Los Aprendices
Los Aprendices Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Who can be an apprentice?
- 10 years old and over.
- 2-4 apprentices.
- For 45 minutes (more or less).
Ingredients and tools
- 28 dice (8 green, 8 yellow, 8 purple and 4 black).
- 6 two-sided boards with the Lab Tables.
- 1 board with Knowledge Points and the Dice Value Track.
- 24 large wooden tokens (6 in each color: green, yellow, purple and blue).
- 4 small Apprentice Tokens (1 in each color: green, yellow, purple and blue).
- 1 small red token to show the Dice Value.
Getting ready
The first step is to get the Lab Tables ready. As you can see, the game contains 6 two-sided boards. Each side represents one of the tables where the game takes place and belongs to either the Way of the Apprentice (the hooded symbol) or the Way of the Initiate (the robed symbol). These are the Two Ways to Knowledge.
Restrain your impatience. First, arrange the pieces that compose the Apprentices' board as follows:
(Setup diagram on page 3 of the rulebook.)
Now, each of you shall choose a color. Take the big wooden tokens of that color, along with the small Apprentice Token, and place the latter in the starting space of the Knowledge Points Track.
Take the ability cards for the Way of the Apprentice, with the Way of the Apprentice symbol in the corner, and place them face up beside the boards.
Finally, place the small red token in the red tapestry hanging from the staircase in the Knowledge Points Track, in the square with a 10. The value indicated by this token represents the cost of the next die that you will be able to buy in order to obtain more resources with your rolls.
Don't be intimidated by so many unfamiliar terms, everything will be explained in due course!
The basics
Each apprentice starts his research with a die of each color, plus an extra one of his choice (5 dice in total). As you may have noticed, each of these colors offers more resources of a certain type. Choose the extra dice wisely, according to your strategy.
Tip: It may not be a good idea to play with an extra black die, but there's nothing stopping you if you want to try!
These rules apply to both sides of the Lab Tables. Once you've managed to discover the secrets of the Way of the Apprentice, you may turn the boards over to face the challenges of the Way of the Initiate. You can also combine the two sides to create your own personal way.
Pay attention, my pupils; your future as alchemists is at stake!
The youngest apprentice will be the starting player of the first round, which should be played as follows:
- The apprentices roll their dice simultaneously.
- Beginning with the starting player, and moving clockwise, each apprentice takes his turn:
- He conquers the ravens.
- He conducts research in as many Lab Tables as he likes, as long as he has the resources.
- He acquires the abilities corresponding to his position in the Lab Tables and collects Knowledge Points.
- When everybody has taken their turn, the apprentices take back all their dice, they roll them simultaneously and the process is repeated again. The starting player for the new round will be the apprentice on the left of the previous starting player.
The end of the game is triggered when an apprentice scores 42 or more Knowledge Points. The apprentice with the most Knowledge Points at the end of the game is the winner.
In depth
Each apprentice may use the resources indicated by his dice at the start of his turn. There are four possible outcomes:
- Parchment
- Gemstone
- Potion
- Raven
The first three elements represent the resources at your disposal to conduct your research.
The ravens are not resources. They represent threats that you must confront before you can start your research. They symbolize everything that can go wrong during an experiment: chemical explosions, tricks played by a rival apprentice, silly mistakes following a recipe that cause you to lose days and days of research, etc.
Attention: In the first round, there are a couple of exceptions to these rules. 1) The ravens act as wild cards and can therefore be used as resources. 2) The abilities obtained in the Lab Tables can't be used until the second round.
1. Conquer the ravens
Dealing with the unexpected is part of an alchemist's training. He can't conduct his research or finish his turn until all his ravens have disappeared.
There are two ways to make them disappear:
- Gemstones, as you may know, are considered powerful ingredients that can protect you against all kinds of threats. You may use a gemstone from your roll to cancel the effects of a raven: just set both dice aside for the rest of the round. Alternatively, it's also possible to use a gemstone created with your abilities for the same purpose. You can eliminate as many threats as you have gemstones (dice + abilities). Unfortunately, the gemstones you use this way can't be used for any other purpose during this round.
