Merchants Cove: The Innkeeper Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Innkeeper Actions
  • Make a Bed (1 Hour/2 Hours)
  • Pour a Drink (Cost Varies)
  • Recruit/Replace Townsfolk (Cost Varies)
  • Activate Staff (2 Hours)
• Market Phase—Bedrooms
• Accommodation Phase
• Staff Abilities
• Quick Reference

Components

• This Rulebook
• 1 Innkeeper figure
• 1 Innkeeper Shop board
• 1 Innkeeper Staff board
• 1 3D cardboard Sale Shelf
• 4 3D cardboard Beds (double-sided in 4 colors)
• 12 Innkeeper small Goods (3 each in 4 colors)
• 12 plastic standees
• 4 printed Customer meeples (1 each in 4 colors)

Setup

1. Place the Innkeeper shop board, staff board, and sale rack in front of you.
2. Add one extra Customer of each color to the main Adventure bag (there will be 13 Warriors, 13 Bards, 9 Nobles, and 9 Wizards).
3. Keep the Drinks (small Goods) and Beds nearby in your supply ready for use.
4. Place the Innkeeper figure onto the Activate Staff action space.

Innkeeper Actions

Make a Bed (1 Hour/2 Hours)

You have two action spaces to Make a Bed: one for red and green and one for yellow and blue.

Take one Bed from your supply, flip it to the appropriate colored side, and place it into a vacant Bedroom. To take this action you must have at least one empty Bedroom.

Note: You only have two Beds of each color.

Pour a Drink (Cost Varies)

You have three action spaces where you can Pour a Drink; each one is correlated to a Bedroom. This action's cost depends on the chosen space.

Move 1 Drink (small Good) from your supply to your Sale Shelf that matches the Bed in the Bedroom directly above the chosen action space. You cannot take this action if there is no Bed in the Bedroom above the action space.

Note: If you gain a large Good through a Townsfolk ability, instead place a matching colored Bed into a Bedroom, if possible.

Recruit/Replace Townsfolk (Cost Varies)

Recruit Townsfolk from the Town Square, gaining their ability. Then, slide the card behind your Staff board to assign them to a Staff Ability. Most Townsfolk have Faction icons which give you Gold during Final Scoring.

Activate Staff (2 Hours)

You may activate each Staff Ability that has a Townsfolk assigned to it—in any order you wish.

Market Phase—Bedrooms

During the Market Phase, you may sell Drinks at the Grand Plaza (center) Pier or Black Market (right) Pier. Unlike other Merchants, you do not produce large Goods to sell. Your Shop board also contains no Market Phase Sponsorship icons.

Accommodation Phase

The three Bedrooms are directly correlated with the three Piers (left to right): the Bazaar (left) Pier, the Grand Plaza (center) Pier, and the Black Market (right) Pier. After the core Market Phase, follow these steps to resolve your Innkeeper-specific Accommodation Phase:

1. From each Pier, take 1 Customer or Rogue of the most common color of Adventurer at the Pier.
   • If tied, you choose among the tied colors.
   • If possible, place each Customer onto a Bed on your Shop board which matches it in both color and position:
     • e.g. The Customer taken from the Bazaar (left) Pier may be placed only in your left Bedroom, and only if it contains a Bed of the matching color.
     • Rogues will never occupy a Bed.
   • Place Rogues and Customers without a Bed into the Brawl.
2. For each Bedroom with a matching Customer and Bed:
   • Gain the Gold price printed on the Bed.
   • Gain the Bed's Gold price an additional time for each matching colored Loyal Customer sitting at a Table.
   • Remove the Bed and place it into your supply.
3. After resolving each occupied Bedroom, move the Customer to a matching colored seat at a Table, where it becomes a Loyal Customer—and remains for the rest of the game.
   • If there are no vacant, matching-colored seats, move the Customer to the Brawl.
4. Finally, draw 1 Corruption card for each Adventurer in the Brawl.

Example: The Bazaar and Grand Plaza Piers have clear majorities, so a blue Wizard comes to the Inn from the Bazaar Pier and a red Warrior from the Grand Plaza. At the Black Market Pier, there are 2 Rogues and 2 green Bards. You could choose either, but the Bard is a better choice since you prepared a green Bed. You place the Wizard in the blue Bed on the left, and the Bard in the green Bed on the right. The Warrior has no Bed and is placed in the Brawl.

Example: For the blue Wizard, you simply gain the base Bed value of 8 Gold. For the green Bard you gain the base Bed value of 6 Gold, plus 6 more Gold for each of the 3 green Loyal Customers—for a total of 24 Gold! You advance your Gold tracker by 32 (8 + 24 = 32). Then, you move the Wizard to a Table with a blue seat, and the Bard to the Brawl (since there are no vacant green seats). Finally, with 3 total Adventurers in the Brawl, you draw 3 Corruption cards.

Staff Abilities

Each Townsfolk assigned to a Staff Ability on your Staff board can be activated with the Activate Staff action (2 Hours):

• Bartender: Gain immediate Sponsorship from any one Faction Hall.
• Housekeeper: While maintaining the same total number of Beds in Bedrooms: you may freely swap, flip, and/or move Beds between Bedrooms and your supply.
• Bouncer: Remove 1 Adventurer from the Brawl then place it onto a matching Seat, or return it to the Adventurer bag.
• Security: Choose and discard 1 Corruption card from your supply.

Quick Reference

• Place 1 red or green Bed from your supply into a vacant Bedroom. Properly filled Beds give you Gold and Loyal Customers.
• Place 1 blue or yellow Bed from your supply into a vacant Bedroom. Properly filled Beds give you Gold and Loyal Customers.
• Move 1 Drink from your supply to your Sale Shelf. The color must match the Bed in the Bedroom above the chosen action space. If there is no Bed, you cannot take this action.
• Customers with a matching Bed, Bedroom, and Seat become Loyal Customers, who grant additional Gold each time a matching Customer stays at the Inn.
• After resolving all Bedrooms, draw 1 Corruption card for each Adventurer in the Brawl.