Drillit! A Fuga da Montanha de Cristal Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Difficulty Level
• Setup and Components
• Preparing the Event Deck
• Who Starts?
• Taking Actions
  • Movement
  • Attacking Goblins
  • Making Repairs
  • Putting Out Fires
  • Excavating
• Crystals
  • Blue: Repair Catalyst
  • Red: Explosives
  • Yellow: Turbo
• Event Cards
  • Sub-Events
    • Goblin Advance
    • Fire Intensification
    • Overheating
    • More Gnomes... Worse?
  • Main Events
    • Event: Abyss
    • Event: Fire
• Goblin Attacks
• Character Abilities
• End of Game
  • Victory
  • Defeat
• Starting a Game (Quick Guide)

Difficulty Level

Drillit! A Fuga da Montanha de Cristal has 3 difficulty levels: Easy, Medium or Hard. Each level sets the maximum number of Crystals the team can store without risk of overheating (the Crystal Storage limit):

• Easy: 4 Crystals
• Medium: 3 Crystals
• Hard: 2 Crystals

(See "Overheating", p.07.)

Setup and Components

• Place the open Tank Board in the centre of the table, within reach of all players.
• Separate the Goblins and place 1 Goblin in each blue sector of the Radar (5 Goblins in total).
• Separate the Fire markers.
• Separate the Permanent Damage markers.
• Place the Armor markers on the Tank Board in the spaces indicated, below each section of the Radar.
• Separate the Crystals and set them aside for now.
• Separate the Abyss pieces.
• Choose the distance you want to travel (short, medium or long) and place the Exit piece on the indicated space of the board. (The printed distance options are short, medium and long; the Exit piece is x1.)
• Shuffle and stack the Path pieces (x36). Then deal 1 Path piece to each player (x1 for each player).
• Randomly deal a Character card and its matching pawn to each player. Then each player rolls the 6-sided die and places their character in the room with the matching number. If a player rolls a 6, they may choose which room to start in.

Preparing the Event Deck

Separate the 5 Abyss cards from the deck and shuffle the rest of the cards. Set aside 3 of these cards; they will make up the top of the deck. With the remaining non-Abyss cards, make 5 piles of 2 cards. Each of these piles receives one Abyss card and is shuffled individually. Then stack all 5 trios of cards.

Shuffle each trio, then stack them, making sure the top is at the.. err.. top of the deck.

Finally, place the 3 set-aside cards on top. The Event Deck is complete and must contain 18 cards.

Who Starts?

The player to the left of the player holding the Pilot Character card starts the game. If no player has the Pilot, the players decide who starts.

Setup is complete. Ready to play? (If you are rusty, or a beginner, read our Quick Guide on p.11!)

Taking Actions

During the game, the Goblins will do everything they can to stop you Gnomes from escaping. Each player has 4 Action Points per turn to spend on various activities, in order to save the Tank and their own skins. Here they are:

Movement

A player may move within the Tank, but only to internal rooms of the Tank that are adjacent to the room they occupy. Each movement costs 1 Action Point. The central room of the Tank can (and should!) be used as a shortcut, so the Gnomes can reach their goals with skill and agility. A room may hold up to 2 Gnomes at most! Gnomes may pass through a full room, but may not stop or take actions in it.

(That is, with 2 Action Points you can reach any room of the Tank!)

Are you asking whether you can leave the tank? You must never leave the tank! It is infested with goblins out there!!! Maintaining the Tank is your only salvation.

Attacking Goblins

Goblins are crazy, and will try to climb your Tank. To get rid of them, a Gnome may spend 1 Action Point to attack them. The player must be aligned with their target on the Radar, or, if the Goblin is inside the Tank, be in the same room as it. It is not possible to attack from the centre.

(In the example above, the Gnome was already aligned with its targets, and spent 2 Action Points to wipe out 2 Goblins. One attack is enough to deal with 1 Goblin, and every Goblin eliminated is removed from the board, its marker returned to the supply.)

Making Repairs

Goblins that climb your Tank successfully will want to blow holes in the Armor that protects your control bridge, and break in! One of your objectives is to plug these holes! The Gnomes may repair a destroyed Armor by spending 1 Action Point, as long as they are in the room that needs repairs.

Destroyed Armor stays on the Tank's Life Track (see "Goblin Advance", p.06). The player who made the repair takes an Armor marker off the Tank's Life Track and returns it to the indicated space of the room. The control bridge is a little safer.

Putting Out Fires

The chaos of the escape includes many dangers. Forcing the Tank to full speed can cause Fires! To put out a fire, a Gnome must go to the room that is burning and pay 1 Action Point to extinguish it (extinguished Fire markers return to the supply).

