Dragon Farkle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Equipment List
• Objective
• The Card Types
• Setup
• How to Play
  • The Event Die
• Recruiting
  • Recruiting Example
• Brawling
  • Brawling Example
• Final Battle
  • Final Battle Example
• Special Rules for the Dragon's Keep
• Reference
  • Player Turn Summary
  • Recruiting
  • Brawling
  • Final Battle (5,000+ Soldiers)
  • Victory

Equipment List

To begin your quest of recruitment and glory, we have supplied you with what you need:

• 30 Soldier dice
• 1 Event die
• 10 Companion cards
• 20 Magic Item cards
• 5 player mats
• 1 dragon
• 5 Dragon damage tiles
• a stockpile of Soldiers tokens (representing 50, 100, 500 and 1000 soldiers respectively)

Objective

To be the first Wannabe to defeat the dragon! To do that, you'll need to recruit an army of at least 5,000 brave, yet foolish soldiers to follow you and become hero of Yon; with all the publishing rights contained therein.

First, some words you may need to know...

Farkle [fahr-kul] verb: The event that occurs when no scoring dice can be set aside on any given roll. Basically, it is the gaming equivalent of spilling hot coffee on your new suit of armor.

Wannabe [wah-nah-bee] noun: This is you and the other players sitting around you.

The Card Types

Companion: These solitary figures have caught wind of your heroics and join your army, lending their assistance. They can be used anytime on your turn or as indicated on the card.

Sample companion card — Hiccup the Half-Dwarf: "But no one knew what the other half was." Once per Brawl (attacking or defending), Hiccup allows you to re-roll any one die of your choice.

Magic Item: You can have only one by the end of any turn (exception: Sack of Holding). Can be used anytime, except where noted on the card. Items are discarded after use. (Yon promotes recycling for all its citizens.)

Sample magic item card — Boots of Invisibility: "Better than an amusement park fast pass." Use: Start of opponent's turn. You get to take another turn. When done, the opponent whose turn it was, now resumes their turn.

Setup

Give each Wannabe a player mat. Then shuffle the Companion cards and Magic Item cards separately and place them in the center of the play area, facedown, to form separate decks (should any deck run out, shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck). Place the Dragon near the decks and its Damage counters next to it. The Soldier tokens go into a central stockpile.

Dragon Farkle is played in turns, going clockwise, starting with the one who brought the most snacks. This illustrious Wannabe deals everyone a Companion card, which is placed faceup in front of each Wannabe. Next, each Wannabe is dealt a Magic Item card, which is placed facedown in front of each Wannabe or held in hand - these cards are hidden from the other Wannabes.

How to Play

Each turn, a Wannabe has the option to attempt one of these actions during their turn: (a) Recruiting new soldiers (b) Brawling another Wannabe's army, or (c) entering the Dragon's Keep in a Final Battle (with a minimum army of 5,000 soldiers).

For any action chosen, you will begin by rolling your six Soldier dice and the Event die. If you are able to, and choose to, continue rolling, you will most likely roll fewer Soldier dice, but you will always roll the Event die.

The Event Die

The Event die is a six-sided die that displays a dragon side, a rally side, and four blank sides. You roll it anytime there is a Recruiting, Brawling, or Final Battle roll.

• Blank side: If a blank side appears, there is no effect; score the roll as normal (just another day in Yon).

• Dragon side: If the dragon side comes up with scoring dice, set aside ALL scoring dice, but do not set aside any Soldier tokens: the dragon flies in for a snack and eats any soldiers you would have gained from that roll. You may then continue your action or choose to stop. If the dragon side appears during a Farkled roll (no scoring dice were rolled), you have evaded the dragon and may choose to ignore the Farkle and continue your action, or you may end your turn.

• Rally side: If the rally side comes up with scoring dice, there is a rally for your cause, allowing you to choose one of the following rewards:

  • A. double the value of all scoring dice set aside for that roll
  • OR
  • B. draw a Magic Item from the deck, look at it, then set it aside facedown.

  If the rally side appears during a roll with no scoring dice, you Farkle as normal.

Recruiting

After all, you need soldiers to face the dragon! Choose this action to recruit soldiers into your army. To begin, roll all the dice. After each roll, you must set aside at least one scoring die, based on the Soldier table on your player mat, and place the appropriate value in Soldier tokens from the stockpile to the side. This is how you keep track of how many soldiers may join your army.

You then have the option to end your turn and add the Soldier tokens set aside (and any Magic Items gained from the Event die) to your army or continue rolling the remaining dice to try and increase your recruitment for the turn.

If, after scoring, you have scored all your Soldier dice, you may continue your turn by rolling all six Soldier dice and the Event die again, thus potentially adding soldiers to your previous rolls - but don't Farkle, as you will lose everything you have scored this turn.

