Nocturion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Gameplay Overview
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
    • Save a Dice
    • Noble House's Abilities & Heirlooms
    • Activating a Location
    • Curses
    • Go on a Quest
  • Phase 3
• Game End
  • Victory Points
• Quick Reference Guide

Components

• 12 x Location Cards
• 24 x Quest Cards
• 12 x Heirlooms Cards
• 28 x Beast Cards
• 18 x Curse Cards
• 04 x Player Boards
• Game Board
• First Player Token
• Holy Cup Token
• Hammer Token
• Wooden Year Marker
• 08 x Dice
• 10 x Iron
• 10 x Wood
• 10 x Arcane Archers
• 10 x Wizard
• 10 x Knights
• 10 x Gold
• 96 x Victory Point Tokens
• 20 x Exhaust Tokens
• Season Marker

Game Setup

To setup the game follow the instructions below:

01 | Place the Game Board in the middle of the table. The board is divided into four city blocks. Each block has 3 spots for location cards and is associated with two dice numbers. For example the left city block is associated with numbers 4 and 2. In the middle of the board you will find the Season Panel.

02 | Put the Year Marker (black cube) at the center of the Season Panel on the first year spot (the one with the number "1" in it).

03 | Shuffle the 12 locations tiles and place them randomly face up on the game board (three per city block).

04 | Place the Hammer token on the Lumber Mill location.

05 | Place the Holy Cup token on the Church location.

06 | Place the resource tokens, the Victory Points (VP) tokens, the Season Marker and the Dice next to the game board so that everyone can reach them. Tokens placed here are part of the reserve. Whenever you discard a token it should be returned to the reserve. Whenever you gain a token (Resource, VP etc), unless otherwise stated, you get it from the reserve.

07 | Separate the quests per level into three decks. Shuffle the decks and place them around the board, as seen in the image on the right, revealing 3 quests per level.

08 | Shuffle the curse deck and place it face down on its spot on the board.

09 | Shuffle the Beast deck and place it face down on its spot on the board.

10 | Choose randomly the First Player and give them the First Player token (Crown).

11 | Starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses a Noble House and gets its Player Board.

12 | Each player gets the Heirlooms that match their House's insignia and 5 Exhaust Tokens. You place them beside your Player Board and these are your stash. Whenever you gain resources they will come here, whenever you need to discard resources (unless otherwise stated) you discard them from here.

13 | Each player gets 3 Beasts from the deck and keeps them in their hand.

Gameplay Overview

Nocturion is played in a series of rounds. Each round is divided into 3 different phases. Within each phase players execute various actions like gathering resources, activating abilities, summoning beasts and completing quests.

As players gather resources the Season marker moves around the Season panel. When the Season marker makes a full circle around the panel, the Year marker moves to the next spot. Depending on the number of players you will play a different number of years (for example year 6 is the last year for a 3-player game). At the end of the last year, the game ends and the player with the most Victory Points (VP) is declared the winner.

Now that you have completed the game setup, you are ready to begin playing, starting at Phase 1 of the first round!

Phase 1

In this phase the players will prepare and acquire dice which will be available to be used throughout the rest of this round.

The First Player creates a pool of dice by picking up, from the reserve, one dice per player. For example in a 3-player game they would add 3 dice in the pool.

If there are players that have activated special abilities that allow them to roll an extra dice during a round (for example their House's ability or a Quest ability), then the First Player adds that many extra dice in the pool.

Finally the First Player rolls all dice in the pool and leaves them visible on the table for all players to see.

Example: Mike, Ann, Mark and Constantinos are starting a new round. During the previous round Ann and Constantinos gained the ability to add one more dice in the dice pool and keep 2 dice because both recovered all 3 Heirlooms. The dice pool has 6 dice, 4 due to the number of players plus two due to Ann and Constantinos abilities. Mike is the first player. He roles the dice and the results are: 1,1,2,4,5,5. In turn order Mike keeps the dice with number 4, Ann keeps 1, Mark 5 and Constantinos 2. Only Ann and Constantinos have the right to keep an extra dice. Ann plays before Constantinos this turn so she chooses 5 and Costantinos gets the 1. Players are ready for Phase 2.

Starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses one dice, picks it up and places it in his stash making sure the rolled number on the dice doesn't change.

