Mountain of Inferno
Mountain of Inferno Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 52 cards:
- 36 "Disciple" cards
- 18 "Event" cards
- 4 "Xuanzhang" pawns
- 4 coloured markers
- 1 score track
Card Descriptions
"Disciple" cards
Dragon Horse (9 cards), Sandy Brother (9 cards), Pig Monk (9 cards), Monkey King (9 cards).
The 9 cards of each Disciple are divided as follows:
- 4 cards are worth +1 point
- 3 cards are worth +2 points
- 1 card is worth +3 points
- 1 card is worth –3 points
"Event" cards
- "Bison King Family": Mighty Bison King (3 cards), Iron Fan Princess (3 cards), Red Boy (8 cards)
- Saviour: Guan Yin (2 cards)
Object of the Game
Score the most points at the end of the game. Each game consists of a certain number of Rounds depending on the number of players:
- With 2 players, the game lasts 4 Rounds.
- With 3 players, the game lasts 3 Rounds.
- With 4 players, the game lasts 4 Rounds.
Setup
Each player takes a "Xuanzhang" pawn and the marker of the same colour, which he places on the "0" space of the score track. Shuffle all 52 cards together well to form a draw pile. Then draw several cards one after the other and lay them face up in 2 adjacent rows to form the Mountain of Fire. The number of cards per row is equal to the number of players. So, with 2 players, 2 cards are laid out per row. With 3 players, each row will have 3 cards. Finally, with 4 players, there will be 4 cards per row.
When forming the Mountain of Fire, only "Disciple" cards may be used. Whenever an "Event" card is drawn, it is discarded and replaced by another card. Once the Mountain of Fire is formed, any "Event" cards that were discarded are shuffled back into the draw pile. Each player, starting with the 1st player, then places his "Xuanzhang" pawn on one of the cards making up the "Mountain of Fire". A card may hold only one pawn.
Finally, deal 3 cards to each player, which make up his "Hand".
Play
On his turn, a player must carry out the following actions:
- Play one or more cards
- Move his "Xuanzhang" pawn
- Check whether the "Round" is over
- Draw to complete his Hand
I. Play one or more cards
A player may play one or more card(s) from his Hand, or discard from one to three "Event" cards.
Playing a "Disciple" card
A "Disciple" card must be placed against another "Disciple" card already in the Mountain and touch it horizontally or vertically (not diagonally).
Using a "Bison King Family" card
Playing a "Mighty Bison King":
Playing a single "Mighty Bison" card lets you move a "Xuanzhang" pawn (no matter whom it belongs to) from one to three cards. Playing two "Mighty Bison" cards lets you move a "Xuanzhang" pawn from four to five cards. A "Xuanzhang" pawn may only move horizontally or vertically (not diagonally). During its movement, a "Xuanzhang" pawn may pass over another pawn, but it cannot stop on a card that is already occupied. Likewise, a "Xuanzhang" pawn cannot end its movement back on the card where it started. If a single "Mighty Bison" card was played, the owner of the targeted pawn must immediately play an "Iron Fan Princess" card or a "Guan Yin" card if he wishes to cancel the "Mighty Bison" card. If two "Mighty Bison" cards were played, they can be cancelled if the owner of the targeted pawn immediately plays two "Iron Fan Princess" cards or a single "Guan Yin" card. The owner of the targeted pawn may only complete his Hand at the end of his next turn.
Playing an "Iron Fan Princess":
Playing a "Princess" card lets you take a "Disciple" card holding a "Xuanzhang" pawn and put them both down again in another location. It is not possible to move a pawn or a "Disciple" card separately, nor to separate a pawn from its card, or a card from its pawn. To cancel this effect, the owner of the targeted "Xuanzhang" pawn must play a "Mighty Bison King" card or a "Guan Yin" card immediately after the "Princess" card has been played. The owner of the targeted pawn may only complete his Hand at the end of his next turn.
