Freya's Folly
Freya's Folly Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 80 Small Jewels (16 jewels each of 5 colours): Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst, Amber
- 30 Large Jewels (6 jewels each of 5 colours): Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst, Amber
- 30 Dwarf Disks (6 disks each in 5 colours) with adhesive labels for front and back
- 38 Setting Cards with silver settings for ruby, emerald, sapphire and amethyst
- 7 Brisingamen Cards with gold settings for amber
- 15 Ability Cards (3x Speed, 3x Bat, 3x Thief, 3x Stealth, 1x Strength, 2x Stamina)
- 12 Ability Markers (3x Speed, 3x Stealth, 3x Bat, 1x Strength, 2x Stamina)
- 18 Free Action Tokens
- 5 Player Guide Cards
- 5 Player Mats
Setting Up
Before the first playing, you will need to punch out the Free Action tokens. You will also need to carefully attach the front and back adhesive labels to each dwarf disk. For each disk there is a label with jewels and a matching label with the same number and no jewels.
Lay the board out in the centre of the table. Each player chooses a colour, taking the role of one of the dwarf craftsmen. Players take the number of worker dwarfs in their colour indicated in the table below. Each player also takes the corresponding Player Mat and one Player Guide Card.
Dwarf Disks per player
| # Players | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Dwarfs | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Jewels
Separate the amber (yellow) jewels from the other jewels and place them on the indicated 'yellow' positions in the caverns on the board. Place the rest of the jewels in a cup and draw them at random to fill the 'grey' positions indicated in the caverns. Note that a jewel should only be placed on positions on the board that matches its size.
Black Market
The remaining jewels are placed near the top right corner of the board and form the initial jewels of the Black Market.
Cards
Separate the Ability Cards, the Setting Cards and the Brisingamen Cards and shuffle each deck. From the Setting Cards deal 8 cards face up to form the Jeweller's Workshop. Deal 3 Ability Cards face up on the 3 indicated positions in the Black Market and 6 Ability Cards face down to form a draw deck beside them. Deal the top Brisingamen Card face up beside the Brisingamen area. Take the top half of the Setting Cards and shuffle in the remaining Brisingamen Cards and Ability Cards. Place the shuffled cards face down on top of the other half of the face down Setting Cards to form a draw deck and place it beside the Jeweller's Workshop.
Game Overview
Goal of the Game
You are a dwarf craftsman making fine jewellery of silver and precious gems. Use your team of dwarfs to mine jewels and set these jewels into settings which you can sell to earn the prestige of your peers. Of course the grander the jewellery, the greater the prestige, but you have a quota to fill so you must work quickly. Finish the Brisingamen for Freya and her favours will bring you even more prestige than the finest jewellery.
Play Sequence
Randomly choose a starting player. The chosen player begins the game and play continues to the player on their left rotating after each player's turn until the game is finished. On their turn each player may perform any two of the following actions. The same action may be performed twice (with the exception of taking an ability card which may only be done once per turn):
- Move one of their Dwarf Disks
- Take a Setting Card from the Jeweller's Workshop
- Complete a Setting Card or a Brisingamen Card
- Trade jewels on the Black Market
- Take an Ability Card from the Black Market (once per turn)
- Use a Thief Card
- Pass
Game End and Scoring
The game ends at the end of the current player's turn when either:
- One player has used the last of his dwarfs to complete a Setting Card, OR
- Four pieces of the Brisingamen have been completed
Scoring
At the end of the game, victory points are allocated as follows:
- The player who ended the game receives 6 victory points
- For each small jewel not in a completed setting, receive 1 victory point
- For each large jewel not in a completed setting, receive 2 victory points
- Jewels in a barrow on the Player's Mat are worth nothing
- For each completed Setting Card, receive the victory points on the card
- For any incomplete Setting Card, lose half the victory points of the card (rounded down)
- If four of the Brisingamen Cards have been completed, receive 6 victory points for each unused Free Action token
- If less than four Brisingamen Cards have been completed, receive 3 victory points for each unused Free Action token
The player with the most victory points wins the game.
