Divinity Derby
Divinity Derby Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 6 creature miniatures and 6 miniature bases in different colors (Dragon - green, Gryphon - brown, Lamassu - black, Pegasus - white, Phoenix - red, Sylph - yellow). Attach the base of the appropriate color to the miniature of each creature.
- 54 movement cards (5 normal cards, and 4 dirty trick cards for each creature): Dragon, Gryphon, Lamassu, Pegasus, Phoenix, Sylph.
- 4 Zeus protection cards.
- 66 bet cards (11 cards for each god): Anansi, Horus, Marduk, Odin, Quetzalcoatl, Yù Huáng the Jade Emperor.
- 18 Power of the Gods cards (3 cards for each god): Anansi, Horus, Marduk, Odin, Quetzalcoatl, Yù Huáng the Jade Emperor.
- Other components: this rulebook, 1 board, 6 cardholders, 6 fate tokens, 24 creature tokens, 6 god tokens, 1 first player token.
Movement Card Legend
- Fast movement
- Slow movement
- Dirty trick bonus
- Creature
Bet Card Legend
- Ranking
- God / player
- Victory point value
Game Overview
In Divinity Derby each player assumes the role of a god, chosen among the six available (Anansi, Horus, Marduk, Odin, Quetzalcoatl, and Yù Huáng the Jade Emperor), betting on a race among mythological flying creatures on a special track.
A full game is divided into three races. At the start of each race, movement cards are distributed so that each player can see and use the cards in two cardholders, shared with adjacent players.
In each race, the players place their bets on the creatures, basing their choices on the movement cards they see, and taking into account the choices of the other players.
During his turn, a player chooses two different movement cards from the two different hands of cards in the cardholders (one card from each hand), to make the creatures move on the race track.
Every player has 11 different bets at his disposal, to split among the three races (nine will be used, two will be left unused at the end of the game). Each bet has a different difficulty level; the more difficult a bet is to complete, more victory points it grants when completed.
There is a limited number of available bets to place on each creature, so a player may not always be able to bet on the creature of his choice, if he waits too long.
After three races, the player with most victory points is the winner.
Initial Set-Up
Place the game board in the middle of the table, and then place the six creature miniatures on the sector behind the green starting line (indicated by the three trumpets illustration), ready for the race.
Each player chooses one god to personify, taking all the matching bet cards, and his god token.
Take the four Zeus protection cards and place them in the leftmost Zeus' Judgment space (marked with one azure gem), to form the Zeus deck.
Place the creature tokens in the appropriate places on the board, indicated by the matching creature illustration:
- 2 tokens for each creature in a 3-player game
- 3 tokens for each creature in a 4-player or 5-player game
- 4 tokens for each creature in a 6-player game
Take a number of cardholders equal to the number of players and place them between the players, so each player will have one cardholder on his left and one on his right.
Shuffle the movement card deck, and randomly deal a number of cards determined by the number of players.
Each player gets:
- 10 movement cards in a 3-player game
- 8 movement cards in a 4-player game
- 6 movement cards in a 5-player or 6-player game
Then, each player inserts the movement cards he just received into the cardholder on his left (cards in each cardholder are shared with the adjacent players).
Place the deck of unused movement cards for this race in the space above the final ranking track, on the left. The space on the right is the discard pile and will be used to hold movement cards used by the players during the race (see 2. The Race).
Finally, you must decide the first player: the player who most recently saw a flying creature (or the youngest player, if you prefer!) receives the first player token.
Now, you are ready to play!
Board Legend
- Starting line
- Sector
- Mid-race line (3-4 players)
- Mid-race line (5-6 players)
- Finish line
- Bet tokens
- Final ranking track
- Unused card pile
- Discard pile
- Zeus' Judgment
How to Play
The game is divided into three races, and every race is divided into five steps:
- First bets
- The race: a) Move the creatures b) Third bet c) Determine the ranking
- Zeus' Judgment
- Bet outcome
- Set-up new race (first and second race) / Victory point count (third race only)
The final winner of the game is determined at the end of the third race.
1. First Bets
Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player:
- Chooses one of his bet cards and places it facedown in front of him;
- Chooses the creature he wants to place the bet on;
- Takes the corresponding creature token from the appropriate space on the board;
- Places the token on his bet card.
The other players will see which creature he is betting on, but not the type of bet.
After every player has chosen his first bet, a second round of betting begins with the first player, following the same procedure. Every player places his second bet card next to the first one, with the creature token on the bet card.
During a race, a player can bet only once on the same creature.
It may happen during the game that the creature tokens of a creature run out. In this case, it is not possible to bet on that creature anymore.
After all the players have placed their bets, the race starts!
2. The Race
a) Move the Creatures
Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes his turn, choosing one movement card from the cardholder on his left and one from the cardholder on his right.
On each movement card, a creature is shown, along with two different values, one below the other. The number at the top (fast movement) is always higher that the number at the bottom (slow movement).
- The player decides which movement card to play first, and uses the fast movement value of that card to move the corresponding creature forward along the track that number of sectors.
- Then, the player selects the second movement card, and uses the slow movement value of that card to move the corresponding creature forward along the track that number of sectors.
Choosing both cards from the same cardholder is not allowed.
