Improved Farming & Disasters (fan expansion for Agricola)

Expansion for Agricola Expansion for Agricola: Farmers of the Moor

Improved Farming & Disasters (fan expansion for Agricola) Rulebook

Table of Contents

To Prepare

Print out the cards from the card pages of the designer's document onto cardstock. Ideally, print or glue the normal card backs onto these cards, and cut them out so they are the same shape and/or size as the normal cards in the game.

Make the tiles presented in the document into tiles for the game, using heavier cardstock if you like. Likewise, cut and glue the Fog Marker onto heavier cardstock.

New Concepts

This expansion introduces several new concepts. This expansion is kinda like two different expansions rolled into one. This expansion is designed to be played with Farmers of the Moor. If you are not playing with Farmers of the Moor, then do not include anything involving gravel tiles.

Gravel

Spaces with a gravel tile are considered used and you may not build other things in those spaces. However, you lose 1 point at the end of the game for every space with a gravel tile in your farm. You may Clear Gravel by taking a Special Action to Slash and Burn, Cut Peat, or Fell Trees. Instead of doing that action, you may remove 1 Gravel Tile from your farmyard instead. This is a Clear Gravel action.

Some Start Cards show gravel tiles with a resource on them. Place said resource on the gravel tile at the start of the game. You may move that resource into your supply when you Clear Gravel on that tile.

Water

Water tiles cannot be removed from your farmyard. Spaces with a water tile are considered used and you may not build other things in those spaces. You gain 1 additional food when you use the Fishing Action Space for each water tile on your farmyard.

Other New Tiles

Some of the new minor improvements have you add new tiles to your farmyard. These tiles may not be placed in used spaces, including inside pastures. Spaces with these new tiles are considered used and you may not build other things in those spaces.

Disasters

Players now have the option to add Disaster cards to the game. Deal each player 1 fewer Minor Improvements and 1 Disaster card. Players may play a Disaster card whenever they could normally play a Minor Improvement instead of playing said Minor Improvement. Disasters are not actually Improvements though, and do not count toward the number of Improvements a player might have in play.

Disasters cause all sorts of mayhem when they are played and a played Disaster is worth 1 point at the end of the game. You can always choose not to play your Disaster, but then you lose 1 point at the end of the game. Let me say that again: Unplayed Disasters are worth -1 points at the end of the game.

Sometimes disasters will force you to remove things from your farmyard. In general when this happens, you may move fences around to close up a pasture around a lost space. You also move 1 resource planted on a lost field back to your supply. You may cook animals you would otherwise no longer have room for due to the loss due to the disaster (you need to have a means of cooking those animals, of course).

Note that a number of disasters can only be played in certain rounds. Read the disaster card text closely and be careful.

New Start Cards

This expansion introduces 16 new start cards. Shuffle them in with the original start cards. Note that you might now start with a clay hut, or a field, or a water tile, or some gravel. We have been playing that the person who is dealt the highest start card goes first. In case of a numerical tie, go alphabetical, so 9B always goes first, then 9A, then 9 and so forth.

Some cards are to be used in games with 4 or fewer, or 3 or fewer players. Only use those cards when you have the correct number of players.

New Cards

Since there are so many new cards, only the cards that may require extra explanation are described here.

Chief's Brother

The Chief's Brother counts as a member of the Chief's family for cards that care about that sort of thing.

Disaster Manager

You must have a Wood in your supply to play this. Disasters that do not directly affect players, like Raiders, are not affected by Disaster Manager. Remove this card from the game if you aren't using Disasters.

Philosopher

Cards that you have in play that have the ability to give you bonus points but do not actually do so do not count toward Philosopher.

Prophet

Remove this card from the game if you aren't using Disasters.

Seer

If Seer and Chamberlain are both in the game, then the players of both may use the revealed round cards as appropriate for their Occupations. Players may not use a revealed round card if there is already a family member there.

Traveler

Only the top card of the deck is available to the Traveler.

Barn

The spaces must be orthogonally adjacent. The barn can hold any kind of animals; you may mix and match. You may not put a stable in your barn.

Porch

The porch counts as a room in your house not only for base scoring, but also for cards that give you bonus points due to the number of rooms in your house. It does not count as a room for any other purpose.

Rocky Fields

You may play Rocky Fields and not place any gravel tiles (for example, if you have fields, but no empty fields). If the gravel is not cleared at the end of the game, it is worth -1 points, just like any other gravel.

Devaluation

As of this writing, this affects: Fields, Pastures, Sheep, Wild Boars, Cows, Grain, Vegetables, and Stables.

Earthquake

A clever person could replace a gravel tile with a gravel tile.

Fog

Spaces still accumulate resources even if they have the Fog Marker on them.

Pestilence

Animals which are cards, such as the House Goat or the Chief's Dog, do not count and may not be lost due to Pestilence.

