Drachensachen
Drachensachen Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 72 goblin cards
- 24 dragon cards
- 7 trick cards
- 7 hindrance cards
Game Overview
Cunning goblins try to break into the storeroom of the dragon Kin and steal all his gold. Players can drive these little robbers away by playing cards from their hand onto a pile in the centre of the table. If a player does not play a card, he must take all the cards from the centre of the table! As soon as one player plays his last card, he wins the round, and his opponents, alas, lose some gold coins. The game lasts several rounds, and whoever loses the least gold is declared the winner. Dragon Kin recognises him as a worthy guardian of the dragon storeroom.
Setup
- Shuffle all 96 goblin and dragon cards together and deal each player 6 cards from this common deck.
- Each player randomly places 3 of these cards face down in front of him, and 3 more cards face up on top of them. This area is called the reserve.
- Then deal each player 5 cards into his hand. Each player may swap one card in his hand with one of the 3 face-up cards of his reserve.
- Count 18 cards from the deck and put them in a pile in the centre of the table next to the discard area - this is the trouble pile. Put the remaining cards back in the box; they are not needed this round.
- The first player is whoever first names a book or film about dragons. In the following round, the player who lost the most gold coins goes first. If several players tie, the right to go first passes to the one of them sitting closest clockwise to the player who started the previous round.
Course of the Game
The game consists of several rounds. In each round the players take turns playing their cards according to the rules below. As soon as one participant has played all the cards from his hand and reserve, the round ends. The other players count how many coins they lost. Then a new round begins.
The game ends when one of the players loses 21 or more gold coins.
Turn Order
Players act in turn; the turn passes clockwise. On his turn a player may do the following.
- Play one or several identical cards from his hand to the discard area in the centre of the table, following the rules for playing cards.
- If the player cannot or does not want to play a card, he must take all the cards from the discard area and add them to the cards in his hand. This ends his turn.
- If after playing a card or cards to the discard area the player did not receive an additional turn, his turn ends.
- Remove from his hand one or several sets of 4 identical cards. These cards are not played to the discard pile but are immediately removed from the game, for example into the box. After removing a set, the player must take an additional turn if he has cards.
As long as a player has cards in hand, he must play only those. If a player has no cards left in hand, he must play one of the available face-up cards of his reserve. If there are no available face-up cards in the reserve, the player must play one of the face-down cards of the reserve blindly (that is, without knowing its value beforehand). Cards covered by other cards are not available to the player.
Attention! The active player turns the face-down card over and plays it if this does not violate the rules of the game. If the face-down card cannot be played according to the rules, the active player takes into his hand all the cards from the discard area and the card he has just revealed.
The round ends as soon as one of the players has played all his cards from hand and reserve.
(Illustration: a sample table layout showing player 1's hand, reserve, and the trouble pile and discard pile in the centre.)
Rules for Playing Cards
Cards are played onto the discard pile in the centre of the table. If there are no cards in the discard area, the active player may play any card. If there are cards in the discard area, the active player must play a card following these rules.
- A dragon card may be played onto any card except a card of value 6.
- A goblin card must be of the same or higher value than the top card of the discard pile.
Some cards have special effects. They are described below.
If 4 identical cards in a row have been played to the discard area, all cards from the discard area are removed from the game (for example, put into the box) without applying the effect of the played cards. The player who played the 4th card must take an additional turn (if he has cards).
If a player removes 4 identical cards from his hand, they are not played to the discard area but are immediately put into the box. The effect of the removed cards is not applied. Each time after removing 4 identical cards, the player must take an additional turn (if he has cards).
If one or several last cards in a player's hand match one or several face-up cards of his reserve, he may play them together.
If a card effect makes a player take additional cards, he draws them from the trouble pile. If the cards in this pile have run out, actions connected with drawing cards are ignored.
Goblin Card Effects
Value 3: only lower
The next player may play only cards with a value lower than 3 or dragon cards.
Value 4: take 2 cards
The next player must take 2 cards from the trouble pile into his hand. If the player has another card of value 4 or the dragon card "Defender" in his hand, he may play it to avoid the effect "take 2 cards" and pass this effect to the next player.
Each played card of value 4 increases the effect by +2 cards. A player who cannot pass the effect on will have to take 2, 4, 6 or more cards from the trouble pile. The player affected by this card's effect first draws the due number of cards from the trouble pile, then continues his turn as usual.
Value 5: skip a turn
The next player skips his turn. If more than one such card is played at the same time, the corresponding number of players in the direction of play skip their turn. However, players who are skipping have the right to play the dragon card "Defender" and pass the skip to the next player not yet affected by this effect.
