In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Your Objective
For 2-5 players, ages 12+, playing time 90 minutes. Game by Jay Cormier & Graeme Jahns; art by Kwanchai Moriya.
- Recruit trolls from the horde to create a cascading, customized source of the resources to fit your strategy.
- Establish workshops to gain versatility and cast spells to bend fate to your will.
- Earn honour to win the crown by excavating tunnels from increasingly valuable minerals, carting statues through your tunnels as close to the mountain's heart as you can (ideally onto matching clan pedestals), and dedicating vast great halls.
- When the coronation arrives, the leader with the most honour wins, and is named the Mountain King to rule over the unified clans!
Components
- 1 Double-sided game board (winter side for 4-5 players; autumn side for 3 players; 2 players may use either side). The board includes the Pedestal track, the Score track, Buried Resources, Statue spots, 4-Player and 5-Player Start Points, the Heart of the Mountain, Workshop sites, and Rubble spaces.
- 52 Tunnel tiles (in various shapes; 10x and 12x of the small shapes, 5x each of the larger shapes). Some tunnel tiles have an anchor (a hole where a pedestal may be placed).
- 5 Player mats (each showing a Statue score chart, Storage area, Troll slots, and Tunnel score chart).
- 6 Great Hall tiles (Shaman's Chamber, Stoneshaper's, The Trove, Great Forge, The Crucible, The Rift). Each has a Score plank showing two numbers and an Altar.
- 17 Spell cards.
- 30 Starter Troll cards (6 in each player colour).
- 55 Troll cards (21 Level-1, 17 Level-2, and 17 Level-3), from the Fire, Moon, Ice, and Mud clans. Level stripes indicate the troll's level. The top row of resources on a troll may generate repeatedly during the game.
- 5 Gate tiles (1 in each player colour).
- 5 Score markers (1 in each player colour).
- 3 Pedestal reminder tokens.
- 21 Statues (7 Fire, 7 Ice, 7 Moon).
- 22 Workshop tiles (2 each of 11 different Workshops).
- 18 Pedestals (6 Fire, 6 Ice, 6 Moon).
- 15 Pedestal Point tokens (3x "1", 4x "2", 4x "3", 4x "4").
- Resources: 35 Stone, 35 Iron, 30 Heartstone, 45 Carts, 20 Hammers, 25 Runes, 35 Coins. All seven of these component types are resources. Stone, iron and heartstone are a sub-category of resources called minerals.
- 2 Coronation tokens (one worth 5, one worth 3).
- 1 Crown (to indicate the start player).
- 2 Team Storage cards (for Team Play mode only).
- 1 Draw bag.
General Setup
- Place the game board in the center of the table, with the side up depending on player count. The winter side is for 4 or 5 players. The autumn side is for 3 players. 2 players may play on either side of the board. Create supply piles of all of the resources (stone, iron, heartstone, coins, carts, hammers, and runes) beside the board.
- Create the tunnel supply; stack the tunnels by shape next to the board. Display the Great Halls nearby as well.
- Create the horde: Shuffle the troll cards separately by level. You will be creating a 3-level array (5/4/3 trolls in each row from the bottom up, arranged in a "pyramid" formation).
- For the bottom row, deal out five Level-1 trolls; keep the deck facedown nearby.
- For the middle row, deal out four Level-2 trolls; keep the deck facedown nearby.
- For the top row, deal out three Level-3 trolls; keep the deck facedown nearby.
- Place the pedestals in the bag and mix. Randomly draw 4 pedestals and place one on each Level-2 troll in the horde (on its pedestal icon). Keep the bag near the horde. Take the 3 pedestal reminder tokens and place one on each Level-3 troll in the horde (on its pedestal icon).
- Stack the 2 coronation tokens near the horde, with the 5 on top of the 3. In a 2-player game, return the 5 to the box and play only with the 3.
- Shuffle the workshop tiles face down, then reveal 2 per player plus 1 more. Keep the revealed workshops in a supply on an unused corner of the game board. Return the unrevealed workshops to the box. You might prefer to choose the workshops in your game instead of picking randomly.