Vermin

Players may keep up to 1 Grain and 1 Vegetable.

Llama, Llama, Duck

If you are not playing with the Legen*Dairy Forest Deck, discard this card at the start of the game and draw a replacement improvement.

Card Text

The card faces in the designer's document are images. Each card's printed text is reproduced below under its name, in the order the cards appear on the card pages. Card numbers are the numbers printed on the cards.

Occupations and Minor Improvements (card pages 4 onward)

Chief's Brother (028) — Occupation

At the start of the feeding phase of the harvest, the player with the First Player token must give you a Food or a Fuel, their choice.

Clear Cutter (045) — Occupation

Gain 1 Wood when you take the Slash and Burn special action.

After cutting peat, you may spend 1 Fuel to plow a field in the empty space you just cleared.

Farmer's Daughter (038) — Occupation

When you have family growth, gain 1 Food for each other Occupation you have in play.

Disaster Manager (027) — Occupation

Place a Wood from your supply on this card when you play it. When another player plays a Disaster card, you may place a building resource from your supply on this card as long as it is not one already on this card. If you do, you are immune to the Disaster.

Developer (032) — Occupation

You may build Major Improvements that are covered by other Major Improvements.

Cowboy (042) — Occupation

Your horses breed at the end of round 8. Gain a Horse when you play this card.

Fish Hatcher (039) — Occupation

When you take the Plow Field or Slash and Burn actions, you may substitute a water tile for the Field.

You may sow Food on one water tile in the same way as Grain.

Fuel Trader (033) — Occupation

At any time, you can exchange Fuel for goods as follows:

1 Fuel: 2 Wood or 2 Clay
4 Fuel: 2 Reed or 2 Stone
2 Fuel: 1 Grain
3 Fuel: 1 Vegetable
2 Fuel: draw a new Minor Improvement

Groundskeeper (047) — Occupation

You do not have to pay Food to take a Cut Peat, Fell Trees, Slash and Burn, or Clear Gravel action when you take the card after another player has taken it.

Hard Worker (036) — Occupation

You may take two different actions from the First special action card you take each round. If you do, you may not take any other special action cards that round.

Horse Salesman (043) — Occupation

Add the 5 Player Horse Coper special action card to the game. When another player uses the card, they must first pay you a Food in addition to any other costs.

Nurse (044) — Occupation

Gain 1 Food and 1 Fuel when any player, including yourself, uses the Infirmary. Any additional bonuses you get when taking a Day Laborer action are also received when you visit the Infirmary.

Mayor (050) — Occupation

Gain one bonus point, up to four, for each Major Improvement you have at the end of the game.

Nursemaid (029) — Occupation

You may take a Family Growth action when using the Infirmary. (You must have room in your home.)

Philanthropist (053) — Occupation

During the feeding phase of each harvest, you may give an opponent with the fewest building resources a Food or a Fuel. If you do, gain a bonus point.

Landscaper (051) — Occupation

At the end of the game, you gain 1 bonus point for every used space in your farmyard that is not a room, field, stable, or part of a pasture. You lose one additional point for every unused space in your farmyard.

Philosopher (046) — Occupation

At the end of the game, gain a bonus point for each other card you have in play that gains you bonus points.

Prophet (041) — Occupation

You may examine the Disaster cards held by other players. You may do this at any time.

Seer (057) — Occupation

At the start of each round, turn over the round card for the next round. You (and only you) can use that action this round; the other players must wait until the appropriate round. Cards that accumulate resources do not accumulate them until the round they come into play for everyone.

Traveler (035) — Occupation

Shuffle all the unused multi-player and starting cards into a deck and place them face up. Add resources to them as appropriate. Only you may place a family member to take the top action of the deck. At the end of any round where you took said action, place that card on the bottom of the deck.

Witch Woman (040) — Occupation

At the start of each round, you may remove Bel Markers from up to two of your family members at the cost of 1 Food each.

Barn (009) — Minor Improvement

Place the barn on two empty spaces in your farmyard. The barn may hold up to four animals of any kind.

Chief's Dog (019) — Minor Improvement

In each feeding phase, you receive 1 Fuel. Apart from the dog, you can not hold any other animal in your home. The Chief's Dog counts as a member of the Chief's family. If another player plays the Chief card, you can play this card immediately at no cost.

Chimney Flue (012) — Minor Improvement

When you bake grain into bread, you gain 1 Fuel for each grain you bake.

Gravel Pit (010) — Minor Improvement

Place a gravel tile on one of the empty spaces of your farmyard. Stack, in order from bottom to top, a Stone and a Clay on the gravel tile. You get the top resource when you gain a resource of the same type. Remove all the resources on the Gravel tile if you clear it.

