Obscurians
Obscurians Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Idea and Aim
As an Obscurian, you are part of this dangerous world and have been hired by a secret client for whom you are looking to find special combinations of goods. However, you should conceal your mission as well as possible. The other Obscurians can always try to disrupt your plans and sabotage your success if they realize what you are up to.
You must use your henchmen wisely to steal, swap goods or even slip them to someone else. Every moment counts, because the bazaar is only open until one of the recurring sandstorms sweeps over it and brings the exchange of goods to a standstill. Your success depends on the decisions of all Obscurians. Can you deceive the others, disrupt their plans and achieve your own secret goals? Or will you be seen through and outmaneuvered by the other Obscurians, who are just waiting for a weakness in your disguise?
The answer lies in your hands. Immerse yourself in the mysterious world of OBSCURIANS and rise to the challenge!
Contents
- 2 Rulebooks (1 EN / 1 GER)
- 6 Playerboards in 6 different colors
- 60 Goods in 6 different colors
- 36 Suspicion chips in 6 different colors
- 5 Henchmen dice
- 1 Cursed artifact
- 1 Magic lamp & 1 magic lamp card
- 7 Trade ban tokens
- 12 Mission cards (6 EN / 6 GER)
- 13 Event cards
- 1 Sandstorm card
- 1 Scoring pad
Control Module (7th Obscurian)
- 1 Turquoise playerboard (travel towel)
- 7 Board extensions Control
- 10 Turquoise goods (travel towel)
- 7 Turquoise suspicion chips
- 6 Suspicion chips (Control chips in the other player colors)
- 2 Mission cards Control (1 EN / 1 GER)
Your First Game
We recommend that you play your first game with a maximum of six players. Only use the components from the base game, without the Control module. Therefore, leave the mission card Control and the suspicion chips Control (1 of each color) in the box.
If you are already familiar with the game and want to play with seven players, read the chapter Control module (see p. 6).
Game Setup
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Each player chooses a playerboard and receives the corresponding 10 goods and 6 suspicion chips in their chosen color.
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Then shuffle the 6 mission cards. Each player draws one of these cards face down. Look at your card secretly and place it face down in front of you. Return the game components of the unused colors (goods, playerboards and suspicion chips) and the remaining mission cards to the box, unseen.
In a 4-player game, take the mission cards Keep, Take and Collect, shuffle them face down and place a random card back in the box unseen. Repeat that process for the mission cards Give, Select and Lose. Then shuffle the remaining 4 mission cards and use only those 4 cards for this game. This creates a balanced distribution of objectives in a 4-player game.
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Shuffle the 13 event cards (without the sandstorm card) face down. Set aside 4 random cards for rounds 1-4 as a face down event deck. Then draw 2 additional random cards face down. Add the sandstorm card face down to these cards. Shuffle these 3 cards thoroughly. This is the sandstorm deck for rounds 5-7. Now place the event deck on top of the sandstorm deck, rotated by 90° so that they form a cross (see setup picture). Return the remaining event cards to the box unseen.
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Place the 5 henchmen dice, the magic lamp & the magic lamp card, the cursed artifact and the trade bans in the middle of the table.
Start of the Game
The player, who last sold something becomes the starting player. They receive the magic lamp and the magic lamp card.
The magic lamp is a good that is worth +5 coins at the end of the game, regardless of your mission card. It can change hands during the course of the game just like any other good. However, it has no color in regards to the final scoring (i.e. it has no foreign color for Take and also no color for Collect, Select and Lose).
Even if the magic lamp is moved to another player, the magic lamp card remains with the player that started the current round. The card indicates which player the current round will be played up to.
Whoever has the magic lamp among their goods at the end of a complete round becomes the starting player for the next round. The starting player receives the magic lamp card, places the magic lamp on the card and begins the next round.
Revealing an Event Card as the Starting Player
As the starting player, you reveal an event card from the event deck in the middle of the table at the start of a new round.
Place this card face up next to the deck, clearly visible to all players. Announce the effect of the event card. The card's effect applies to all players for exactly one round, i.e. until all players have rolled the henchmen dice once and completed their turn.
The effect of some cards must be taken into account before the henchmen dice are rolled, while other cards only influence the result of the die roll (see p. 11: Event cards overview).
When you need to reveal an event card after the first four event cards have been revealed, you will reveal a card from the now uncovered sandstorm deck (from the 5th round onwards). Note: From now on, the game can potentially end at the start of any round—when the sandstorm card is revealed.
