Drakborgen: En färd in i det okända Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• 1. Preparation
• 2. The Course of the Game
  • 2.1 Who wins?
• 3. Heroes
• 4. Testing Properties
• 5. Labyrinth Tiles
• 6. Free Passages
• 7. Searching a Room
• 8. Room Cards
• 9. Encountering Monsters
  • 9.1 Your special weapons
  • 9.2 If the monster flees
  • 9.3 Combat with combat cards
  • 9.4 Flight
  • 9.5 Ambush
  • 9.6 Combat with a DIE!
• 10. The Treasure Chamber and the Dragon
• 11. Drakborgen for 1 Player
• 12. Some Tactical Tips

Components

• This rulebook (8 pages)
• 1 target board for dice throws
• 1 game board
• 1 black twelve-sided die
• 1 green six-sided die
• 1 red combat die with symbols
• 8 figures (game pieces)
• 4 plastic feet
• 89 labyrinth tiles, including the treasure chamber
• 80 red KP markers (hit point markers)
• 1 sundial
• 224 cards, consisting of:
  • 8 hero cards
  • 2 crossbow cards
  • 36 combat cards
  • 33 treasure chamber cards
  • 8 dragon cards
  • 60 room cards
  • 15 search cards
  • 14 room search cards
  • 14 chest cards
  • 15 door cards
  • 15 monster cards
  • 4 magic rings

1. Preparation

1.1 Place the game board in the middle of the table.

1.2 Take out the card sheets with the 88 square labyrinth tiles, and one double tile (the treasure chamber). Carefully punch out all of these tiles. Set the treasure chamber tile aside next to the game board for now. Shuffle the square tiles carefully and stack them in several neat piles on the table, back side up.

1.3 Carefully punch out the game figures and insert each piece into a plastic foot.

1.4 Open the enclosed card decks and separate the room cards, monster cards, room search cards, door cards, chest cards, search cards and treasure chamber cards. Shuffle each category separately and place them in separate piles next to the game board, back side up. Other cards remain in the box for now.

1.5 All players roll the T12 (the twelve-sided die). The highest roller becomes the "first player" and chooses a hero card and the associated game piece. The other players do the same in turn, clockwise.

1.6 The player who last chose a hero card and piece now chooses one of the cards with a magic ring. The other players then choose, in turn, counterclockwise, one magic ring each. Note that the rings have different properties!

1.7 Each player now takes the three combat cards that belong to his or her hero. The monsters' combat cards are sorted into their respective piles and set aside next to the game board.

1.8 All players take as many red KP markers as their hero has hit points (KP).

1.9 The player who first chose a hero card now also chooses one of the four tower rooms in the corners of the game board and places his or her piece there. The other players choose, in turn, clockwise, and each also picks one tower room and places their piece there.

Note on the sundial: the sundial keeps track of time. The sun starts on step 1 and is then turned one step by the first player at the start of each round, until it reaches step 27. The game then ends, and the heroes who have not made it out are lost.

2. The Course of the Game

The game is played in rounds. In each round, the sun on the sundial is first moved one step by the first player, and then all players make their moves in turn, clockwise around the table.

A normal move consists of moving your game piece from the square where it stands, via a free passage, to an adjacent square on the game board. If the new square has no labyrinth tile, you draw one and place it so that you step in "over the dot".

When you enter a room, you must always draw a room card if the labyrinth tile there has a black dot or a red dot. After that, you deal with any traps or monsters you encounter. Every player must get back to a tower room (any one at all!) before the sun goes down after the 26th move. The players who are still inside the castle at that time have lost the game!

A room belongs to the player who arrived first, as at most one player may be in a room, with the exception of the tower rooms and the treasure chamber.

Example of play:

(Move 1) Knight Rohan decides to take the left door into the castle from the tower room. He draws a labyrinth tile and turns it so that he steps in over the dot. Since the dot is black, he also takes a room card to see what is in the room: the room card shows that it is empty.

(Move 2) The room has 3 usable exits because the left one is blocked. Rohan chooses the right exit. The labyrinth tile he draws has a red dot, and a portcullis falls down behind him! (A) For tiles with black or red dots, a room card must be drawn: Rohan does so, and finds a jewelled brooch worth 25 gm, which he keeps.