Hedge Maze (014) — Minor Improvement

Place the Hedge Maze on an empty space in your farmyard.

At the end of the game, you receive one bonus point for each Forest, Water, Field, or Improvement orthogonally adjacent to the Hedge Maze.

Horse Market (002) — Minor Improvement

The Horse Market is a new Action Space. Place a new horse from supply on this card at the start of each round.

Any player may place a family member here to take all the horses on this card. It costs 1 Food for each horse, which must be paid to supply. You gain 1 bonus point each time this space is taken by another player.

Hot Springs (020) — Minor Improvement

Add a water tile to an empty space orthogonally adjacent to your house.

You do not have to heat any rooms orthogonally adjacent to the Hot Springs.

Irrigation System (008) — Minor Improvement

Place the Irrigation System on an empty space on your farmyard.

When you sow onto a field orthogonally adjacent to the Irrigation System, place a Grain or Vegetable on the Irrigation System as well.

Harvest one Grain or Vegetable from the Irrigation System at the start of each round.

Llama, Llama, Duck (004) — Minor Improvement

If you are playing with the Legen*dairy Forest deck, gain a Llama. (Llamas breed and are scored like sheep.)

After you play this card, pass it to the player on your left, who adds it to his/her hand.

If you are not playing with the Legen*dairy Forest deck, discard this and draw a new improvement.

Natural Gas (003) — Minor Improvement

Place a gravel tile on an empty space on your farmyard. Place 3 Fuel on the gravel tile. You receive one of those Fuel during the Field Phase of the Harvest. Remove all the Fuel on the tile from the game if you clear the gravel tile.

Patio (013) — Minor Improvement

Place the Patio on an empty space in your farmyard orthogonally adjacent to at least one of your rooms.

Pond (021) — Minor Improvement

Add two water tiles to two orthogonally adjacent empty spaces in your farm. You must have space to place the Pond to play this card.

Porch (016) — Minor Improvement

Add the porch tile to your board on an empty space orthogonally adjacent to one of the rooms of your home. The porch counts as a room of your house for the purpose of scoring at the end of the game. It cannot hold family members and it does not need to be heated.

Rabbit Hutch (011) — Minor Improvement

Place the Rabbit Hutch on an empty space on your farm. Place 2 Food from your supply on the Hutch.

At the start of each round, as long as there is at least 2 Food on this card, add 1 Food from the general supply to this card.

You may move Food from this card to your supply at any time as long as you have a card that allows you to cook animals.

At the end of the game, gain 1/2/3/4 bonus points for 5/7/10/12 Food on this card.

Resource Store (001) — Minor Improvement

The Resource Store is a new Action Space. Place a building resource of your choice from supply on this card at the start of each round.

Any player may place a family member here to take all the resources on this card. It costs 1 Food for every 3 resources (round up), paid to you. If you take the resources, you must pay the Food to supply.

River (023) — Minor Improvement

Add three water tiles to three empty spaces in your farm. The tiles must be orthogonally adjacent and two of them must touch a different edge from each other.

You may not play the River if you cannot place all three tiles.

Rocky Fields (007) — Minor Improvement

Place gravel tiles on up to two of your empty fields. Place a Stone on each of these gravel tiles.

You get the Stone when you clear the gravel.

Sauna (022) — Minor Improvement

Add the Sauna tile to an empty space orthogonally adjacent to your home.

During the field phase of the harvest, you may convert exactly 1 Stone to 2 Fuel. Place the Stone on the Sauna.

At the end of the game, gain 1 bonus point for every Stone on the Sauna, up to 4 points.

Strip Mine (017) — Minor Improvement

Place a Gravel tile each, on two empty spaces on your farm. Place two Stone on one and two Clay on the other.

You get those resources when you clear that gravel.

Topiary (015) — Minor Improvement

Place the Topiary on an empty space in your farmyard.

At the end of the game, you receive one bonus point for each Gravel, Water, or Room of your Home orthogonally adjacent to the Topiary.

Wild Horses (005) — Minor Improvement

If you have fewer horses than any one other player, gain a Horse.

After you play this card, pass it to the player on your left, who adds it to his/her hand.

Wild Oats (006) — Minor Improvement

Place a Grain on each of your Gravel tiles. You gain that Grain when you clear the Gravel. If you have no Gravel tiles when you play this card, you may first add a Gravel tile to an empty space in your farm and then place a Grain on it.

After you play this card, pass it to the player on your left, who adds it to his/her hand.

Wishing Well (018) — Minor Improvement

When you play this card, place a Wood, Clay, Reed, Stone, Grain and Vegetable in a container.

At the start of each round and harvest, name a resource and draw one randomly. If you do not draw the named resource, place what you drew on this card. Otherwise, add the drawn resource to your personal supply and put the resources on this card back in the container.