Example. There are 4 players. Player 1 plays 2 "Skip a turn" cards at once, so player 2 and player 3 must skip their turn. However, player 2 immediately plays the dragon card "Defender" and passes the "Skip a turn" effect to the next player not affected by this effect. Thus player 3 and player 4 skip their turn, and then player 1 takes a new turn.
Value 6: no dragons
A dragon card cannot be played onto this card. The next player must play either the same card or a goblin card of higher value.
Dragon Card Effects
Dragon cards help you defend the storeroom from the little goblins.
Attention! None of the dragon cards can be played onto a goblin card of value 6. In turn, a goblin card of value 9 cannot be played onto any of the dragon cards.
Zero: reset the discard pile
This card resets the value of the top card of the discard pile, that is, the next player may play any card except a card of value 9.
Fire-Breather: remove the discard pile
Having played this dragon, immediately remove all cards from the discard area and take an additional turn.
Defender: pass the effect to the next player
This card protects the active player and passes the effect of the previously played card on. The next player faces everything that the player who played "Defender" should have faced.
Example. The top card of the discard pile has a value of 9. The active player plays the dragon card "Defender", passing the problem to the next player. The next player's situation is made worse by the fact that another card of value 9 cannot be played on top of a dragon card. The only possibility is also to play a dragon card, or he will have to take all the cards from the discard area.
End of the Round
As soon as one of the players plays his last card (he has no cards left in hand or reserve), the round ends immediately. Each player counts the number of gold coins that the goblins have carried off from his storeroom.
Add up the coins pictured on the front of the cards in hand and in the available cards of the reserve (the coins on the front of face-up cards and on the back of face-down cards). Cards in the reserve covered by other cards are not counted.
Players lose as many gold coins as they counted on their cards. However, if this number exceeds 10 for a player, only a loss of 10 gold coins is recorded. Use a sheet of paper to record lost gold.
Example of counting lost gold (hand and reserve illustrated): Sum of lost coins (1+1+1+3)+(3+1+1)=11. Since 11 is more than 10, the player is credited with a loss of only 10 gold coins.
End of the Game
The game continues for several rounds until one of the players loses 21 or more gold coins. The player with the fewest lost gold coins becomes the winner and is appointed guardian of the dragon storeroom.
In case of a tie, play one additional round.
Additional Rules
Experienced players can vary the fight against the goblins by using hindrance and trick cards. Choose additional rules as you wish. Decide for yourselves what is more fun!
Hindrances
When preparing for the game, shuffle all hindrance cards and place them next to the trouble pile. The player who finished the previous round must take the top hindrance card from the pile. When preparing the new round, this player (and only he!) must follow the instructions of the received hindrance. A hindrance card is in effect for only one round, after which the card returns to the bottom of the hindrance pile.
Invasion of the Goblins
When preparing for the round, instead of the usual 5 cards, the player takes into his hand the number of cards indicated on the hindrance card.
Unknown
When preparing for the round, instead of the usual 3 face-down and 3 face-up reserve cards, the player lays out cards in front of him as shown on the hindrance card (light cards are face up, dark cards are face down).
Attention! The player may swap only one face-up card with one of the cards in his hand. The order of playing cards remains the same. First cards from the hand are played, then the face-up reserve cards, and if there are no face-up cards in the reserve, the face-down reserve cards are played.
Chaos
Each player must take a hindrance card and follow its instruction. For this round, form the trouble pile from all remaining dragon and goblin cards.
Tricks
When preparing for the game, shuffle all trick cards and place them next to the trouble pile. When starting a new round, reveal the top trick card. The effect of this card applies to all players and remains active for the whole game. Newly revealed trick cards add new effects.
Zero: fast dragon
Having played a "Zero" card, the player must take one additional turn (if "Zero" was not his last card).
Any dragon card: goblins against dragons
Having played any dragon card, the player must take one card from the trouble pile. If the cards in this pile have run out, actions connected with drawing cards are ignored.
Value 1: small but bold
A goblin card of value 1 may be played onto a card of value 9.
Value 2: surprise
Having played a goblin card of value 2, the player chooses any other player, who draws one random card from his hand and takes it for himself.
Value 7: carousel
Having played a goblin card of value 7, the player may change the direction in which the turn passes. The previous player takes his turn again. If two are playing, the active player takes a second turn.
Value 8: golden feathers
At the end of the round, players gain (rather than lose) one gold coin for each remaining card of value 8 they have.
Value 9: revealing secrets
Having played a goblin card of value 9, the active player must take into his hand one face-up card from his reserve (if any).