Keydom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Background
• The Game
• Contents
• Setting Up
• Rounds and Phases
• Resolving Locations
• Short Game Option
• Variations

Background

(You do not need to read this section to play the game.)

Many years ago, Keywood gifted his land to its inhabitants, the villagers. The land became known as Keydom. In the middle of the land a castle was built. Keywood became the loremaster and made the castle his home. As loremaster (and with the exception of a few outlaws) Keywood kept order in this land of peace and plenty.

Around the castle a town developed. In the town lived the townsfolk, including the soldiers, traders, priest, midwife, wizard and a band of outlaws.

In the countryside surrounding the town lived the villagers. Each family of villagers prospered and became expert in their own trade. They became skilled fishermen, foresters, quarrymen, farmers and brewers. Depending on their needs the villagers would work in the harbour, the forest, the quarry, the farm and the brewery. Always working in pairs, the villagers would catch fish, fell trees, excavate stone, work on the farm or brew ale. A pair of villagers working in their own field of expertise would, because of their skill, be able to double their output.

As the new order developed and prosperity increased, Keywood decreed that it was time for a new leader to be elected. This leader would be known as the Keymaster.

In order to become the Keymaster the successful villager would need to purchase regalia from the goldsmith, a safe in which to keep the regalia from the blacksmith, a key to lock the safe from the locksmith and, most importantly, gain knowledge of the keylore from the old master himself, Keywood.

Each of these items can only be purchased by the villagers with the resources which they have earned from their labour in the harbour, forest, quarry, farm and brewery. The villagers will also be well advised to use those same resources to purchase the services of the townsfolk who, for a suitable fee, will be happy in their own ways to help each family of villagers in their quest to get one of their members elected as the Keymaster. The soldiers will be happy to arrest villagers from other families! The traders will exchange goods for those required. The priest will require donations from the other families. The midwife will help with the family expansion. The wizard will sell his spells and the outlaws will steal from other villagers.

The first villager to acquire a safe, a key, regalia and knowledge of the keylore and to occupy the chambers (at the end of a game round) will become the Keymaster.

The Game

Each player selects a set of coloured counters representing a family of villagers. The villagers represented by the highest numbered counters are the best workers and the most important customers. The best workers will always be chosen to work first. The most important customers will always be served first.

Each family has a special skill. Villagers represented by blue counters are good seamen. The green counters are good woodsmen. The black counters are good quarrymen. The yellow counters are good farmers and the red counters are good brewers.

Each cube represents a resource and is referred to as a resource cube. Blue cubes represent fish and are obtained from the harbour. Green cubes represent logs and are obtained from the forest. Black cubes represent stone and are obtained from the quarry. Yellow cubes represent grain and are obtained from the farm and the red cubes represent ale and are obtained from the brewery.

Each round the counters are placed anywhere on the board. In the resource locations situated in the countryside: the harbour, the forest, the quarry, the farm and the brewery, the villagers will work or supervise. In the town locations the villagers will seek the help of the townsfolk: the soldiers, the trader, the priest, the midwife, the wizard and the outlaws. In the castle they will purchase a safe, a key, regalia and knowledge of the keylore. Finally the villagers will try to occupy the chambers.

Counters placed in the resource locations will earn resource cubes. The villagers' pay, or lack of it, will be determined by that location's supervisor. Counters placed in town allow players to spend their resource cubes in order to obtain help in their quest. Counters placed in the castle (other than in the chambers) allow players to acquire the tiles representing the safe, the key, regalia and gain knowledge of the keylore. Counters placed in the chambers may enable a villager to become Keymaster, provided that the controlling player possesses the safe, the key, the regalia and the keylore tiles.