- Create a shuffled facedown deck of spell cards, and reveal 3 face up to form the spellbook, keeping the deck nearby.
- Place statues onto the statue spots on the board in this fashion: randomly pick any clan's statue (for example Moon) and place it in any random statue spot. Then place a different clan's statue (for example Fire) in the next statue spot clockwise. Then a statue from the remaining clan (Ice in this example) in the next statue spot clockwise. Repeat this pattern clockwise around the board until all spots are filled. Return any leftover statues to the box.
- Mix the pedestal point tokens face down, and randomly distribute them face-up onto the Pedestal track, 1 token per space.
Player Setup
A. Choose a starting player, and give them the crown as a reminder. Each player chooses a player colour, and takes the player mat, 6 starting troll cards, gate tile, and score marker of their colour. All components from unused player colours are returned to the box.
B. All players place their score markers on 0 of the score track.
C. Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player places their gate tile on a start point of their choice marked with the player count. (For example if there are 4 players, any point marked "4".) In a 2-player game, use any two matching-numbered start points you want. The closer your gates are, the more conflict you'll have. It is simplest and most intuitive to just place on the entrance closest to your seat, but you aren't required to. All of the entrances have slightly different advantages and disadvantages, but they have all been carefully balanced to be evenly competitive.
D. Each player assembles the starting trolls in their own trollsmoot. Your trollsmoot is the pyramid of troll cards you will build over the course of the game that generates your supply of resources. Begin yours by shuffling your starting troll deck and following these steps:
- Draw the top two trolls from your deck, choose one of those two to keep, and place it face up above one of the 4 empty slots on your player mat; keep the other one in your hand. Draw the next troll from your deck, and again choose one of them to place in a slot. Repeat this process until you have a starting row of 4 trolls in your trollsmoot, 1 troll in your hand, and 1 troll remaining in your deck that you didn't see.
Notice that there are two rows of resources on each starting troll; the top row indicates what that troll will generate repeatedly over the course of the game. The bottom row indicates a one-time resource gain that you get for choosing that troll. Be aware that the two outside trolls in your starting row will generate their resources more times during the game than the two inside trolls will.
- Take from the supply all of the starting resources shown on your chosen starting trolls; place these resources in your storage. Then slide your player mat up to hide the starting resources on your trolls.
Depending on your turn order position, you will gain some bonus starting resources. The start player gets no extra resources. The second and third players gain the starting resources from the troll in their hand into their storage. The fourth and fifth players gain the starting resources from the troll in their hand and from the unseen troll left in their deck into their storage. All starting troll cards except for the four in each player's trollsmoot are returned to the box.
Now you are ready to begin!
Gameplay
Gameplay begins with the Start player and plays in turns, proceeding clockwise until the game ends. Final scoring is then added to in-game scoring to determine the winner. Here are a few general rules to know before you begin:
Your Network
Each player will be building a network on the board, beginning with their gate and growing to include tunnels and Great Halls. Your gate is the source of your network.
Adjacency
For all game purposes, spaces on the board only count as "adjacent" if they share a flat side. Diagonally-touching squares are not adjacent to each other.
Spending Resources
During the game you will be spending resources to accomplish various things. Spent resources return to their supply piles unless otherwise specified. All resources owned by you (whether they are in your storage area or held by trolls in your trollsmoot) are free to be spent by you.
It's almost always best to prioritize spending resources held by your trolls over those held in your storage; this frees up the trolls to generate their resources again.
On Your Turn
On your turn perform these steps in this order:
- Spells & Workshops — You may Cast 1 spell and you may activate 1 of your workshops. You may do both (in either order), or just one, or neither.
- Recruit or Dig — You must either recruit 1 troll from the horde, or spend minerals to dig 1 tunnel and score honour.
- Great Hall — You may dedicate 1 Great Hall.
- Move Statues — You may move as many statues in your network as you wish, by spending carts.
Trading with the Supply
At any point on your turn, you may spend 4 resources (in any combination) to gain 1 specific resource of your choice from the supply to your storage. You may do this multiple times per turn if you wish.
