Goblins: Epic Death Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Tossing Goblins
• The Game Cards
  • Leader Cards
  • Goblin Cards
  • Land Cards
• Setting Up the Game
• Create the Battlefield
• The Game
  • Phase A: Reinforcements
  • Phase B: Movement
  • Phase C: Combat
  • Phase D: Discard
• How to Manage a Combat
  • Combat Against Land Cards
• Epic Death
• A Fray! A Fray!
• The End of the Game
• Notes

Object of the Game

The players must destroy the town and conquer as many Land cards as possible. Each Land card has a value, expressed as Victory Points. At the end of the game, the player with the highest total of Victory Points earns the greatest glory for the Goblin army and wins the game!

Components

• 120 cards: 12 Leader cards, 50 Goblin cards, 58 Land cards
• 54 Goblin tokens
• 1 Rulebook

Tossing Goblins

During the game, players will be asked to "toss" the Goblin tokens, as a result of a card, a Fray, or an Epic Death. When a player must toss a single token, he/she flips it as if it was a coin. If many tokens are tossed together, they are held in his/her cupped hands, and tossed all at once.

Goblin tokens have one side with a Goblin head (the "Alive" side) and one side with a skull (the "Dead" side). At the beginning of the game, all Goblin tokens are turned so the Alive side is up. When a token lands on the Alive side, that Goblin survives the toss. If it lands Deads-up, then that Goblin is wiped out (and the token goes back to the pool).

The Game Cards

The following sections explain the types of cards you will find in the game. When the rules refer to a "card effect," it means either an icon on the left side of the card or whatever the text of the card says.

Leader Cards

Leader cards can be identified by the symbol on the back (see the picture above) and by the icon ([icon image missing in source: "inserire imagine dell'icona"]) on the card. Every Leader card has a special ability, described in the card text. A Leader card represents the player him/herself, and is used to show his/her Army's position on the battlefield. Leaders do not take part in any battles directly, and cannot be eliminated in any way.

Goblin Cards

Goblin cards can be identified by the symbol on the back (see the picture above). There are 3 different types of Goblin cards:

Action Card. Accidents - the inevitable result of mindless action - and the innate evilness of Goblins at the highest level: that's what you get from these cards.

This kind of Goblin card has the Action icon. An Action card can be played at any time, or when indicated in the card text. A player can play any Action card, positive or negative, on an opponent or on his/her own Army.

Machine Card. After decades of research and development, the brightest Goblin minds joined by dubious architects have designed powerful war machines that can easily destroy all enemies. There is just one tiny fly in the ointment: these machines still need to be tested... Will you be brave and daring to try them out?

This kind of Goblin card has the Machine icon. Each Machine card lists a value, which is subtracted from the Land card when the Army attacks. It also shows the number of Goblin tokens the player must place on the Machine card to serve as "crewGoblins" when he/she plays that Machine card.

CrewGoblins are not counted towards the Army's Attack value, because they are too busy making the Machine work to fight themselves. If a Machine is destroyed and/or discarded, all crewGoblins on it are also eliminated without being tossed. Machines can only be played during Phase A. If a Machine has no crewGoblins on it, it must be resupplied with Goblins during Phase D (see "The Game") or it must be discarded.

Hero Card. You cannot be a hero by birth: you become one, as the old Goblin shaman used to say. The fearless Goblins who are able to seize the clothing that distinguishes them from the green mass of their kin have developed some awesome powers, inherited by their social rank in the Goblin hierarchy. So dress yourself like them, and become a hero as well!

This kind of Goblin card has the Hero icon. Every Hero Goblin has an Attack value and lists the number of Goblin tokens which must be discarded to the pool, without tossing them, in order to play the Hero card. Hero Goblins add strength to the Army. They can be played only during Phase A. The Hero's Attack value is added to the number of Goblin tokens in the Army to determine the total Attack value. A Hero cannot be lost during a battle until the last Goblin token is tossed and comes up Deads. When a player runs out of tokens to toss, he/she will toss the Hero, which may then be lost: just take any Goblin token from the pool and toss it to see what happens to the Hero (then return it to the pool). Heroes stay in play until they are eliminated, either as a result of a fight or because of the effect of a card.

Land Cards

The bad guys... no, wait a minute: they are the "good" guys... oh, well, let's just say they are the "enemies" - are hiding in the Land cards. Land cards represent the Town and the surrounding countryside, and form the battlefield. There are 5 different kinds of Land cards, each with a different drawing in the background around the card text:

• Woods. On the card back there is a drawing of some woods, and there are tree branches on the front.
• River. On the card back there is a drawing of a stretch of river, and there are waves on the front.
• Wall. On the card back there is a drawing of a wall, and there is a gate on the front.
• Town. On the card back there is a drawing of a town, and there is a cage on the front.