Turn Sequence
Each player (beginning with the starting player) then takes a turn in clockwise order. A turn always consists of the following steps:
- Place suspicion chip(s) (optional)
- Roll the henchmen dice and perform the henchmen action
- Pass the henchmen dice clockwise
1. Place Suspicion Chip(s) (optional)
Correctly placed suspicion chips score additional points at the end of the game. The players, who placed their chips correctly first, reap the biggest rewards (see p. 5: End of the game).
On your turn, you may place any number of your suspicion chips onto the playerboards of other players (not on your own!). You may also place several suspicion chips onto one playerboard. To do this, place the suspicion chips with the client side facing up onto the corresponding space on the playerboard of the selected player. This signals your suspicion to all other players.
Once a suspicion chip has been placed, it may not be taken back or moved.
If another suspicion chip is placed on a playerboard later in the game, it is placed on top of the chip that was already there. This means that the previously revealed suspicion is no longer visible, but still valid. A single stack of chips is created in front of each player this way.
Note: Nobody is allowed to lift up placed suspicion chips to look at the chips which are covered by other chips now!
By placing suspicion chips, you can make it very difficult (or easy) for a player if the other players believe your (perhaps premature) suspicion. On the other hand, a cleverly placed chip can also be useful to distract attention from yourself and your mission...
2. Roll the Henchmen Dice and Perform the Henchmen Action
Next, roll all 5 henchmen dice. Then choose exactly one type of action, for example Steal, and carry out the chosen action exactly as many times as you have rolled it (taking into account Wilds and modifications by the current event card).
Note the following points:
- Wilds cannot be used to Relocate (see Wild symbol).
- Wilds are optional, so you can decide for each Wild individually whether you want to add it to your chosen action or not.
- It is possible to choose different players as targets for the individual executions of your chosen action type.
Example: Anna has rolled 2 Steal, 2 Relocate und 1 Wild. This gives her the choice of either stealing 2 or 3 goods, or relocating 2 goods between other players (Wild cannot be used to Relocate), or using her 1 Wild to perform one of the other actions (Donate/Swap/Secure) once. She decides to steal 3 goods. She steals 1 Space Cookie from Ben, as well as 1 Disc World and 1 Time Crystal from Chris.
Rerolling
If you are not satisfied with your die roll, you can discard one of your unplaced suspicion chips face down to roll any number of dice once again. You can even try to improve your dice result several times as long as you discard a chip for each reroll.
All discarded suspicion chips are set aside face down. They cannot be placed anymore nor can they be used again for rerolling.
Don't hesitate to discard unplaced suspicion chips to reroll dice which aren't fitting your current bluff or plan. Doing so will give you a good chance to change your dice results in your favor in crucial situations.
Henchmen Action Symbols
Steal: Take a good of your choice from another player and add it to your possession.
Donate: Give another player a good of your choice from your possession.
Swap: Exchange one good of your choice from your possession for a good of your choice from another player's possession.
Secure: Secure 2 of your goods in your vault for one round. They can't be accessed (Stolen/Swapped/Relocated) by other players. To do this, place them below your playerboard next to the lock symbol.
These goods are safe until it is your turn again (this may be longer or shorter if the starting player changes). If you own any secured goods at the start of your turn, you must release them by placing them back in the area above your playerboard.
Trade ban: If you Secure 4 or more times (i.e. 8 or more lock symbols), you secure all your goods instead and you cannot receive any goods either (via Donate/Relocate) until it is your turn again! Indicate this by placing a trade ban token onto your goods.
Relocate: Move 1 good of your choice from one opponent to another opponent (do not move it out of your possession nor into your possession).
Wild: Choose one of the 4 symbols shown.
Note: You cannot choose the Relocate action with a Wild die.
3. Pass the Henchmen Dice Clockwise
The currently active player then passes the dice clockwise to the next player. This ends the current turn and it is the next player's turn. If the next player has the magic lamp card in front of them, the round ends instead. The player, who currently has the magic lamp among their goods now receives the magic lamp card (if they do not have it already) and becomes the starting player for the next round.
End of Game
When the sandstorm card is revealed (in round 5, 6 or 7), the game ends immediately. The player revealing the sandstorm card may not take their turn.
There are two different ways to score points, points from suspicions and points from clients. Determine these scores for each player as described below and note them on the scoring pad.
Add up all the points each player collected. The player with the most points (apart from the player who had the Lose mission) wins the game. If several players are tied for having the most points, they share the victory.
