Merchants Cove: The Secret Stash Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• New Corruption Cards
• Rogue Cards
  • 4. Pirates
  • 5. Kraken
  • 6. Ghost Sailors
  • 7. Grey Walkers
  • 8. Raiders
  • 9. Charlatans
  • 10. Doppelgangers
  • 11. Assassins
  • 12. Warlocks
  • 13. Mind Controllers
  • 14. Backers
• Townsfolk Sets
  • Officials
  • Artisans
  • Underworld
  • Legends
• Grey Rogue Goods
• New Boats
  • 2-Seater Boat
  • 5-Seater Boats
• Boat Setup Cards
• Halls of Plenty
• Lair of Villainy
• Dragon Island Festival
• Faction Leaders
• Solo Content
  • Scenarios
  • Challenge Cards

Components

• This Rulebook
• 12 Corruption cards
• 11 Rogue cards
• 48 Townsfolk cards
• 8 Grey Rogue Goods
• 3 3D cardboard Boats
  • 1 "2-seater"
  • 2 "5-seaters"
• 8 Boat setup cards
• 4 double-sided Halls of Plenty tiles
• 1 double-sided Lair of Villainy tile
• 1 Dragon Island Festival tile
• 5 Faction Leader meeples
• 12 solo Challenge cards
• Scenario booklet

New Corruption Cards

These 12 new Corruption cards can be simply mixed into the existing Corruption card deck. Alternatively, you may remove 12 Corruption cards featuring exactly one Corruption icon from the deck before shuffling these in.

In addition to having more than one Corruption icon, these cards can be discarded at any time by paying the cost shown on them. The cost shown on each card only pays for itself, and cannot be paid to discard another card. Any Good discarded from your Sale Shelf to pay this cost is returned to your supply.

Rogue Cards

There are many types of ne'er-do-wells in Merchants Cove. By opening the Secret Stash, you have unleashed a horde of different Rogues to play. Before selecting a Rogue to use, take some time to consider how it might affect the game: some Rogues make the game longer, some shorter, some make it friendlier, and others make it more cutthroat. Choose the ones that are right for your gaming group!

Note: The "+ ?" under "Recommended Townsfolk" means that you should pick 1 additional Townsfolk set of your choice.

4. Pirates

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: When you Dock a Boat containing one or more Rogues, immediately gain 3 Gold for each Rogue on the newly Docked Boat.
Recommended Townsfolk: Underworld + ?
Peddler: The Peddler gains 3 Gold for each Rogue on any Boat they Dock.

5. Kraken

Game Setup: 1 in bag, 4 in Lair
Round Setup: May not be placed on Boats, instead return to the Adventurer bag.
Effect: When drawn, immediately return the Rogue to the Adventurer bag, then remove one Customer from a Sailing Boat and place it into the bay, removing it from the game.
Recommended Townsfolk: Legends + ?
Peddler: The Kraken is not recommended for solo play.

6. Ghost Sailors

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 1 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: All Customers left on an undocked Boat containing one or more Rogues are moved into the Lair instead of their matching Faction Hall.
Recommended Townsfolk: Sailors + ?
Peddler: When determining where to place a drawn Rogue, evaluate the Location icons considering only Boats with Rogues in them. If there are no Boats with Rogues, use Location icons like normal.

7. Grey Walkers

Game Setup: 5 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: When drawn, you must place them on a Boat that already contains a Rogue, if able.
Recommended Townsfolk: Underworld + ?
Peddler: When determining where to place a drawn Rogue, consider only Boats with Rogues in them. If there are no Boats with Rogues, use the Location icons like normal.

8. Raiders

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 2 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: When you Dock a Boat containing one or more Rogues, you may optionally draw 1 Corruption card in order to activate the Townsfolk Ability of 1 Townsfolk card in the Town Square. Then, discard that Townsfolk to the bottom of the Townsfolk deck and refill the Town Square like normal.
Recommended Townsfolk: Artisans + ?
Peddler: The Peddler will not activate the placement effect.

9. Charlatans

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: During the Market Phase, Rogues count as one of each color Customer not otherwise present at the Pier. Due to this, multiple Rogues on the same Pier each count as a copy of any Customers not present at the Pier.
Recommended Townsfolk: Sailors + ?
Peddler: The Peddler benefits from the effect the same as a human player would.

10. Doppelgangers

Game Setup: 5 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May not be placed on Boats, instead return to the Adventurer bag.
Effect: When drawn, immediately place them into a Faction Hall of choice (not the Lair). Then take 1 Adventurer from the chosen Faction Hall (if able) and return them to the Adventurer bag.
Recommended Townsfolk: Legends + ?
Peddler: The Peddler follows the placement effect, using the Location icons to determine the Faction Hall.

11. Assassins

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 2 in Lair
Round Setup: May not be placed on Boats, instead return to the Adventurer bag.
Effect: When drawn, immediately discard 1 Townsfolk from the Town Square, then refill it like normal.
Recommended Townsfolk: Locals + ?
Peddler: The Peddler follows the effect, using the Location icons to determine the Townsfolk card.