Player Actions
1. Move a Dwarf
A player may move one of their dwarfs. All dwarfs enter and leave the mine through the main entrance. They enter the mine with their 'no jewels' side face up. One and only one Ability may be given to a dwarf as he enters the mine (see Ability Cards below). A dwarf moves to the next vacant lantern position in any direction along a passageway and may pass up to two dwarfs in so doing. If a dwarf is moved out of the mine then the player takes all jewels from that dwarf's barrow on the Player Mat and places them into his home area. These jewels are available to complete a setting in a later action. A dwarf that has left the mine may re-enter the mine in a later action.
Example: This example illustrates the first 3 movements of a game. The red player moves first and stops at lantern A. The blue player moves next and goes directly to lantern B. The green player can now move to either C, D, E or F.
Collecting Jewels
A dwarf may take possession of all jewels present in a cavern if his move ends or begins in that cavern provided he is not already carrying jewels. If he is already carrying jewels he may only take more jewels if he is carrying a Stamina Potion. The jewels are placed on the corresponding barrow on the player's mat to indicate that the dwarf is carrying the jewels and the dwarf is flipped to its "jewels" side. A dwarf must not enter a cavern occupied by another dwarf and must not put down jewels anywhere within the mine.
2. Take a Setting Card
A player may take any one of the available Setting Cards from the Jeweller's Workshop and place it face up in their home area. They do not need to have the matching jewels in order to take the card. When a player takes a Setting Card, a card is immediately drawn from the top of the draw deck to replace it. If the card that is drawn is an Ability Card, it is placed in the Black Market and another card is drawn. If the Black Market already has three face up Ability Cards then the Ability Card is placed face down underneath the Ability Card draw deck. If the card that is drawn is a Brisingamen Card (the gold and amber settings), then the card is placed face up beside the Brisingamen area. Cards continue to be drawn in this way until there are again eight Setting Cards available in the Jeweller's Workshop.
3. Complete a Setting Card or a Brisingamen Card
a) Setting Cards
A player may, if they have all of the correct jewels, place all of the required jewels on one of their Setting Cards. To place the jewels they must also have a dwarf out of the mine (who takes the setting to market). This dwarf is removed from the game. Once placed on a card, jewels may not be removed.
If a player completes their last setting (i.e. all of their dwarfs have been discarded from the game) then the game ends at the end of that player's turn. The player may complete their second action if they finish the game on their first action and they may use up to three Free Action tokens at the end of their turn.
b) Brisingamen Cards
A player may also complete one of the settings for the Brisingamen if they have the full complement of pieces of amber. The completed card is placed on one of the four spaces in the Brisingamen area. The player must have a dwarf out of the mine to take this action but they do not need to remove this dwarf from the game. Freya rewards the player with the number of Free Action tokens indicated on the card they have completed.
If a player completes the fourth setting of the Brisingamen then the game ends at the end of that player's turn. The player may complete their second action if they finish the game on their first action and they may use up to three Free Action tokens at the end of their turn.
Whichever way the game ends, no more than four pieces of the Brisingamen may be completed and no Setting Card may be completed without a dwarf out of the mine who can take it to market.
4. Trade Jewels on the Black Market
A player may choose to trade jewels on the Black Market. Players may only trade jewels that they have taken out of the mine. They may not trade jewels that are still in the barrows of dwarfs in the mine or jewels which have already been used to complete a card. A player may trade up to two jewels of any size in one action.
Jewels may be traded for jewels of the same size OR a large jewel may be traded for two small jewels OR two small jewels may be traded for one large jewel. Only two of the player's jewels can be involved in the trade.
5. Take an Ability Card from the Black Market
A player may take a single Ability Card from the Black Market (and receive a corresponding Ability Marker). If there are Ability Cards in the face down Ability Card deck then the top card of the deck replaces the ability card taken by the player. Players may only use this action once in their turn.