Note: If the player with the mission Lose has fewer points than all the others, then the player with the mission Lose wins the game instead, regardless of how many points the other players have.
Points from Suspicions
At this point, the stacks of suspicion chips are taken and turned over as a whole. This reveals the chip sides showing the colored goods. The former bottom chip (i.e. the earliest suspicion) is on top of the stack now. Then all players reveal their secret mission card. Now it is time to evaluate the suspicions.
Score the correct and incorrect suspicions on each playerboard one stack at a time. Go through the chips from top to bottom and award points to the chip owners according to the following table.
| Suspicion | Points |
|---|---|
| First correct chip | +10 coins |
| Second correct chip | +5 coins |
| Third correct chip | +2 coins |
| Further correct chips | 0 coins |
| Every wrong chip | 0 coins |
Example: Jane begins the evaluation of the suspicions and turns over her stack of suspicion chips. She goes through the chips in turn and first announces the color and then whether the suspicion was correct.
- "Green's suspicion is wrong, so no points."
- "Blue's chip is the first correct suspicion, so 10 points for blue."
- "Then we have a wrong suspicion from yellow, no points."
- "Another chip from green. Correct this time, so 5 points for green."
The points are recorded for each player on the score pad under "Points from suspicions" (using tally marks).
The stacks of suspicion chips in front of the other players are now scored one after the other.
If a player has managed to place a correct chip in front of every other player, they receive +8 bonus coins as a Master of Unmasking. The chip with their own client or other suspicion chips that were placed additionally for tactical reasons do not prevent them from becoming a Master of Unmasking.
All players who managed to keep their mission secret (no one has placed a correct suspicion chip on their playerboard), receive +8 bonus coins as a Master of Disguise.
Points from Clients
For each player, the collected goods are scored differently, depending on their mission card. The scoring details for each mission are specified on each playerboard.
Next, the points for the magic lamp (+5 coins) and the cursed artifact (-5 coins, potentially brought into play by an event card) are taken into account. Both count as goods (for Give and Lose), but have no color in regards to scoring (for Take, Collect, Select and Lose).
Control Module
The Control module, which is only included in the Deluxe Edition, allows you to play with an additional Obscurian (i.e. with seven players).
Do not use it when getting to know the game, but only after you are familiar with the other six clients and their missions.
Game Setup
The game setup is exactly the same as in the base game, except for the following changes:
- The seventh player receives the turquoise components depicting the travel towel (1 playerboard, 10 goods and 7 suspicion chips, all showing the travel towel).
- Every other player receives the Control suspicion chip in their respective color, so that everyone has 7 suspicion chips instead of 6 now.
- Each player receives 1 Control board extension.
- Add the Control mission card to the other mission cards face down. Shuffle the cards thoroughly and give one to each player.
The course of the game does not change.
Notes on the Control Mission
At the end of the game, the player with the Control mission always receives 42 coins from their client, regardless of their goods. Since they do not have to strive for a special constellation of goods, they can and should try to disrupt the other players as skillfully as possible in achieving their goals so that they receive fewer points from their clients at the end of the game than Control does (Exception: Lose). To score more points, they should also make a special effort to see through the other players and place their suspicion chips correctly.
Mission Overview
Client: Keep
With the mission Keep, you only score points for goods of your own color.
Per die-face of your own color → 7 coins.
Green has 6 of their own (green) goods and scores 7 points for each of them. Scoring example: 6 x 7 = 42
Client: Take
With the mission Take, you score points for each collection of goods in one foreign color. A collection of 4 red goods earns you 16 coins, if red is not your own color. Goods in your own color do not grant you any points.
Per foreign color with: 1 good → 1 coin; 2 goods → 4 coins; 3 goods → 9 coins; 4 goods → 16 coins; 5 goods → 25 coins.
Yellow has 5 orange goods, 3 blue goods, 2 red goods and 1 green good. Their own yellow goods do not score any points. Scoring example: 25 + 9 + 4 + 1 = 39
Client: Collect
With the mission Collect, you score points for each set of goods of different colors (sets may include goods of your own color). For example, a set of 4 goods in different colors grants you 14 coins.
Collect different colors: Per 3 color set → 8 coins; Per 4 color set → 14 coins; Per 5 color set → 22 coins.
Orange has a 5 color set, a 4 color set and a 3 color set. Scoring example: 22 + 14 + 8 = 44
Client: Give
With the mission Give, you try to have very few or even no goods when the game ends. You subtract 5 coins from your starting points (70 coins) for every good you have at the end of the game.