Playing a "Red Boy" card:
Each "Red Boy" card has a picture of a "Disciple" in its lower right corner. Playing a "Red Boy" card lets you discard a "Disciple" card matching the picture on the card played. Playing two "Red Boy" cards lets you discard any "Disciple" card. Only restriction: a "Disciple" card holding a "Xuanzhang" pawn cannot be discarded by the "Red Boy". Any other player may use a "Guan Yin" card to cancel the effect of one or two "Red Boy" cards that have just been played. Whoever played a "Guan Yin" card will only complete his hand at the end of his next turn.
Notes
When a "Bison King Family" card has been played, it is discarded, whether its effect was applied or it was cancelled.
The "Disciple" cards must always remain contiguous. A "Bison King Family" card cannot be played if applying it would split the "Mountain of Fire" into several discontinuous groups of cards.
II. Move your "Xuanzhang" pawn
The player may now move his "Xuanzhang" pawn by a single card horizontally or vertically (not diagonally). Reminder: a "Disciple" card may hold only one "Xuanzhang" pawn.
III. Check whether the Round is over
The Round is over if one of the following two conditions is met:
a. A "Xuanzhang" pawn is at the intersection of a horizontal sequence of four adjacent "Disciple" cards and a vertical sequence of four adjacent "Disciple" cards. Each sequence must contain one copy of each "Disciple" card (the card on which the "Xuanzhang" pawn stands is shared by both sequences). The "Xuanzhang" pawn at the intersection of the two sequences need not belong to the player who has just ended the Round (this will notably be the case if he used a "Bison King Family" card). There may be other "Xuanzhang" pawns on the cards belonging to the two crossing sequences.
b. There are no more cards in the draw pile.
When a Round is over, proceed to scoring (see below).
IV. Complete your Hand
If the Round is not over, the player whose turn it is draws until he has three cards in Hand.
Scoring
When a round is over, each player calculates the points he has won according to the location of his "Xuanzhang" pawn.
If the Round ended because condition a) occurred, the owner of the "Xuanzhang" pawn at the intersection of the two sequences adds up the points shown on the "Disciple" cards belonging to the two sequences, and scores the points of the "Disciple" card at the intersection twice. The other players score their points as if condition b) had ended the Round.
If condition b) occurred, each player adds up the points of a horizontal sequence and a vertical sequence crossing on the "Disciple" card where his "Xuanzhang" pawn stands. Each sequence may contain up to four adjacent cards, as long as no "Disciple" appears twice in the sequence. The "Disciple" card at the intersection of the two sequences is counted only once.
When it is possible to make several crossing sequences of "Disciple" cards, and therefore vary the number of points earned, you must choose the intersection of sequences that earns the most points.
Scores are recorded on the track and added to the previous score(s). If a player has a negative score at the end of a Round, his score for that Round is considered to be zero.
Example of scoring at the end of a Round
(DH: Dragon Horse; PM: Pig Monk; SB: Sandy Brother; MK: Monkey King)
The black player, who ended the Round (condition a), scores 1 point for the row (PM: +1; MK: –3; DH: +2; SB: +1) and 2 points for the column (SB: +2; PM: +2; MK: –3; DH: +1). His total is +3 points.
Note: As his "Xuanzhang" pawn ended the Round (condition a), the black player scores the points of the "Disciple" card where his pawn stands twice.
The red player scores 5 points for his row (DH: +2; SB: +1; PM: +1; MK: +1) and 2 points for his column (MK: +2; the points of SB at the intersection are not counted again). His total is +7 points.
The Blue player scores 7 points for his row (SB: +3; DH: +1; PM: +1; MK: +2) and 3 points for his column (DH: +2; PM: +1; SB at the intersection is not counted again). His total is +10 points.
The blue player therefore wins the Round.
End of the Game
When the number of Rounds corresponding to the number of players has been played, the game ends and whoever has the most points wins. In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
Optional Rule
Up to two "Xuanzhang" pawns may be placed on the same "Disciple" card during the game. However, the Round cannot be ended with condition a) if an intersection between two sequences is occupied by two pawns. That intersection must be occupied by a single pawn.