1. Spells & Workshops
You may Cast one spell and you may activate one workshop that your network touches. You may do both (in either order), or just one, or neither.
Cast One Spell
To cast a spell you must spend 1 rune onto the spell (currently face up in the spellbook) that you wish to use. Then carry out the spell's effects as instructed on the spell card.
If your rune is the third rune on the spell, the spell disintegrates after you have finished carrying it out; return the 3 runes to the supply, then move the disintegrated spell card to the bottom of the deck and draw a new one to replace it.
Activate One Workshop
At the start of the game, you won't have access to any workshops yet; the Dig a Tunnel section explains how you can begin adding them to the board.
Each workshop on the board has up to 4 entrances, one per side. An entrance is open if it is touching any player's network. As long as your network touches at least one of its entrances, you may activate a workshop (up to) once for each open entrance it has, regardless of how many of them your network touches.
- All resources gained through a workshop come from the supply and go into your storage. This process means that workshops provide a pathway to "clear" resources off of your trolls so that they are free to generate more later.
- When using a workshop multiple times, each usage is a distinct operation, conducted in whatever order you wish.
- Multiple players may have entrances to the same workshop; a workshop itself is not considered to be part of any player's network.
The Workshops
- Cartwright: Spend 1 heartstone to gain 1 wild cart, or vice-versa. You may not spend clan carts here, only wild carts.
- Charmcrafter: Spend 1 coin to gain 1 rune, or vice-versa.
- Coinpress: Spend 1 iron or 1 heartstone to gain 1 coin, or vice-versa.
- Metalworks: Spend 1 heartstone to gain 1 iron, or vice-versa.
- Pickforge: Spend any 2 resources (they do not need to match) to gain 1 hammer.
- Quartermaster: Move any 1 resource from one of your trolls into your storage. Clan carts become wild once moved to storage.
- Runesmithy: Spend 1 stone or 1 iron to gain 1 rune, or vice-versa.
- Stonegrinder: Spend 1 heartstone to gain 2 stone, or vice-versa.
- Stonemill: Spend 1 stone to gain 1 iron, or vice-versa.
- Toolforge: Spend 1 heartstone to gain 1 hammer, or vice-versa.
- Wheeljack: Spend any 2 resources (they do not need to match) to gain 1 wild cart.
2. Recruit or Dig
You must choose one of the two options to carry out. If you already have 10 trolls in your (complete) trollsmoot, you may not recruit a troll and must dig a tunnel. If you don't have enough minerals to dig a tunnel, you must recruit a troll. If you can neither recruit a troll nor dig a tunnel, ignore this step of your turn.
Recruit a Troll
To recruit a troll from the horde, follow these 3 steps:
Step One: Choose a Troll to Recruit
- A Level-1 troll from the bottom row may be recruited for free.
- To recruit a Level-2 troll from the middle row, you must bribe the two Level-1 trolls beneath it by spending 1 coin onto both of them (for a total of 2 coins in bribes).
- To recruit a Level-3 troll from the top row, you must bribe the two Level-2 trolls beneath it and the three Level-1 trolls beneath them by spending 1 coin onto each of them (for a total of 5 coins in bribes).
You can't recruit a particular troll if you can't afford to bribe all of the trolls beneath it. Remember, Level-1 trolls are always free! It's a good idea to place bribes on the troll portrait, so that the resource symbols on the cards aren't obscured.
Step Two: Take the Troll
Take your chosen troll card from the horde, and replenish the empty space in the horde with a fresh troll drawn from the same level deck (add a pedestal from the draw bag if it is a fresh Level-2 troll).
- Collect any bribes your chosen troll was holding (usually coins but sometimes other resources due to spell effects) into your storage.
- If it was a Level-2 troll it will have a pedestal on it (unless they have run out in this game). Collect it into your storage.
- If it was a Level-3 troll you may look through the draw bag and take a remaining pedestal of your choice (if there are any) into your storage. The pedestal reminder token on the Level-3 troll will remind you to do so; return the token to the newly-drawn troll in the horde.
Running Out of Trolls: If you ever run out of trolls for a particular level, draw a troll from the next-higher level deck (or next-lower if that's impossible) instead.
