Everdell: Spirecrest – Trailblazers Pack Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Base Components
  • Collector Additions
• Setup
• The Trail
  • Chart
  • Discover
  • Types of Discovery Cards
  • Travel
• Weather
• Expedition
• Solo Rules

Components

Base Components

• 33 Discovery cards
• 12 Weather cards
• 5 Big Critter figures
• 6 Everdell Valley map tiles
• 24 map tiles
• 6 Foxes and 1 Frog Ambassador (for the Pearlbrook expansion)
• 12 Traveler rabbits (1 for each type of critter in Everdell and its expansions)
• 12 3-point tokens
• 6 saddles (1 extra)
• 1 Mountain board

Collector Additions

• 9 Discovery cards
• 3 Big Critter figures
• 6 Lizards, 6 Owls and 6 Moles, with their Frog Ambassadors and their Traveler rabbits
• 4 saddles (1 extra)

Setup

Follow the setup rules for the base game with these additions:

1. Place the Mountain board along the lower half of the main board.

2. Sort the Weather cards by season, then shuffle each group and place 1 card facedown, without looking at it, on each matching season spot on the Mountain board. Return the remaining Weather cards to the box without looking at them.

3. Sort the Discovery cards into 3 categories: Foothills, Peaks and Ridge. Shuffle each group separately and place them facedown on their matching spots on the Mountain board.

4. Give each player an Everdell Valley map tile (4a). Then shuffle the 24 map tiles and place 1 more than the number of players faceup on the Foothills part of the trail (4b). Then place the same number facedown on the Peaks trail (4c) and on the Ridge trail (4d). Return the remaining map tiles to the box without looking at them.

5. Place the Big Critter figures on the Mountain board (optional) or nearby.

6. Flip over the Winter Weather card (2a) and place each player's Traveler on the Foothills icon at the start of the trail.

The Trail

Note: Spirecrest adds substantial complexity to Everdell. When you play with Spirecrest, it is recommended not to include other expansions.

Your adventurous Traveler will journey through the mysterious Spirecrest mountains, braving dangerous weather and venturing into uncharted lands. Along the way they will meet hardy mountain folk, exotic locations, difficult trails and even some of the legendary Big Critters that are rumored to roam these peaks.

Your Traveler begins the game exploring the Foothills, then progresses to the Peaks, then the Ridge, and finally to your Expedition.

Each time you perform a Prepare for Season action, you must also perform the Explore action, which consists of the following 3 steps:

1. Chart
2. Discover
3. Travel

Chart

Choose one of the faceup map tiles on the area of the trail that your Traveler is currently exploring. Take that map tile and place it at the end of your Expedition.

At the start of the game your Expedition consists only of the Everdell Valley map tile you received during setup. When you gain your first map tile, place it to the right of the Everdell Valley map tile, as shown below:

Each map tile you gain after that is placed to the right of the previous one. Each player gains a total of 3 map tiles over the course of the game. Together these form the Expedition that your Traveler will embark on at the very end of the game.

The Expedition is explained in more detail later in these rules.

Discover

After choosing and adding a map tile to your Expedition, take the top 3 cards from the deck matching the area you are exploring. The first time you Prepare for Season, this is the Foothills deck. Place these 3 cards faceup along the bottom of the Mountain board, beneath the cost markers on the board, as shown below:

These cards represent different discoveries your Traveler has made on their journey. You may choose only 1 of these cards to place in your play area. These cards do not count toward your city size limit.

The first card in the row is free. To take the second card, you must either discard 1 card from your hand or pay 1 of any resource. To take the third card, you must either discard 2 cards from your hand, pay 2 of any resource, or discard 1 card and pay 1 resource.

Play the chosen Discovery card beside your city. Place the 2 Discovery cards you did not choose facedown under their deck.

Types of Discovery Cards

There are different types of Discovery cards you may encounter. All Discovery cards are described in detail in the index at the end of this rulebook.

Discovery cards are considered "card-playing abilities" and therefore cannot be combined with cards such as the Innkeeper or the Crane.

Trail and City: Trails challenge you to fulfill certain conditions in order to gain their endgame points. Cities, which are found only in the Ridge deck, will give you endgame points based on the card types in your city.