(Example in the source: room 4 has one Fire, and room 5 has two! The Tank is in danger. The Gnome starts its turn by putting out Fire 1, and moves to room 5, spending 2 Action Points in total. Then, spending 2 more Action Points, it ends its turn putting out the last 2 fires.)

Excavating

Excavating is the action of connecting Path pieces to the tunnels of the game, in an attempt to reach the exit. Excavating is also the main method of obtaining Crystals, which can be used to activate special abilities.

(Excavating tunnels is the only way to leave the Crystal Mountain alive!)

Every Excavate action costs 1 Action Point, and means that a new Path piece must be placed in the Tunnel. When placing 1 Path piece, collect 1 Crystal of the same colour as the path and place it in the Crystal Storage.

(Example in the source: the Mechanic (Blue Gnome) decides to excavate with their last Action Point of the turn. They may place their own Path piece, or that of their colleague the Robot (Orange Gnome). Since they only have 1 Action Point, they may choose only one of them to place. If they had more Action Points, they could choose to place both, in whatever order they preferred.)

Very important: a Path piece may touch the Tank board, but must never be on top of the Tank board, not even partially!

The Gnomes have two options when Excavating: they may connect their own Path piece, or connect a Path piece belonging to other players, provided both the active player and the owner of the Path piece are in the same room. See the example below.

After the active player's actions are finished, every player who does not have 1 Path piece must buy a new piece, no matter how many Excavate actions were performed this turn. The important thing is that all Gnomes have 1 Path piece at the start of each turn.

Crystals

Crystals are incredibly versatile! They can be used as Turbo fuel, as Explosives and as a Repair Catalyst. To use Crystals, a player spends 1 Action Point and 2 Crystals of the same colour. The spent Crystals are removed from the Tank's Crystal Storage (returned to the supply on the table), and the final effect depends on the colour of the Crystals used.

Blue: Repair Catalyst

A Gnome who activates Blue Crystals may choose to use them either to put out Fires or to repair Armor.

Putting out Fires: When Crystals are activated to put out Fires, 2 Blue Crystals are removed from the Storage and a single room has all of its Fires put out. Fires in other rooms are not extinguished, but the player may activate this ability from any room of the Tank.

Repairing Armor: To repair damaged Armor, 2 Blue Crystals are removed from the Storage, and all Armor that is punctured is fixed.

Unfortunately there is no way to repair Permanent Damage points caused to the Tank, even using Blue Crystals. The player may activate this ability from any room of the Tank.

Red: Explosives

Activating Red Crystals creates a Bomb capable of wiping out all the Goblins in an entire sector of the Radar. It consumes 2 Red Crystals from the Storage.

The Bomb may be activated from any room of the Tank, exploding any sector of the Radar, but it cannot be used to kill Goblins inside the Tank. After all, we don't want to blow up our own Tank, right?

Yellow: Turbo

The Tank's engines need 2 Yellow Crystals to be turbocharged, and the effect is quite interesting: 2 random Path pieces are placed in a row! First, draw a Path piece and place it connected to a path that is already in play. Then draw a new Path piece and place it connected to the first path piece used by the Turbo.

Because the Tank is going very fast, the Gnomes do not mine the Crystals of these paths, so no Crystals are collected from paths placed during the Turbo.

Event Cards

Every turn (except the first; see "Starting a Game", p.11) begins with the active player revealing an Event card and resolving its effects in order. Every Event card is divided into 3 parts:

1. Sub-Events
2. Main Event
3. Goblin Attack

The order of resolution of the effects is:

1. Sub-Events
2. Main Event
3. Goblin Attack

Some dice rolls are often required to define the affected location and the severity of certain effects. These rolls must always be made by the player who revealed the Event card.

Not every Event card has its sub-events activated. Some sub-events may come switched off (with their icon faded), and some may have a minimum requirement of players in order to be activated (outlined in yellow; see "More Gnomes... Worse?", p.07).

Sub-Events

Sub-Events are updates that the board makes, with the player's help, following certain commands. They appear in the upper left of the Event card.

There are 3 types of Sub-Events:

• Goblin Advance
• Fire Intensification
• Overheating

Goblin Advance

When this Sub-Event appears on the Event card, all Goblins advance 1 space toward the centre of the Tank.

Destroying the Armor: When a Goblin advances toward a piece of Armor, it sacrifices itself, exploding itself and the Armor. The Armor is placed on the Life Track. If more than one Goblin reaches a piece of Armor at the same time, only one Goblin sacrifices itself for that Armor, while the others advance into the interior of the Tank.

Reaching the Centre of the Tank: If one or more Goblins are in a room of the Tank, and a Goblin Advance Sub-Event is revealed, they move to the centre of the Tank. When this happens, discard the Goblin(s) and place 1 Permanent Damage marker on the Tank's Life Track for each Goblin that reached the centre.

