Druids of the Elements Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Modalities
• Components
  • Rune Cards
  • Rune Types
• Setup
• The Turn
• Action 1: Cards
• Action 2: Movement
• Action 3: Gem
• Action 4: Magic Area
• Action 5: Rune
• Rune Examples
• Collective and Objective Runes Explanation
• Sequences of Runes
• End of the Game
• Special Phase: The Sabbath
• Final Scoring
• Variants
  • "Ravens" Variant for 2 Players
  • Extended Variant for 5 Players
  • Team Variant for 6 or 8 Players

Game Modalities

Druids of the Elements is an addictive strategy game for 2 to 8 players, with a duration of less than 15 minutes per player.

The following game modes are available:

Mode	Basic Version	"Ravens" Variant	Extended Variant	Team Variant
Number of Players	3-4	2	5	6 or 8
Page	1-13	14	14	14

Components

• 48 Element Cards (back: 12 x Water, 12 x Air, 12 x Fire, 12 x Earth)

• 24 Areas of the Sacred Forest (hexagonal tiles):

  • 8 Virgin Areas, without any particular effect
  • 8 Elemental Areas (2 sets of 4 tiles), inexhaustible sources of the indicated Element
  • 8 Magic Areas (2 sets of 4 tiles), can be activated to take advantage of their magic effect

  Note: 1 set of 4 Elemental Areas and 1 Virgin Area are used only for the 5-Players game.

• 5 Druids, 5 Wolves, 5 Hut Tokens and 5 Wolf Tokens (to identify players), 2 Ravens

• Path of Wisdom (scoreboard)

• First Player Marker

• Active Player Marker

• 5 Markers

• 40 Gems (10 for each Element)

• 72 Rune Cards (back: 18 x Water, 18 x Air, 18 x Fire, 18 x Earth)

Rune Cards

Each Rune Card shows:

• Rune type (see below for the 4 types available)
• Victory Points
• Activation Cost (1 corresponding Element)
• Activation Requirement OR Magic Effect

Rune Types

• Consume: Generate the indicated Magic Gems and consume them to activate this very profitable type of Runes!
• Ritual: Druids and Wolves must be located precisely in the indicated positions in the Forest to perform the Rituals.
• Collective: The indicated effect applies to all Players. These Runes have no Activation Cost but are worth only few Victory Points.
• Objective: The indicated objective must be fulfilled at the end of the game, otherwise this type of Rune will not give Victory Points.

Setup

Setup the game as follows and as shown in the image.

Areas of the Forest

• Randomly arrange the 19 basic Forest Areas to form the above-indicated figure (the presented disposition is just an example). Use the following tiles:
  • 7 Virgin Areas
  • 1 set of 4 Elemental Areas (Water, Air, Fire, Earth)
  • 2 sets of 4 Magic Areas (2x Teleport, 2x Push, 2x Convert Gem, 2x Duplicate Gem)
• Put the scoreboard on the table, next to the Forest.

Element Cards

• Shuffle the Deck.
• Reveal 2 cards and place them face up on the table next to the Deck.

Rune Cards

• Shuffle the Deck.
• Remove from the game random cards in order to obtain a total of 12 Rune Cards per Player. Example: in a 4-Players Game, the Rune Cards Deck will be made up of 12x4=48 Rune Cards.
• Reveal 2 cards and place them face up on the table next to the Deck.

Tokens

• Randomly choose a Player.
• Assign to that Player:
  • the First Player Token (this token will be kept until the game ends)
  • the Active Player Token (this token will be passed clockwise every turn)

All the Players (proceeding clockwise starting from the First Player)

• Choose a color from those available.
• Take the components of the chosen color:
  • Druid
  • Wolf
  • Hut Token (the Wolf Token is used only in Team Game variant)
  • Marker
• Place their Hut Token on the table, in front of them.
• Place their Marker at the beginning of the Scoreboard track.
• Draw 2 Rune Cards and 2 Element Cards from face down decks, and add them to the hand.
• Place both their Druid and Wolf in a single Virgin Area of the Forest of their choice.

