Druid Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Backstory
• Components
• Object of the Game
• Gameplay Overview
• Game Setup
• The Round
  • Round Steps
  • Example of a Round
• The Darkness Card
  • Dispelling
  • Darkness Falls
• Relic Cards
  • Playing a Relic Card
• Game End and Scoring
  • Counting Sets
  • Scoring Example
• The Winner

Backstory

During the Dark Ages of Northern Europe, there were mystics who would attempt to control the powers of nature. To aid them in this quest, the mystics sought out ancient stone artifacts. They would then activate the artifacts by supplying them with energies drawn from animals whose spirits matched the stones' affinities.

This ritual granted both the mystic and the artifact great power.

However, there was always the danger that the ritual might release dark spirits into the world whose energies would have to be contained, lest they wreak havoc.

Only the most ambitious mystics were willing to take this risk as they competed to become the most powerful!

Components

• 75 Animal Spirit cards
• 20 Relic cards (Gems, Masks, and Rings)
• 60 Artifact cards
• 6 Darkness cards (These appear in the Artifact deck)

Object of the Game

Players compete to score points by gathering ancient mystical artifacts and valuable relics. They do this by playing Animal Spirit cards. The game ends after 6 rounds, at which point the player with the most points wins.

Gameplay Overview

All players start out with identical hands of 15 Animal Spirit cards (3 of each color).

Each round, the dealer places Artifact cards in the middle of the table, which players compete to claim. Whoever plays the most Animal Spirit cards matching an Artifact's main and secondary colors gets to take the Artifact.

The more Artifact cards you collect of the same type (Altar, Henge, Idol, Obelisk, or Torch), the more points those cards are worth (see "Game End and Scoring"). Strive to claim Artifacts of the same type or instead try to snatch up Artifacts other players want. Keep in mind that if you play certain combinations of Animal Spirit cards during the round, you also can claim Relic cards, which give you points or special one-use abilities.

Each round includes 3 Play phases, and actions are taken simultaneously. In each Play phase, everyone selects Animal Spirit cards from their hand and places them facedown in front of them. When all players are ready, everyone flips over their cards — which gives others a glimpse of their strategy.

At the end of the round, everyone claims Artifacts and Relics based on the cards they played over the course of all 3 Play phases. Then, everyone resets to their starting hands, replenishes the array of available Artifact and Relic cards, and starts the next round.

Game Setup

For a three-player game, your beginning setup should include one of each of the elements described below.

• Give 15 Animal Spirit cards to each player, including 3 cards of each color (red, orange, yellow, green, and blue). Players begin every round with this same starting hand.
• Shuffle the deck of Relic cards. Set it and several Relic cards faceup in a row at one edge of the playing space.
  • In a two-player game: Place 3 Relic cards faceup.
  • In a three-, four- or five-player game: Place 4 Relic cards faceup.
• Shuffle the deck of Artifact cards and remove a number of them from play:
  • In a two-player game: Remove 24 cards.
  • In a three-player game: Remove 18 cards.
  • In a four-player game: Remove 6 cards.
  • In a five-player game: Remove zero cards.
• Set the following number of Artifact cards faceup in a circle in the center of the playing area. Arrange them so the card bottoms point into the center of the circle.
  • In a two-player game: 7 Artifact cards are in the circle.
  • In a three-player game: 8 Artifact cards.
  • In a four-player game: 10 Artifact cards.
  • In a five-player game: 11 Artifact cards.

The Round

Play Druid in 6 rounds. There are 3 Play phases to each round, followed by a Resolution phase and a Reset phase.

Druid is a simultaneous action game. There is no first player. Instead, everyone conducts each phase at the same time and moves on to the next phase only when all players are ready.

Round Steps

Play Phase 1

• All players select 3 Animal Spirit cards from their hand and place the cards facedown in front of them, keeping secret which ones they chose.
• When all players are ready, everyone turns over and reveals their cards.

Play Phase 2

• All players select 2 Animal Spirit cards from their hand and place the cards facedown in front of them, keeping secret which cards they chose.
• When all players are ready, everyone turns over and reveals these 2 cards.

Play Phase 3

• All players select 1 Animal Spirit card from their hand and place it facedown in front of them, keeping secret which card they chose.
• When all players are ready, everyone turns over and reveals the card.
• Any player with a Ring card may use it now. (See the "Relic Cards" section).