Example of Goblin Advance (as printed): The Goblins advance! All Goblins move 1 space toward the centre of the Tank. They move in a straight line, without changing sector on the Radar. Not every Goblin can move freely. For example, Goblin 1 has just been stopped by Armor, so it sacrifices itself to remove it. Goblin 2 has not yet reached the Armor, and Goblin 4 crossed a piece of Armor that was already destroyed... After sacrificing itself, Goblin 1 is removed from the board, and the destroyed Armor now represents 1 point of Temporary Damage on the Tank's Life Track. And the worst happened: Goblin 3 reached the centre of the Tank. It is also removed from the board, but only after sacrificing itself, causing 1 point of Permanent Damage to the Tank.

Fire Intensification

Sub-Events cannot start fires, but with the Goblins attacking the Tank from the outside, there is a danger of a gas or oil leak that can worsen an existing Fire. When Fire Intensification appears active, place 1 additional Fire marker in each room that already has at least 1 Fire.

Explosion: If any room reaches 3 Fire markers, that room explodes and causes 1 point of Permanent Damage on the Tank's Life Track. The Fire markers of that room are returned to the supply.

Example of Intensified Fire (as printed): The Fire Intensification Sub-Event came up active, and will add a Fire marker for each room that was already burning. At the moment there is one fire in room 2, and two fires in room 4. Therefore, rooms 2 and 4 have their fires worsened. But the real bad news is that room 4 has reached a total of 3 Fire markers, and suffers an explosion. The Explosion causes 1 Point of Permanent Damage to the Tank, which cannot be recovered. Meanwhile, room 2 remains in danger, but without causing serious damage yet.

Overheating

And if a lucky Goblin attack hit a weak point? Perhaps it ignites the Crystal Storage?! It can cause severe damage!

When the Overheating Sub-Event is activated by an Event card, the number of Crystals stored in the Tank's Storage must be checked.

Overheating occurs when the Crystal Storage holds more Crystals than its capacity limit. This limit is determined by the Difficulty Level of the game, decided at the start of the match. Then discard all the Crystals from the Crystal Storage, and place 1 Permanent Damage marker on the Tank's Life Track.

Example of Overheating (as printed): Overheating! We must check our Crystal Storage. A team playing on easy mode can store up to 4 Crystals inside the Tank, but we already have 5 Crystals stored. We are above the permitted limit, and the Tank suffers an explosion. Overheating is brutal for the progress of the Gnomes. When an explosion is caused this way, all stored Crystals are lost, and the Tank suffers one point of Permanent Damage. What a pity!

More Gnomes... Worse?

Some sub-events occur only when the Gnome team is made up of 3 or more Players.

Such sub-events are marked by a yellow border, together with the prerequisite of Players for the sub-event to be activated. But don't let this discourage you: Drill It is a cooperative game! Bigger and more complete teams are able to handle bigger challenges!

Main Events

After resolving the Sub-Events, it is time for the main event! Main Events may add various modifiers for the turn in which they appear. And some are even good! But most make the Gnomes' lives more complicated. There are 5 different types of Main Events:

• Crystal: Sometimes the Tank finds deposits of one of the three types of valuable Crystals. Collect a Crystal of the colour indicated on the card and place it in the Crystal Storage. (Reminder: collect the Main Event's Crystal only after the Overheating Sub-Event has been resolved.)
• Abyss: 1 Abyss piece must be placed adjacent to the Path piece closest to the exit, so that it fits with the path. The Abyss piece is impassable, and players must go around it to continue straight ahead. (See details below.)
• Blackout: We should have installed more external lights on the Tank! When a Blackout occurs, the active player waits to roll the dice for the Goblin Attack (see "Goblins", p.06) until after spending their Action Points for this turn.
• Trap: Goblins are silly, but not dumb! If they place Traps in the tunnels, the active player may not place any Path piece during this turn. Neither their own, nor those of other Gnomes.
• Fire: Pure bad luck, a Fire with no apparent reason. The active player rolls the die. Rolling 1 to 5, they place 1 Fire marker in the room with the same number. Rolling a 6 means a critical failure (see details below).

Event: Abyss

No matter how sad the players become, the Abyss always appears connected to the Path piece closest to the exit. So always remember to organise the paths with a good Plan B in mind!

(Printed example: a Gnome wanted to Excavate that last curve to save its team, but an Abyss decided to spoil its plans. And if Plan B fails, and the example on the side occurs, the mission is lost! Plan carefully not to block the exits!)