If, during any roll, you cannot set aside any scoring dice, you Farkle, losing all potential soldiers and Magic Items gained that turn. Discard Magic Items and return Soldier tokens set aside back to the stockpile (nobody likes following a Farkler).

Note: the exact Soldier scoring table (points per die value and combination) is printed on the player mat component, not in this rulebook.

Recruiting Example

Prince Boble the Foolish rolls the six Soldier dice and the Event die and rolls 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5 and Blank. He can set aside the 5, the triple 4s, or the 5 and the triple 4s. (Note, he cannot set aside the 2 and 3 to make a 5). He chooses to set aside all the scoring dice, which means he also sets aside 450 soldiers (three 4s equals 400 soldiers and the 5 equals 50 soldiers), taken from the stockpile.

• 1st Roll: 400 soldiers (triple 4s), 50 soldiers (the 5), no score / re-roll (remaining dice).

He decides to continue, so he rolls the remaining two Soldier dice plus the Event die. He rolls a 1, 4, dragon. Uh oh. Prince Boble must set aside the 1 and does not gain the potential 100 soldiers from it. (Note, he cannot save the 4 to make a four of a kind with his saved triple 4s. Those 4s already scored). To stop or not to stop?

• 2nd Roll: dragon - all scoring dice are set aside, no score; no score / re-roll (remaining dice).

The Prince decides (foolishly) to keep going, rolling a 3, Blank. Farkle! He loses the 450 soldiers set aside and the dice are passed to the next Wannabe.

• 3rd Roll: no dice scored - FARKLE! Discards all Recruits that were set aside. End of the turn.

Brawling

Competition in Yon can get tense at times and would not be complete without a little friendly pub fight between armies every once in a while.

Choose this action to gain soldiers from an opponent's army as well as getting fresh soldiers who join your army after hearing of your victory.

To begin, select another Wannabe to fight against. Roll all the dice; as in Recruiting, you must set aside one or more scoring dice based on the Soldier table and place the appropriate value in Soldier tokens from the central stockpile to the side, to keep track of your attack score (these Soldiers do NOT go into your army). Also, the Event die acts the same way as in Recruiting (your soldiers can get eaten by a dragon, ignore a Farkle roll or you can double your score or draw Magic Items).

You then have the option to end your turn and pass the dice to the defending Wannabe, keeping the Soldier tokens aside as a reminder of your attack score. Any Magic Items gained are also kept aside for now. Or you may continue rolling the remaining dice to try and increase your Brawl attack for the turn.

If, during any roll, you cannot set aside any scoring dice, you Farkle, and your Brawl attack is zero: discard any Magic items and return all Soldier tokens back to the stockpile. The dice then go to the defending Wannabe to roll for their defense.

The defending Wannabe only gets to roll five Soldier dice and the Event die. However, all other rules apply as above. When the defending Wannabe stops rolling or Farkles, both scores are compared: the winner of the Brawl is the one with the highest total.

Only the winner receives any Magic Items gained in the Brawl (but can keep only one by end of turn).

The winner also receives soldiers from the losing army equal to the difference in scores or as many soldiers as they can give.

Finally, the winner also receives an additional 500 new soldiers from the central stockpile.

Brawling Example

Jane the Aggressor brawls Joseph the Meek. Rolling the six Soldier dice plus the Event die, she gets 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, Blank. Jane sets aside the 1 and the 5 and puts 150 soldiers aside.

• Attacker's 1st Roll: 150 soldiers, no score / re-roll (remaining dice).

She decides to roll again and gets 1, 1, 3, 4, Rally. Now she has the choice to set aside one or both 1s and even score double or grab a Magic Item. The choice is to score both 1s and double them for 400 soldiers; added to the 150 from the previous score, they give her an attack score of 550.

• Attacker's 2nd Roll: rally - Jane doubles her gains from this roll: 400 soldiers, no score (remaining dice).

Jane aggressively chooses to roll again and rolls a 5, 5, Blank. She scores the two 5s for 100 more points. She can stop or choose to roll all six Soldier dice again (since they have all scored) but decides that 650 points is good enough for the win.

• Attacker's 3rd Roll: 100 soldiers.

Joseph gets to roll five Soldier dice and the Event die. He rolls 1, 3, 4, 4, 6, Blank. He scores the 1, setting it and 100 soldiers to the side. Joseph, being less than optimistic, stops rolling.

• Defender's 1st Roll: 100 soldiers. Joseph stops rolling.

Jane wins the Brawl 650-100. This means Joseph has to give Jane 550 soldiers from his army - but he only has 300 soldiers, so they all go to Jane's army. Also, for winning the Brawl, Jane gets a 500 soldier bonus from the stockpile.

Final Battle

It is time to rid Yon of its most dangerous menace.

Choose this action to fight the dragon and if you can do three damage to it on your turn, (or five damage for a more difficult game), you will win the game.