Contents

• Rule book: There are two sets of rules. One in English and one in German.
• Villager counters: There are five sets of nine coloured round counters. The counters are numbered from one to nine. Each counter represents a villager under a player's control.
• Resource cubes: There are 125 cubes, 25 in each of the five colours: blue, black, green, yellow and red. Each cube represents a resource which can be obtained from the resource locations of the same colour.
• Tiles: There are 20 tiles, five of each type: a safe, a key, regalia and keylore.
• Start player marker: This marker denotes who is the start player for that round.
• Screens: There are five screens. Each player has a screen so that the other players cannot see the counters, cubes and tiles in that player's possession.
• The board: There is one game board, which features sixteen locations. In each location there are a number of circular spaces where (in phase one) a counter can be placed. In several locations there are also a number of small squares. These squares denote the number and type of resource cubes which must be spent in order to pay for the action associated with that location.
• Spell cards: There are two sets of twenty-four spell cards (plus three blanks for you to make up your own spells). One set in English and one set in German.

Setting Up

• Choose set of coloured counters: Each player chooses a set of nine counters of the same colour. The counters with a number one on are not available at the start of the game and are placed together at the side of the board. The number one counters can be acquired during the game from the midwife.

  Each player also receives a screen so that they can hide their counters, resource cubes and tiles.

• Choose start player: Each player bids, using one of their counters, to become the player who chooses who will be the start player. Bids are made in secret with each player's counter being revealed simultaneously. The player playing the counter with the highest number on chooses who is to be the start player. If two players play the same number then all players play a second counter. After the second counter is played the player who has the highest cumulative total chooses who becomes the start player. The process is repeated until a single player has the highest total. The counters used in this bidding process are put to one side and are not used in the first round.

  The start player is given the start player marker in order to indicate that they are the first player in that round.

• Resource cubes: Place the resource cubes at the side of the board. These resource cubes are known as the unused stock. All payments to workers are made from this stock of cubes.

• Tiles: Place the safe, key, regalia and keylore tiles in piles in their respective castle locations.

• Spell cards: Place the spell cards face down on the spell deck space. Turn the top spell card over and place this in the number one spell card space. Then do the same for the second and third spell cards.

Rounds and Phases

Each round consists of four phases. There is no limit to the number of rounds which are played. Most games take approximately seven or eight rounds.

Phase one: play counters. At the beginning of the game each player has eight available counters numbered from two to nine. (Note that in round one only, one or more of these counters will already have been used in determining the start player.)

Beginning with the start player and then in clockwise order each player plays one counter at a time into any location on the board until all the players have played all of their counters. Players may not pass if they have any counters remaining in their hand. Counters are laid face down so that the number on the counter cannot be seen. The counters do not have to be laid in any numerical order.

In phase one counters are not allocated a space in a location. There is no limit to the number of counters which can be placed in any of the locations.

Phase two: reveal counters. Beginning at the harbour, all of the counters are turned over in a location in order to reveal the numbers on the counters. The action in that location is then resolved before play moves on to the next location. (See the 'Resolving Locations' section below.)

The player playing the highest numbered counter chooses which space to place their counter in first. The player playing the second highest counter then chooses a space and so on until all the available spaces (which is just one space in some locations) are full or there are no counters left to allocate. Counters can be placed in any available space in a location. Once a counter has been allocated a space it cannot be moved to another space.

If two numbers are equal then the player with the highest total on their remaining counters in that location plays their counter first. If the totals are still equal or the players have no other counters in that location, then the start player for that round, or the nearest player to the start player's left, plays first.

If there are more counters than there are spaces, the excess counters are returned to the players' hands and cannot be replayed during that round. With the exception of the five resource locations a player may withdraw a counter if they want to but again the counter cannot be replayed during that round.

Counters which are successfully placed may, depending on their location, acquire or spend resource cubes or, if placed in the chamber, become the Keymaster.

After the harbour, locations are resolved in the following order: forest, quarry, farm, brewery, soldiers, trader, priest, midwife, wizard, outlaws, blacksmith, locksmith, goldsmith, Keywood, and finally the chambers.

The action is different at each type of location and each location is dealt with in more detail below.

Phase three: pick up the counters. Each player retrieves all of their counters apart from those in the second (two ringed) and third (three ringed) spaces in the midwife and Keywood locations.

Phase four: pass the start player marker. The start player marker is passed to the player on the left of the player who currently has the start player marker. The player who receives the start player marker becomes the start player for the next round.

