Kemet: Blood and Sand – Book of the Dead
Kemet: Blood and Sand – Book of the Dead Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Components
Contents: 16 Emerald Power tiles, 3 miniatures, 1 Underworld board, 5 Emerald pyramid tops, 5 Emerald "Acquire" tokens, 5 Honor markers.
1.1 Underworld Board
The Underworld board has these areas and markers:
- Sacrificed Units Pool (common to all players)
- Honor marker (one per player)
- Honor track (one per player, values 9 down to 0)
- Honor Points (the values printed along each Honor track)
- Putrefaction level (the row beneath the Honor tracks)
- Permanent FP loss (the row beneath the Putrefaction level)
The Putrefaction level and Permanent FP loss rows are printed as a grid on the Underworld board. The rulebook gives their values through the examples in section 3.1.
1.2 Emerald Power Tiles Specificities
The Emerald Power tiles carry these symbols:
- Divinity icon (marks a Divinity tile, see section 3.5)
- Life Point (symbol for a Divinity's Life Points)
- Sacrifice icon (marks the effect that requires a Sacrifice, see section 3.2)
2. Setup
To play with The Book of the Dead expansion, add the Emerald Power tiles to your base game. When selecting the color of Power tiles to use in your game, make sure the Emerald Power tiles are one of the colors that you select. You still use the same number of colors of Power tiles for each player count.
During the base game Setup, in the 2.1 - Common Setup section:
- Place the Underworld board next to the Score board.
- Place the Honor markers corresponding to the players on the "9" Honor Points value of each corresponding Honor track.
3. Special Rules
You now have the choice between 5 colors of Power tiles (one more than in the base game Kemet: Blood and Sand). These Power tiles play the same way as the base game Power tiles, except the following special rules.
3.1 Honor Track and Putrefaction Level
Honor, symbolized by the Honor icon, is used when playing with Emerald Power tiles.
Each time you lose 1 Honor Point, move your Honor marker 1 space to the right on your Honor track. If your Honor level reaches 0, each time you would lose 1 Honor Point you lose 1 PP instead.
Each time you gain 1 Honor Point, move your Honor marker 1 space to the left on your Honor track. If you already have 9 Honor points, there's no effect.
Each Honor value corresponds to a Putrefaction level and a potential FP loss, as shown on the bottom 2 rows of the Underworld board.
If at the time you have to lose a permanent FP, you don't have one, you will have to place the next permanent FP you gain on the Honor track.
Example:
- If your Honor value is 9, your Putrefaction level is 0.
- If your Honor value is 7, your Putrefaction level is 1.
- If your Honor value is 4, your Putrefaction level is 2 and you have lost 1 permanent FP. The lost FP is placed on the 5 Honor Point value of your Honor track.
- If your Honor value is 1, your Putrefaction level is 3 and you have lost 1 additional permanent FP (for a total of 2 permanent FP lost this way). The lost FP is placed on the 2 Honor Point value of your Honor track.
Each time your Honor value changes your Putrefaction level, any FP loss is immediately resolved. FP lost this way may be regained through regaining sufficient Honor Points.
3.2 Sacrifice Units
Some Emerald Power tiles require the Sacrifice of a Unit to activate the tile's effect. These Power tiles have a Sacrifice icon on the corresponding effect.
To Sacrifice a Unit, you have to lose 1 Honor Point and place 1 Unit from your Troops or your supply on the Underworld board.
Note: If the effect of a Battle Power requires sacrifice of a Unit, the sacrificed Unit does not need to be from the Troop involved in Battle; it may be another one.
3.3 Sacrificed Unit
Any Unit placed on the Underworld board is called a Sacrificed Unit.
A Sacrificed Unit is not part of their owner's supply anymore and may only be removed from the Underworld board with an effect that adds Units (a Recruit action, a DI card effect, or a Power tile effect).
Any effect that adds Units allows you to:
- add Units from your supply as normal,
- add Units from the Underworld board, by spending 1 additional PP per Sacrificed Unit in your color you want to add directly on the board.
Examples:
- The DI card "Tactical Support" allows you to place up to 2 Sacrificed Units into 1 or 2 of your Districts or Troops by spending 1 additional PP per Sacrificed Unit you add.
- The Power tile "Reinforcement Prayer" allows you to place up to 2 Sacrificed Units into 1 or 2 of your Districts by spending 1 additional PP per Sacrificed Unit you add.
- During your Recruit actions, you may place up to X total Sacrificed Units into your Districts by spending 1 additional PP per Sacrificed Unit.
3.4 Recruit Action Modification
During your Recruit actions you may do the following above the normal action effects:
- spend 1 PP per Sacrificed Unit you want to send from the Underworld board to your supply,
- spend 1 PP per Unit in your supply you wish to add to the Troop of a Divinity you control. Every Divinity may only be tied to a number of Units at most equal to your current Putrefaction level.
3.5 Divinities
The Book of the Dead expansion introduces a new kind of Power tiles: the Divinities. Thoth and Apophis are the two Divinities included in this expansion.