Resolution Phase: Artifacts

• Players claim Artifact cards based on the Animal Spirit cards they played during the Play phases.
  • Each Artifact card displays 2 colored dots in the upper left hand corner. The larger, top-most dot indicates its Main Color, and the dot below that indicates its Secondary Color.
  • Whoever played the most Animal Spirit cards matching an Artifact's Main Color claims that Artifact.
  • If there is a tie for Main Color (even if the tie is zero cards), whichever of the tied players also played the most cards matching the Secondary Color claims the Artifact.
    • Example: An Artifact's Main Color is yellow and Secondary Color is green. Kendra and Isaac both played 2 yellow Animal Spirit cards, so they tie for Main Color. To break the tie, they look at the number of green Animal Spirit cards they played: Kendra played 3 and Isaac played 1, so Kendra takes the Artifact.
  • If players tie for both Main and Secondary Color, no one gets the Artifact, and it is removed from the game. (If no one played any cards in the Main or Secondary color, this counts as all players tying for zero on both accounts; the card is removed from the game).
• Players must display their collected Artifact cards face up, organized so other players can see how many they have of each type.
• The circle of Artifact cards may include Darkness cards (see "The Darkness Card" section).
  • If a player plays the appropriate Animal Spirit cards to meet the Darkness card's requirements to dispel it, remove the Darkness card from the game.
  • If the Darkness card is not dispelled, place it faceup at one edge of the playing space (this space is called "the Veil.")
  • If there are 3 or more Darkness cards in the Veil, darkness falls. (See "The Darkness Card" section).

Resolution Phase: Relics

• Players claim Relic cards based on the Animal Spirit cards they played during the Play phases.
  • The top of each Relic card displays a row of 5 colored rectangles. These indicate which 5 Animal Spirit cards must be played to claim the Relic.
  • Whoever's played Animal Spirit cards matching the cards indicated on the Relic (in terms of both color and quantity of cards in each color) is eligible to claim that Relic. You do not have to play the 5 Animal Spirit cards in the order depicted on the Relic.
  • If multiple players meet the Relic card's requirements, no one gets the Relic. Unlike Artifact cards, in cases of ties, Relics are not removed.
• If a player claims a Relic card, replenish the Relic row by replacing the claimed card with a new one off the top of the Relic deck.
• Relics that have not been claimed are not removed at the end of the round. They remain out until they are claimed.

Reset Phase: Reset for the next round

• Players collect their played Animal Spirit cards and return them to their hands. They will start the next round with the same hand of Animal Spirit cards with which they began this one.
• Draw from the Artifact deck to replenish the Artifact card circle.
• Draw from the Relic deck to replenish the Relic cards row as needed. Any unclaimed Relics remain out.
• Any Darkness cards that have not been dispelled remain out (in the Veil).
• Any player with a Mask card may use it now. (See the "Relic Cards" section).

Rounds continue until there are no new Artifact cards to draw to replenish the circle. This should take 6 rounds.

Example of a Round

In the above Round Example, red is the Main Color (large dot) on several Artifact cards. By the Resolution phase, all players have tied for red Animal Spirit cards played.

To break the tie, players look at the Secondary Color (small dot). Because Kendra played the most blue cards, she takes the Artifact with the red Main Color and blue Secondary Color.

Another Artifact has a red Main Color and green Secondary Color. Isaac and Sophia tied for playing the most red cards (3 cards), so they look at Secondary Colors. Again, they tied, with 2 green cards played each. Because they tied on both fronts, neither player gets the Artifact and it is removed from the game.

No one played the cards needed to claim any Relics so those Relics remain out, keeping the Relic Row the same for the next round.

The Darkness Card

Darkness cards appear in the Artifact deck, but are not considered Artifacts. Darkness cards may be revealed when you draw Artifacts to display in the center circle.

Unlike Artifacts, Darkness cards cannot be claimed and do not earn players points.

If not dispelled in a timely manner, Darkness cards will cause some players to lose Artifacts in their collections.

Dispelling

To dispel a Darkness card, one person must play the 4 Animal Spirit cards specified on the Darkness card. The row of colored rectangles at the top of the Darkness card indicates which Animal Spirit cards are needed. These 4 required cards must be played as part of the single player's Animal Spirit card selections during one round's phases.

In the Round Example above, the Darkness card required 3 green and 1 yellow Animal Spirit card in order for the Darkness to be dispelled. As part of the 6 Animal Spirit cards Isaac played during his turn, he played 1 yellow and 3 green cards, and thus dispelled the Darkness card.

Dispelled Darkness cards are removed from the game and set aside near the player who dispelled them. These dispelled cards are kept for end of the game scoring only — they cannot be used for anything and no longer have impact on the game, except for breaking ties during scoring.

Darkness Falls

Darkness cards that are not dispelled are placed in a row, called "the Veil." Cards remain in the Veil and are not discarded when the round ends. Instead, they remain in the Veil.

