Drakon (Second Edition)
Drakon (Second Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
In Drakon, you and your opponents each control one of the characters trapped in Drakon's lair. The first player to collect five gold coins immediately wins the game.
Components
Drakon contains the following components:
- Character Counters: Each of these counters represents one of the characters trapped in the dragon's lair. Each player chooses a character that he or she will control during the game.
- Character Ability Counters: These counters are used in the "Heroes!" variant game. The reverse side of these counters indicate that the Character ability has been used.
- Plastic Bases. Gently press the square foot of the character counters into the plastic stands to create the Character playing pieces.
- Chambers (square tiles): These components fit together to form a map of the dragon's lair. Many chambers have special events that are triggered whenever characters move onto them. These events are described later in these rules.
- Gold Coins: These are the coins the players are trying to collect in order to win the game.
Setting Up the Game
- Place the "Start" chamber (the chamber with the dragon) in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the remaining chambers, deal four face down to each player, and put the rest to the side in a stack. This stack is the Draw Pile.
- Each player chooses a character and places it on the "Start" chamber. (It doesn't matter which character you choose, as they are all the same in the basic game.)
- Place all the gold coins in a pile to the side of the playing area. This pile is the Dragon's Hoard.
Play
Randomly choose which player will take the first turn. When that player's turn is over, the player to his or her left gets to take a turn. In this way, play rotates clockwise.
On your turn, you must take one of the following actions:
Place: You can place a chamber from your hand adjacent to another chamber already in play, then draw a new chamber into your hand.
OR
Move: You may move your character onto an adjacent chamber, then follow the instructions on that chamber, if any.
Placing Rules
When placing a chamber, you must place it adjacent to a chamber already in play, but you may not place it so that the arrows of the two chambers face each other. (See the diagram on the back of these rules for examples of legal and illegal chamber placement.)
If there are no chambers left in the Draw Pile, play continues as normal, except you do not draw another chamber after you place one from your hand.
If you have no chambers in your hand, you may not place a chamber or draw a chamber from the Draw Pile. On your turn, you may only move your character. If you cannot move your character, you may not take your turn and you are skipped.
If none of the players have chambers or can move their characters, the game is over, and the player with the most gold coins wins.
Moving Rules
You may only move a character in the direction of an arrow on the character's current chamber. For example, if your character is on a chamber with arrows pointing up and down, you may only move your character up or down (assuming there are adjacent chambers in those directions). If there is no arrow in a direction, or there is no adjacent chamber in that direction, you may not move your character there.
When you move your character onto a chamber, the special action (indicated by the symbol on the chamber) is enacted. Actions are not performed again unless your character legally reenters the chamber during a later turn.
Optional Rule: Heroes!
In the basic game, it doesn't matter which character you control, but with this game variant, players choose their characters randomly, and your character gives you a special action you can use once per game. You may take your special action immediately before or immediately after taking your normal action (placing a chamber or moving your character).
Use the "Character Ability" counters to keep track of who has used their special ability. When you use your character's ability, turn the counter face-down.
Below is a list of characters and their special abilities:
Wizard: Using this ability allows you to move the wizard out of a chamber in a direction that no arrows are pointing (instead of moving normally). This does not give the Wizard an extra move, but simply allows him to break the "legal movement" rule once.
Barbarian: When the barbarian is on the same chamber as an opponent's character, you may use his ability to "push" the opponent's character one chamber in a legal direction. Therefore, the Barbarian cannot push an opponent's character out of a chamber that has no arrows. (The other player must follow the instruction on the chamber into which he was pushed.) Thereafter the Barbarian takes a random chamber from the pushed opponent and adds the chamber to his own hand.
Thief: Use the thief's ability to take a coin from one opponent whose character is in the same chamber as the thief (but only if that player has at least one coin).
Dwarf: Use the dwarf's special ability to immediately discard two chambers from your hand and draw two new chambers from the Draw Pile.