Transcriber's note: the French sheet reads "dans votre ville" (in your city) here. The English Spirecrest Collector rulebook in this repository reads "not in your city". This text follows the French as printed; check the City card wording before relying on it.

Ongoing Effect: You gain an ongoing ability that remains in effect for the rest of the game, or for as long as the card states.

Location: These may be locations only you can visit, or Open locations that other players can also visit.

When Played: Some cards have abilities that you perform immediately when you play them.

Big Critter: If you play a Big Critter card, take the matching figure from the Mountain board. This Big Critter replaces 1 of your workers, and you may optionally use a plastic saddle clip to attach your worker to the Big Critter so that it rides it (so it is clear who is using it).

Big Critters are considered "workers" but have unique abilities that replace Player Powers. They may visit all the normal locations that other workers can visit, such as resource gathering spots, Destination cards, and so on. They may also be moved with cards such as the Ranger.

Travel

After choosing a map tile and playing a Discovery card, move your Traveler to the next area indicated on the trail. These areas are marked by symbols, shown as three rune stones labelled Foothills, Peaks and Ridge.

If the Weather card for that area has not yet been revealed, reveal it now. The restrictions of that Weather card apply to every player whose Traveler is in that area. If the map tiles on that area's trail have not yet been revealed, turn them all faceup now.

Weather

When you perform the autumn Prepare for Season action, first turn over the autumn Weather card if it is not already revealed. Then move your Traveler off the Mountain board and onto the Everdell Valley tile at the start of your Expedition. From here on, you must follow the restrictions of the autumn Weather card.

You explore different areas depending on the season of the game: in Winter the Foothills, in Spring the Peaks, in Summer the Ridge, and in Autumn your Expedition. During each season you must follow the restrictions of the matching Weather card.

After you Prepare for Season and move your Traveler to the next area, turn over the Weather card for that new area if it is not already revealed. You must now follow the rules of this new Weather card for as long as you are in the corresponding season. You are only affected by the Weather card of the current season.

Different players may be affected by different weather at the same time, depending on the season each of them is currently in.

Note that game effects that copy base or forest locations, such as the Lookout, ignore the weather effects that apply to those locations.

Weather effects that force you to discard cards take effect at the end of your turn, after you have fully resolved your placement or card abilities.

If a Weather effect requires you to pay an additional cost to play a card, you may ignore that effect if you play the card for free (via an occupied token or another effect).

Expedition

At the end of the game, immediately after you pass, your Traveler may embark on its Expedition. Each map tile in your Expedition grants you endgame points, but only if you first pay the cost listed for getting there. You may choose how many map tiles you travel through, if any. You must travel through your Expedition in the order in which you charted it.

For example, you must pay the cost on the first tile to the right of the Everdell Valley map tile before you can pay the cost on the second tile, and finally the third. Move your Traveler to the furthest map tile you choose to explore. When you score, you gain points for the map tile your Traveler is on and for all the map tiles to its left. You do not gain points for map tiles you do not explore.

In the example shown in the printed rulebook, the player pays 3 resin and earns 4 points, but goes no further, because they cannot pay the 3 pebbles needed to continue their expedition. (The example is an illustration and is not reproduced here.)

Solo Rules

Rugwort is on the move!

He never was known for his original ideas, and now he is literally following in your footsteps! Rugwort has heard of the amazing discoveries being made in the Spirecrest mountains, and has hired a shady critter to follow you on your journey, trying to scratch up whatever you leave behind.

You must make sure he takes the wrong path and does not come back!

When playing the Spirecrest expansion solo, use the solo rules of the base game, including the 3 years of difficulty, and add the following rules:

• Place 1 Everdell Valley map tile in Rugwort's area and place his Traveler on it.
• Place 2 map tiles on each area of the trail, with the tiles on the Foothills faceup and the Peaks and Ridge tiles facedown.
• Rugwort takes the map tile you do not choose from each area. Place it at the end of his Expedition.
• Depending on the Discovery card you play, Rugwort gains victory points: give him 3 points if you play the free card, 2 points for the cost-1 card, or 1 point for the cost-3 card.
• Rugwort ignores all Weather effects.
• At the end of the game, move Rugwort's Traveler to the end of his Expedition. He scores for every map tile in his Expedition.