Resolving Locations

Resource locations. The resource locations, which are situated in the countryside, are the harbour (blue), forest (green), quarry (black), farm (yellow) and the brewery (red).

The counters placed in each resource location represent the villagers making themselves available for work. The most able villagers (those represented by the highest number) are always employed first. Each resource location has a space for one villager to act as a supervisor and for up to four pairs of villagers to become workers. Each pair of workers occupies two spaces, one above the other.

A villager counter can be placed into any vacant space in the location, either the supervisor's space or one of the workers' spaces.

The supervisor does not receive any payment, but may be able to influence the distribution of the resource cubes paid to the workers.

Workers always work in pairs, for efficiency and safety. Payment is always made per pair. A single worker receives no payment.

If there are a pair of villager counters the same colour as the location colour then that pair of villagers receive four resource cubes. All other pairs of villagers gain two resource cubes. If a pair of villager counters are different colours then the supervisor chooses how to distribute the two resource cubes between the two workers. This can be either one resource cube to each worker or two cubes to one of the workers. It is entirely up to the supervisor. If there is no supervisor then each worker in a non-matching pair is paid one resource cube each. Payment is always made in resource cubes the same colour as the location, e.g. blue resource cubes are received by workers at the harbour. (The numbers on the counters are not used to determine which villager receives payment.)

Resource cubes received from a location are available for use immediately (including at any other locations yet to be resolved in the same round).

If there are insufficient resource cubes left of a particular type then resource cubes (if any) are paid to the first couple of workers (the two workers occupying the two spaces to the right of the location) first, then the couple immediately to the left and then so on until all the resource cubes of that colour are exhausted. If there are insufficient cubes to pay any pair of workers in full then no cubes are paid out to that pair of workers or to any of the remaining pairs of unpaid workers.

The town locations. In the town locations live the soldiers, the trader, the priest, the midwife, the wizard and the outlaws.

In phase one, counters may be placed in a town location in order for the villager to secure the services of the townsfolk. If there are more counters than spaces, only the highest numbered counter(s) are successful.

Some townsfolk require payment for their services in resource cubes. The number and type of resource cubes are shown on the board or, in the case of the wizard, on the spell cards. The number of squares on the board or spell card represents the number of resource cubes required. Some of the squares contain a letter: 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' or 'E'. If the square does not contain a letter then the resource cube can be of any type. If the square contains a letter, then a number of resource cubes of one type (colour) must be paid equal to the number of squares containing the letter 'A', a number of cubes of a different type must be paid equal to the number of letter 'B's and so on. For example, if payment is being made to the outlaws to steal a tile, then the outlaws must be paid eight resource cubes of one type (A) and one resource cube of each of the other four types (B, C, D and E).

Each location is independent from all the others. Therefore colour 'A' in one location need not be the same colour as colour 'A' in another location.

If a counter is placed successfully, but the player does not have the correct resource cubes to make a purchase, then the player must remove the counter for that round and take it back into their hand. Any remaining counters are then resolved in the usual way. A counter which has been removed cannot be replayed during the same round.

The six town locations are dealt with separately below.

1. Soldiers. In this location a player may instruct the soldiers to arrest a villager located in the chambers, in the castle or elsewhere in the town. The only exception to this rule is that the soldiers cannot arrest counters which were placed on the board in previous rounds. This ruling only affects the two ring and three ring spaces at the midwife and Keywood locations.

The correct number and type of resource cubes must first be paid to the soldiers. To order an arrest in the town three resource cubes of any type must be paid. To order an arrest in the castle one resource cube of each of four different types must be paid. To order an arrest in the chambers two cubes of each of four different types must be paid. Resource cubes paid to the soldiers are placed back in the unused stock.

The villager counter which is arrested is returned to its owner and cannot be played again until the following round.

The ability to make an arrest cannot be hindered by casting spells.

2. Trader. For each counter a player has successfully placed with the trader, any one resource cube can be exchanged for one resource cube of a different type which is available from the unused stock.

3. Priest. The successful player chooses which type of donation all the other players must make to the priest. They donate the correct number and type of resource cubes to the priest. The donation can be one of the three types shown on the board and listed below. The cubes donated by the other players are also placed back in the unused stock.