- If you don't have any gemstones and you can't obtain one using your abilities (or you don't want to waste them hunting ravens), you can always rely on the help of a fellow apprentice. They can counteract the effects of your ravens using gems from their own rolls or abilities. If nobody offers you a helping hand, don't be ashamed to ask for help! By the way, here's one last tip: during your turn, you can counteract the effects of another apprentice's ravens without even asking for their permission.
Each threat you face this way, whether yours or another apprentice's, adds 1 Knowledge Point to your score. This represents the valuable knowledge you've attained as a result of the challenge.
If you have any dice with ravens left at this point, it's time to conquer them. Roll them one by one.
- If the result of the die is a resource, all your dice with that resource are discarded for the rest of the round.
- If the result of the die is a raven, you lose 5 Knowledge Points.
Attention: As the game progresses, you'll gather abilities that can be used to convert resources. For the time being, it's enough to remember that the effects of a raven apply to these kinds of resources as well. If a resource that you've obtained using your abilities is of the same type as the one discarded to conquer an unresolved raven, it will have to be discarded as well. You also lose that ability for the rest of the turn, as well as the other resources you obtained with it. This rule does not apply to resources already used before conquering the raven. Imagine that you get 3 potions and 1 raven in a roll. Before conquering the raven, you decide to convert a potion into 1 potion and 1 parchment, which gives a total of 4 potions and 1 parchment. You can't cancel the effects of the raven with those resources, so you will have to conquer it. If the result of the resolution roll is a potion, you will have to discard the 2 potions in your dice as well as the potion you obtained using your abilities. However, you keep the parchment.
Exception: If you roll 3 or more ravens at the beginning of the round, you get to reroll. As soon as it's your turn, set aside one of your ravens (except the one from the black die) and roll the rest of them. If the result contains one or more ravens, deal with them in the usual way, along with the raven that you set aside. You can use the resources you obtain in this new roll as explained above. If you don't get any ravens with the new roll, you'll only have to deal with the one you set aside, in the usual way. Let's imagine that you get 3 ravens in your roll but, when your turn begins, there are only two left because another player counteracted the effects of the third raven. In this case, you don't get to reroll. However, if you have 3 ravens at the beginning of your turn, you're welcome to reroll your dice.
2. Research and study
Failed experiments, nights of sleep deprivation while developing new recipes, sore eyes due to the tiny handwriting of the parchments... all of this is part of an alchemist's training. Each hour you sacrifice at the Lab Table provides you with new abilities and knowledge that bring you one step closer to your goal.
At the bottom of each Lab Table you can see the resources you have to pay to:
- Access that table in order to conduct your research.
- Advance your research in that table following the track at the top of the board.
Attention: The number of players in the game changes the rules for this track.
- In a two-player game, the wooden tokens can advance up to the 4th square but not further.
- In a three-player game, the wooden tokens can advance up to the 5th square but not further.
- In a four-player game, the wooden tokens can advance up to the last square of the track.
Tip: There's more than one way to become an alchemist. Soon you'll discover that some of the tables improve your knowledge while others develop your abilities. Choose the path you want to follow wisely.
Be careful to separate the dice that you have decided to use in your research and the ones that can still be used. If this is your first time at a Lab Table, take one of your colored tokens and place it in the first space of the track (starting from the left). If you were already in that table at the beginning of your turn, be sure to move your token forward one space each time you conduct your research on it. Be careful: if there's already a token in the space you're entering, place your own token on top of it. This will affect some abilities, as I'll explain later on.
You can conduct your research until you run out of resources or don't have enough left. It is possible to research repeatedly in the same table as long as there is just 1 token of your color on the track. This means that there can be several apprentices in the same Lab Table, but there may only be one token of each color. If, at the end of your turn, you have one or more resources left (from your dice or abilities), they'll remain available until the end of the round.