The dragon resides in the Dragon's Keep, and to enter it, you must possess an army of at least 5,000 soldiers at the beginning of your turn.

In the Final Battle, the Soldier and Event dice work a little differently. Scoring dice work against you and the dragon and rally sides only do damage to the dragon. Farkling also works differently; it only happens when you roll no damage to the dragon AND do not lose any soldiers.

Finally, in a Final Battle, you keep rolling until you (a) defeat the dragon; (b) Farkle; or (c) your army is completely eaten.

To begin, you roll all the dice... what happens depends on what you roll on the Event die.

• Dragon side - One damage on the dragon (flip a Damage counter over to the blood side); check the Soldier table and set aside ALL scoring dice (if any), removing that number of soldiers from your army back to the stockpile due to an unfortunate case of death, and continue your turn.
• Rally side - Two damage on the dragon (flip two Damage counters over to the blood side); check the Soldier table and set aside ALL scoring dice (if any), removing that number of soldiers from your army back to the central stockpile due to lost limbs, and continue your turn.
• Blank side with Scoring Dice - Check the Soldier table and set aside ALL scoring dice, removing that number of soldiers from your army back to the central stockpile due to fruitless sacrifice, and continue your turn.
• Blank side with No Scoring Dice - Farkle and your turn ends.

If you fail to defeat the dragon on your turn, it regenerates all damage taken due to the incredible healing nature of freshly eaten soldiers. Flip over all Damage counters to their normal side; the dragon always starts a Final Battle with no damage points.

Final Battle Example

Ivan the Terrible at Dragon Slaying enters the Dragon's Keep to kill the dragon. He rolls 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, Blank. A six of a kind worth 3,000 soldiers! Unfortunately, since this is the Final Battle, he loses those 3,000 soldiers to the central stockpile - and does no damage to the dragon.

• 1st Roll: -3000 soldiers, no effects.

Depressed, he rolls again in the hopes of slaying the dragon before it feasts on his entire army. He gets to roll all the dice since they all scored and he did not Farkle. This time he gets 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, Rally. He gets 2 damage on the dragon (flip two Damage counters over to their blood side) and it only cost him 400 soldiers (three 3s equals 300 and the 1 equals 100).

• 2nd Roll: -400 soldiers, does 2 damage.

This could be where Ivan becomes the hero: he rolls again - 3, 6, Blank. Farkle! Keeping true to his name, Ivan's turn is over as the dragon heals.

• 3rd Roll: FARKLE!

Special Rules for the Dragon's Keep

If your turn ends during a Final Battle attempt you are considered still inside the Dragon's Keep. You may attempt another Final Battle on your next turn, even if you possess fewer than 5,000 soldiers. However, if you opt to Recruit or Brawl instead of battling the dragon on your next turn, you leave the Dragon's Keep and must again possess 5,000 or more soldiers before entering and attempting the Final Battle again.

If your army is fully destroyed while in the Dragon's Keep, you are inexplicably reincarnated outside the Dragon's Keep on your next turn with a new companion drawn from the deck, but you keep your Magic Item (if you had one).

It is possible to have more than one Wannabe in the Dragon's Keep at the same time. The first Wannabe who does 3 damage (5 in a difficult game) on the dragon on their turn wins.

While you are in the Dragon's Keep, your army cannot participate in a Brawl (your soldiers are too busy trying not to be dragon food to worry about other armies). Companion abilities work as normal both in and outside the Dragon's Keep (for instance, a Wannabe in or out of the Dragon's Keep can send Skree to scare another Wannabe's army, wherever they might be).

Reference

Player Turn Summary

Choose one of the following actions: (a) recruiting (b) brawling or (c) entering the Dragon's Keep in a final battle.

Recruiting

Roll 6 Soldier dice and the Event die. You must set aside at least one scoring die and that many Soldier tokens as indicated on the Soldier table. Choose to keep rolling or not. If you Farkle, your turn ends immediately: return all tokens and Magic Items.

Brawling

You attack another Wannabe's army. Scoring is similar to Recruitment, with the attacker using 6 Soldier dice and the Event die for their brawl score while the defender uses 5 Soldier dice. The winner receives soldiers from the loser equal to the difference between the two scores, plus 500 new soldiers from the stockpile.

Final Battle (5,000+ Soldiers)

• Dragon side - One damage to the dragon, set aside all scoring dice, remove that number of soldiers from your army, and continue your turn.
• Rally side - Two damage to the dragon, set aside all scoring dice, remove that number of soldiers from your army, and continue your turn.
• Blank side with Scoring Dice - Set aside all scoring dice, remove that number of soldiers from your army, and continue your turn.
• Blank side with No Scoring Dice - Farkle and your turn ends.

Victory

Do three damage on the dragon in your turn. (Five damage for a difficult game.)