The Druids of Edora Rulebook

Table of Contents

Playing Materials
- For Each Player
Game Setup
The Druid Master
How to Play
The Actions
The Bonuses
"Druid in Distress"
The Medicinal Herbs
The Fire
End of the Game
- Final Scoring
Play Variations
Credits

Playing Materials

Carefully remove all of the parts from the punchboards.

1 playing board (17 parts): 9x large square parts, 4x corner parts, 4x edge parts
1 starting player card
1 overview board
1 oracle site tile
1 reference sheet
30 stone tablets
6 oracle stones
18 mistletoe
15 dolmens
44 bags of provisions
18 magic potions
16 fire tiles
24 gemstones

For Each Player

Large player board
Small player board
12 medicinal herbs
1 sickle
1 knowledge marker
1 prestige marker
6 standing stones
6 runestones
13 dice
1 playing figure
2 prestige tiles

Game Setup

1. Assemble the playing board frame (eight parts) and place it in the middle of the table. Add the nine square parts – facing in any direction.

NOTE: When assembling the frame and laying the boards, make sure that each of the twenty-four shrines has the required number of action fields (= small squares) for the number of players: 2 Fields, 3 Fields, 4 Fields.

Lay all seventeen of the board parts with the reverse side facing up in the two-player game and with the front side facing up in the four-player game. In the three-player game, lay the seventeen board parts alternately with the reverse or front side facing up.

2. Lay the overview board and oracle site next to the playing board.

3. Shuffle the thirty stone tablets and place them face down. Place two tablets at each side of the oracle site and turn them face up. Place the remaining stone tablets in a face down stack in the center of the oracle site.

4. Place the six oracle stones face up in the six gaps, just as they come, between the stone tablets.

5. Place the three beige dolmens on the three corresponding fields on the overview board.

6. Place the twelve colored dolmens on the edge of the board, one next to each edge shrine on the indicated space. Make sure each color pair of dolmens are not near each other. They need at least 2 other color dolmens in-between.

7. Sort the twenty-four gemstones and place the six piles on the six corresponding fields on the overview board.

8. Sort the eighteen potions according to their value (= 1–6 mistletoe) into six columns and place them face up next to the playing board in ascending order, from left to right.

9. Place the mistletoe, fire tiles, and bags of provisions in piles next to the playing board as general supply piles.

10. Take all the playing materials in your chosen color:

A — One small and one large player board, which you lay face up next to each other in front of you.
B — 13 dice – Use these as follows: Roll four of the dice and place them in front of you (= your personal supply). Then roll the remaining nine dice and place them exactly as they fall on the corresponding storage space on the overview board (= your general supply). So you can already see which dice values are available to you during the game.
C — 1 sickle – Place this on the starting space of the track on your large player board.
D — 1 prestige marker – Place this on the 0/50 field on the prestige points bar on the overview board.
E — 2 prestige tiles – Place these in front of you.
F — 15 provisions from the general supply.
G — 6 runestones and 6 standing stones – Place these on the corresponding fields on your large player board.
H — 1 stone tablet – Randomly take one stone tablet from the face down pile on the oracle site and place it face up in front of you.
I — 12 medicinal herbs – Shuffle these face down and place them face up on the twelve corresponding fields along the bottom of your large player board.
J — 1 knowledge marker – See next section: "The Druid Master".
K — 1 playing figure – See next section: "The Druid Master".

The Druid Master

The player who has rolled the highest total with the four dice in their personal supply becomes the Druid Master (= starting player). In the event of a tie, do not reroll the dice, instead use another method to break the tie. The Druid Master takes the starting player card. To ensure all players an easy overview, the steps a turn involves are shown on the front and the final scoring procedure is shown on the back.

Going counterclockwise, starting with the player on the right of the Druid Master and going in turn, each player places their playing figure (Step K) on a free space next to one of the four shrines at the four connecting parts of the frame (see "Game Setup" above).

The starting player therefore has fewer options (or none at all in the four-player game) and places their playing figure on the board last. They then place their knowledge marker (Step J/K) on the first field on the knowledge bar (at the top left of the overview board). All of the other players then do the same in a clockwise direction, forming a tower of knowledge markers on the first field on the knowledge bar, with the starting player's marker at the bottom.

How to Play

The game is played in a clockwise direction until the end. When it's your turn, carry out steps 1 to 7 (also see the front of the starting player card).

1. Move

First, move your playing piece along a pathway through the forest from the shrine you're currently at to another, provided you can pay the provision costs. There can be any number of playing figures on a shrine. When moving, each shrine your playing figure visits and each dark forest area your playing figure passes through costs you one provision (return it to the general supply).