When working in a Lab Table, you can gain:
- Abilities according to your position on the track.
- Knowledge Points.
You gain abilities as soon as you advance along a track. These can be used during the same turn (except for the first round). Do not despair, dear apprentices, soon I will explain the nature of these abilities and how to use them.
Knowledge Points are scored just once for each achievement. Add them to your score after you enter a Lab Table or advance along the track. To do so, for every Knowledge Point you earn, move your Apprentice Token forward one square.
3. New abilities and knowledge
Abilities and new knowledge, fresh recipes and carefully designed experiments will lead you to unexpected discoveries.
After paying the necessary resources to conduct your research in a Lab Table, take the card of the ability you have just learned and place it face up in your playing area. This way you'll be able to keep track of the abilities available for use until the apprentices change positions in a table and, therefore, their abilities change.
Your abilities will depend on your position on the track. The apprentice whose token is furthest along the track will get the first ability, the second player on the track will get the second ability, and so on. Bear in mind that some Lab Tables only provide abilities for the first and second players on the track, or only the first one!
Attention: Abilities are organized from top to bottom in the tables, while the position of the apprentices is from right to left. This means that the token that is furthest right (i.e., has advanced the most squares) gets the first ability from the top.
If a player arrives at a square that is already occupied by another token, he places his token on top of the one that was already there. If a token is under another, it's considered to be behind it on the track. At this moment, the apprentice who just advanced on the track steals the ability of the player under him, and may use it right away (unless you're still on the first round of the game). The player who loses an ability obtains the next one on that table, if there is any.
Each ability can only be used once per turn (convert resources, rerolls, etc.). However, if an apprentice steals that same ability later in the round, he will be able to use it as well.
Some abilities can be found more than once in the Lab Tables. If an apprentice has two or more cards with the same ability, he may use them all during the same round, but he may only use each ability once.
Attention: Your abilities can only be used with your own resources. The resources you produce using your abilities can be spent in the usual way, i.e., to produce new resources, to score Knowledge Points using other abilities or to conduct your research in a Lab Table.
You can use your abilities anytime during your turn, even before confronting the ravens (your own ones or those of another player).
As explained earlier, you may have some resources left over at the end of your turn. If you have a gemstone, for example, you could use it to help a player if he needs it. But be careful, because it could be stolen by another apprentice!
In a two-player game, only the first and second abilities of a Lab Table are available. The third one, if there is one, will remain beyond your reach.
Attention: I know that you want to hear more about the mysterious abilities awaiting you, but I refuse to reveal anything more until the very end. This information must remain fresh in your mind when the training starts, because it will play an essential role in your journey.
4. How to get more resources
As your knowledge grows, so too does your ability to produce resources and explore new opportunities. This means that, any time during your turn (after conquering your ravens), you can acquire new dice to increase the resources available to you for your next rolls.
The first extra die costs 10 Knowledge Points for the first apprentice who buys it. From then on, the cost is reduced by 1 Knowledge Point for each die that gets sold. Therefore, the second available die will have a price of 9 Knowledge Points, the third 8 Knowledge Points and so on until the dice reach the minimum value of 5 Knowledge Points.
After paying the required amount of Knowledge Points, choose whatever color die you wish and place it with the rest of the dice you already used during your turn. Don't forget to move your Apprentice Token back the same number of spaces as Knowledge Points you spent!
Attention: Remember to move the red token back 1 space in the Dice Value Track.
5. Only one of you will be the next alchemist
The first player to score a minimum of 42 Knowledge Points triggers the end of the game. The player with the highest score at the end of that round will be the winner. He'll become, thanks to his work and intelligence, the next alchemist.
Sometimes it can be difficult to choose the apprentice who truly deserves to be an alchemist. In case of a tie, play an extra round to prove your knowledge once and for all. If the tie continues, the only viable option is to make an exception and allow more than one apprentice to become an alchemist at the same time.