The Turn

The Player with the Active Player Token starts the game.

The Active Player must perform 2 Actions (even twice the same Action), to be chosen from:

1. Cards
2. Movement
3. Gem
4. Magic Area
5. Rune

End of Turn

After taking the two Actions, the Active Player must:

• Reveal Element and Rune Cards from their decks at the table in order to have again 2 face up cards for both types. Cards still present at the table must be kept and not discarded.
• Pass the Active Player Token clockwise to the next Player, who becomes the new Active Player.

Notes

• Cards in hand: no Player can ever have more than 8 Cards in hand, adding up the Element Cards and the Rune Cards. Any Actions (or Rune effects) that cause cards to be drawn beyond this limit cannot be performed.
• Deck of Element Cards: if this deck runs out, shuffle all discarded cards and form a new Deck.
• Deck of Rune Cards: when this deck runs out, the end of the game is triggered (see page 13).
• Since Non-Active Players can take several free Actions outside their Turn, the Active Player Token is used to keep track of the Player whose Turn is being played.

Action 1: Cards

Active Player

The Active Player draws and adds to the hand:

• 2 Element Cards, both from the face down deck or the 2 face up cards (if present),

  OR

• 1 Rune Card from the face down deck, or 1 face up Rune Card (if present).

Optional: after drawing Cards, the Active Player may discard 1 Card from the hand. Discarded Element Cards are put in the relevant discard pile, while discarded Rune Cards are removed from the game.

Non-Active Players

In this case, Non-Active Players have no available actions.

Action 2: Movement

Active Player

The Active Player can move their Druid (single movement) or their Wolf (single or double movement). A movement consists in moving the chosen piece from an Area to an adjacent Area of Forest.

Non-Active Players

In this case, Non-Active Players have no available actions.

Notes

• There is no limit on how many Druids and/or Wolves can be in the same Area.
• The Wolf is more useful than the Druid in this Action (because it can move 2 spaces, while the Druid only one), but the Druid is essential for the "Rune" Action!

Action 3: Gem

Active Player

The Active Player can generate a Magic Gem of a given color (taking it from the central supply and adding it to their personal supply), by discarding from the hand:

• 2 Element Cards of the corresponding color (for example: 2 "Earth" Element Cards to get a Green Gem)

  OR

• Only 1 Element Card of the corresponding color, if their Druid or Wolf is in the Elemental Area of the same color (for example: 1 "Fire" Element Card, while the Wolf is in the Fire Elemental Area of the Forest, to get a Red Gem)

Non-Active Players

Non-Active Players can, in clockwise order, generate 1 Gem of the same color as the one generated by the Active Player, in either of the two ways described above.

Note

• There is no limit on how many Gems can be accumulated. At the end of the game, Gems left in the Players' personal supplies are worth 0 points.

Action 4: Magic Area

Active Player

The Active Player can:

• Activate the effect of the Magic Area in which their Druid or Wolf is located,

  or:

• Activate sequentially the effects of the two Magic Areas (different from each other), in which their Druid and Wolf are located. The Active Player decides in which order to activate the two effects.

Magic Areas Effects

• Teleport: The Active Player moves their Druid or Wolf to any Area, without distance limits, regardless of which of these two was present in the Teleport Area at the moment of its activation. For example: if the Druid is present in the Teleport Area when the effect is activated, the Active Player can teleport the Druid or the Wolf.
• Push: The Active Player moves any Druid or Wolf, even belonging to other Players, to an adjacent Area (single movement).
• Convert Gem: The Active Player returns one Gem to the central supply and takes one of a different color.
• Duplicate Gem: The Active Player takes from the central supply a Gem of a color equal to a Gem already present in their supply.

Non-Active Players

Whenever the Active Player activates a Magic Area, Non-Active Players who have their Druid or Wolf in that precise Area can in turn activate the effect, clockwise.

Note

• A single Druid or Wolf cannot activate two Magic Areas during the same Action. For example, if a Druid is in a "Teleport" Area, they activate it and teleports theirself to a "Duplicate Gem" Area, they cannot then activate the latter Area as well. In this case, only the Wolf can activate a second Magic Area within the same Action.