SPECIAL FIRST MOVE ACTION: On your first turn, ignore your move action and instead go to the shrine next to which you placed your playing figure at the start of the game. This does not cost any provisions.

You always move your playing figure from one shrine to another; you never stop in the forest or on a pathway.

Example: You move your playing figure from A to D via two shrines, passing through two dark forest areas: This move costs you five provisions.

2. Place a Die

Next, choose one of the free action fields (squares) on the shrine where you're standing with your playing figure and place any one of your dice from your personal supply on it. You must now pay for this by returning provisions to the general supply. It costs as many provisions as its value (number of pips) indicates.

Example: a die with 5 pips showing costs 5 provisions.

Note: Ensure you always have at least one die and sufficient provisions in your personal supply. If you don't, see "Druid in Distress" below.

3. Competition

If there are now several dice on the shrine after you lay your die, compare all of the dice values you can see there. Whoever has the highest value receives two prestige points and moves their marker forward on the prestige bar accordingly.

If two players tie for the highest value, look at the knowledge bar: The player whose marker is further ahead wins the tie. If there are several knowledge markers on the same field, the order is from top to bottom.

4. Perform Action

Carry out the action depicted on the field you've placed your die on (see "The Actions" below).

You may move through a shrine that already contains one of your die, but you may not stop in the same shrine that you have previously activated. You may not have more than one die of your color in any given shrine.

You may also lay a die if you cannot or do not want to perform the action; it still costs you provisions though.

5. Fire

If, after laying your die, your own dice occupy all of the two, three, or four shrines around a fire pit, you receive the two, three, or four bonuses shown on the fire pit (see "The Bonuses" below). Then take a fire tile from the general supply and cover the fire pit with it. For details, see "The Fire" below.

6. Dolmens

Once you've occupied all of the shrines required for a gapless link in your dice between the two dolmens of the same color, remove these two dolmens from the playing board and place them in front of you. At the end of the game, they may still be important for the stone tablet scoring.

You now receive two prestige points for each of your own dice required for the link. The beige dolmens are awarded as extra points for the first three dolmen links: If you're the first to successfully link dolmens, you also take the corresponding beige dolmen from the overview board and receive eight prestige points. For the second link, you take the next dolmen and receive six prestige points. And for the third link, you take the last beige dolmen and receive four prestige points.

For a link between two dolmens of the same color to be valid, all of the shrines involved must be linked by pathways! The shortest link you've made is always the relevant one!

You can also receive points for linking several dolmens in one turn.

7. Medicinal Herbs

Finally, place any medicinal herbs released during your turn from your large player board next to the corresponding fields on your small player board. For details, see "The Medicinal Herbs" below.

The Actions

Take a Provision or Die

Take either twelve provisions from the general supply or any three of your dice from the overview board. Place the dice in front of you in your personal supply, without changing their values!

If you don't have any dice left on the overview board, you instead receive two prestige points for every time you should take a die from there.

Move the Knowledge Marker Forward

Move your knowledge marker forward two or three fields on the knowledge bar on the overview board. If you land on an occupied field, place your marker on top.

If your marker is at the end of the bar, you instead receive two prestige points for each additional field you should move it. If your marker is in a tower there, place it at the top.

Move the Sickle Forward

Move the sickle forward two or three fields. This may cause it to reach and "release" medicinal herb tiles (see "The Medicinal Herbs" below).

If your sickle is at the end of the bar, you instead receive two prestige points for each additional field you should move it.

Take a Stone Tablet

Take any one of the twelve stone tablets lying next to the oracle site and place it in front of you. You also receive the two bonuses (see "The Bonuses" below) depicted on the oracle stones to the left and right of the stone tablet you've taken. Then replace the stone tablet you took with a new one from the face-down draw piles so that there are twelve turned face up again. For details, see "The Magic Potions/The Stone Tablets" rule sheet.

Take and Use Mistletoe

Take the number of mistletoe shown on the action field (one, two, or three) from the general supply and place them in front of you. In addition, you may now (and only now!) use mistletoe (by returning it to the general supply) to brew potions. Depending on the action field, you brew one or sometimes even two potions. For details, see "The Magic Potions/The Stone Tablets" rule sheet.

Add Gem to Amulet

Take any gemstone from the overview board and place it on your amulet. First fill the left-hand field with the same graphic character shown on the action field. If you perform another action with this graphic character, place the new gemstone on your amulet on the right-hand field.

Note: You may only place a maximum of one gemstone per type on your amulet, so at most one of each of the six types available.

The multiplier on the action field that you've just occupied with your die indicates how often you can now take the gemstone bonus (two or three times).

Example: You just placed a die on this action field. You take the gemstone with the "Dice" bonus and place it on the corresponding left-hand field of your amulet. As the action field multiplier is "×3", you can now take three of your dice from the overview board and place them in your personal supply. You may not take a gemstone with a "Prestige points" or "Mistletoe" bonus, as you already have them on your amulet.