12. Warlocks

Game Setup: 4 in bag, 2 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: When you Dock a Boat containing one or more Rogues, immediately advance your Timepiece 1 Hour.
Recommended Townsfolk: Officials + ?
Peddler: The Peddler advances their Timepiece 1 Hour when Docking a Boat containing one or more Rogues.

13. Mind Controllers

Game Setup: 3 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May not be placed on Boats, instead return to the Adventurer bag.
Effect: When drawn and placed on a Boat, you may draw 1 Corruption card to return 1 Customer from that Boat to the Adventurer bag.
Recommended Townsfolk: Artisans + ?
Peddler: The Peddler will not activate the placement effect.

14. Backers

Game Setup: 3 in bag, 3 in Lair
Round Setup: May be placed on Boats.
Effect: When drawn, Rogues must be placed so they cause a Boat to Dock, if able.
Recommended Townsfolk: Underworld + ?
Peddler: When determining where to place a drawn Rogue, consider only Boats that would be forced to Dock. If there are no such Boats, use the Location icons like normal.

Townsfolk Sets

Merchants Cove attracts a variety of world-renowned artisans and legends, but there is also a dark underbelly of illicit goods and worse—bureaucrats. Mix and match these new Townsfolk cards with the ones in the core game to tailor your experience to suit your gaming group.

Officials

• Activate any 1 Staff Ability on your Staff board.
• In any order, activate any or all Staff Abilities on your Staff board.

Note: These effects do not require assigned Townsfolk in the activated Staff Ability spaces.

Artisans

• Move 1 matching large Good from your supply to your Sale Shelf.
• Move 1 matching large Good from your supply to your Sale Shelf and choose and discard 1 Corruption card.
• Move 1 matching small Good from your supply to your Sale Shelf and choose and discard 1 Corruption card.
• Move 1 matching small Good from your supply to your Sale Shelf and choose and discard 2 Corruption cards.

Underworld

Setup: Place the Grey Rogue Goods nearby; they will be used in this game. They can be sold like a normal Good to Rogues at any Pier.

• Move 1 Grey Rogue Good from the supply to your Sale Shelf.
• Immediately take the Recruit/Replace Townsfolk action before refilling the Town Square.

Legends

• Gain 3 Gold.
• Draw 1 Corruption card.

Grey Rogue Goods

The eight Grey Rogue Goods are only used when playing with the Underworld Townsfolk set.

The value of these Goods is 12 Gold. During the Market Phase, they can be sold to Rogues at any Pier. They benefit from multipliers the same way as normal Goods do.

Example: Selling 1 Grey Good to 3 Rogues will grant you 36 Gold (12 x 3).

When you gain a Rogue Good, immediately place it onto your Sale Shelf. After selling one of these Goods, return it to the supply near the main board.

New Boats

Three new Boats have been sighted in Serpents Bay. There's a dinghy—just big enough for two, and two massive vessels capable of holding five Adventurers each.

2-Seater Boat

• Place this Boat just below Dragon Island when in play.
• Do not place Adventurers into this Boat during the Arrival Phase.
• When this Boat is filled with Adventurers, you can Dock it at any Pier, regardless of whether or not the chosen Pier has a Docked Boat.
  • The 2-seater Boat does not fill a Pier space when Docked.
• The Adventurers on this Boat are added to those already present at the Pier (if any).

Solo Mode Note: When using this Boat in Solo Mode, the Peddler will always target the Sailing 2-seater Boat when they have the two-arrow icon (two orange arrows pointing toward each other) showing and need to Load the Boats.

5-Seater Boats

• When using these Boats, place one on each side of the board, between the two 4-seater Boats.
• If the 2-seater Boat is in play: during the Arrival Phase, fill each 5-seater boat with 3 Adventurers.
• If the 2-seater Boat is not in play: during the Arrival Phase, fill each 5-seater boat with 2 Adventurers.

Variant: In larger player count games, you may wish to fill the 5-seater Boats with 2 Adventurers each, regardless of the 2-seater Boat.

Note: Make sure to observe the proper way to load 5-seater Boats, based on whether or not the 2-seater Boat is in play.

Boat Setup Cards

These 8 cards allow you to have a unique Boat configuration each round.

Setup: Shuffle the 8 Boat Setup cards together and randomly select 3 of them. Place the 3 selected cards face-down near the board to form the Boat deck. Return the other 5 cards to the box.

Arrival Phase: Before placing Adventurers on Boats, reveal the top card from the Boat deck. Setup the Boats as shown on the card, then discard the used card to the box.

Halls of Plenty

These four tiles give players an extra end-game incentive by rewarding the player(s) with the most influence in each of the Faction Halls.

Setup: Place the Halls of Plenty tiles near the board, with the sides showing 2 Faction icons face-up.