(Move 3) Luckily there was another exit besides the one now blocked by the portcullis, so he chooses that instead and draws a labyrinth tile with a yellow dot, which means he has found a corridor. There he draws no room card and continues his move at once through an exit of his choice: he chooses the right one, since it brings him closer to the treasure chamber in the middle of the castle. The next labyrinth tile has a black dot, so he draws a room card and meets a Dark Elf. He decides to attack, which he announces aloud. The player to his right announces that the Dark Elf flees (see point 9).

(Move 4) Rohan tries to open the door (B) and draws a door card which says that the door remains closed ... should he wait until the next move and try again, or immediately take the upward exit instead?

2.1 Who wins?

If only one player manages to reach a tower room before the sun goes down, that player has won. If several have succeeded, the winner is the player with the highest total value, reckoned in gold coins (gm), of the treasures they have won. Remember, however, that you do not have to visit the treasure chamber: it is permitted to break off and try to find your way out earlier.

If no one survives or gets out before the sun goes down, Drakborgen has won!

3. Heroes

As you can see on the hero cards, all the pieces have different numbers of hit points (KP) and different properties, represented by the strength factor (SF), the agility factor (VF), the armour factor (RF), and the luck factor (TF). The higher the figure on a factor, the better for you. These properties make the heroes better or worse at coping with different situations.

3.1 Hit points (KP): You always begin a game with as many KP (red markers) as shown on your hero card. They show how your hero is faring: if you lose your last KP, your hero dies!

Note: Only one player may be in a room at the same time, with the exception of the treasure chamber and the four tower rooms.

4. Testing Properties

Some situations sometimes require you to test your hero. This means that, to succeed at various tasks, you must roll the T12 (the twelve-sided die) equal to or less than your hero's value for the property in question. See examples below.

To succeed:

• Test strength: roll T12 equal to or under your hero's strength factor (SF).
• Test agility: roll T12 equal to or under your hero's agility factor (VF).
• Test armour: roll T12 equal to or under your hero's armour factor (RF).
• Test luck: roll T12 equal to or under your hero's luck factor (TF).

Note on dice: The game uses T6 (green), T12 (black) and a combat die (red).

5. Labyrinth Tiles

5.1 When you move your game piece through a free passage (see point 6) to an empty square on the game board, you must draw a labyrinth tile and turn it so that your hero steps in over the dot (A). If there is already a labyrinth tile there, leave it; do not turn it, and do not draw a new tile.

5.2 If the labyrinth tile has a black or red dot, you must also draw a room card; see point 8.

5.3 Red dot: a portcullis falls down behind your hero and closes the way back. See point 6.3.

5.4 Yellow dot, corridor (B): You have found a corridor, and may immediately continue in the same move through to the next adjacent square (if there is a free passage).

5.5 Blue dot, dark room (C): Here the torch gives so little light that you lose your bearings. When you draw such a tile, your move is immediately over. In your next move you roll T6 to see where you came out.

Dark room with two exits: 1-3 (the exit with the blue dot), 4-6 (the other exit). Dark room with three exits: 1-2 (the exit with the blue dot), 3-4 (the exit clockwise from the dot), 5-6 (the exit counterclockwise from the dot). Then you leave through the exit that the die selected for you, and continue the move as normal.

5.6 Bottomless well (D): One of the most feared rooms in the game, which has felled many a hero! Test your Agility immediately (see point 4): if your roll fails, you have fallen to your death. If the roll succeeds, you remain on the edge and, in the next move, may either turn back or try to jump over to the other side. In that case, test your Agility again, but now you must add +1 to the roll result for every treasure chamber card you carry. You may, however, before the jump, first hand over one or more treasure chamber cards, to improve your chances.

5.7 Turning room (E): When you draw such a tile you have stepped straight into one of Drakborgen's countless traps. Each time you step into the turning room, it is immediately turned a quarter turn clockwise. The room is turned only at the moment you step into it. If you stay in the room, nothing happens.

5.8 Debris (F): If the labyrinth tile shows a room full of debris, you place your hero in the entrance and your move is over. In the next move you must either turn back or try to force your way through the debris. To force it, test your VF: if you pass the roll you are through to any exit, but if you fail you are stuck in the debris and must try again in the next move, and the next...