Every Land card hides a challenge to face. The Land card shows the name of that challenge, and has a Defense value on the left side of the card. Above the Defense value are some card effects, which are applied as soon as the card is revealed:

• Take a Goblin from the pool
• Draw a Card from the deck
• Steal a Goblin token from another Army
• Steal a random Card from another player
• Discard a Goblin
• Discard a card of your choice
• Discard a Machine from in play
• Discard a Hero from in play

As well as the Goblin resources an Army must have to face that Land's challenge:

• The Army must have a Hero to face this challenge
• The Army must have a Machine to face this challenge

Below the Defense value, the card shows the number of Goblins he player receives as reinforcements if he/she wins a battle against that Land card. This number is also the Victory Point value for the Land card. The text at the bottom of the card describes any special card effects for that Land card.

Setting Up the Game

Shuffle the Leader cards and randomly give 1 to each player. Then, shuffle the Goblin cards and give 3 cards to each player, face down. Create a Goblin Deck with the remaining Goblin Cards and place it on the table, so all players can reach it. Finally, give each player 5 Goblin tokens and put the rest in a common pool.

Create the Battlefield

Separate the Land cards by type, and shuffle each type separately. Place the cards face down on the table, following one of the diagrams below:

• Short Game (2 to 4 players). Layout with starting positions numbered 1 to 4.
• Medium Game (2 to 6 players). Layout with starting positions numbered 1 to 6.
• Long Game (2 to 6 players). Layout with starting positions numbered 1 to 6.

(The layouts are shown as diagrams in the printed rulebook; the numbers mark each player's starting Land card.)

After the battlefield has been created, each player places his/her Leader card face up on the Land card marked with his/her number in the illustration - based on the number of players.

Note: These battlefield layouts are just for reference: feel free you use your own fantasies to build the battlefield in any shape you desire! If you do, make sure that the Town card is always placed so that all players begin the game at the same distance away. To make set up easier and faster, place the Town as the first card, then the Wall cards, followed by the River, and finally the Woods.

The Game

The player who most resembles a Goblin (by popular vote) is the first to play. The other players play in turn, going clockwise.

A player's turn is divided into four different phases, which must be played in order:

Phase A: Reinforcements

The player begins his/her turn by drawing up to 2 cards from the Goblin deck. He/she takes 1 Goblin token from the pool for each of these 2 cards he/she does not draw from the deck. But, the player cannot look at the cards before deciding what to do. Then, the player may add Heroes and/or Machines to his/her Army by playing them face up in front of him/her (remember to pay the costs for playing a Hero, and to place crewGoblins on any Machines).

Phase B: Movement

In this phase, the player can move his/her Army (i.e., Leader card) across the battlefield.

If the player's Army is already on a Land card at the beginning of the phase, it does not move. Instead, the Land card is revealed and Phase C begins.

An Army can only move to a space on the battlefield where there is - or was - a Land card. An Army can move only one space (card) each turn, either onto a Land card or an empty space. Armies can never move diagonally.

If an Army moves onto a Land card, the Land card must be revealed and Phase C begins. If the card was already face up, the player must still attack the Land card in Phase C.

If an Army moves into an empty space with no Land card, or if it stays in an empty space, there is no combat and Phase C is skipped.

If an Army moves into a space that is already occupied by another player's Army, a Fray breaks out (see "A Fray! A Fray!").

Phase C: Combat

After movement, the player resolves any combat (see "How to Manage a Combat").

Phase D: Discard

At the end of the turn, a player can only hold up to 3 Goblin cards. He/she must discard any excess cards into a discard pile, next to the Goblin Deck. Since they can be used at any time, the player may always play Action cards before discarding. Also at this time, any Machine cards that have no crewGoblins on them must either be re-equipped or discarded. After all, it's really hard to make an...ungoblined machine work!

How to Manage a Combat

When an Army is on a Land card in Phase C, the player must face the challenge on that card. First, he/she must resolve all the card effects, including the symbol on the left side of the card and any effects described in the card text.

After any card effects are resolved, combat begins. The player compares his/her Army's Attack value to the Land card's Defense value.

The Army's Attack value is equal to the number of Goblin tokens in the Army plus the Attack value of any Heroes that player has in play.

The Defense value of the Land card is lowered by the value of any crewed Machines in the player's Army (if the player has any uncrewed Machines, he/she may assign crewGoblins to them now).

Machines don't increase an Army's Attack value, they only lower the Defense value of the Land card. This does reduce the number of Goblins that must be tossed. If the Defense value of a Land card is reduced to 0, the Army automatically wins the combat without tossing any Goblins.

Both Attack and Defense values may also be modified by Action cards played during the combat.

Combat Against Land Cards

If the Army meets the requirement needed to face the Land card, and it's Attack value is equal to or greater than the Land's Defense value (after all modifiers), the Army wins the battle! Otherwise, the Army loses.

Whether the Army wins or loses, the player must toss a number of Goblin tokens equal to the Land card's modified Defense value to see if the Army suffers any losses. If needed, Goblins assigned to Machines must also be tossed.

If a player has no Goblin tokens in his/her Army (not counting any crewGoblins assigned to Machines), but he/she does have Heroes in the Army, he/she must toss a "symbolic" Goblin token (taken from the pool) for each Hero in the Army, until the Attack value of those Heroes equals the modified Defense value of the Land card. The player chooses which Heroes to toss tokens for. If the Goblin token lands with the Dead side up, the Hero is killed and goes to the discard pile.

