End

If a player reaches the correct number of victory points, the game ends immediately.

Quick Rules

1. The active player rolls the 5 dice in the Kylix.

2. All fellow players may sail (the number of spaces is shown on the middle die) and take actions.

3. The active player places the Kylix in the center of the game board.

4. He implements actions in any order:

   • bring back fighters from the Underworld
   • take action cards
   • sail
   • move the Hydra

5. He may also possibly:

   • create a settlement,
   • attack another ship, or
   • attack a city or a settlement.

   A player may fulfill one or more order cards.

6. The next player becomes the active player. It is important to know at any time the number of victory points you have!

7. Whoever achieves the correct amount of victory points first wins the game.