Imperial Settlers: 3 Is a Magic Number
Imperial Settlers: 3 Is a Magic Number Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
67 cards: 10 Atlantean cards, 10 Barbarian cards, 10 Japanese cards, 10 Roman cards, 10 Egyptian cards, 13 Common cards, 2 Virtual player Faction cards, 2 Attack cards.
Formats of Play
The following two formats describe rules for deck construction.
Open
You may mix any Common and Faction cards from any expansions with the corresponding cards from the Imperial Settlers base game and have fun. Note that this way you may create chaotic and crazy decks.
Standard
This is the only format allowed at tournaments. You only use the Common cards from the Imperial Settlers base game. Choose one Expansion and build your Faction deck.
Building a Faction Deck
Each Faction card has the number of its copies indicated in the bottom right of its central image. There are cards which come with 3 copies, 2 copies or a single copy.
The printed key shows the Faction card symbols for each of the five Factions in three rows, one row per copy count (single copy, 2 copies, 3 copies). The symbols are pictorial; the counts are given in the text below.
Your Faction deck should consist of exactly 30 cards: 3 cards with 3 copies each, 6 cards with 2 copies each, and 9 single cards. You must include all copies of a particular card, so if you want to add a new card to your deck which, for example, comes with 3 copies, you have to remove from the deck all 3 copies of one of the old cards.
Building a Common Deck
Add all Common cards from the chosen expansion to the Common cards from the base game.
Check our website for the hints on building your Faction deck: www.portalgames.pl.
New Rules
Colors
New card abilities connect Goods with card colors. Here is a complete list of them:
| Color | Goods |
|---|---|
| BROWN | Wood |
| GREY | Stone |
| RED | Food |
| PINK | Worker |
| GOLD | Gold |
| BLACK | Raze token |
| WHITE | Defense token |
| VIOLET | Victory Point |
| BLUE | Card |
Note: the Goods name for each colour is taken from the base game's Goods list, matching the icon shown beside each colour in the printed key.
When a Location's ability tells you to draw a card of a particular color, draw cards from the appropriate deck until you find a card of that color and add it to your hand. Reshuffle the rest of the cards into the deck. If you fail to find such a card, reshuffle the deck and finish your Action without taking any card.
Set
A SET of cards is a group of three cards of a particular color. A SET of cards may contain both Faction and Common cards, and be any combination of Production, Feature and Action Locations.
Example: If you are counting how many RED, RED, WHITE SETS you have in your Empire and you currently have 4 RED and 1 WHITE Locations you only have one RED, RED, WHITE SET.
Each card may be counted for more than one effect.
Example: If you are counting RED, RED, WHITE and RED, RED, RED SETS in your Empire and at the moment you have 4 RED and one WHITE Locations you have 1 SET of each.
When counting how many SETS you have, include the card that provides the effect if it is of the appropriate color.
When you build a Production Location that produces based on a number of SETS, check how many SETS you have when you build this Location, and also during every production phase.
New SETS
Feature Locations provide a bonus for each new SET of 3 cards you complete after the Feature Location is in play. When you build a new SET, and trigger the Feature, mark it by placing the top card of the Common deck under the Location face-down. This face-down card marks that the first SET has been counted. If the SET is broken because of a card being Razed or removed, you will not gain the Feature bonus when the first SET is built again. Therefore, your Feature scores only once you have 3, 6, 9, etc. cards in play which meet the Feature SET bonus.
When you play a Feature which counts a new SET, and you already have SETS in play, mark the Feature with a face-down Common card for each SET you already have in play, without gaining the Feature bonus. This will help you keep track of how many SETS you will need to have in play before you can claim the Feature bonus.
When a Feature Location that has been marked with Common cards is discarded, place these cards face down under the Common deck.
Example: You are playing Romans and have Caesar's Pantry in play with one completed RED SET. Therefore, Caesar's Pantry already has one Common card marking it. Then, one of your RED Locations is Razed. When you play the next RED card, you do not score the Caesar's Pantry Feature. In order to score, you will need to play a 6th Red Location, and therefore have a second SET.
Example: You play Caesar's Pantry and you already have 3 RED Locations in play. You do not score for this SET because Caesar's Pantry only scores for new SETS. You should mark Caesar's Pantry with a face-down Common card to show that you must complete a second SET before you can score with Caesar's Pantry.
This will help you keep track of how many SETS you will need to have in play before you can claim the Feature bonus.
Cards Clarifications
Welcome Expedition - You don't gain 1 Wood when placing card as a Foundation.
Interrogation Master - You don't gain 1 Wood when placing card as a Foundation.
Cherry Orchard
Example: If you have 3 PINK Locations and 6 RED Locations in your Empire when using the Action, you'll receive 3 Victory Points for them.
Single Player Game
This expansion introduces 2 Virtual player Faction cards for the Virtual player. During the setup of the solo game draw 1 random Virtual player Faction card for the Virtual player. This card will change the rules of the solo game.
NOTE: When playing the solo variant of Imperial Settlers with the Egyptians or Japanese as the Virtual Player's faction, add 2 Attack cards with a Blockade symbol on them.
(The printed sword icon on these Attack cards is the Blockade symbol, as used in The Egyptians rules below.)
The Japanese - After revealing the Attack card, first check if you have a Deal providing the Good shown on the Attack card. If it's true, the Deal card is discarded and put on a Virtual player Collection pile. Then proceed with the standard Attack rules.
Attack card placement is not affected by the Deal being discarded - it always goes on top. At the end of the game, Deal cards in the Virtual player's Collection pile are counted as two Location cards.
The Egyptians - After revealing the Attack card, first check if you have a Location with the matching color. If so, put a Blockade symbol on this Location, as a blockade symbol. The blocked Location is considered to not be in play during the next round. Then proceed with the standard Attack rules.
A blocked Location doesn't produce, provide feature bonuses, and you cannot use its action. It cannot be used as a foundation, and their color is not counted. They do not count as Location in your Empire for that round. A building blocked during the final round does not count for VP.
Attack card placement is not affected by a Blockade - it always goes on top.
If you have more than one Location with the matching color, choose a Location to be blocked using the standard Attack rules.
A Blockade symbol is discarded to the Virtual player's Collection pile during the Cleanup phase. At the end of the game, Blockade symbols are counted as two Location cards.
Notes on Transcription
- The printed Faction-copy key is pictorial. Its counts are fully stated in the text under "Building a Faction Deck", which is what this transcription follows.
- The Egyptians rule refers to "a Faction" with a house icon. The house icon means a Location, and the later sentence "more than one Location with the matching color" confirms it, so "Location" is used here.
- The printed word "thet" in the draw-a-card paragraph is read as "the" (typo corrected).
- Card action text is printed on the cards themselves and is not repeated here; only the clarifications listed above are transcribed.
- The publisher's note about a separate product and the publisher and credit blocks are omitted.