1. 'All in excess of twelve' - The player playing the counter must pay three resource cubes, one each of three different types. All resource cubes held by the other players are then disclosed and those in excess of twelve are donated. Each player may choose which of their own resource cubes to donate and which to keep.
2. 'One of same type' - The player playing the counter must pay two resource cubes, both the same type. A resource cube of the same colour as the two cubes placed on the board must then be donated by the other players. If the other players do not have a cube of that colour then no donation is required from them.
3. 'One of any type' - The player playing the counter must pay one resource cube. The other players must then donate one resource cube of any type.

4. Midwife. The midwife will enable the family to expand. This takes three turns and will enable a player to add the number one villager counter to their family.

There are three spaces in the midwife location before the '=' sign. The second and third spaces can only be accessed from the first and second spaces respectively. The sequence of actions is described in steps 1. to 3. below. If there are no counters already in the midwife location go straight to step 3.

1. If there is already a counter in the second space, then move the counter along the arrow to the third space just before the '=' sign. At this point the player whose villager counter it is removes the counter and, in addition, also takes the number one villager counter in their own colour from the side of the board. Both villager counters are then available to play in subsequent rounds.
2. If there is already a counter in the first space then move the counter along the arrow to the second space.
3. Players compete to place their counters in the first and only directly accessible space in the same way as for other locations.

Only one extra villager counter can be created by each player during the game, even if for tactical reasons they successfully place more than one villager counter in the midwife space. A player may remove their counter (accidentally or intentionally) before it has completed a full stay of three rounds, but in these circumstances the extra number one counter is not received.

5. Wizard. Each round up to three spells can be purchased from the wizard. The three spell cards available for purchase are displayed face up so that all players can see which spells are available. The remaining spells in the spell pile are kept face down.

Counters are allocated to the three spaces in phase two in the usual way. The first counter can be placed in any of the three spaces. The counter in the top space in the tower can acquire spell one only. The counter in the space below can acquire spell two only. The counter in the bottom space can acquire spell three only. Each spell must be purchased using resource cubes. Spell one is acquired first, then spell two, then spell three. The cost of each spell is different and is indicated by the number of squares on the spell card. Note that as there are no letters in the squares on the spell cards the cost of each spell can be met by resource cubes of any type (colour).

After the sale of spells has been resolved (if any), the remaining spells are placed at the bottom of the spell pile and three new spell cards are laid out for the following round.

A player may hold a maximum of two spells at any one time. Spells can only be cast as indicated on the spell cards. Spells can be discarded unused at any time. Used or discarded spells are also placed at the bottom of the spell pile.

Spells affecting counters do not affect counters which were placed on the board on previous rounds. This ruling only affects the two ring and three ring spaces at the midwife and Keywood locations.

6. Outlaws. At this location the successful villager can pay the outlaws to steal a resource cube from either one of the other players or from the unused stock or a tile from either one of the other players or from one of the piles of tiles on the board.

The correct number and type of resource cubes must first be paid to the outlaws. To require the outlaws to steal a tile the villager counter's owner must pay twelve resource cubes, eight of one type and one each of the other four types. To require the outlaws to steal a resource cube from another player the villager counter's owner must pay two resource cubes (of any type). Resource cubes paid to the outlaws are placed back in the unused stock.

The player paying the outlaws chooses which type of resource cube or tile type to steal. If the chosen type of resource cube or tile is not available, then the outlaws can be directed to attack again at no further cost until they are successful.

If a player already possesses a tile of a particular type then the outlaws cannot be directed by that player to steal a tile of that same type. This is because a player may never have two tiles of the same type. As a result a player who already has four tiles cannot direct the outlaws to steal any further tiles.

The castle locations. Players can spend their resource cubes in the castle locations (except the chambers) in order to acquire the safe, key, regalia and Keylore tiles. A player is not permitted to have more than one tile of each type at the same time nor may a player voluntarily discard a tile - the villagers consider the items too precious to be thrown away.