Example

Fred, the White Player (Active Player in this Turn) has the Druid in a "Convert Gem" Area, and the Wolf in a "Push" Area. He chooses "Magic Area" as the first Action on this Turn.

Fred, the White Player (Active Player) first activates the "Convert Gem" Area with his Druid, and converts a White Gem from his supply into a Blue one.

Anna, the Yellow Player (Non-Active Player in this Turn), who has the Wolf in the same activated Magic Area, decides to use the same effect, and converts a Red Gem from her supply into a Green one.

Fred, the White Player (Active Player) then activates the "Push" Magic Area with the Wolf, within the same "Magic Area" Action. He decides to move the Druid of the Orange Player (Non-Active Player) by one area.

Action 5: Rune

This is the most important Action of the game, as it allows players to activate the Runes and obtain Victory Points.

Activated Runes

Players place the activated Rune Cards on the table face up in front of them, forming a row of cards. Runes, once activated, have no further effect until the end of the game and the final scoring.

Active Player

To activate a Rune, the Active Player must, in sequence:

1. Select a Rune Card, which may be in their hand or present face up at the table.
2. Pay the Activation Cost, choosing one of the 3 following methods:
   • By discarding the corresponding Element Card from their hand
   • By discarding a Gem of the corresponding color from their supply
   • For free, if their Druid or Wolf is located in the corresponding Elemental Area
3. Meet the Activation Requirement (only for "Ritual" and "Consume" Rune Cards).
4. Apply the Effect (only for "Collective" Rune Cards).
5. Place the Rune Card in the row of cards in front of them, as the first card on the left of the row, OR as the last card on the right of the row.
6. Advance in the Scoreboard by the corresponding Victory Points (only for "Ritual", "Consume" and "Collective" Rune Cards).

Example

1. Anna, the Active Player already has the following two Runes at the table in front of her, activated in the previous Turns.
2. She decides to activate the following Rune from her hand.
3. She discards a "Fire" Element Card (Activation Cost), and discards the 3 required Gems (Activation Requirement). This Rune has no effect (but a lot of Victory Points!).
4. She decides to add the Rune Card as the last card on the right of the row of activated Runes at the table in front of her.

Non-Active Players

After the Active Player has activated a Rune, Non-Active Players can clockwise activate a Rune of the same color, from their hand or present face up near the corresponding deck. All the rules, costs and requirements mentioned above apply.

Rune Examples

Consume

• Activation Requirement: Discard the indicated Gems from their personal supply, in this case: a Red, a Green and a Blue Gem.
• Effect: None

Collective

• Activation Requirement: None
• Effect: All the Players, clockwise starting with the Active Player, may apply the indicated effect. In this case, they may draw two Element Cards (if they do not exceed the 8-cards limit). They can take 2 cards face up (if available), or face down from the Deck.

Objective

• Activation Requirement: None
• Effect: At the end of the game, this type of Rune Card gives the indicated Victory Points only if the indicated objective is satisfied. In this case, 3 Victory Points if the Player will have activated at least 5 Blue Runes.

Ritual

• Activation Requirement: The Active Player's Druid, and any other Druid or Wolf, must occupy four Areas, anywhere in the Forest, in the configuration indicated by the colored hexagons. Since a Player controls only a Druid and a Wolf, they must take advantage of other Players' positioning!
• Effect: None

Additional Examples on Ritual Runes

(Each example shows a Ritual Rune card (3 VP) and a board diagram; the diagram is not reproduced here.)

• Example 1 note: Both the Yellow Player and the Orange Player can activate this Rune. If the White Player moved his Druid or Wolf to the Central Area, they could activate this Rune too.
• Example 2 note: Only the Orange Player can activate this Rune. Empty hexagons in the Rune Card figure are purely indicative (just as help to recognize the hexagons). They do not have to necessarily correspond to empty Areas.