After all players have chosen their first dice, if there are any players that due to an ability should get another dice, they proceed choosing it in a clockwise order. If you need to pick a dice and there is none left, or you already have 2 dice and you should pick a third, then get a resource of your choice from the reserve instead. You may never end Phase 2 with more than 2 dice in your stash.

Phase 2

Starting with the First Player and proceeding clockwise each player takes a turn to complete ALL their actions.

There are many different actions a player may execute during their turn: Save a Dice, Equip Heirlooms, Activate a Location, Activate Abilities and Go on a Quest.

You can perform all these actions, during your turn, in any order you want, as many times as you can.

Save a Dice

You may decide not to use a dice to activate a location. Instead you may save the dice for the next round.

To save a dice, pick it up and place it on your Player Board on top of your House's insignia. Make sure that its rolled number doesn't change. You can only have ONE dice saved. If at any point you can save another dice, get a resource of your choice from the reserve instead.

Noble House's Abilities & Heirlooms

Each player is the leader of a unique Noble House in the world of Nocturion. Each House has their own Insignia, their own set of Heirlooms and their own special abilities.

You can find all this information on your Player board.

01 | Every Player Board represents a House of the Evergreen Empire and bares its name and insignia.

02 | Abilities: Your House's special abilities, unlocked by equipping Heirlooms.

03 | Heirlooms: When you equip a new Heirloom, place it here on the spot matching its type.

04 | Summoned Beasts: When you summon a Beast place it on a free spot here.

To unlock the various special abilities of your House, you will need to first construct and equip your House's Heirlooms. At the beginning of the game each player received a set of three Heirloom cards: a Helm, a Torso and a Leg piece.

Heirloom card anatomy:

01 | Title

02 | Victory Points: Gain that many Victory Points when you equip the Heirloom.

03 | Cost: The resources you need to discard to equip the Heirloom.

04 | Rear: The back of the card shows the house's insignia.

To equip a Heirloom, any time during your turn, discard the required resources and place it at the corresponding spot on your Player Board. At the same time gain as many Victory Points as is shown on its card.

The Heirlooms make you worthy at the eyes of the Emperor and grant you access to quests. To be able to complete quests of a certain level you need to have that many Heirlooms equipped. For example to complete a Level 2 quest you need 2 equipped Heirlooms.

Depending on the number of Heirlooms you have equipped, you also unlock your House's special abilities.

If an ability is marked with the Exhaust icon, then to use that ability you need to place an Exhaust Token on that ability's section on your Player Board.

You can not place more than one Exhaust Token in this manner on your Player Board. Unless otherwise stated, you can perform this action at any time during your turn or another player's.

Activating a Location

The game board consists of 4 city block areas. Every block has 3 locations and is associated with two dice numbers.

01 | Title

02 | Resource: The type of resource produced by this location.

03 | Ability: Whenever you activate a location, you may choose to use its ability (regardless of whether you gathered its resource or not). Check the reference below for a description of each ability type.

04 | Dice: To activate a location, if there is no dice on this spot, place one from your stash.

To activate a location, choose a dice from your stash, find the city block that is associated with its rolled number, find a location that doesn't have a dice on it and place the dice on the relevant spot. As soon as you put a dice on the location, it is considered activated. Then go through the following three steps, in this exact order:

Step 1: Move the Season marker to the next available resource clockwise on the Season marker, matching the activated location's resource. If there is no resource on the location, the marker does not move. If this is the first round, then place the Season marker in the corresponding resource in Winter.

The Season panel is the square in the center of the board with all six resources on each of the 4 sides. Each side represents a Season. Starting from the top left corner, the first 6 resources are the Winter Season, the next six are the Spring, followed by the Summer and Autumn.

If the Season marker makes a full circle around the Season panel and enters Winter again, then players move the Year marker by 1. While the Season marker moves around the panel, it must always point towards the outside of the panel with the "x2" pointer.

Step 2: Replenish all resources to the locations in the block pointed by the Season marker's side with the symbol.

Step 3: Gather the location's resource, if available. If the Season Marker is pointing towards the location's block with the "x2" arrow then you gather 2 resources instead of 1.

Step 4: You may resolve location's ability.

Location abilities:

• Exchange any one resource from your stash with one from the reserve.
• Roll a dice and save it. If you already have a dice saved, get any one resource from the reserve.
• Remove a curse. If you have no curse get the Holy Cup Token. While you are in possession of the Holy Cup, your House cannot be cursed by opponents. You must return the Holy Cup to the Church at the end of this round.
• Summon a Beast or Search for a Beast
• Refresh or Exhaust a Beast
• Get the Hammer Token
• Draw a Curse card. Read the card and curse another player by placing it in front of their Player Board.