Exception: In some strange cases, especially in two-player games, it's possible that players are unable to score more points in the Lab Tables than the ones they already have. To solve this problem, make the 5th square of the tracks available to them.
Attention: Even though a player triggers the end of the game, he won't necessarily win it. If any of you score more than 42 Knowledge Points, your Apprentice Token goes back to the bottom of the stairs, and for every extra point you scored, move it forward one space.
It's not possible to have negative Knowledge Points. If an apprentice loses 5 Knowledge Points due to the effects of a raven and he only had 3 points, his Apprentice Token goes back to the starting square. And, in case it had crossed your mind: no, you can never spend more Knowledge Points than you have, for example, to buy a die.
Abilities
This may be the most important moment so far, so pay close attention to every word I say as we review the abilities contained in each of the boards, from top to bottom.
If your studies have led you far enough and you have now mastered the basics of alchemical research, you are ready to take on new challenges. Turn over the Lab Tables and take the ability cards for the Way of the Initiate (with the Way of the Initiate symbol in the corner)! The rules and mechanics of the game are exactly the same, but now you have a new set of abilities at your disposal. Get ready to work even harder, as the competition between you gets even tougher!
There are always a couple of bold researchers who choose to forge their own destinies by combining boards from both alchemical Ways. It's up to you to decide whether to follow their steps!
Way of the Apprentice
Ability cards for the Way of the Apprentice (Ability 1, Ability 2, Ability 3 by table; the first ability is the one of the apprentice furthest along the track, see 3. New abilities and knowledge). Icons are written out as words below.
- Table 1. Cost of research: 2 parchments, 2 gemstones and 2 potions, or 5 resources of the same type. This is the only table with a permanent ability that is not dependent on your position on the track.
- Ability 1: Each apprentice in this table receives an extra raven at the beginning of his turn.
- Ability 2: none.
- Ability 3: none.
- Table 2. Cost of research: 3 potions and a resource of your choice.
- Ability 1: Turn a potion into a parchment and a resource of your choice.
- Ability 2: Turn a potion into a gemstone and a parchment.
- Ability 3: Turn a resource of your choice into another resource of your choice.
- Table 3. Cost of research: 3 parchments and a resource of your choice.
- Ability 1: Reroll one of your dice.
- Ability 2: Turn two parchments into three Knowledge Points.
- Ability 3: none.
- Table 4. Cost of research: 2 potions.
- Ability 1: Reroll one of your dice.
- Ability 2: Turn a potion into a resource of your choice.
- Ability 3: Turn a potion into a parchment.
- Table 5. Cost of research: 2 gemstones.
Way of the Initiate
Ability cards for the Way of the Initiate (Ability 1, Ability 2, Ability 3 by table).
- Table 1. Cost of research: 3 gemstones, a potion and a resource of your choice.
- Ability 1: You may cancel an ability of your choice in a table of your choice to prevent someone from using it during the rest of the round.
- Ability 2: Turn three ravens into four Knowledge Points.
- Ability 3: You may cancel an ability of your choice in a table of your choice to prevent someone from using it during the rest of the round.
- Table 2. Cost of research: 3 potions and a parchment.
- Ability 1: Reroll one of your dice.
- Ability 2: Turn a potion into two parchments.
- Ability 3: Turn a potion into a parchment and a gemstone.
- Table 3. Cost of research: 2 parchments and 2 gemstones, or 3 parchments and a potion.
- Ability 1: Reroll one of your dice.
- Ability 2: Turn a parchment into two Knowledge Points.
- Ability 3: Turn two parchments into a parchment, a potion and a gemstone.
- Table 4. Cost of research: 2 potions.
- Ability 1: Turn a potion into a gemstone and a parchment.
- Ability 2: Turn a potion into two potions.
- Ability 3: Turn a potion into a gemstone and a parchment.