Running Out of Pedestals: Pedestals are limited. Once they run out, no new ones enter the game.
Retiring Trolls: After you are done recruiting your troll, any troll in the horde that is currently holding 4 bribes (usually coins) retires happily. Discard the troll to the bottom of its deck and return the 4 bribes to the supply. Reveal a new troll from the appropriate deck to replace it.
Step Three: Add It to Your Trollsmoot and Trigger a Cascade
Add the newly recruited troll to your trollsmoot, placing it above and between two other existing trolls there (your choice where if there are multiple options).
In this way you will be forming a "pyramid" of trolls as the game goes on, which will max out at 10 trolls total (including your starting trolls) if you manage to complete it.
Activate your new troll, and also activate the two trolls directly beneath it, and also the two trolls directly beneath each of those trolls, and so on in a downward cascade. When a troll is activated, it gains (from the supply) any resource shown on its card that it is not already holding. Place each gained resource directly onto the activated troll, covering the corresponding symbol. If there is already a resource on a symbol, then you do not gain another one.
Carts
Cart symbols on Fire, Ice, and Moon trolls most often display markings that mark them as specifically Fire, Ice, or Moon carts. Cart tokens gained onto such symbols become clan carts that may only be spent to move a statue belonging to that clan. Cart symbols with a spiral (and also all carts in your storage) are wild and may be used to move any clan's statue.
Put another way, even though the physical cart token is always the same, the symbol that the token is sitting on determines which clan's statues it is permitted to move. The four cart types are: Fire cart, Ice cart, Moon cart, and Wild cart.
Dig a Tunnel and Score Honour
To dig a tunnel, choose a tunnel from the supply, spend the appropriate minerals, then place the tunnel onto the mountain, extending your own tunnel network and scoring honour.
The cost of the tunnel is equal to the number of squares in the tunnel tile. For example, a tunnel with 4 squares costs 4 minerals. All of the minerals spent must be the same (for example all iron).
The score of the tunnel depends on its size and the mineral type you spent on it. There is a chart on your player mat that shows the scores; move your scoring marker on the score track to reflect the honour you have gained.
Don't forget to score; digging tunnels is exciting! Score your tunnel as soon as you have paid for it. Notice that the size-2 tunnels do not score anything.
- You may flip and rotate the tunnel tile to whatever orientation you like before placing it.
- You may never place a tunnel so that it extends off the edge of the board, or to overlap any other tile, workshop site, or the heart of the mountain.
- The new tunnel must be placed so that at least one edge of it is adjacent to your own network, extending it. At the start of the game, your network consists only of your own gate. As you add tunnels and great halls, they become part of your network. Workshops (even if you have entrances to them) are not considered part of your network.
- You may never place a tunnel so that it is adjacent to any part of an opponent's network. The closest you may place a tile to an opponent's network is diagonal. This means that there will never be any confusion about which tunnels belong to whom.
- In the rare event that a tile or group of tiles becomes isolated (meaning that a path could not be traced from it through adjacent squares to a gate), the isolated portion is no longer part of any player's network. Any player could later connect to the isolated portion, at which point it becomes part of that player's network.
Rubble Spaces: The spaces with rocky rings in them are rubble spaces. For each rubble space the new tunnel covers, you must spend 1 hammer. If you don't have enough hammers to spend, you may not place your tunnel there. Sometimes buried statues or buried resources are in rubble spaces, making them harder to get to.
Buried Statues: Any statue not in a network is a buried statue. If the new tunnel covers one, that statue is now unearthed and available to be moved by you later; place it in the same space of the new tunnel that it was in on the board below.
Buried Resources: If the new tunnel covers any buried resources, immediately gain those resources from the supply to your storage.
Add a Pedestal?
If the tunnel you just dug has an anchor on it, and you have a pedestal in your storage, you may now add the pedestal to the tunnel. Anchors are the holes found in most tunnel tiles. Notice that size-5 tunnels don't have anchors on them.