Publisher's box, "What is new compared with the original from 1985?": The new edition is faithful to the original but with some requested improvements. The much-liked illustrations remain, but the cards are now playing-card quality, to hold up better. The old ones are rather worn after 40 years of diligent play! We have also worked on making the game easier to learn and play: the necessary instructions are now available directly on the cards if they are not too extensive. The easy-to-tip plastic tops for the sun and the hero KP markers have been replaced by a sun disc and markers, respectively. Another requested novelty is an alternative combat system in which you do not fight each other but directly against the castle. Here it is not only a matter of luck with the dice but also of hitting the target. Last but not least, we have supplemented the four original male heroes with four brand-new unique female heroes.*

6. Free Passages

Free passages are openings in the walls between rooms that are not blocked from either side.

6.1 Temporary free passages are found secret doors, lifted portcullises and opened doors. These become blocked again after they have been used, and must be activated again (found, lifted or opened) the next time.

6.2 Doors (G): If you want to try to open a door, you must first draw a door card. If the door opens, you continue the move (through the door) as a normal movement. If the door is closed, you may continue your move through another free passage. If you happen to hit a door trap, your move is over. An opened door is locked when you have passed through it, with the exception that if in the same move you meet a monster and choose to flee and the flight succeeds, you have time to flee back through the same door before it locks.

6.3 Red dot, portcullis (H): To pass an opening that is blocked by a portcullis, you must first try to lift it by testing your Strength (see point 4). If you succeed you may pass, but the portcullis falls down again immediately behind you. If you fail, your move is over; try again in the next move, or choose another opening.

7. Searching a Room

If you want, instead of moving in your move, you may stay in a room to search it thoroughly. You do this by saying aloud "I search" ("Jag letar") and then drawing a room search card. If you succeed in finding a secret door, you may immediately continue the move as a normal movement to any adjacent square (but not diagonally).

Note that you can only search in rooms where the labyrinth tile has a black or red dot.

Think about it: perhaps not only good things are found, or perhaps something finds you? You may stay and search for any number of moves.

8. Room Cards

Room cards describe the contents of the rooms, what you find, or what finds you, in the labyrinth.

If the labyrinth tile you draw (or step onto) has a black or red dot, you must always draw a room card.

There are 60 room cards in the game, which describe the contents of the rooms you discover and what happens to your hero. Usually all the instructions you need are on the card, but sometimes there are also references to relevant points in this rulebook.

8.1 Used room cards are to be returned to the bottom of the pile, unless they are cards you are allowed to keep, such as treasures (cards with a gm value) or useful equipment and the like.

The room cards sometimes give you the opportunity to voluntarily try your luck in other card decks.

Note from the box: "All used cards must be returned to their respective piles. This is so that they come back into play after the card 'Shuffle again' ('Blanda igen') has been drawn." Information that previously appeared in the rules is now on the cards.

9. Encountering Monsters

If you draw a room card where you meet a monster, you must immediately decide whether to attack, wait, or try to flee. You say this aloud, and then the player to your right (hereafter called the "monster player") draws the top card from the pile of monster cards and announces the monster's reaction.

Example of combat with combat cards: You are Rohan, you meet a mountain troll, and choose to attack. The monster player draws the top monster card and announces "Combat", but does not say that the mountain troll has 4 KP as stated on the card. You take your combat cards, and the combat begins.

Round 1: You show your A card and the monster shows its C card, so you lose 1 KP and lose one of your red KP markers.

Round 2: Both show the B cards and each loses 1 KP.

Round 3: Now you show your A card again and the monster its B card. Your card says "Hits B twice", so the monster loses 2 KP and has now taken 3 wounds in total.

Round 4: The monster shows its B card and you your C card, so you lose 1 KP more.

Round 5: You show your C card, and the monster its A card, so it loses 1 KP. Since it has now lost its 4 KP, it is dead.

The combat is now over, as is your move, and the room card and the monster card are returned to their piles.

It was a hard fight: you defeated the monster but lost 3 KP.

9.1 Your special weapons

If you have a special weapon (for example a crossbow, or a poison powder), you have one further option. Instead of saying attack, wait or flee, you announce "I use my special weapon". Use the weapon as it is described on your weapon card.

Using a special weapon produces the same reactions from the monster as attacking on the monster card.

9.2 If the monster flees

If the monster card says that the monster flees, nothing more happens: the room card and the monster card are returned to their piles, and your move is over. If instead it becomes a combat, the following happens: the monster player says "Combat", but does not say how many KP the monster has.