Collective and Objective Runes Explanation

The following pages show the Collective and Objective Rune cards of the game. Each card has a Collective effect (applied when the Rune is activated) and an end-of-game Objective (scored only if satisfied). The Rune card images themselves are not reproduced here.

Cards 1-4 (page 15)

1. Effect: All the Players obtain a White Gem from the central reserve. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 consecutive sequences of any type.
2. Effect: All the Players draw a Rune Card (face up, if present, or face down from the Deck) and add it to their hand. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 multicolor sequences, anywhere in the row of Rune cards.
3. Effect: All the Players can use 1 or 2 different Magic Areas of the Forest, if they occupy those Areas, one with the Druid and the other one with the Wolf. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 monocolor sequences, anywhere in the row of Rune cards, any color.
4. Effect: All the Players can move by 1 step their Druid OR their Wolf. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 3 sequences of any type, anywhere in the row of Rune cards.

Cards 5-8 (page 16)

5. Effect: All the Players obtain a Red Gem from the central reserve. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 4 Collective Runes, in any position.
6. Effect: All the Players can move 1 of their Runes (already activated and present at the table), by 1 position on the left or right. As a result, 2 consecutive Rune cards swap their position. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 4 Objective Runes, in any position (this Card included).
7. Effect: All the Players can swap the position of 2 of their Rune Cards (already activated and present at the table). Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 5 Red Runes, in any position (this Card included).
8. Effect: All the Players can draw an Element Card (face up if present, or face down from the Deck) for each Sequence (mono- or multicolor) they have already formed. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 4 Ritual Runes, in any position.

Cards 9-12 (page 17)

9. Effect: All the Players obtain a Blue Gem from the central reserve. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 5 Blue Runes, in any position (this Card included).
10. Effect: All the Players can duplicate 1 of their Gems (i.e. obtain from the central supply an extra Gem of a color they already have). Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 3 Gem Consumption Runes, in any position.
11. Effect: All the Players can convert 1 of their Gems of any color, into 1 of another color. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should not have placed Ritual or Gem Consumption Runes on the immediate left or right of this Rune Card.
12. Effect: All the Players have the opportunity to generate 1 or 2 Gems of any color, by paying the normal cost (Elemental Areas can be used). Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should not have placed Collective or Objective Runes on the immediate left or right of this Rune Card.

Cards 13-16 (page 18)

13. Effect: All the Players obtain a Green Gem from the central reserve. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 consecutive Collective Runes placed in their row of Rune cards.
14. Effect: All the Players can draw 2 Element Cards (face up if present at the table, or face down from the Deck). Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 consecutive Gem Consumption Runes placed in their row of Rune cards.
15. Effect: All the Players can choose and take a discarded Element Card. Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 5 Green Runes, in any position (this Card included).
16. Effect: All the Players can discard 1 Card (Element or Rune) from the hand, and then draw 1 Card of any type (face up if present, or from the relevant Deck). Objective: the Player who has activated this Rune should have 2 consecutive Ritual Runes placed in their row of Rune cards.

Note: the source text does not name the card types for these examples beyond the Collective and Objective wording; they are listed in the order printed on pages 15-18.

Sequences of Runes

To achieve the final victory, it is very important to know how to chain the activated Runes together.

A Sequence of Activated Runes is worth an additional 3 Victory Points at the end of the game, and can be formed in two ways (consider only the Rune color):

• 3 consecutive Runes of the same color (Example: Monocolor, Blue / Water)
• 4 consecutive Runes of different colors (Example: Multicolor)

Additionally, a single activated Rune Card can be part of two consecutive Sequences.

Example 1

Sequence 1 and Sequence 2 are shown as overlapping arrows over six activated Rune cards in the example row.

The fourth Rune Card counts as the last Rune of the first Sequence (Multicolor) and also as the first Rune of the Second Sequence (3 cards of the Blue Sequence). The two Sequences will give 6 extra Victory Points at the end of the game.

Example 2

Sequence 1 and Sequence 2 are shown as overlapping arrows over five activated Rune cards in the example row.

The third Rune Card counts as the last Rune of the first Sequence (Blue) and as the first Rune of the second Sequence (Blue too). The two Sequences will give 6 extra Victory Points at the end of the game.

