Nine Tails Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Components
• Card Anatomy
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • A Player's Turn
  • VENTURE into the Wilds
  • SNEAK into the Village
  • REST in your den
  • Action Summary
• Trickery Cards
• Fox Ascension
• Winning the Game

Goal

Each fox begins with one tail. If a fox gains eight additional tails (i.e. a total of nine tails), it ascends. The first player to have helped three foxes ascend wins the game.

Components

• 10 Starting Fox Cards
• 30 Trickery Cards
• 10 Ascended Fox Cards
• 40 Exhaustion Counters
• 45 Wilds Cards: 10 Wild Fox Cards, 10 Study Cards, 25 Tail Cards
• 1 Active Player Marker
• 1 Rulebook

Card Anatomy

• Fox cards and Study cards have trait slots.
• Tail cards and Trickery cards show an exhaustion cost (made of trait symbols). A Trickery card also has a name of the trick and an effect.
• The traits are: Allure, Cunning, Glamour, Stealth, and Quickness. The "Any" symbol can be used as any other Trait.

Setup

1. Place the Exhaustion Counters in a pile at one side of the table.
2. Place the Ascended Fox Cards in a stack near the Exhaustion Counters.
3. Shuffle the Starting Fox Deck. Deal one Starting Fox Card to each player, who places this card face-up in front of themselves. Place the remainder of the deck face-down near the Exhaustion Counters.
4. Shuffle the Wilds Deck. Place it face-down near the Exhaustion Counters. Leave room near the Wilds Deck for the Village (as explained later).
5. Shuffle the Trickery Deck. Deal three Trickery Cards face-down to each player. Place the remainder of the deck near the Exhaustion Counters.
6. The most mischievous player takes the first turn and takes the Active Player Marker.

The Supply consists of the Ascended Fox Cards deck, the Exhaustion Counters, the Trickery Card discards, the Starting Fox Deck, the Wilds Deck, the Trickery Deck and the Village. (The box can be used as a tray.)

Gameplay

A Player's Turn

Players take their turns in sequential order, starting with the first player, and then following in clockwise order.

On your turn, perform only one of the following three actions: VENTURE, SNEAK, or REST.

VENTURE into the Wilds

1. Reveal the top three cards of the Wilds Deck. Choose up to one of those cards. Then, resolve it based on its type:

A Fox Card: You may claim this card. Place it in front of yourself alongside your other Fox Cards.

A Study Card: You may give this card to one of your foxes. Tuck the card under that fox, keeping the area with the trait slots visible. As long as the fox has this card, it may use those additional trait slots.

A Tail Card: You may give this card to one of your foxes, if that fox first pays its exhaustion cost. To do so, do the following:

• I. Take one Exhaustion Counter for each trait symbol shown on the exhaustion costs of the Tail Card and place it over a matching trait slot on the fox or any Study Card tucked under that fox.
• II. Exhaustion costs may not be shared by multiple foxes. One fox must pay the entire cost.
• III. After your fox has paid the cost, tuck the Tail Card under that fox, keeping the tails visible but hiding the exhaustion cost symbols.

You may not give a fox a Tail Card if it does not have enough open slots to pay the full exhaustion cost! You may not give a fox a Tail Card if that card would bring that fox's number of tails (including its starting tail) to more than nine!

2. The unchosen cards are placed face-up and spread out in the Village (the area next to the Wilds Deck). There is no limit to the number of cards that can be in the Village.

3. If you cannot or do not wish to choose any of the cards, place all three into the Village. If you do this, you may discard any number of your Trickery Cards and draw the same number plus one additional Trickery Card.

SNEAK into the Village

1. Choose one card from the Village.
2. You may claim it or give it to one of your foxes, following the same rules as when venturing.

REST in your den

1. Return all Exhaustion Counters from all of your foxes to the pile.
2. Draw a number of Trickery Cards equal to the number of unascended foxes you have.

After you have performed your action, say, "Done". Another player will now be able to play a Trickery Card. If no other player plays a Trickery Card, then the next player in clockwise order takes their turn.

Action Summary

• Venture: Reveal 3 Wilds Cards, and take 0 or 1.
• Sneak: Take 1 card from the Village.
• Rest: Remove Exhaustion Counters, and draw Trickery Cards.

Trickery Cards

Immediately after a player says, "Done," any other player (aside from the player that just finished their turn) may play a trick. To play a trick, do the following:

1. Reveal a Trickery Card from your hand and announce your intention to play it. Only the first player to reveal their card may play it (i.e. players must act quickly to be the first to reveal their card), and only one Trickery Card may be played after a player's turn. If you are late to reveal your card, you may place it back into your hand and play it at a later opportunity.

2. If you were the first to reveal a Trickery Card, declare which of your foxes will perform the trick. That fox must then pay the Trickery Card's exhaustion cost following the same rules as when gaining a Tail Card. If it cannot (i.e. because you made a mistake) or you do not wish to have that fox pay the cost, the trick is wasted and placed on the Trickery Card discard pile. If so, skip to step 5.

3. After your fox has paid the exhaustion cost, any other player (starting with the first player sitting clockwise from you and going around the table) may cancel the trick by revealing and discarding a Trickery Card matching the one that you played. Foxes do not have to pay an exhaustion cost when canceling a trick.

4. If no player chooses to cancel your trick, resolve its effect as written on the card. If the effect says, "this fox," it refers to the fox performing the trick. After a Trickery Card resolves, is wasted, or is canceled, it and any card used to cancel it are discarded face-up into the discard pile.

5. The next player clockwise from the one that said "Done" then takes the Active Player Marker and takes their turn.

If there are not enough Exhaustion Counters in the pile to cover a Trickery or Tail Card's exhaustion cost, use as many counters as remain to cover as much of the cost as you can. You may choose which part of the cost you pay.

Fox Ascension

When a fox has exactly nine tails (including its starting tail) it immediately ascends. Do the following:

1. Return all Exhaustion Counters on that fox to the pile.
2. If it is a Wild Fox, shuffle it and all its Tail Cards and Study Cards together and place them face-down at the bottom of the Wilds Deck.
3. If it is a Starting Fox, place it face-down at the bottom of the Starting Fox Deck. Then, shuffle the other cards and place them at the bottom of the Wilds Deck.
4. Claim an Ascended Fox Card from its stack and place it in front of yourself.
5. Finally, draw a new Starting Fox Card from the Starting Fox Deck and place it face-up in front of yourself.

Winning the Game

When your third fox ascends, you immediately win the game!

Optional rule (FAST GAME): If you would like to play a faster game, you can set the victory condition to be that the first player who ascends two foxes wins the game.