Final Scoring: The player with the most Faction icons from each Faction Hall will gain the matching Halls of Plenty tile, awarding them 2 additional Faction icons. If two or more players are tied, flip the tile over, and all tied players instead gain 1 Faction icon.

Note: Faction icons refer to the circular bordered ones found on Townsfolk and Corruption cards, not the Market Phase Sponsorships which are shield-shaped and located on players' Shop boards.

Lair of Villainy

The Lair of Villainy functions similarly to the Halls of Plenty described above. Using this module means that the most corrupt player will—potentially—suffer a massive penalty.

Setup: Place the Lair of Villainy near the board, with the side showing five Corruption icons face-up.

Final Scoring: The player with the most Corruption icons will gain the Lair of Villainy tile, giving them 5 additional Corruption icons. If two or more players are tied, flip the tile over, and all tied players instead gain 2 Corruption icons.

Dragon Island Festival

This module allows you to place known Adventurers onto Boats instead of blindly drawing them—so long as you're willing to pay a small price.

Setup: Place the Dragon Island Festival tile so that it covers Dragon Island on the board.

Arrival Phase: After placing Adventurers on Boats, draw and place Customers one-at-a-time onto Dragon Island until there are eight total. Return any Rogues that would be placed onto Dragon Island to the Adventurer bag.

Production Phase: Any time you are required to draw an Adventurer from the Adventurer bag (as during the Load the Boats action), you may instead select an Adventurer on Dragon Island to place. To do this, pay the cost shown, then place the Adventurer as normal. You can lure the guests from Dragon Island through trickery (Corruption): draw 1 Corruption card.

Faction Leaders

Faction Leaders are special Adventurers that count as two of their matching Customer or Rogue when buying Goods, awarding Sponsorship, and during Final Scoring. To use them, replace one Adventurer of each color from the Adventurer bag with their matching Faction Leader.

Rogue card effects that are optional may not be performed a second time or be doubled with the Rogue Faction Leader. However, effects which count the number of Rogues do benefit—as with the Pirate [4] Rogue card.

Solo Content

Scenarios

The Scenarios found in the Scenario booklet have special goals and rules for solo play. There are twelve Scenarios to experience, and many require the use of different Rogue cards, Townsfolk sets, and other modular content from the Secret Stash.

The rules for each Scenario are explained in the Scenario booklet. When a rule contradicts the core rules, follow the Scenario booklet.

Scenarios 10, 11, and 12 are meant to be played sequentially, in a "campaign", with the same Merchant and progress that rolls over between games.

The Scenario booklet is not part of the source file for this rulebook; the Scenarios themselves are not transcribed here.

Challenge Cards

Challenge cards present a series of economic goals to achieve. The longer it takes you to complete a challenge, the less Gold you will earn from it. Challenges you neglect to complete will punish you with Corruption icons.

Setup: Separate and shuffle the Challenge cards into two face-down piles; one pile with the 4 cards showing this dumbbell-shaped icon, and the other pile with the remaining 8 cards. Form the Challenge deck by taking 4 random cards from the larger pile and placing them on top of 2 random cards from the smaller pile. Return the other 6 cards to the box; they will not be used in this game.

Flip the top card of the Challenge deck face-up.

Place an unused Timepiece under your Timepiece on the Clock. Place the Merchant Banner matching the Timepiece next to the Challenge deck as a reminder.

Production Phase — Challenge Completion: On your turn, before moving your Merchant figure and performing an action, you may choose to complete the active Challenge card. Some cards require you to lose a Good, if so: move it from your Sale Shelf to your supply. Other challenge cards require you to have certain Goods on your Sale Shelf. If you have the Goods shown, you may complete the challenge (without returning the Goods to your supply).

After completing a Challenge card, count the spaces on the Clock between your Timepiece and the Challenge Timepiece (including the space your Timepiece is on). Then gain the reward indicated next to that amount, if any.

• If the margin is between 0 and 6 Hours, gain the Gold shown (if any). Then, return the completed Challenge card to the box.
• If the margin is exactly 7 Hours, set aside the Challenge card, face-up.
• If the difference is 8 or more Hours, flip the Challenge card face-down and return it to the bottom of the Challenge deck.

Next, flip the top card of the Challenge deck face-up to become the new active Challenge card. Then, move the Challenge Timepiece below your Timepiece.

If the Mouse ever needs to move onto the space with the Challenge Timepiece, advance the Challenge Timepiece 1 Hour forward.

If your Timepiece ever reaches the space where the Challenge Timepiece is, draw 1 Corruption card, then flip the Challenge card face-down and return it to the bottom of the Challenge deck.

Final Scoring:

• For each Challenge card remaining in your Challenge deck, gain 2 Corruption icons.
• For each Challenge card you set aside face-up, gain 1 Corruption icon.

Example: If you neglected to complete any Challenge cards, you would gain 12 Corruption icons, 2 for each of the 6 incomplete cards in your Challenge deck.