Lanterns: The Emperor's Gifts
Lanterns: The Emperor's Gifts Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Starting Lake Tile (gray back)
- 6 Standard Dedication Tokens (4 green, 2 blue)
- 10 Player Pavilions (3 red, 3 blue, 2 white, 2 purple)
- 1 Emperor's Pavilion (yellow)
- 18 Gift Tokens
- 4 Reference Cards
- 5 Emperor Cards
- 10 Emperor Dedication Tokens
- 10 Honor Tokens
- 5 Wild Lantern Cards
Note: the Russian overlay on the components page reads "5" for the Emperor Dedication Tokens, while the English text reads "10". The 3-player emperor dedication stack illustration in the Emperor Card Reference shows eight tokens after removals, which is consistent with 10. This transcription uses the English count of 10.
Changes to Setup
Complete all the steps of the base game setup, using the new starting lake tile (gray back), with the following changes and additions:
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In a 3-player game, use 6 lantern cards of each color (instead of 7).
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Add the new standard dedication tokens (4 green, 2 blue) to the top of the corresponding stacks. Make sure the stacks are still arranged in descending order of value and the appropriate tokens are removed for the number of players.
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Place the emperor's pavilion (yellow) on the starting lake tile.
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Give each player a number of pavilions in their player color:
- 2 players: 3 pavilions (red and blue). Return white and purple to the box.
- 3-4 players: 2 pavilions (of any color). Return the third red and blue to the box.
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Set the 18 gift tokens off to one side.
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Give each player the reference card of their player color.
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Randomly select 2 emperor cards that will be "in play" for this game and place them face up, returning the unused cards to the box.
For your first game, we recommend playing with the Emperor Dedication and Rotate a Tile cards.
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Complete any setup specific to the 2 cards in play, described in the Emperor Card Reference, p. 9.
When setup is complete, the player with the red lantern card will take the first turn, as normal.
Changes to Gameplay
Activate Emperor Card
You may activate one emperor card in play each turn. Each card has a specific time in the turn, stated on the card, when you may activate it. At that time, pay the cost and take the action defined by the card.
Step 1 - Exchange a Lantern Card & Step 2 - Make a Dedication
There are no overarching changes to these steps, but individual emperor cards may modify them. (See Emperor Card Reference, p. 9 for details.)
Step 3 - Place a Lake Tile
On your turn, you may choose to build a pavilion from your supply on the lake tile you just placed. (You cannot build a pavilion on a tile played on a previous turn.) The following restrictions apply:
- You cannot build a pavilion on a tile adjacent to another tile with a pavilion. (You can build a pavilion at a diagonal to another pavilion.)
- You cannot build a pavilion on a platform tile.
Matching Bonuses
Pavilions affect the matching bonuses that the active player receives. Color matches involving pavilions produce gift tokens for the active player (in the same way that color matches involving platforms produce favor tokens): if the color on any side of the newly placed lake tile matches the color on an adjacent side of another lake tile, the active player receives one gift token for each pavilion in the color match.
In addition, if the color match includes a pavilion built by another player, that player also receives one gift token for each of their pavilions in the color match.
Example 1: Charles places a lake tile so that it creates a color match with the starting tile containing the emperor's pavilion. He receives one gift token for the one pavilion in the color match, in addition to the lantern cards he would normally receive.
Example 2: Beth (purple) places a tile and builds a pavilion from her supply on it. She receives one gift token for making a color match with that pavilion, in addition to the lantern cards she would normally receive.
Example 3: Charles (red) places a lake tile so that it creates a color match with a tile containing a pavilion built by another player (Gabrielle, blue). He receives one gift token for the one pavilion in the color match, and Gabrielle (blue) receives one gift token because another player made a color match with a pavilion she built. (All players also receive the lantern cards they would normally receive.)
Example 4: Charles (red) places a platform tile, creating two color matches, both with tiles containing pavilions. He receives one gift token for making a color match with Gabrielle's blue pavilion, and he receives one gift token for making a color match with his own red pavilion. (Note: You only receive one gift token for making a color match with your own pavilion, not two.)
Gabrielle also receives one gift token because another player made a color match with her pavilion.
Charles receives one favor token for the single platform in the color matches as normal, and all players receive the lantern cards they would normally receive.
Emperor Card Reference
1. Emperor Dedication
Setup: Arrange the stack of new yellow emperor dedication tokens in descending order of value, removing tokens according to the number of players, and place it next to the Emperor Dedication card.
Example: 3-player game (illustration: the emperor dedication stack for a 3-player game, with token values from 9 down to 5)
During the Dedication step of your turn, you may spend two gift tokens to make an emperor dedication instead of a standard dedication.
The emperor dedication has more flexible requirements than standard dedications. Return one of these three possible combinations (each requiring five lantern cards) to claim the top token from the stack:
- Five Unique: Five cards, five different colors.
- Full House: Three cards of one color, two cards of a different color.
- Five of a Kind: Five cards, all the same color.
Emperor dedication tokens are not limited. If the stack runs out, use a generic dedication token instead.
2. Rotate a Tile
Setup: No additional setup required.
Before you place a tile, you may spend two gift tokens to rotate one lake tile already in play:
- The tile must have at least one "open" side (that is, a side without a tile already adjacent to it).
- The tile may have a pavilion or a platform.
- You may rotate the tile 90°, 180°, or 270°, either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Rotating a tile does not affect the lantern cards and other bonuses received on previous turns; it only affects the current and future turns.
3. Favor to Honor
Setup: Set the 10 honor tokens near the play area.
At the start of your turn, you may spend two gift tokens to do one of the following conversions:
- 1 Favor Token → 1 Honor
- 2 Favor Tokens → 2 Honor
(The honor earned by activating this card counts toward your final score, just as honor earned from dedications does.)
4. End-of-Turn Dedication
Setup: No additional setup required.
At the end of your turn, you may spend two gift tokens to make a standard dedication.
This bonus dedication opportunity is available whether or not you made a dedication earlier in your turn.
5. Emperor Exchange
Setup: Set the 5 wild lantern cards near the play area.
During the Exchange step of your turn, you may spend two gift tokens to make one of the following exchanges instead of a standard exchange:
- 1 Favor Token + 1 Lantern → 1 Wild Lantern
- 2 Favor Tokens + 1 Lantern → 2 Unique Lanterns
When you make a dedication, you can use any number of wild lantern cards in place of the same number of standard lantern cards.
End of the Game
At the end of the game, players add up the honor they earned from their dedication tokens and their honor tokens. The player with the most honor wins the game.
In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most gift tokens remaining wins. (Further ties are broken as in the base game, first by the number of remaining favor tokens and then by the number of remaining lantern cards.)