Important limitation! The mountain is divided into 5 tiers. From the outside inward they are: dark gray, gray, brown, orange, and yellow. There may only ever be 1 pedestal of each clan (Fire, Ice, and Moon) placed on each tier of the mountain. For example, if any player has already built a Ice pedestal anywhere in the gray tier, another Ice pedestal may not be added to that tier... but a Fire or Moon pedestal could be. The Pedestal track will help you keep track of this limitation.
The tiers on the mountain (counting from the outermost to the innermost) match the sections on the Pedestal track from left to right. The colours on the Pedestal track correspond to the tiers; there is a Fire, Ice, and Moon space in each tier section. When you place a pedestal, you immediately gain the pedestal point token matching the clan and tier that you placed it on. Keep the token face down in your storage; it will be worth the displayed amount of honour at the end of the game.
If the token is already gone when you go to take it, it means your placement was illegal and someone had earlier placed a pedestal from that clan on that tier; you must reclaim your illegal pedestal.
- A pedestal will double the honour value of a statue of the same clan if you move one onto it and it's still there at the end of the game (see Final Scoring).
- It's now or never; a pedestal may only be added to an anchor at the moment you dig that tunnel. You may not add a pedestal to it later. Pedestals may not be moved once they are placed.
You may always lift up a pedestal later to peek through the anchor hole and confirm which tier it is on.
Establish a Workshop?
If the tunnel you just dug is adjacent to an empty workshop site, you may choose any remaining workshop from the supply and add it to that site.
There are more sites on the mountain than available workshops, so it is possible to run out.
- It is possible to connect to and establish more than one site with a single tunnel-digging.
3. Great Hall
You may dedicate one great hall (per turn) by taking it from the supply and laying it over your tunnel network. The tunnels it overlays must create a region without any gaps that matches the exact size and shape of the great hall itself. (The covered tunnels may be completely or partially covered by the great hall.)
There is no extra cost to dedicating great halls. Any pedestals covered by the great hall are removed from the game (players do not lose pedestal point tokens they gained for placing those pedestals, and those clan/tier combinations remain illegal to repeat).
- Any statues covered by the great hall are placed in the exact same spot that they were in on the tunnel below.
- Great halls may be placed to cover tunnels only. Never over Gates, workshops, or other great halls.
- Once in place, treat a great hall for all adjacency purposes (including statue movement) as if it was a large tunnel.
- Portions of tunnels protruding from under great halls become distinct tunnels themselves.
- Each great hall comes with an altar space. Altars are similar to pedestals in that they are scoring spots for statues, but they are not technically pedestals. Each altar can hold one statue from any clan.
At the end of the game, the great hall will earn you honour equal to the smaller number printed on it. However, if there is any statue on the great hall's altar during final scoring, the hall will earn honour equal to the larger number printed on it instead.
- This is the only score value of that statue (it does not score the usual tier-based statue scoring), and any statue in a great hall that is not on the altar does not score.
4. Move Statues
You may spend carts (as many as you wish from among the ones you own) to move statues through your network, trying to get them closer to the heart of the mountain where they will be worth more honour. Each cart spent permits you to move one unearthed statue in your own network either:
- A. To another space in the tunnel it is already in, or
- B. To any space in an adjacent tunnel.
What Counts as a Tunnel?
- A tunnel tile.
- A great hall tile.
- Any portion of a tunnel tile sticking out from under a great hall.
- Your gate.
Workshops are not part of your tunnel network, therefore statues may not be moved through them.
A clan cart from a coloured symbol on a troll may only be used to move a statue of that clan. A wild cart (from your storage, or more rarely from a wild cart symbol on a troll) may be spent to move any statue.
- Only 1 statue may occupy a single square at a time, but they may pass through each other while moving.
- Multiple statues may occupy different spaces in the same tunnel, but only 1 statue per tunnel will earn honour at the end of the game.
Game End Trigger (The Coronation)
The first player to recruit the 10th troll in their trollsmoot ("capping" their pyramid) earns the first Coronation token, which is worth 5 honour at the end of the game. When the next player recruits their 10th troll, that player earns the second Coronation token, which will be worth 3 honour at the end of the game and triggers the endgame.