Erect a Standing Stone

Take any one of your standing stones from your player board and place it next to your playing figure. It now remains there, next to this shrine, for the rest of the game!

Then take the bonus indicated below the standing stone. Immediately afterwards, take again all of the bonuses that are indicated below the standing stones you've already removed (including the one you just removed), from left to right.

Example: You just placed your "Provisions" standing stone next to the shrine and took three provisions. Now take, from left to right, three prestige points, three provisions, one die, and one mistletoe.

Erect a Runestone

Take any one of your runestones from your player board and place it next to your playing figure. It now remains there, next to this shrine, for the rest of the game!

Then take the bonus indicated to the right of this runestone. Here (and only for this type of action!) the value of the die you've just placed on this action field determines the bonus you receive. The following applies to the three upper runestones: Subtract one from the dice value and receive the bonus indicated the corresponding number of times. The following applies to the three lower runestones: Multiply the dice value by one, two, or three, and receive the bonus indicated the corresponding number of times.

Examples:

If you place a die with a value of five on the action field and choose your "Mistletoe" runestone, you receive four mistletoe (5-1) from the supply.
If you choose the "Prestige points" runestone, you receive ten prestige points (5×2).

The Bonuses

The bonuses you can receive during the game in various ways are always the same six:

Prestige marker: Move your prestige marker forward three fields.
Knowledge marker: Move your knowledge marker forward one field.
Provisions: Take three provisions from the general supply.
Dice: Take one of your dice from the overview board and add it to your supply.
Mistletoe: Take one mistletoe from the general supply.
Sickle: Move your sickle forward one field.

"Druid in Distress"

Instead of your normal move, you can choose – or be forced to – make an "emergency move": Take six provisions and one of your dice from the general supply (or two prestige points if you don't have any dice left).

Note: If you make an emergency move, you probably won't be able to use all of your dice before the game ends. You should avoid this wherever possible!

The Medicinal Herbs

A medicinal herb is released whenever you reach or cross a field with your sickle that has a medicinal herb tile above and below it. If you moved your sickle to release an herb, it will resolve as the last action of your turn.

Place the two tiles from your large player board in the corresponding recesses of your small player board. Turn one face up and the other face down. The herb turned face up is now "active." You can use it as often as you want from now on. The herb turned face down is "inactive" and cannot be used in the game (with one exception – see "The Magic Potions/The Stone Tablets" rule sheet).

If you release more medicinal herbs by moving your sickle forward during your turn, do the same with the groups of two: 1 × face up = active; 1 × face down = inactive.

The medicinal herbs offer the following benefits as soon as they are active:

Provisions: Every time you perform the "Take provisions" action, take six more provisions from the general supply (= 18 in total) and three prestige points.
Mistletoe: Every time you perform the "Take mistletoe" action, take one more mistletoe from the general supply and three prestige points.
Sickle: Every time you perform the "Move sickle" action, move your sickle forward two more fields.
Knowledge marker: Every time you perform the "Move the knowledge marker forward" action, move your marker forward two more fields.

Note: You only receive these four different benefits if you perform the action yourself on a shrine or by using magic potions. You never receive them if you only receive the corresponding bonuses (e.g., by placing fire tiles, standing stones, or gemstones).

To ensure that this important rule is always observed during the game, the same dark green background has deliberately been used for the explanations of the medicinal herbs on the small player board as on the actions on the shrines and magic potions.

Amulet: Every time you perform the "Add an amulet" action, increase the multiplier value of the action field by one.

Example: If you were just on an action field with the multiplier value of ×2, this becomes ×3. So you receive nine provisions instead of six, for example, or three mistletoe instead of two or three fields with your sickle instead of two, etc. …
Turn a die +/- 2: Every time before you place a die on a shrine (and only then!), turn it to a value up to two points higher or lower (not below one or above six; one and six aren't adjacent). Pay and use the new value.
Standing stones: Every time you perform the "Erect a standing stone" action, take one of the bonuses you just received again.
Move your playing figure: If you choose to move your playing figure, you may move it to any other shrine in the same clearing (= connected light-colored forest area) for exactly one provision instead of a normal move, regardless of the pathways to it. Your move ends there; you cannot move your playing figure any further during this turn!
3→5 prestige points: Every time you receive exactly three prestige points (e.g., by erecting standing stones or laying fire tiles, with the yellow or blue medicinal herb bonus, etc.), receive five prestige points instead.