Start Card Farmyard Layouts (card pages 10 to 12)

The new start cards are printed as starting farmyard layouts, labelled 1A through 9B (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B). Each layout is a grid of spaces that shows the starting tiles (rooms, fields, water, gravel and similar) for that start card. These layouts are diagrams and are not reproduced as text here; see the designer's document for the layouts themselves.

Disaster Cards (card page 13 onward)

Blizzard (057) — Disaster

It takes 2 extra Fuel to heat all homes in the next Harvest. Clay and Stone houses do not reduce the amount of Fuel needed to heat homes in the next Harvest.

This may not be played in a round directly followed by a Harvest.

Brain Drain (065) — Disaster

Each player must return one played Occupation and discard two from their hand.

This may not be played before round 4.

Crop Rot (059) — Disaster

All players lose one resource from each of their fields. These are returned directly to supply.

This includes odd fields that may be on cards and may also include planted wood or food.

Death (067) — Disaster

Each player with three or more Family Members removes one from play. It can be returned through later Family Growth actions.

Family Members may be removed from Action Spaces. If they are, those spaces may be used again this round.

You may not play this unless you have at least 3 Family Members.

Devaluation (053) — Disaster

All scoring categories that max out at 4 now have a maximum score of 3.

Drought (049) — Disaster

All players must remove a Water tile from their farmyards, replacing it with a Gravel tile.

Remove all Food from the Fishing action space.

Earthquake (062) — Disaster

All players must replace a non-empty space of their choice on their farmyard with a Gravel tile.

Close up pastures. You may gain 1 of any resource on a Field. You may cook animals that you no longer have room for.

Famine (064) — Disaster

All players lose up to four Food stored in their personal supply.

This may not be played in a round directly followed by a Harvest.

Fire (069) — Disaster

All players must return one of their played Improvements and then discard two Improvements from their hand.

Flood (070) — Disaster

All players must replace a non-empty space of their choice on their farmyard with a Water tile.

Close up pastures. You may gain 1 of any resource on a Field. You may cook animals that you no longer have room for.

Fog (063) — Disaster

Place the Fog Marker on an Action space when you play this. At the start of the work phase of each round, the player to the left of the starting player moves the Fog Marker to a different Action Space. That Action Space may not be taken.

(If the Infirmary is chosen, Family Members with Bed Markers may still go there to have their Bed Markers removed, but gain no other benefit.)

Forest Fire (050) — Disaster

All players must remove a Forest tile from their farmyards, replacing it with a Gravel tile.

Remove all Wood from the 3 Wood action space.

Housing Crisis (052) — Disaster

Stone home rooms are now worth 1 point each. Clay hut rooms are now worth 0 points each.

Mudslide (061) — Disaster

All players must add a Gravel tile each to two orthogonally adjacent spaces on the edge of their farmyard, replacing items on used spaces if required.

If these Gravel tiles replace any used spaces, close up pastures. You may gain 1 of any resource on replaced Fields. You may cook animals that you no longer have room for.

Pestilence (060) — Disaster

All players lose up to three animals of their choice. These animals may not be cooked for food.

Plague (068) — Disaster

Place a sickness marker on one of your played Family Members.

Place a sickness marker on all Family Members of all players in spaces orthogonally adjacent to the one you first placed (this includes other Family Members in the same space as you).

This may not be played on rounds 6, 8, 10, or 12.

Pollution (066) — Disaster

The Fishing Action Space no longer accumulates food.

This card may not be played before round 6 or after round 12.

Raiders (056) — Disaster

Remove all accumulated Resources from Action Spaces (this includes Animals, but not Food) during the next two Harvests.

This may not be played after round 11.

Rocky Soil (048) — Disaster

All players must place Gravel tiles on all of their unsown fields.

They may use the fields again after clearing the Gravel from them.

Rot and Rust (058) — Disaster

All players lose one of each building resource (Wood, Clay, Reed, and Stone) that they have in their supply.

Starvation (051) — Disaster

All Family Members above the first two require one additional Food in the Feeding Phase of the Harvest.

This may not be played in a round immediately followed by a Harvest.

Unemployment (055) — Disaster

Players may not take the Day Labor or Hiring Fair actions for the rest of the game.

If Travelling Players are in the game, they only accumulate food on even numbered rounds.

Vermin (054) — Disaster

All players lose all but one each of the Vegetables and Grain in their supply.

Tiles and Fog Marker (card pages 17 and 18)

The new tiles (Gravel, Water and the other new tile types) and the Fog Marker are printed as artwork only and are not reproduced as text here. The Fog Marker is used by the Fog card described above.

Card Costs and Prerequisites

Card costs, prerequisite icons and printed victory-point icons on the card faces are images in the designer's document and are not reproduced as text here. The card text in this section is the printed rules text of each card.