If the Army does not have enough Heroes to match the Defense of the Land, the player must also toss Goblins assigned to his/her Machines, until the Defense value is reached.

Example: Enzo must face an Arcane Archer. He has an Assassin, and a Battering Ram with one crewGoblin, but no other Goblin tokens. His total Attack value is 2. The Defense value of the Arcane Archer is reduced from 11 to 8 (the Battering Ram lowers Defense by 3). Enzo loses the combat. Since he has no Goblins, he must toss a token from the pool to represent his Assassin Hero. The token comes up Deads, so the Hero is killed and goes to the discard pile. Since the Assassin's Attack value does not match the Arcane Archer's Defense, he must also toss the Goblin on the Battering Ram.

Example: Dante faces Lego-Las. His Attack value is 4 (he has 4 Goblin tokens in play). Lego-Las has a Defense of 10, which is reduced by Dante's active Machines: a Battering Ram (-3 Defense) and a Cannon (-5 Defense). Dante wins the combat! He only has to toss 2 of his 4 Goblins, since Lego-Las' modified Defense is only 2.

Example: Arnold faces a First Level Thief. His Army has an Attack value of 10 (6 Goblin tokens, plus a Cavalier with an Attack value of 4). The First Level Thief has a Defense of 5. Arnold wins, but he must toss 5 of his Goblins to see how many casualties his Army will suffer. If he had only 1 Goblin and the Cavalier (an Army Attack value of 5), he still would have won, and he would only have to toss the 1 Goblin.

If the Army wins the combat, it occupies the Land card's space. The player is rewarded with a number of Goblin reinforcements taken from the pool equal to the number shown on the Land card... for it is prophesied "...and Goblins from distant lands will come and will join the valiant Leader on the battlefield!" The player also takes the Land card and places it face down in front of him/her in a "Conquest Pile." At the end of the game, the Land card is worth Victory Points equal to the reinforcement value. A player cannot change the order of the Land cards in his/her Conquest Pile.

If the Army loses the combat, it must retreat back to the last space that it occupied before it moved into the battle. The Land card remains face up.

Epic Death

Every good leader always has a trick to overcome the enemy, even if his Army is not worthy of victory: the Epic Death...of his soldiers, obviously. Certainly not his own!

If the Army's Attack value is less than half of the Defense value of the Land card (after it is reduced by Machines), and the player has at least one Goblin token in play, he/she can try to achieve an Epic Death. The player tosses all of his/her Goblin tokens (including any assigned to Machines). If all of the Goblins tossed come up Deads, he/she has achieved an Epic Death! This is an instant victory. The player collects reinforcements and the Land card as normal.

While the enemy is puzzled by such an epic act of suicide, the Leader can sneak away and reap the rewards of victory!

If the Epic Death fails, the player must toss any surviving Goblins again to determine the battle casualties, as normal. Then the Army must move back to the space it came from.

The player must declare that he/she is attempting an Epic Death before the Goblins are tossed, and the Army must meet any requirements to face the Land card.

A Fray! A Fray!

It is well known that cooperation between quarrelsome Goblins - always ready for a fight - can be a bit...challenging. So, when two Goblin Armies cross paths, do not expect to witness handshaking and displays of friendship! What you are likely to get is...a Fray!

When an Army moves (whether intentionally or not) into a location already occupied by another player's Army, a Fray breaks out (regardless of which phase of the turn it is).

The two Armies compare their Attack values. The stronger Army takes the top Land card from the loser's Conquest Pile, and the loser must move his/her Army to the adjacent space of his/her choice. If there is a tie, both players take the top Land card from their opponents' Conquest Piles, and the attacking Army moves back to the space it moved from.

To find out how many casualties each Army suffers, both players must toss a number of Goblins equal to the weaker Army's Attack value.

Machines cannot be used, since the crewGoblins are too busy brawling with the others (they are counted towards the Army's Attack value, though). No cards that affect a Land card can be used during a Fray.

Any Army that ends up on a Land card after a Goblin Fray cannot move during its next turn, and it must fight a combat against that Land card.

The End of the Game

The game ends immediately when all of the Town Land cards have been conquered. Each player adds up the Victory Points of all the Land cards in his/her Conquest Pile.

The player who has the most Victory Points wins the game. He/she will have the glory of defeating the most fearsome enemies of Goblinkind, and claim the Scepter of the Supreme Goblin Leader!

If there is a tie, the tied player who holds the most Land cards is the winner. If they are still tied, the tied player who has the most Goblin tokens wins.

If the game is still a tie, the first player to scream "Gooooooblins!" wins the game!

Notes

• The example card illustrations on the printed pages 10-13 carry Italian card-face text (for example the Arcane Archer, Battering Ram and Cannon cards). That is artwork on the card images, not rules text, and is not transcribed; the English rules text is complete without it.
• The Leader card icon reference in the printed rulebook reads "inserire imagine dell'icona" (an untranslated Italian placeholder in the source), which is marked in the text above.
• The printed Credits, publisher and copyright notices, and the age warning are not transcribed.