Examples: If you place a fire tile on a fire pit showing three prestige points + three prestige points + one die, you receive ten prestige points (2×5) instead of six and one die. If you add the gemstone with the "three prestige points" bonus to your amulet and have a ×2 multiplier (action field) and the red medicinal herb (+ ×1), you receive fifteen prestige points (3×5) instead of nine.
Runestone: Every time you perform the "Erect a runestone" action, add two to the value of the die you use (e.g., 5 is now a 7 when calculating awards). In the example for "Erect a runestone" above, you would receive six mistletoe (instead of four) or 14 prestige points (instead of ten).
Fire: Every time you place a fire tile, take one of the bonuses you just received again.
Stone tablets: Every time you perform the "Take a stone tablet" action, take both of the bonuses a second time.

The Fire

There are a total of sixteen fire pits between the shrines. Enclose these with your dice by placing one die on each of the two, three, or four adjoining shrines. The first person to achieve this at a fire pit receives the two, three, or four bonuses shown. They then cover the fire pit with a fire tile, after which it is out of the game and can no longer be used by anyone.

The two to four adjoining shrines don't have to be connected by direct pathways.

You can also enclose several fire pits at the same time.

End of the Game

Play until at least one of you has placed their last die on a shrine (after at least thirteen rounds). Play the current round to the end so that everyone has had the same number of turns.

Final Scoring

(also see the starting player card)

Move your prestige marker forward according to the following list. If you reach 50 (100, 150, …) prestige points, place your corresponding prestige tile next to the 0/50 field on the overview board.

1. Remaining materials — For every six provisions, every mistletoe, and each remaining personal and unclaimed die: 1 prestige point.

2. Sickle — Depending on how far you've moved it along the bar: 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20 prestige points.

3. Stone tablets — For every completed stone tablet: 10 prestige points.

4. Amulet — For each layer occupied twice: 10 prestige points, and for the triple in the left half, another 20 prestige points.

5. Shrines — After you've completed scoring steps 1 to 4, remove all of the dice from all of the shrines, except for the one with the highest value. If the highest values are the same, the position of your markers on the knowledge bar decides which die stays on the board. Place all of the removed dice on the overview board.

Now there is a maximum of one die on each shrine. The owner of this die takes this, along with all of the runestones and standing stones standing next to this shrine. It doesn't matter who placed them originally, they are collected by the person with the highest die at the shrine. Do this for every single die so that all the shrines are completely empty.

Now multiply the total dice, runestones and standing stones you've gained in this way by the highest multiplier value that your marker reached on the knowledge bar, so by zero, one, two, three, or four. The result are your prestige points for the fifth scoring step: "Shrines."

Example: You receive seven of your dice and four runestones and standing stones from the playing board. Your marker is on the seventh field on the knowledge bar: So you receive 22 prestige points (11×2).

Your fellow player Anna receives ten of her dice and seven runestones and standing stones. Her marker is on the last field on the knowledge bar: She receives 68 prestige points (17×4).

Your fellow player Carla receives four dice and three runestones and standing stones. Her marker is on the second field on the knowledge bar: She receives 0 prestige points (7×0).

The winner is the player with the most prestige points after all five scoring steps. If there is a tie, the player whose marker is further back on the knowledge bar wins!

Play Variations

When you're more familiar with the game, we recommend you try the following play variations.

Variation 1: Take three face down stone tablets, choose one of them, and place it face up in front of you. Return the two other stone tablets back below the draw piles.

Variation 2: Only the starting player lays their twelve medicinal herbs at random and turns them over. Then the other players lay their twelve medicinal herbs in the same order on their player board.

Variation 3: Look at and plan the order of your medicinal herbs. Keep them face down and put them in the order you want on your player board. When all players have placed their medicinal herbs, reveal them all at the same time.

Variation 4: All players roll their first 4 dice as normal, and find out who is the starting player / Druid Master (see "The Druid Master" above). Then only the starting player rolls their remaining nine dice and places them on the overview board. The other players then place their remaining nine dice with exactly the same values on the overview board.

Credits

Author: Stefan Feld
Illustrations: Fred Gissubel
Art Direction: Sophie Wegwart
Graphic Design: Sophie Wegwart, Julia Simon, Akha Hulzebos
Editor: Stefan Brück

The author and publisher would like to thank the many test players for their great commitment and their countless suggestions, in particular: Susanne & Jonathan Feld, Afra & Thomas Koslowsky, Michael Rieneck, Michael Schmitt, Torsten Tolzmann and the groups from Bad Aibling, Harpfetsham, Kressbronn, Krumbach, Lieberhausen, Munich, Offenburg, Reimlingen, Reutte and Rotenburg.

Imported into the UK by Ravensburger Ltd., PO Box 515, Bicester, OX26 9QQ, GB

Ravensburger North America, Inc., PO Box 9333, Seattle, WA 98109, USA

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