Dirty Tricks
Some movement cards have a bonus value next to the fast movement value, indicated by a "+" in front of the number: these are dirty trick movement cards. Such a card allows the player to do a dirty trick to increase the movement of a creature, but only when the player uses this card as his first movement card of the turn (that is, when the fast movement value is used).
Using the dirty trick bonus is not mandatory. However, if a player decides to use this bonus, the card is discarded, after being played, on the Zeus's Judgment space for the current race, not on the discard pile. This forms the Zeus deck (used during the 3. Zeus' Judgment step).
If the player uses the card as the second movement card, the slow movement value is used and the dirty trick bonus has no effect.
If you do not use the bonus, the card is discarded normally.
Creatures Tied in a Sector
If a creature ends its movement in a sector where there is already another creature, place the moving creature to the right of the creature already present in that sector. When the race ends, and there are two or more creatures in the same sector, this placement indicates which creature will rank first among them: the rightmost creature in the sector is the first and the others follow, one after the other one. (In other words, the last creature to enter the sector will be ahead in the ranking.)
b) Third Bet
The race continues until the leading creature moves beyond the mid-race line. Use the yellow line in 3-4 player games, or the orange line in 5-6 player games: consider only the line matching the number of players, and ignore the other one. When the leading creature passes the mid-race line, it's time for players to place the third bet of this race.
At the end of the turn of the player moving that creature, the player on his left becomes the new first player, and receives the first player token. If that player was already the first player, he keeps the first player token.
The new first player now places the third bet for this race. Then, in clockwise order, all the other players place their third bet. The same procedure explained in the First Bets step is followed.
When all players have placed their bets, this step ends, and the race goes on normally, restarting with the new first player.
c) Determine the Ranking
During the race, as soon as a creature crosses the red finish line, place it on the final ranking track on the board.
Even if one or more creatures cross the finish line, the race goes on until all the movement cards in the cardholders have been played.
At this point, determine the final ranking of this race, moving the creatures still on the race track to the final ranking track according to their position, from first to last. Resolve any ties as indicated in Creatures Tied in a Sector.
3. Zeus' Judgment
After the end of the race, the Zeus' Judgment space contains four Zeus Protection cards and all the movement cards played using a dirty trick in the current race: this is called the Zeus deck. After the ranking is determined, this deck is shuffled, and two cards are drawn at random.
If there are one or more movement cards among the drawn cards, then the creature(s) shown will be disqualified — remove them from the final ranking track of this race, and advance the remaining creatures on the track to fill any gaps thus created.
Unless this is the third race, the four Zeus Protection cards are then placed on the space for the next race (two azure gems for the second race, three azure gems for the third race), while all the movement cards (dirty tricks, used cards, and unused cards) are shuffled together to reform the movement card deck.
4. Bet Outcome
All the players now reveal the three bet cards they placed during the race.
Each player compares his bet cards with the final ranking of the race, and determines which of his bets are successful or not.
He places all successful bet cards face up under his god token, while he discards his unsuccessful bet cards face up to the Zeus' Judgment space on the board related to the race that just ended.
A player can always look at the cards under his god token, and ask their victory point total to the other players, anytime during the game.
5.1 Set-up New Race
(First and Second Race)
After the first and the second race, players prepare for the next race.
- First, distribute the movement cards for the new race to the players in the same way you did during the first race.
- Place unused movement cards to the appropriate space on the board.
- The first player token passes to the player on the left of the previous first player (so the player who placed the third bet first during the previous race will be the last player at the start of the new race).
- Creatures and creature tokens are placed as in the initial setup.
5.2 Victory Point Count
(Third Race)
At the end of the third race, each player takes all his successful bet cards from the three races (placed under his god token). Then, he sums the victory point values of these cards and calculates his victory point total.
The player with the most victory points wins the game.
Variants
Power of the Gods
To add more fun and variety to the game, players can decide to use this variant, introducing the Power of the Gods cards, which give different special powers to each player.
At the start of the game, each player takes the Power of the Gods cards matching his chosen god. If you do not use the Fate tokens optional rule, the cards marked with a lightning-bolt symbol are not used: set them aside before the game begins.
Each card can be used once per game, at the moment indicated on the card condition, using the effect described on the card itself. The effect of a card takes precedence over the normal game rules.
In case more than one player wants to play a card at the same time, the current player must go first, then other players may play a card, in clockwise order. Resolve the effects one at a time.
Optional Rule — Fate Tokens
Six Fate tokens are included in the game. If you play with this optional rule, at the start of the game, each player (starting with the first player and in clockwise order) picks one Fate token, and places it on any sector on the board (except the starting sector and finish sector) which does not have already a Fate token on it.
The Fate token does not have any power in itself. However, one card for each god (marked with the lightning-bolt symbol) requires a creature to be in a sector with a Fate token to be played.
When a Power of the Gods card is played because a creature moved into a section with a Fate token, the Fate token is temporarily removed from the board.
At the start of the next race, remove any Fate tokens remaining on the board, and set them up again in the same way indicated above.
Zeus Sobers Up
As the race goes on, the effect of Ambrosia on Zeus fades, and his attention to the misdeeds of the creatures gets better.
After the Zeus' Judgment phase, any Zeus cards drawn are not used for the next race, but are removed from the game.