Event: Fire

Consider a brand-new Tank, without fires, when suddenly the Fire Event occurs. The active player rolls the die:

• If the player rolls a 4: +1 Fire in room 4.
• If the player rolls a 6: a critical failure occurs (+1 Fire) and they must roll the die again. If they then roll a 5: +2 Fires in room 5.
• If the player rolls two 6s in a row, an Explosion occurs! The Fire Event ends, and the Tank suffers 1 point of Permanent Damage.

It is worth remembering that an Explosion occurs whenever there are 3 or more Fires in the same room, resulting in 1 point of Permanent Damage, regardless of how many critical failures occurred during the event. Be careful!!!

Goblin Attacks

After the Main Event, it is time for the Goblins to "shine"! There are several kinds of Goblin Attack, ranging from a pair of Goblins up to a maximum of a Horde of 5 Goblins.

The active player must roll the die. Rolling between 1 and 5 indicates the sector of the Radar where the Goblins will appear, while rolling a 6 represents a critical failure, attracting more Goblins to attack. Consider an Event card with these types of Goblin Attack:

• Roll a 4: 2 Goblins in sector 4.
• Roll a 6, then a 5: 3 Goblins in sector 5.
• Roll a 6, another 6, and finally a 3: 4 Goblins in sector 3.

And if the active player rolls a 6, another 6, and a third 6? A "Horde" of Goblins attacks the Tank, regardless of the Goblin attacks specified on the Event card.

Note: The "Horde" is the largest possible Goblin attack. If the level of the attack reaches "Horde", the player does not need to roll any more dice, and the attack happens.

Horde: A Horde is represented by a semicircle of green cubes on the Event cards in the Goblin section. When a player has to place a Horde, they must place 1 Goblin in each space of the Radar that has a die. So every Horde brings in 5 Goblins, 1 in each of the sectors furthest from the centre of the Radar.

Abyss and Goblins: The number of Abyss pieces found along the path proportionally affects the level of the Goblin attacks. The more Abysses, the more Goblins. The Event cards contain an indicator just below the attack boxes:

• The yellow box (left) has no markers and is the lightest attack that can occur during the Event. But after the players have found 3 abysses, the orange box (centre) becomes the lightest possible attack.
• After 5 abysses have been found, the red box (right) becomes the lightest possible attack for that Event.

Character Abilities

The true value of the crew lies in the knowledge of its members! These Gnomes were trained to overcome any Goblins or Accidents. If anyone can escape the Crystal Mountain alive, it is these guys:

• Pilot: May place other players' Path pieces without needing to be in the same room. (Tip: remember to think about the Crystals mined with each Path piece!)
• Inventor: Uses Crystal abilities without spending Action Points. (Tip: you are the most suited to use excess Crystals, and avoid unnecessary accumulation in the Storage!)
• Soldier: Attacking Goblins eliminates up to 2 Goblins of the same sector of the Radar, spending only 1 Action Point. (Tip: move intelligently, and maximise your destructive potential!)
• Mechanic: Repairs a Tank Armor without spending an Action Point. (Tip: communication with the team is the key to making sure Armor is not lost in vain!)
• Robot: May move and carry up to 1 player from the same room to any room of the Tank, for just 1 Action Point. (Tip: sometimes it is more valuable to taxi other members than to focus on common tasks!)

End of Game

Victory

The Players win the game if they place a Path piece connecting to the exit determined by the players at the start of the game.

Defeat

The Players lose the game if any of the following defeat conditions occur:

• The Tank's Life Track is completely filled with Damage markers and/or Permanent Damage markers;
• All the cards in the Event Deck have been drawn, totalling 19 complete turns;
• Or the Players can no longer place Path pieces on the board, or it becomes impossible to reach the Exit piece.

Note that if something goes very wrong on the first escape route, the Players may still risk restarting the excavation along the second exit option. Repeat: always keep a Plan B in mind.

Starting a Game (Quick Guide)

Follow these steps in order to set up your game of Drill It:

I. Follow the steps on page 01 for the initial preparation of the Components, the Tank Board and the Event Deck.

II. Choose the duration and the difficulty of the game with the rest of your team.

III. Draw the Character cards, and distribute the respective pawns to each Player.

IV. Roll the die to find each Gnome's starting room. If you roll a 6 you may choose where to start!

V. The Player to the left of the Pilot starts. If there is no Pilot Gnome in the game, the Players decide who starts.

VI. The first player takes their turn without drawing an Event card. Every Player has 4 Action Points per turn, and turns proceed clockwise.

VII. All subsequent turns begin by drawing an Event card. First the Sub-Events are resolved, followed by the Main Event, and lastly the Goblin Attack. (But the "Blackout" event may postpone the Goblin Attack.)

VIII. At the end of each turn, remember to replace the Path pieces that each Player used.

IX. Beware of Abysses, and update the Goblin Attacks according to the number of Abysses found.

X. Work together on this escape mission, if you wish to see the Sun again! Good luck!