9.3 Combat with combat cards

You pick up your three combat cards in your hand. The player to your right temporarily becomes the monster player, fights on the monster's behalf, and picks up the three combat cards for that monster.

The combat proceeds as follows: you choose one of your three combat cards and hold it up face down, and the monster player chooses one of the monster's combat cards and does the same. Then you turn the cards over at the same time. If the cards show the same letter, both you and the monster lose 1 KP.

When your hero is wounded, you lose one of your red KP markers for each wound.

When the monster is wounded, the monster player instead marks each wound with a red KP marker on the face-down monster card. As soon as the monster has been dealt as many wounds as it has KP (or more), the monster player announces that the monster is now dead. If the cards show different letters, A beats B, B beats C, and C beats A, and the loser loses 1 KP, or 2 KP if the card says "Hits ... twice" as it does on some cards. Then you each choose a card again, and continue until either the monster or the hero has died.

9.4 Flight

If you choose to flee, the flight must be made back to the labyrinth tile you have just come from (if possible; if for example you have come through a secret door you cannot flee back the same way, but must then choose between attacking and waiting).

The player to your right then looks under the heading "Flees" ("Flyr") on the monster card:

If your flight succeeds, you move your piece back to the previous labyrinth tile (without drawing any room card, but if it is a special room, the special rules apply as usual!), and your move is over.

If the card says "Hit/flight succeeds" ("Hugg/flykten lyckas"), the monster tries to strike you and you must roll to see what injuries you took. If the card says, for example, "Hit T6-2", you roll the six-sided die and subtract 2, and the result is the number of KP you lose. If it says instead, for example, "Hit 3", you take 3 wounds, and so on. After making the roll for the hit, if any, you move your piece back to the previous labyrinth tile, as described above for a successful flight.

If it says "Hit/combat" ("Hugg/strid"), you must first see what wounds you took just as above, but then your move continues with you having to stay in the room and fight according to point 9.3.

9.5 Ambush

If you are ambushed, you must immediately roll T12-TF to see how much damage you took, and then you choose attack or flight. When you have chosen, the monster player draws the top monster card, and the result is exactly as under point 9 above.

Example of combat with a combat die: You are Knight Rut, you meet a mountain troll, and choose to attack. The monster player draws the top monster card and announces "Combat", but does not say that the mountain troll has 4 KP as stated on the card.

Round 1: You throw the combat die through the hole in the folded-up part of the target board and try to get the whole die to land on the target for a hit on the mountain troll. Unfortunately the die bounces so that it lands partly on one of the black fields and also shows a skull. You lose 1 KP for touching a black field, which is doubled because the die showed a skull. You therefore lose 2 KP in total.

Round 2: Now you aim better: the whole combat die lands inside the inner circle, so the mountain troll loses 2 KP! The die showing a skull upward is simply to be ignored. The monster player places 2 KP markers on the face-down monster card, but since it is still alive, the combat continues.

Round 3: You throw again, but this time the die lands so that it is not really possible to decide whether the die is wholly inside the outer circle. You throw again, and – alas! – the die touches a skull on the target, so you lose 2 KP! But, the silver lining is that this time the die did not show the skull upward, which would have doubled the damage.

Round 4: The die lands outside the target but does not touch any black field, so neither the hero nor the monster takes any damage.

Round 5: This time the die lands entirely inside the inner circle, and also shows the sword upward! You inflict 2×2=4 KP of damage on the mountain troll; the monster player states that the monster has died, and that the combat is over. The room card and the monster card are returned to the bottom of their respective piles.

It was a hard fight: you, as Knight Rut, defeated the monster, but at the price of 4 KP in damage to yourself!

9.6 Combat with a DIE!

Note from the box: Originally almost all combat in Drakborgen was fought with combat cards against a fellow player who took on the role of the monster. In this new edition we have also included an alternative combat system, where you do not fight each other but show your skill by trying to hit the target with the combat die. This is recommended for solo play (see point 11), or if you do not want to fight each other or simply want to try something new. For combat with the die, see point 9.6.

Instead of using the combat cards, the hero player now has to show skill with the die.

Prepare by folding the target board and placing it inside the lid, as the picture shows.

