Dwarfest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Tavern Cards
• Game Setup
• Gameplay
  • Phase 1: Restocking (Rifornimenti)
  • Phase 2: Opening (Apertura)
  • Phase 3: Table Service (Servizio ai tavoli)
  • Phase 4: Brawls! (Risse!)
  • Cash-in (Incasso)
  • End of the Game (Fine del Gioco)
• Variants
  • Variant EPIC (Variante EPICA)
  • Variant ALCOHOLIC (Variante ALCOLICA)
  • Variant ALCOHOLIC and EPIC (Variante ALCOLICA e EPICA)

Components

• 6 Bars (Banconi), 1 Board (Tabellone), 60 Tables (Tavoli), 60 Barrels (Barilotti), 18 Dancers (Ballerine), 12 Markers (Segnalini), 54 Customer cards (Carte Clienti), 61 Tavern cards (Carte Taverna), 6 Mugs (Boccali), 1 Dealer marker.
• 60 Copper Nuggets (Pepite di Rame), each worth 1 Nugget.
• 30 Silver Nuggets (Pepite di Argento), each worth 4 Nuggets.
• 6 Gold Nuggets (Pepite d'Oro), each worth 10 Nuggets.

Object of the Game

Win by having the most Nuggets (Pepite) cashed in at the end of the game.

Tavern Cards

Tavern cards (Carte Taverna) are divided into three categories: Character (Personaggio), Object (Oggetto) and Event (Evento). Each card shows its cost in Nuggets, its category, and whether it can be stacked with other identical cards (the scan of this line is partly illegible at print resolution).

Tavern cards cannot be bought. In the Restocking phase, however, you may spend Nuggets to pay the activation cost of Object and Character cards and play them from your hand. Character and Object cards can be played in any player's Tavern and are permanent. The Nuggets produced by the effects of these cards are received every Evening in the Table Service phase.

Brawl points (Rissa) gained from cards are added to the starting Brawl value at the start of each turn. Fame points (Fama) are awarded once, when the card that grants them is played, or when a Dancer is hired. Losing cards or Dancers that produced Fame means losing the equivalent Fame points they granted.

To play Event cards you do not need to place the required Nuggets on the Bar. Event cards can be played at any moment of the game, except during the Cash-in, by paying the activation cost from the Nuggets you have in your till (cassa). Once played they take effect immediately, unless another Event card cancels them, and are then discarded.

Game Setup

1. Place the Board in the centre of the table.
2. Each player chooses one of the six colours and takes the following:
   • 10 Copper Nuggets.
   • 1 Bar (Bancone) of the chosen colour.
   • 2 Tables.
   • 2 Barrels.
   • 1 Mug for bar service.
   • 5 Tavern cards, drawn at random.
   • 2 Markers of the chosen colour.
3. Deal the Tavern cards face down to each player. Shuffle the remaining Tavern cards and place the deck beside the Board.
4. Shuffle the Customer cards and place the deck beside the Board.
5. Keep your Nuggets close at hand. Place one of your Markers on space 1 of the Brawl column (the symbol with the double axe marks the Brawl) and the other on space 1 of the Fame column (the symbol with the double mug marks Fame).
6. Keep your Tables and Barrels on the table in front of you. Keep your Tavern cards in hand, hidden from the other players.

Everything is ready! BEER!!!

Gameplay

The game is played over five Evenings (Serate), which are the game's turns. Each Evening is divided into four phases:

1. Restocking (Rifornimenti)
2. Opening (Apertura)
3. Table Service (Servizio ai tavoli)
4. Brawls! (Risse!)

The player with the longest beard (sorry, ladies; fake beards are allowed too!) is the first player and takes the Dealer marker to show it. At the end of each Evening the Dealer passes to the next player clockwise, and with it the first-player role.