Most location's abilities are straight forward, but Summoning a Beast, Refreshing it and Exhausting it, requires a little bit more explanation.

Beast card anatomy:

01 | Beast Name

02 | Victory Points: The amount of Victory Points you gain upon summoning this Beast.

03 | Affiliated Resource: This icon represents the resource the specific Beast is affiliated with. It is also the resource you need to discard to summon the Beast.

04 | Dice Manipulation: The arrow shows how this Beast can help you manipulate a dice. If it shows upwards you can increase the value of a dice by one. If it shows downwards you can decrease it by one. A dice's value can not increase from 6 or decrease from 1.

05 | Beast Ability: In order to use the ability exhaust your Beast (place an exhaust token). In case your beast's ability demands to discard it place the Beast on the beasts discard pile.

06 | Back of the card

To summon a Beast from your hand, activate a location with the Portal symbol and discard from your stash the Beast's affiliated resource. If the location's resource is the same as the Beast's affiliated resource, then the Beast can be summoned for free.

The summoned Beast is placed on a free Beast spot on your player's board and you gain an amount of Victory Points equal to the number displayed on its card. The summoning limit is 4. If you want to summon a new Beast and have reached the summoning limit you must replace a summoned active Beast. A Beast is considered active if it has no exhaust token on it. It is considered exhausted if it has an exhaust token on it.

CAUTION: If you have 4 Beasts and they are all exhausted then you can not summon a new Beast.

Example: Ann wants to summon a Hatchling Dragon that is affiliated with Wood. In our example Ann kept 1 and 5. Using 1 she activates Farm, gets the Wood Resource and summons the Hatchling Dragon for free, because its affiliated resource is the same as the resource produced by that location.

Example: Since this is her first Beast she places that Beast to the leftmost slot. She gets 3 Victory Points.

To use a Beast and take advantage of its powers you need to exhaust it. This is done by placing an exhaust token on that Beast's card. You can only exhaust summoned Beasts that do not have an exhaust token on them.

When you exhaust a Beast you may either activate its special ability, or use its dice manipulation ability.

Use a Beast's Ability

The abilities indicate when they can be played:

• Reaction: These are played when the text is triggered. It can be played even during another player's turn!
• Discard Beast: In order to play this ability you must discard this Beast by removing it from your Player Board and putting it in the Beast discard pile. This ability can be played at any time, even during another player's turn.
• On Summon: This ability may be played at the moment of the Beast's summonning.
• On Gather: This ability is played when a resource is gathered, by either you or any other player.
• Instant: This ability can be played at any time, even during another player's turn.

Manipulate your dice by +1 / -1.

Each Beast has an arrow that indicates how they can affect your dice (add one or subtract one from the result of the chosen dice). You can use more than 1 Beast to affect a dice. You can only manipulate dice in your stash.

Searching for a Beast

Instead of summoning a Beast, when activating a location with a portal, you may draw 3 cards from the Beast deck, keep a Beast and return the other two at the bottom of the deck. If there are no more Beasts in the deck to draw, then shuffle the discard pile and refill the Beasts' deck.

Example: Mike wants to search for a Beast. During Phase 1 he picked the dice with number 4. Warehouse Location is in the block with dice numbers 2 & 4 so his dice is a match. Mike places the dice on Warehouse, gets the resource and draws 3 Beast cards. He decides to keep Gazer and return the other 2 at the bottom of the deck.

Curses

Curse card anatomy:

01 | Effect: This is the description of the effect.

02 | Back of the card

Curses are negative effects that players attach to each other either by activating the Location Graveyard or by using beasts' abilities (ex Green Hunter). The acting player draws a curse card, reads the curse and gives it to an opponent of their choice. That opponent places the curse in their stash, face up.

If there are no more curses in the corresponding deck, shuffle the curses discard pile and refill the deck before drawing the next card.

A player may not have more than 3 curses in their stash. If you are to receive a fourth curse, choose one of the existing curses in your stash and discard it, before placing the new one in it.

Players can remove a curse by activating the Church Location or by using an ability that says so.