In a 2-player game there will only be the second Coronation token with 3 honour; it triggers the endgame.
After the second Coronation token is claimed, the current round is finished (the last player in the round is the player sitting to the right of the start player; if that player is the one who earned the second Coronation token, the round is over as soon as they've wrapped up this turn), and then each player gets exactly 2 more turns in normal turn order. Then the game ends.
Final Scoring
Track your scores using the markers on the score track. You will have earned honour during the game for digging tunnels; now you will add to those scores in five possible ways. Move your score markers on the track to reflect your increased score. If you lap the score track and go above 100, place a coin from the supply under your score marker as a reminder.
1. Coronation Tokens
The players holding the first and second Coronation tokens earn 5 honour and 3 honour for them, respectively.
2. Pedestal Points
Reveal the Pedestal Point tokens you have collected for placing pedestals. They are worth the honour displayed on them.
3. Leftover Resource Sets
Move all of your resources from your trolls into your storage (clan carts become wild as usual) and form them into sets. Every set of three identical resources (for example three runes or three iron or three carts) earns you 1 honour.
- You may also at this point make as many trades with the supply as you need to in order to assemble sets of 3 matching resources. These trades are at the usual rate of any 4 mixed resources for any 1 resource of your choice from the supply.
4. Great Halls
For each great hall in your network, you will earn the lesser value displayed on its scoring plank if there is not a statue on the hall's altar and the greater value if there is a statue (from any clan) on the altar.
- Statues in great halls whether they are on the altar or not do not score the normal tier-based statue scoring described below.
5. Statues
Each unearthed statue in your tunnels (or gate) will earn honour depending on the tier of the mountain it is on. Statues do not need to be on pedestals or even on anchors to score, but statues on matching pedestals earn double their normal score. The values are as follows:
| Tier (outer → inner) | Dark gray | Gray | Brown | Orange | Yellow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic value | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Value if on matching pedestal | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
Important: Only 1 statue per tunnel tile may be scored.
When all scores have been totalled, the player with the highest score is crowned the Mountain King and wins the game! (In the event of a tie, tied players add up the Levels of the trolls they've recruited. The tied player with the lower total wins the tie.)
Team Play Rules
This is a special variant mode of play for exactly 4 players. Follow all regular rules with the following changes:
Setup Changes
Form into two 2-player teams.
- Pick one scoring token to represent your team, and return the other to the box.
- Sit adjacent to your teammate, and ensure that your gates are beside each other on the winter side of the board.
- Place a Team Storage card between you and your teammate.
- Pick a starting team. The starting player is the member of the starting team sitting on the left. That means that the turn order each round as you go clockwise will be Team 1, Team 2, Team 2, Team 1.
- Troll drafting occurs as normal, except starting resources are placed into team storage. There are no bonus starting resources awarded for turn order position.
Gameplay Changes
The personal storage area on your player mats are not used. Whenever any resource would go into your storage, it is placed into team storage.
On your turn you may spend resources from your own trollsmoot, from team storage, or a combination of both. You may not spend resources from your partner's trollsmoot.
Note that this limitation creates new strategic possibilities: use your workshops to move resources from your trolls to team storage so that your partner can benefit!
Although you begin your network at your own gate as normal, you may connect your tunnel network to your teammate's. Once your networks are connected, you may treat your teammate's network for all purposes (workshop use, statue movement, great hall dedication, etc) as if it were part of your own.
When recruiting trolls, gained Pedestals are placed in team storage. When you have the opportunity to place a pedestal, it comes from team storage.
Honour earned during the game and at endgame from both players is scored with your shared team score marker. If your networks are joined at endgame, scores for statues and great halls are only earned once. The team with the most honour wins!
Credits
Game Design & Development: Jay Cormier & Graeme Jahns. Illustration: Kwanchai Moriya. Graphic Design & Rulebook: Joshua Cappel. Additional Development: Burnt Island Games. 3D Modelling: Heriberto Martinez. Game Trayz Inserts: Noah Adelman. Published by Burnt Island Games. ©2019 all rights reserved.