Phase 1: Restocking (Rifornimenti)

At the start of the turn the Tavern is closed, and this is the moment to stock up on everything you will need for the coming Opening. You may spend your Nuggets to buy whatever you like, as long as you can afford it and do not exceed the maximum amounts of materials listed below. In this phase you may buy the following materials and staff:

• Table: each Table costs 4 Nuggets and lets your Tavern seat 4 dwarves. You may own a maximum of 10 Tables at a time.
• Barrel: each Barrel costs 1 Nugget and contains 5 Beers. You may own a maximum of 10 Barrels at a time.
• Dancer: each Dancer costs 3 Nuggets. You pay this cost only when you acquire the Dancer. At that moment your Fame increases by 2 points and from then on the Dancer stays in your Tavern. If you lose a Dancer because of an Event card, or she is eliminated during a Brawl, you immediately lose 2 Fame points. You may own a maximum of 3 Dancers at a time.

To make your Restocking purchases, lift your Bar and place your Nuggets in line with the purchases you want, or in the Character/Object card area if you want to activate some Object or Character card (note: Event cards do not need any Nuggets placed on the Bar; see Tavern Cards above).

When everyone is ready, reveal the Bar and the choices hidden behind it. From this point, starting with the Dealer and going clockwise, each player puts away the Nuggets they spent, takes back their Restocking purchases, and plays the cards they paid for from their hand. If a player cannot or does not want to spend all the Nuggets they had set aside for activating cards, those Nuggets are lost.

Phase 2: Opening (Apertura)

The player with the most Fame points draws first a number of Customer cards equal to the value shown opposite their Fame points on the black spaces. They lay these face up in front of them. Then, always in order of Fame, the other players continue to draw Customer cards. In case of a tie in Fame, the Dealer or the player closest to the Dealer's left has precedence.

Phase 3: Table Service (Servizio ai tavoli)

Counting the Customers. Starting from the first player, count the dwarves who have entered the Tavern. Each Table can seat 4 dwarves. Dwarves who remain standing are served at the Bar (see "Beer Arrives!" below).

The sum of the values printed on each Customer card is the number of customers who enter your Tavern that evening. Customer cards that are not used are placed face down beside the Customer deck, forming a discard pile. When the Customer deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

Each player, in turn, may decide how many Customer cards to take or leave on the table. A player takes into the Tavern all the dwarves they decided to accept, but loses 1 Fame point and gains 1 Brawl point for every card refused. Each refused Customer card stays on the table. Later players may, if they wish, bring these dwarves into their own Tavern and add the discarded cards to the ones they already hold.

Example: Thorgrim GoldenAxe draws four cards and decides to leave 2 on the table, losing 2 Fame points and gaining 2 Brawl points. Balin, son of Oidor, the second player, draws 3 cards and decides to refuse one, losing 1 Fame point and gaining 1 Brawl point. He then takes one of Thorgrim GoldenAxe's discards. Magnar the Shinbreaker, the third player, draws 2 cards, keeps them, and decides to take the earlier players' discards as well.

NB: You may invite as many dwarves into your Tavern as you like, even if you do not have enough Tables or Beer to serve them. (Of course they will then get angry, your problem!)

Beer Arrives! To serve Beer you must open Barrels. Each Barrel contains 5 Beers. Each dwarf must be served one Beer. Once a Barrel is opened, all of its Beers must be consumed. If every customer has been served and Beers remain, they are offered free by the house and must be served at the Bar (they will not be wasted, see below). You may also choose to open one Barrel to serve entirely at the Bar, but no more than one Barrel.

To serve a Beer at the Bar, place the Beer gem on the circle you see on your Bar. Then flick the Beer with your finger so that it slides to the area marked by the runes. If at least half of the Beer ends up in the marked area, the dwarf catches the mug in mid-air and is considered served and satisfied. Otherwise the Beer falls and is wasted. This is not good.

Per Beer served at the Table the player gains 1 Nugget. Per Beer served at the Bar the player gains 1 Nugget and increases their Fame by 1 point. Per Beer wasted the Brawl increases by 2 points. Per dwarf in the Tavern who does not receive a Beer, the Brawl increases by 2 points.