Bloodthurst Curse

These are special Curses. Based on the number of Bloodthurst Curses you will have at the end of the game you will lose a number of Victory Points.

Bloodthurst	Lost VPs
1	1VP
2	4VP
3	7VP

Go on a Quest

Quest card anatomy:

01 | Title

02 | Requirements: These icons represent the required resources to fulfill the Quest.

03 | Ability: Whenever you fulfill a quest you may use this ability. Consult the reference below for its effect.

04 | Victory Points: Whenever a quest is fulfilled, gain that many Victory Points.

During your turn you can complete as many quests as possible as long as you have the required Heirlooms (1 Heirloom for level 1 quests, 2 Heirloom for level 2 quests, 3 Heirloom for level 3 quests) and the required resources.

To complete a quest you must first discard from your stash to the reserve, the required resources. After that you get the designated Victory Points and you may use it's ability. Finally discard this quest, and if there are more quests of the same level in the corresponding deck, then immediately reveal a new one. If the deck is empty then no new quest is revealed. You do NOT re-shuffle the discarded quests creating a new deck.

Quest abilities reference:

• Summon a Beast for free
• Gain on VP per 2 resources in your stash (rounded down)
• Equip a Heirloom for free
• Get any one Resource from the reserve
• Exhaust any two Beasts
• Get one VP for each of your Summoned Beasts affiliated with the Resource shown
• Roll a die and save it
• Discard a summoned Beast and get its VP

Phase 3

During this phase players must:

• Remove all dice from locations, placing them back to the reserve.
• Players should have a maximum of 6 resources in their stash. Discard any extra.
• Every player refills or discards their Beast cards to their hand limit (3 cards). If there are no more Beasts in the deck to draw, then shuffle the discard pile and refill the Beasts' deck.
• Return the Holy Cup to its location.
• Remove all Exhaust Tokens from Beasts and House abilities.
• If you have a saved dice on your Player Board, move it in your stash.

If a player has the Hammer token, then they get the First Player token and return the Hammer token to the Lumber Mill location. If no one has the Hammer, the First Player token goes to the next player clockwise.

If the Year marker has reached the last year, then move to the "Game End" section. If not, this round has finished and a new one starts from Phase 1.

Game End

The game ends at the end of the round that the marker reached the last year. Please notice that the game does NOT finish as soon as the Year marker moves in the last year spot. All Phases for that round need to be completed, and all players need to finish their actions.

Last Year Spots (by player count):

• 2 Players
• 3 Players
• 4 Players

At the end of the game the player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In case of a tie, the players whose beasts worth more Victory points wins the game. If there is still a tie the player with fewer resources in his/her stack wins the game.

Victory Points

In order to calculate Victory Points sum up your VP tokens and remove the corresponding VP if you have Bloodthurst Curses.

Example: Ann is calculating her Victory Points. During the game she earned 35 Victory Points by fulfilling quests, summoning beasts and forging Heirlooms. She also has 2 Bloodthurst Curses so she loses 4 VP. Final Victory Points: 35-4 = 31

Quick Reference Guide

Round Sequence

• Phase 1: Create Dice Pool.
• Phase 2: Each Player takes a turn executing all their actions.
• Phase 3: Clean up.

Activating Location Sequence

• Step 1: Move Season Marker
• Step 2: Replenish Resources
• Step 3: Gather Resource
• Step 4: Resolve Location's Ability

Player Actions

• Reserve a Dice
• Activate Location
• Equip Heirlooms
• Use House Abilities
• Use Beasts
• Go on Quest

Location Ability Reference

• Refresh or Exhaust a Beast
• Exchange any one resource from your stash with one from the reserve.
• Roll a dice and save it. If you already have a dice saved, get any one resource from the reserve.
• Remove a curse. If you have no curse get the Holy Cup Token. While you are in possession of the Holy Cup, your House cannot be cursed by opponents. You must return the Holy Cup to the Church at the end of this round.
• Get the Hammer Token
• Draw a Curse card. Read the card and curse another player by placing it in front of their Player Board.
• Summon a Beast or Search for a Beast

Quest Abilities Reference

• Summon a Beast for free
• Gain on VP per 2 resources in your stash (rounded down)
• Equip a Heirloom for free
• Get any one Resource from the reserve
• Exhaust any two Beasts
• Get one VP for each of your Summoned Beasts affiliated with the Resource shown
• Roll a die and save it
• Discard a summoned Beast and get its VP