End of the Game

When the Deck of Rune Cards runs out, the game continues normally until the start of the Player's Turn with the First Player Token.

After that, a special phase called "the Sabbath" begins (see next phase). At the end of this there is the final scoring, which will assign the title of Archdruid of the Forest.

Special Phase: The Sabbath

Starting with the Player with the First Player Token, and continuing clockwise, each Player can activate a Rune, from their hand or the table (if present). This special round of activations continues as long as no Player wants or can activate further Runes. There is no limit to the number of Runes that can be activated in this phase.

As before, for each Rune activated during the Sabbath, the Activation Cost must be paid, the Activation Requirement (if any) must be met, and the Effect must be applied (if any).

Final Scoring

Count the Victory Points obtained by each Player, adding up:

• Victory Points tracked in the Scoreboard (coming from Consume, Ritual and Collective Runes)
• 3 Victory Points for each Rune Sequence formed (monocolor or multicolor)
• Victory Points of the Objective Runes, if the indicated objective has been achieved

The Player with the most Victory Points wins the game.

Tiebreaker: the Player who activated the most Runes.

Example of Final Scoring

• Activated runes of Consume, Ritual and Collective types (3+6+4+3+4+3+3): 26
• Sequences (2 Sequences: 1 Multicolor and 1 Green): 6
• Activated runes of Objective type (achieved Objective of the first Rune: 2 consecutive Consume Runes activated): 2

Total: 34

Variants

"Ravens" Variant for 2 Players

Follow the rules for a normal 3-Player game, with the following exceptions:

• Each Player controls a Druid, a Wolf, and a Raven.
• Whenever the Active Player uses the "Cards" Action, the Non-Active Player can move their Raven to an adjacent Area (single movement). This is the only possibility of movement for the Ravens.
• Ravens function like Wolves in the "Magic Area" and "Rune" Actions. In any case, only 2 Magic Areas can be activated in the "Magic Area" Action, even if the Active Player has Druid, Wolf and Raven in 3 different Magic Areas.

Extended Variant for 5 Players

Follow the rules for a normal 4-Player game, with the following exceptions:

• In the initial setup, use all 24 Forest Areas present in the game (the 19 Areas of the basic version, plus 5 of the extended version). Randomly arrange the tiles to form the following figure: (figure of 24 hexagonal tiles, not reproduced here).

Team Variant for 6 or 8 Players

Follow the rules for a normal 3- or 4-Player game, with the following exceptions:

• Form 3 or 4 Teams each made up of 2 Players.
• Players belonging to the same team must position themselves on opposite sides of the table. For example, in a 6 Player game: (seating diagram, not reproduced here: the 6 players at the table, with the two members of each team placed on opposite sides).
• Prepare a 6 Player (3 Teams) game like a normal 3-Player game. Prepare an 8 Player (4 Teams) game like a normal 4-Player game.
  • Exception: The Rune Card Deck is formed by including 14 Rune Cards per Team (not 12 Rune Cards per Player, as in the basic version of the game). For example, in a 6-Player game (3 Teams), build the Rune Card Deck with 14x3 = 42 Rune Cards.
• In each Team, one Player only controls the Druid (represented by the Hut Token), and the other Player only controls the Wolf (represented by the Wolf Token). Put the Tokens on the table in front of the relevant players at the start of the game, so that they are easily identifiable.
• The 2 Players of each Team share the same row of activated Runes and the Gem pool.
• Each Player owns their hand of cards and takes 2 Actions per Turn, according to the rules of the basic version.
• The "Swap Cards" Action is also available, which works as follows: the Active Player can give their teammate any number of cards from their hand (Element Cards and/or Rune Cards, in any combination). As part of the same Action, the teammate may give the Active Player any number of cards from their hand. The limit of 8 cards in hand can never be exceeded by each Player.
• It is not allowed to show cards to a teammate, as the specific "Swap Cards" Action is provided.

Note: Cooperation is essential in this funny variant! Try to follow a team strategy that opposing teams cannot detect!