In each combat round, the hero throws the red combat die in through the hole in the wall, and tries to hit the target. The combat is to the death, and continues for as many throws as are needed for either the monster or the hero to die of their wounds.

The monster is wounded: If the combat die lands on the target, that is, entirely inside the outer circle, the monster has taken 1 wound. If the die lands entirely inside the inner circle, the monster has instead been dealt 2 wounds! If the die lands partly inside and partly outside the inner circle, it counts only as 1 KP of damage to the monster.

The hero is wounded: If the combat die touches any of the four black areas in the corners, the hero takes 1 wound, and if the die also touches the skull, the hero takes 1 more wound, and loses 2 KP in total!

The combat die can double the damage: if the combat die shows the sword, the damage to the monster is doubled; if it shows the skull, the damage to the hero is doubled.

Note that the combat die only doubles damage if the monster or the hero has not already been wounded in the throw; if not, nothing happens.

The other symbols on the combat die are purely decorative, but may come to have meanings in future expansions.

If the result is unclear, if you cannot clearly see whether the die touches a skull or a black field, or whether it has landed entirely inside the target, the throw must be made again.

10. The Treasure Chamber and the Dragon

The treasure chamber is guarded by a sleeping dragon, which is woken and spits fire if you have bad luck. Here is how you do it: in the same move in which you step onto one of the two middle squares, you place the double labyrinth tile with the treasure chamber on it.

Then you draw the two top treasure chamber cards in the pile (no other player may look at them, only you yourself), and then the player to your right must shuffle the eight dragon cards carefully and hold them up in front of you, with the backs towards you. You then draw one of the cards, of your choice. If it is a card with a sleeping dragon, nothing happens and your move is over, but the card is placed to the side of the game board so that only seven dragon cards remain in that pile. In the next move (if you stay in the treasure chamber) you draw two new treasure chamber cards, and your right-hand neighbour holds up the remaining seven dragon cards while you draw one more. This is repeated for each move in which you want to stay in the treasure chamber; note that the risk of drawing the card with the woken dragon increases with each move, since fewer sleeping dragon cards remain in the pile.

When you want to leave the treasure chamber, you do so as a normal movement, without drawing either treasure chamber cards or dragon cards. Note that if you are several inside the treasure chamber at the same time, EACH participant who is in the chamber on their move must draw two treasure chamber cards and then draw one dragon card. This quickly increases the risk of waking the dragon!!

Note: all the cards you have drawn earlier are placed to the side of the game board!

10.1 The dragon wakes

If someone wakes the dragon, that is, draws the card with the woken dragon, all the heroes in the treasure chamber must, in clockwise order starting with the one who woke the dragon, immediately do the following: first return all their treasure chamber cards to the bottom of the pile, then roll T12 to see how many KP they lose when the dragon spits fire, and finally (if that participant is still alive) move their piece to any adjacent labyrinth tile, but without drawing any room card. This is done "outside" the normal turn order.

As soon as all have left the treasure chamber, the sleeping dragon falls asleep again, which means that all the dragon cards used so far are shuffled back into the pile.

11. Drakborgen for 1 Player

Drakborgen can also be played entirely on your own. Then you compete against yourself, and write down your results: whether you survived and how much gold you managed to gain. What is your personal record?

When meeting a monster (see point 9), you must, as usual, call out attack, wait or flee before you look at the monster card. The monster's KP is now no longer secret, so you provide the monster with its KP before the combat begins. For the combat itself, you use combat with the die (see point 9.6).

12. Some Tactical Tips

Drakborgen demands more skill than you may think after a game or two. Chance plays a part, but it does so in real life too. The main difficulty you face is the limited time, 26 moves from sunrise to sunset. This means you must carefully choose the way to and from the treasure chamber. Do you dare take a theoretically shorter but unknown path, where no tiles have yet been laid, or a longer one where known tiles lie?

Another test of your skill in weighing possibilities against each other is in encounters with monsters. What the monster's reaction is (flight, combat, a stab in the back) is not randomly chosen on the monster cards, and perhaps there is a pattern that you will eventually discover ... more we shall not say. And your ability to survive a fight with a monster is an important test of your skill compared with your fellow players.

A third difficulty is how good your nerves are in the treasure chamber. The longer you stay, the more and more expensive treasures you find, but at the same time the sun goes on its way and the dragon may suddenly wake up ...