Goblin Dice
Goblin Dice Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 22 Goblin Trail tiles. Each tile has a left part and a right part. The top part shows the values that activate the tile's special ability (top left), the special-ability symbol (centre) and the tile type (top right). The bottom part shows the values that activate movement.
- 1 Start board (the stone's starting position).
- 1 Finish board, with the finish space and the stone speed counter (numbered 1 to 4).
- 6 goblin tokens.
- 1 stone token (the magic boulder).
- 1 stone speed marker.
- 12 dice.
Setup
- Take the stack of Goblin Trail tiles, shuffle it, and lay out 7 tiles in a row.
- Place the start board above the row of trail tiles, and place the stone token on space 1.
- Place the finish board below the row of trail tiles, and place the stone speed marker on space 1 of the stone speed counter.
- Each player receives two dice and one goblin token.
- Place the goblin tokens of all players on the left half of the first trail tile.
The rulebook's printed "Starting Layout" diagram shows the magic boulder (stone token), the start board, the trail tiles, the goblin tokens, the finish board and the stone speed marker.
Game Turn
The game consists of an arbitrary number of rounds and continues until one of the following events occurs:
- One of the players reaches the finish and wins.
- The stone has crushed everyone except one player. That player wins.
Each round consists of the following phases:
1. Run! (simultaneously)
Any player may shout "Run!". After this, everyone must throw their dice into the centre of the table.
You may not shout "Run!" until the previous round has ended and all players have taken their dice back into hand.
2. Left-Right (simultaneously)
Each player must grab two dice. Goblins have two legs, so remember that one hand can grab only one die.
Dice may not be spun or turned over, and dice may not be snatched from other players' hands. Fair run, fair fight!
3. Take Turns (in order)
Players use the dice they grabbed, one at a time. See "Using Dice".
4. Run Away!
When all players have used their dice, the stone moves. See "Stone Movement".
After the stone has moved, take the used dice back into hand, since someone is surely already ready to shout "Run!".
Using Dice
Players use their dice clockwise, starting with the last (trailing) player. If two players are on the same space, the player whose die has the lowest value goes first. If it is still impossible to determine who goes first, decide in any manner (flip a coin, play rock-paper-scissors, etc.).
Using a Die
A die you have received can be used in one of two ways:
1. Movement
If the value on your die matches any of the values in the bottom part of the trail tile, you may move forward to the next part of the tile.
Note that goblins move from the left part of a tile to the right part of the same tile, and from the right part to the left part of the next tile.
Dice are spent one at a time. If you spend a die and move onto the next tile, the value of your next die must match a number already shown on the new tile. Only in that case will you move even further.
2. Using a Tile's Special Ability
If the value on your die matches any of the values in the top part of the trail tile, you may use that tile's special ability.
During your turn, a player may perform no more than one special ability of each type (for example, you may not perform "Dash" (Рывок) twice in the same turn).
Tip: in your first games of Goblin Dice, or when playing with children, you may ignore the tiles' special abilities. Simply move your goblin forward if the value on your die matches a value in the top part of the trail tile.
Slow Down (Притормози): reduces the speed of the boulder. Move the stone speed marker on the stone speed counter (located on the finish board) back one space. The stone speed cannot be less than one.
Dirty Trick (Грязный трюк) ×1: move the goblin tokens of all other players back one space.
Dash (Рывок) ×2: move your goblin token two spaces forward.
Goblin Luck (Гоблинская удача): use the first die to activate this ability and re-roll the second die. After this, use the second die according to the usual rules.
If the value on your die does not match any value on the trail tile, you may neither move nor use the tile's special ability.
Stone Movement
The magic boulder rolls behind the goblin players and tries to crush them. However, the goblins have an advantage: the stone starts its movement from the start board.
At the beginning of the stone movement phase, move the stone token to the right by a number of spaces equal to the stone speed. If the stone is already on the rightmost space, move it to the left part of the first trail tile.
As it rolls along the trail, the magic boulder changes its speed. At the end of each round, look at the tile on which the stone finished its movement. If it is not the same tile on which it started the movement (this is possible only at speed 1), do the following:
- If this is a slope tile (marked with a "+" symbol), increase the stone speed by 1.
- If this is an uphill tile (marked with a "−" symbol), decrease the stone speed by 1.
- If this is a flat-terrain tile (marked with a "=" symbol), the stone speed does not change.
The stone does not roll in a race with the goblins; it rolls to crush everyone it can catch up with. If the stone token ends up on the same space of a tile as one or several goblin tokens, those goblins are considered crushed. Remove the crushed goblins from the table; they are eliminated from the game.
Note: like the goblins, the stone moves from the left part of a tile to the right part of the same tile, and from the right part to the left part of the next tile.
Eliminated players also remove their two dice from the game. They can no longer be thrown or grabbed.
End of the Game
The game ends if:
- One of the players has reached the finish. That player may alone place their goblin token on the pedestal.
- All goblins except one have been crushed. As is known, the magic boulder cannot crush the last surviving goblin, and the player controlling it is declared the winner.
In any case, if you became the winner, all eliminated players must envy you and applaud you. Hurrah!
By the way: if the stone crushed all of the goblins, nobody won.
Game Variants
Champions' Duel
This mode is intended only for two experienced players. Each player takes 3 dice, and the remaining 6 dice go back in the box. Each time dice must be thrown, players throw all 3 dice, but they still grab only two. After the players have moved their tokens, each draws one more die of any kind.
Unexpected Turns
With this mode you can add unpredictability to the game. During setup, place the 7 trail tiles face down. Then turn the first one face up and place your goblin tokens on it. The remaining tiles stay face down until someone moves onto one of them. In that case, turn the tile face up and place a goblin token on it according to all the rules.
Ready-Made Tracks
You can also devise your own ready-made tracks instead of using random tiles, and then compete on them with friends. To spark your imagination, the rulebook offers three ready-made tracks. Each track is given as a list of tile codes in the rulebook's notation (the codes are as printed; the rulebook does not explain them in the text):
- Stroll (Прогулочка): C3, C4, B4, C2, A4, A2, B3
- Armageddon (Армагеддец): A7, A8, A3, C1, B6, A4, B1
- Brawl (Рубилово): B4, C2, B6, C3, A10, A6, A2