If at any point there are 3 or more Darkness cards in the Veil, darkness falls: All players discard their collected Artifact cards down to the number of Artifacts held by the player with the fewest. Darkness falling occurs after players have claimed Artifacts for that round.

Relic cards and dispelled Darkness cards are not impacted by darkness falling: Players do not count them among their Artifact card totals, and they may not discard a Relic card or dispelled Darkness card in place of an Artifact.

After darkness falls, remove all the Darkness cards in the Veil from the game.

Example: Kendra has 2 Artifact cards, Isaac has 3, and Sophia has 1. If darkness falls, then all players must discard down to 1 Artifact. Kendra discards 1 of her Artifacts and Isaac discards 2 Artifacts. Then they remove all Darkness cards in the Veil from the game and continue play as normal.

Relic Cards

There are 3 kinds of Relic cards: Masks, Rings, and Gems. Masks and Rings give the players who own them special one-use abilities. Gems give the player who owns them points.

During setup, a number of Relic cards are laid out in a row by the edge of the playing space (see the "Game Setup" section). These Relics are available to be claimed. Whenever a player claims one, the row is replenished with a card off the top of the Relic deck.

In order to claim a Relic, a player must during the round play the 5 Animal Spirit cards that match the colored rectangles shown on top of the Relic. If a player achieves this, they take that Relic card during the round's Resolution phase and can use it in subsequent rounds.

If multiple players play Animal Spirit cards that match a Relic card, no one gets it and it remains in the row of available Relics.

Unclaimed Relics are not cleared at the end of the round, but remain available until the final (sixth) round.

At the start of the final round, ensure that the row of available Relics only contains Gems: Remove any non-Gem Relics from the row. Go through the Relic deck to pull out any Gem cards that remain and add them all to the row. In this round, there is no limit on the number of Relics that may appear in the row (so long as they are all Gems).

Playing a Relic Card

The Ring Relic Card

At the end of any round, before players claim Artifact and Relic cards, any player with a Ring Relic card may use it. The Ring lets the player replace 1 of the Animal Spirit cards they played that round with a different Animal Spirit card from their hand.

If multiple players have Ring cards, the player with the greatest number of Artifacts collected decides first if they will use their Ring and then does so. Then the player with the second most Artifacts decides whether to use their Ring, and so on in that order.

Then the round continues as normal, proceeding on to the Resolution and Reset phases.

Limits

Ring cards are one-time use. Once a Ring is played, it is removed from the game.

Each player may only play 1 Ring card per round.

The Mask Relic Card

Players may choose to play a Mask Relic card during the time between one round's Reset phase and the next round's first Play phase.

Mask cards let a player temporarily hide 2 of the 3 Animal Spirit cards they play in the first phase of the round. (You may not hide only 1 card). Do not flip the cards over at the end of the Play phase. Those 2 cards will only be revealed after the end of the third Play phase and before the start of the Resolution phase. (Note: Ring cards are played during the beginning of the Resolution phase).

If multiple players have Mask cards, the player with the greatest number of Artifacts collected decides first if they will use their Mask and then does so. Then the player with the second most Artifacts decides whether to use their Mask, and so on in that order.

The Gem Relic Card

Each individual Gem Relic card collected is worth 3 points.

Gem cards are tallied in a player's final score at the end of the game. Like all Relic cards, Gem Relic cards are not considered to comprise sets and are not scored using the Set Scoring Table.

Game End and Scoring

The game ends when there are no more cards left in the Artifact deck, and the Resolution phase of the final round has been resolved.

Once the game has ended, players count their points. Points are scored in one of two ways:

1. 3 points for each Gem Relic card a player collected.
2. Varied points for each set of Artifacts a player collected, depending on the set size.

Counting Sets

There are 5 types of Artifact cards in the game: Altars, Henges, Obelisks, Idols, and Torches. Players earn more points for having many Artifacts of the same type.

A "set" is a collection of Artifacts cards of the same type. The table below outlines how many points a set is worth based on how many cards are in it.

Cards in the Set	Points
1	1
2	2
3	4
4	7
5	11
6	16
7	22
8	29
9	37
10	46
11	56
12	67

Scoring Example

Kendra has collected the following Artifact and Relic cards:

• 3 Altar Cards = 4 points
• 1 Henge Card = 1 point
• 5 Idol Cards = 11 points
• Zero Obelisk Cards = 0 points
• 7 Torch Cards = 22 points
• 1 Gem Relic Card = 3 points

Her total score is 41 points.

The Winner

The winner is the player who scored the most points. If multiple players tie for most, the winner is whichever of them dispelled the most Darkness cards.