You start with 70 coins. Per good → -5 coins.
Blue has 7 goods. Therefore they lose 35 of their 70 starting points. Scoring example: 70 - (7 x 5) = 35
Client: Select
With the mission Select, you should be both picky and modest at the same time. For every color of which you have exactly 1 good, you will score 15 coins each (this only applies to a maximum of 4 colors). In addition you score another 5 coins for each color of which you have exactly 2 goods. Colors of which you have 3 or more goods will not give you any points.
The first 4 colors with exactly 1 good each → 15 coins. Per color with exactly 2 goods → 5 coins.
Pink has exactly 1 blue, 1 yellow and 1 red good (15 points each) and exactly 2 green goods (5 points). Scoring example: (3 x 15) + 5 = 50
Client: Lose
With the mission Lose, you should try to score as few coins as possible, because you win the game if you have the fewest coins out of all players!
To do this, you must try to reduce your starting points (75 coins) as much as you can throughout the game.
Tip: Watch the other players. If you notice that someone probably has fewer points than you, consider discreetly assisting them by giving them points—so that you really do have the fewest points by the end of the game and thereby secure your victory!
You can score negative points as follows (each condition mentioned scores -20 coins):
- Have exactly 4, 5 or 6 goods.
- Your collection of goods contains goods from a maximum of 2 different colors.
- You have placed at least 1 suspicion chip on every other player - and every suspicion chip is placed incorrectly.
Keep in mind that the magic lamp (+5 coins) as well as the cursed artifact (-5 coins) can influence your final score. On top of that, correctly placed suspicion chips can give additional points (which you don't want).
Red has 6 goods, so they subtract 20 points from their 75 starting points. They have goods of more than 2 colors and not all of their suspicion chips were placed incorrectly (not shown here). Scoring example: 75 - 20 = 55
Client: Control
With the mission Control you should try to see through all the other players and actively sabotage their plans, so that they score less points than you! (Of course you pursue a different strategy against the player with the mission Lose as they should have more points at the end of the game than at least one other player.)
The points you score from your client at the end of the game are always 42 coins.
Tip: Since your own goods are not important, you can entirely focus on figuring out the other players. To increase your total points, you should try and score as many points as possible by correctly placing suspicion chips. These points will be added to your 42 coins at the end of the game (just like the + 5 coins from the magic lamp and the -5 coins from the cursed artifact.)
Turquoise scores 42 points from their client, regardless of their collection of goods at the end of the game. Correctly placed suspicion chips and the magic lamp can increase their total score at the end of the game. Scoring example: 42
Event Cards Overview
Sandstorm: When the sandstorm card is revealed (in round 5, 6 or 7), the game ends immediately. The player revealing the sandstorm card may not take their turn.
Cursed Artifact: The player who reveals this card receives the cursed artifact. The cursed artifact counts as -5 coins at the end of the game and can be passed around like a good during the game. It counts as a good during the final scoring, but has no color—just like the magic lamp.
Double Steal: Double the number of Steal actions this round. For example, if you roll 2 Steal and 1 Wild, you can Steal 4 or 6 times this round (instead of 2 or 3 times).
No Steal: The Steal action cannot be used this round.
Double Swap: Double the number of Swap actions this round. For example, if you roll 1 Swap and 2 Wild, you can Swap 2, 4 or 6 times this round (instead of 1, 2 or 3 times).
No Swap: The Swap action cannot be used this round.
Double Secure: Double the number of Secure actions this round. For example, if you roll 2 Secure, you can Secure all your goods this turn (i.e. you will have a complete trade ban instead of only 4 secured goods).
No Secure: The Secure action cannot be used this round.
Double Donate: Double the number of Donate actions this round. For example, if you roll 2 Donate and 1 Wild, you can Donate 4 or 6 times this round (instead of 2 or 3 times).
Bonus Wild: This round you receive 2 Wild in addition to the result of your die roll.
Chips or Dice: This round you can either only place suspicion chips or only roll the dice to carry out henchmen actions. Each player chooses what they want to do this round before rolling the dice.
Flip the Die: This round any number of dice may be turned to the opposite side (so that the bottom side of the die becomes the top side). This allows you to turn Steal into Donate, Swap into Secure, and Relocate into Wild (and vice versa).
Reroll Once: This round any number of dice may be rolled again once.
All Actions Mandatory: This round all 5 henchmen actions you rolled must be carried out. Pick up one die at a time, carry out the action rolled and then set the die aside. This way, everyone can keep track which henchmen actions you have already performed.