Example: Gorma the Hungry welcomes 15 dwarves but has only 3 Tables available, so 12 seats. 3 dwarves must therefore be served at the Bar. Gorma opens 3 Barrels and serves 3 Beers at the Bar. 2 are spilled. Her Brawl rises by 4. Gorma gains 13 Nuggets and 1 Fame point.

Example: Harkaz the Sventrapapere has 12 dwarves and 3 Tables, so 12 seats. To serve them he opens 3 Barrels for a total of 15 Beers. The 3 excess Beers are served at the Bar. Harkaz flicks the Beer gem three times; one Beer is wasted. His Brawl rises by 2. Harkaz gains 14 Nuggets and 2 Fame points.

Example: Strom Stoneforge decides to keep Customer cards for a total of 16 dwarves. He has 4 Tables, so 16 seats. He seats all the dwarves without problems, but unfortunately has only 3 Barrels, so he can serve only 15 dwarves, leaving 1 dwarf without Beer. His Brawl rises by 2.

Phase 4: Brawls! (Risse!)

Once everyone is ready, the Brawl values are resolved, again starting from the Dealer. If the Brawl value in the Tavern exceeds 5, a Brawl breaks out! The dwarves start beating each other up and wreck everything until the Brawl value returns to 5 or below.

First the dwarves destroy the Tables. For every Table destroyed the Brawl value drops by 1. Then the dwarves reach the Beer supplies. All Barrels are lost, and the Brawl value drops by 1 more point for all the Beer. At this point the dwarves take it out on the staff. All Dancers are discarded, and the Brawl value drops by 1 in total. In addition, Fame drops by 2 for each Dancer lost.

To save your Tavern, you may at any moment sacrifice a Bouncer (Buttafuori) Character card, which immediately lowers the Brawl value by 2. NB: Bouncers are stackable. Having more than one Bouncer in your Tavern is allowed and strongly advised!

If, despite all this, the Brawl value is still above 5, the Tavern is completely destroyed. Everything is discarded, the player loses all the Nuggets accumulated so far, and starts the next turn from the beginning, as if starting over.

Cash-in (Incasso)

At this point all players cash in the Nuggets gained during the Evening.

Now the players may decide to discard one card from their hand and, starting with the first player, draw Tavern cards until each has 5 cards again. If the Tavern deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck. Finally, before the next Evening begins, all Markers in the Brawl column are returned to level 1, adding any extra Brawl points granted by Objects or permanent Characters in the Taverns. Fame points stay unchanged.

End of the Game (Fine del Gioco)

If this is the last Evening, after the Cash-in the player who has cashed in the most Nuggets at the festival is declared the richest tavern of the party, and therefore the winner of the game.

Variants

Variant EPIC (Variante EPICA)

Lower the Brawl limit above which the fisticuffs start by 1, from 5 to 4. Good luck! Afterwards, do not say we did not warn you.

Variant ALCOHOLIC (Variante ALCOLICA)

If anyone asks, we never suggested this...

At the start of the first turn, everyone must toast to Glory! (What, with what?? You must be joking, right???)

Each Tavern card may be played by paying its activation cost with 1 Nugget and one sip of Beer for each other Nugget due. (A sip that is not an ear-pointed tree-hugging sip!)

Each time a Brawl breaks out in your Tavern you may drink up to 3 sips (TRUE!!) to lower the Brawl by 1 each time.

[The following sentences are partly illegible at scan resolution; this is the best reading of the printed text.] The winner must ... [illegible]. If the first does not manage it, the second tries, and so on until the last one. Dishonour falls on the tavern keepers of a Dwarfest without a winner, and on their children, and their children's children... OK, you get the idea.

Variant ALCOHOLIC and EPIC (Variante ALCOLICA e EPICA)

We decline all responsibility. A true dwarf can face the consequences of his choices. We do not know you, though...

Take the EPIC rules and mix them with the ALCOHOLIC rules. Then add:

• Anyone who says the word "Beer" or "Drink" drinks.
• Every time a Beer is wasted, everyone drinks.

Remember: drink or drive. If you have taken part in a Dwarfest, leave your boar parked, lie down on your shield and sleep it off there.