A Divinity:
- has a number of Life Points, each symbolized by a Life Point icon,
- is considered to be a Troop whose Strength is shown on its Power tile,
- is not considered to be a Unit, nor a Creature,
- does not count against the Troop limit,
- may only be placed in game through a Summoning,
- cannot be tied to a Creature,
- cannot be in the same zone as another Divinity you control,
- may be tied to Units that become Worshipers of that Divinity.
Worshipers
Units in the Troop of a Divinity are called Worshipers. They are still Units and may be sacrificed.
The number of Worshipers tied to a Divinity cannot exceed the Putrefaction level of their owner: at the end of any action or any Battle, if the Putrefaction level of their owner is lower than the number of Worshipers tied to a Divinity they control, they must place the surplus of Worshipers into their supply.
During Move actions, Worshipers may be moved, or left behind, separately from the Divinity they are tied to, and become simple Units once more.
Summoning
A Divinity may only be placed in game by playing a Gold Action token to use the Summoning effect of its Power tile, which describes how it is placed (see Player aid).
A Divinity in Battle:
- During the Resolution step, each Worshiper adds 1 Strength to its Troop.
- During the Casualties step:
- apply damage to Worshipers first, then to the Divinity,
- if the Divinity suffers as many damage as its Life Points, it is placed into their owner's supply (if it suffers less damage, nothing happens).
- During the Loser's Aftermath step, the Troop of a Divinity may only retreat. If there is no applicable zone, the whole Troop is placed back in their owner's supply, this is not a Recall.
- During the Winner's Aftermath step: the Troop of a Divinity may only stay in the zone, it cannot be Recalled.
4. Power Tiles
The Emerald Power tiles, by level. Each tile's rules are printed on the tile itself; the text below is the tile's printed rules text. The tiles' summoning descriptions refer to the Player aid, which is not part of this rulebook.
Emerald Level 1
Dark Cult
When acquired: take 1 Gold Action token if you do not have any.
Play your Gold Action token and Sacrifice 1 Unit to take 1 Pray action.
Return from Beyond
In the Night Phase: during the Awakening step, choose either to send 2 Sacrificed Units back to your supply for free, or to gain 1 Honor Point.
Emerald Level 2
Strength Drain
In Battle: during the Resolution step, if you have more Strength than your opponent, you may Sacrifice 1 Unit to gain 1 PP per Strength you have in excess of your opponent's. This PP gain is a single effect.
Dark Servants
During your Recruit actions: add up to 3 Units for free per Putrefaction level you currently have.
Solar Barque
During your Move actions: your Troops gain +1 Land move. You may Sacrifice 1 Unit and spend 1 Land move to move your Troop from a zone bordering the Nile to any other zone bordering the Nile.
Demeaned Sphinx
The tied Troop gains +1 Land move and +1 Strength.
In Battle: at the end of the Confrontation step, you may sacrifice 1 Unit to increase your Damage value by your current Putrefaction level.
Emerald Level 3
Death Ritual
In Battle: at the end of the Confrontation step, you may Sacrifice 1 Unit to choose and gain 1 Value among these: +1 Strength / +1 Defense / +1 Damage.
Funeral Building
In the Night phase: during the Awakening step, you may Sacrifice 1 Unit to take up to 2 Build actions; each on a different Pyramid to add 1 level. Reduce the cost of each of these actions by 1 PP (to a minimum of 0).
Uncanny Reinforcement
In Battle, when you are the attacker: at the beginning of the War Council step, you may add 1 Unit to your Troop for free. This may be a Sacrificed Unit. The Troop limit may be exceeded during that Battle.
Domination
When acquired: gain 1 Divine FP.
Emerald Level 4
Putrid Power
In Battle, when you are the attacker: during the Resolution step, your Troop gains as many Strength as your current Putrefaction level.
Act of God
When acquired: take 1 Silver Action token.
Emerald Level 4 – Divinity
Thoth
Divinity, 2 Life Points, +1 Land move, +4 Strength.
When acquired: place Thoth into your supply, and take 1 Gold Action token if you do not have any.
Play your Gold Action token to summon Thoth: place it in an empty desert zone and add for free 1 Unit in that zone per Putrefaction level you currently have. Those Units may be Sacrificed Units.
In Battle: at the beginning of the War Council step, name a Battle card by its characteristics (Strength, Damage, and Defense). Your opponent cannot play it during that War Council step.
Apophis
Divinity, 2 Life Points, +5 Strength.
When acquired: place Apophis into your supply, and take 1 Gold Action token if you do not have any.
Play your Gold Action token to summon Apophis: place it in an empty zone bordering the Nile and add for free 1 Unit in that zone per Putrefaction level you currently have. Those Units may be Sacrificed Units.
During your Move actions: Apophis cannot teleport or make any Land move; at the beginning of the Move action, place it with all or part of its Worshipers in any zone bordering the Nile, then that action ends.
The Apophis miniature is in 2 parts. The back part always remains in the Nile without any gameplay effect.
Emerald Level 4 – Great Old Ones
"If you play with the Game Up: The Great Old Ones, you can replace Thoth and Apophis tiles and miniatures with Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu tiles. The effects of the tiles remain the same."
The Great Old Ones page of the rulebook illustrates the Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu tiles (the Divinity replacements named in the quote above). Their rules text is not printed separately.