6. Use a Thief Card
The player can use a thief card as an action, if he has one. Details can be found in the Ability Cards section.
Free Actions
At the end of a player's normal turn they may, if they so choose, use up to three Free Action tokens. Each token entitles them to complete one of the actions above (1-5). The tokens are removed from the game once they have been used.
Unused tokens give you victory points at the end of the game.
Ability Cards
Ability Cards may be obtained from the Black Market (see action 5). When a player takes an Ability Card, they place the card face up in their home area (in front of them) together with the corresponding Ability Marker. A player may have no more than three Ability Cards at any time. A player may not take an Ability Card of the same kind as one they already hold.
Using the thief is a complete action. Other abilities may be given to a dwarf when he enters the mine. The corresponding marker is placed on the dwarf. Each Dwarf Disk may carry only one Ability Marker at any time. Abilities are activated as soon as they are given to a dwarf, or during some later action in which that dwarf is moved. The Strength Potion may be activated without moving a Dwarf but that constitutes an action.
If a dwarf leaves the mine without using an ability they have been given, the ability is lost and the card and marker are discarded.
Thief
To use a thief card, a player must have at least one dwarf outside the mine. When the thief is activated the player may take one large or two small jewels from any player's available jewels or from the Black Market. Jewels that have already been used to complete a card or are in a dwarf's barrow may not be stolen. When the thief has been used, the card is removed from the game and the jewels are available to the player who stole them for setting in a later action.
Bat
When a dwarf carrying a Bat enters a cavern, he may release the Bat to carry up to two jewels of any size out of the mine. A dwarf may not collect jewels from a cavern (into his barrow) if, at the start of his action, he is carrying a Bat. The dwarf is not obliged to collect the remaining jewels from the cavern. The jewels returned by the Bat are available to be set in a later action. Immediately after it is used, the card and marker are removed from the game.
Stamina Potion
To activate this potion, a dwarf must have already collected the jewels from one cavern. This potion allows the dwarf to collect all the jewels from a second cavern. Immediately after it is used, the card and marker are removed from the game.
Speed Potion
This potion may be activated as soon as it is given to a dwarf entering the mine. It allows the dwarf to make two complete moves in one action. A dwarf may collect jewels in a cavern between the two moves. Once the ability is activated it is available while the dwarf remains in the mine but when the dwarf leaves the mine the ability is lost and the card and marker are removed from the game.
Stealth Potion
This potion may be activated as soon as it is given to a dwarf entering the mine. It allows the dwarf to pass up to four other dwarfs in their turn. Once the ability is activated it is available while the dwarf remains in the mine but when the dwarf leaves the mine the ability is lost and the card and marker are removed from the game.
Strength Potion
The player may activate this potion as soon as it is given to a dwarf entering the mine or during a subsequent action instead of or in conjunction with moving this dwarf. While this potion is active, no other player's dwarfs may pass this dwarf. The potion lasts for 2 turns. When the potion is activated, the player turns the Ability Card upside down to indicate that there are two turns remaining. After the next turn (whether or not the player moves this dwarf) the player turns the Ability Card on its side to indicate that there is one turn remaining. After the next turn, remove the marker and card from the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I perform the same action twice in one turn? Yes. Except for taking an Ability Card which you may only do once per turn.
Can I complete part of a Setting Card or Brisingamen Card? No. You must place all of the jewels to complete the card in one action.
If I complete the fourth Brisingamen in my final turn, then use my last dwarf to complete my quota of setting cards, do I earn the 6 point bonus twice? You earn my admiration but, you do not get the bonus twice.
Does the restriction on taking only one Ability Card in a turn apply to actions taken with Free Action tokens? Yes. A Turn comprises your 2 normal actions and up to 3 Free Actions.
If I move a dwarf with an ability do I have to use the ability? No. You do not have to use the ability.
How do you pronounce 'Brisingamen'? I pronounce it Bris-ingamen with all vowels soft and short. Whether that's right I don't really know but I find it easier to say than with hard vowels.