The only way a tile may be lost by a player is if it is stolen by the outlaws. It should be noted that as no player may have more than one tile of the same type an outlaw cannot be directed to steal a tile of a type which the player directing the outlaws already possesses.

1. Blacksmith, 2. Locksmith and 3. Goldsmith. The blacksmith, locksmith and goldsmith castle locations have a space for only one successful villager counter per round. One tile of the relevant type can be purchased from each castle location by the player whose counter occupies that space in that location.

In order to purchase the tile, payment must be made in the correct type of resource cubes. At the blacksmith the payment is four resource cubes of one type and four resource cubes of a second type. At the locksmith it is two resource cubes each of four different types. At the goldsmith payment is two resource cubes of each of three different types plus one resource cube each of the other two types.

A villager counter cannot be placed in the location's space if that player does not have the required resource cubes with which to make the purchase at the time that the location is resolved. Any villager counters placed by players who do not have the correct resource cubes are removed from the board for the remainder of that round.

4. Keywood. Keywood has a space for one new counter each round. Instruction in keylore takes three rounds. There are three spaces in total. The second and third spaces can only be accessed from the first and second spaces respectively. The sequence of actions is described in steps 1. to 3. below. If there are no counters already in the Keywood location go straight to step 3.

1. If there is already a counter in the second space move the counter along the arrow to the third space. The counter's owner must pay two resource cubes (of the same type). The player then collects a keylore tile.
2. If there is already a counter in the first space then move the counter along the arrow to the second space. The counter's owner must pay two resource cubes (of the same type) in order to continue the instruction.
3. Players compete to place their villager counters in the first and only directly accessible space in the same way as for other locations. The counter's owner must pay two resource cubes (of the same type) in order for instruction to commence.

A villager counter cannot be placed in the Keywood location if the player does not have the required resource cubes with which to pay for the instruction at the time that the location is resolved. Any villager counters placed by players who do not have the required resource cubes are removed from the board for the remainder of that round. If in the second or third round of instruction the player is unable to pay for the instruction then the villager counter is removed from the board for the remainder of that round. In these circumstances instruction is not completed and the player does not receive the keylore tile.

The chamber. The chamber has only one space for a villager to become the Keymaster. If two or more villager counters are placed in the chamber at the same time then the successful counter is determined in the same way as for other locations.

In order to play a counter into the chambers the player must have each of the safe, key, regalia and keylore tiles. Any counters placed by a player who is not in possession of all four of these tiles at the time that this location is resolved are removed from the board for the remainder of that round.

The first villager to occupy the chamber at the end of a round becomes the Keymaster. The player who owns that villager counter wins the game.

Short Game Option

In the short game option the rules are the same as above except that the blacksmith location is not used and players are not required to have a safe when visiting the chambers in their attempt to become the Keymaster. All that the players require are the key, the regalia and the keylore tiles.

Variations

Once you are familiar with the rules above you may wish to try the following variations to the rules listed below.

1. No supervisors. At a resource location there is no supervisor. Instead both the resource cubes are allocated to the best worker (the highest numbered villager counter) in each pair. If both the counters are the same number then they receive one resource cube each. Pairs of workers the same colour as the location still receive double payment.

2. Specific colours. When paying resource cubes any requirement to pay cubes marked 'A' must be paid in that player's own colour. Alternatively, a more difficult option is that all 'A' cubes cannot be in a player's own colour.

3. Resource cube adjustments. In phase two, when all counters at a location have been revealed, resource cubes can be used to increase or decrease the numbers on the counters. For each resource cube paid (into the unused stock) of the player's own colour, the player may add one to the number on any one of the player's own counters. For each resource cube paid (into the unused stock) of another player's colour, the player playing the cube may deduct one from the number on any one of the counters of that same colour.

   An alternative to this variation is where a resource cube is paid of another player's colour, the resource cube is not paid into the unused stock but to that other player (assuming that there is another player playing that colour).

4. Face up counters. All counters are played face up in phase one.

5. Turn marker bidding. At the beginning of every round players bid to choose the start player for that round. See the 'Choose start player' section under 'Setting Up'.