Knight: If an opponent tries to take a coin from you, or you are about to lose a coin because of a chamber action, use the knight's ability to prevent the coin from being lost. (This is the only special action which is not necessarily taken during your turn. Like all special actions, however, it can only be taken once per game.)
Amazon: Use the special ability of the Amazon to move your character one additional chamber along a legal path. Follow the instructions on both chambers.
Variant Game: Escape from Drakon's Lair!
If you want to play Drakon in a different way, you may want to play this game variant. Now, in order to win, a character must be the first to collect four coins, then move onto a "Master Key" or "Magical Vortex" chamber in order to escape the dragon's wrath. If you have four coins when you move your character onto either one of these chambers, you win the game.
Chamber Explanations
Below is a complete list of chambers with explanations of their special actions:
Blank Chambers: These chambers just have arrows on them indicating which way your character can leave. There are chambers with one, two, or three arrows designating exits.
Magical Shift: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Choose one chamber in play on which no characters are standing, and replace it with one from your hand. The chamber you've taken goes into your own hand and may be played later during the game. The new chamber need not have the same arrow orientation as the removed chamber, though it must have a legal orientation (that is, its arrows cannot point at the arrows of any adjacent chambers).
Destroy a Chamber: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Choose one chamber in play on which no characters are standing and discard it, face down, to the bottom of the Draw Pile. Destroying a chamber can disconnect the board into two or more non-connected sections.
Drakon's Due: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Put one of your coins (if you have any), on the "Start" chamber.
Map Chamber: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Remove a random chamber from an opponent's hand and place it in your own hand. Now you have one additional chamber for the rest of the game and your opponent has one less chamber. If all of a player's chambers are removed in this fashion, that player may not place chambers during his or her turn, but must move his or her character instead.
Find a Gold: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Take a gold coin from the Dragon's Hoard.
Heavy Gale: On the next turn that you decide to move your character, you must move your character three chambers all at once. These three chambers must be along legal paths, and you ignore the actions on the two chambers your character passes through. If your character moves through "Magical Vortex" or "Master Key" chambers, which have no arrows, treat them as though they had arrows pointing in all legal directions (that is, pointing at adjacent chambers where there is no arrow pointing back.) You may not move your character from this chamber if there are not at least three chambers through which your character can legally move.
Strong Wind: This is the same as the "Heavy Gale" chamber, but your character only moves two spaces instead of three.
Master Key: On your next turn, your character may leave through any of the four exits, even moving against the arrows of adjacent chambers. This only works for this one chamber. The Master Key isn't something you carry with you.
Mind Control Orb: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Move an opponent's character one legal move as if that opponent were choosing to move his or her character. If the character is on a "Magical Vortex" chamber, you can move the character to any other chamber in play. If the character is on a "Strong Wind" or "Heavy Gale" chamber, you must move it two or three chambers, depending on the chamber. If there is no legal path, you cannot move that character. After you move the character, the character's player must follow the instructions of the chamber on which his or her character is now standing.
Rotate a Chamber: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Rotate any one chamber in any direction (90 or 180 degrees), so long as it lines up legally when you're done (no arrow-heads are pointing at each other). You may rotate a chamber on which a character is standing.
Start: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. If there are any coins on the "Start" chamber, you may take one of them. The "Start" chamber may not be destroyed with the "Destroy a Chamber" chamber or removed from play with the "Magical Shift" chamber. It may, however, be rotated with the "Rotate a Chamber" chamber. (This is the chamber where players' characters start the game).
Steal a Coin (left): This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Take a coin from the player to your left, but only if that player has at least one coin.
Steal a Coin (right): This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. When you land here, take a coin from the player to your right, but only if that player has at least one coin.
Magical Vortex: On the next turn that you decide to move your character, you may move your character to any chamber in play.
Wishing Well: This action occurs as soon as your character enters the chamber. Discard one of your coins (if you have any) into the Dragon's Hoard.