Pandoria Merchants Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components Needed
• Preparation
• Player Turn
  • 1. Roll 2 dice
  • 2. Draw 2 Resources and one Worker on the Map
  • 3. You may Build a Building, Relic or Monument, or Cast a Spell
  • 4. Score any Enclosed Areas
• End of Game and Final Score
• Spell List
• Building List
• Key Differences with the Pandoria Boardgame

Components Needed

1 Map sheet (per player, if playing online), 1 Realm sheet per player, 6 wooden cubes per player (4 for the resource tracks and 2 for the score track), 2 standard 6-sided dice.

Preparation

Each player does the following on their Realm sheet:

• Crosses out the indicated Relics & Monuments according to player count,
• sets all Resource markers to "1",
• sets the Scoring Track to "0",
• chooses one starting "card" from the 3 in the shaded left column for free. Circle the Gold symbol (oval) in the middle of the card to show that you now have that card.

Then each player rolls a die to determine the starting player. Write the starting player's name at the top of the Map sheet. Players take turns clockwise if in the same place, or alphabetically by name if playing online.

Player Turn

1. Roll 2 dice

Place each on the matching space on your Realm sheet. If you roll a 6, place that die onto any Resource not occupied by the other die (If you roll two 6's, you may place both dice on the same Resource).

Artifacts: if you rolled doubles, draw an Artifact symbol between the two hex spaces of the same Resource. These are collected when enclosed (see 4. below).

2. Draw 2 Resources and one Worker on the Map

Resources: First draw the 2 Resources, in any order, in empty hex spaces adjacent to each other. One of the Resources must also be adjacent to at least one previously drawn Resource or Worker, or one of the 4 Starting Resource spaces. The other 12 pre-printed Resource spaces spread out on the Map do not count for this requirement.

Rivers: With less than 4 players, one of the Rivers becomes a boundary when enclosing areas (see 4. below) and nothing can be drawn on the other side of that river.

Note: When playing with friends online, use the coordinates on the Map to share where you are drawing each symbol.

Workers: Then draw one Worker on any empty hex space that is adjacent to one of the Resources you just drew. Use the first letter of your first or last name to represent your Workers (You can also use different colors to draw the different players' workers).

Note: You may forfeit drawing any 1 or 2 (Resources/Worker) only if there are less than 3 empty hex spaces adjacent to each other.

3. You may Build a Building, Relic or Monument, or Cast a Spell

Note: you may only do one of these things each turn! Also, you may either use the Building or the Spell on each card, not both!

Buildings: These give you long-term benefits for as long as you have them. To build a Building, you must have previously bought that Card. Pay the amount of Wood shown on the Building (adjust your Wood track accordingly), circle the Building symbol (rectangle) and cross out the Spell symbol (star). You can now use that Building's effects (see Building List below). Note: you may never have 2 of the same Buildings at the same time!

Spells: These give you powerful one-time abilities. You must have previously bought the Card with the Spell. Pay the amount shown in Crystals on the Card. Then use the Spell (see Spell List below). Then cross out all the symbols (star, rectangle, oval) from that Card on your Realm sheet. Note: many Spells are only useful if you have enclosed an area this turn (see 4. below).

Relics: To build a Relic, cross out 2 or 3 of your collected Artifacts and pay 1 Craft. Then circle the highest-scoring Relic remaining and add its value to your Victory Points. All other players must cross out that Relic on their Realm sheets.

Monuments: These give you VP, but are built over previously built Buildings, so that you can no longer use their benefits. You must cross out one of your Buildings and then pay 1 Craft and 5 Wood minus the amount of Wood from the Building you are "recycling" (but a minimum cost of 1 Wood). Then circle the highest-scoring Monument remaining and add its value to your Victory Points. All other players must cross out that Monument on their Realm sheets.

4. Score any Enclosed Areas

If one or more areas have been enclosed, you score them now.

An enclosed area is made up of one or more adjacent resources of the same type that cannot be expanded anymore, due to being surrounded by natural boundaries (such as the edge of the Map, lakes, a river in the 2 and 3-player game), other Resources or Workers.

Every player who has Workers adjacent to an enclosed area scores for that area: the number of Resources in the area multiplied by the number of their Workers adjacent to that area.

Example: Jeff (J) enclosed the crystal-area, so he gets 4 crystals (2 crystals x 2 workers) and Bernd (B) gets 2 crystals. With one more Worker, Jeff or Bernd would get 4 crystals more!

Resources and Victory Points: Keep track of your Resources using the cubes on your Realm sheet. When you reach the maximum of 5 Resources on a track, every 2 Resources you earn after that instead give you 1 Victory Point! Scoring Cities gives you Victory Points directly.

To make things easier to see, blacken all hex spaces on the Map with your pencil that are no longer relevant to scoring (Resources and Workers). But be careful not to blacken spaces with Workers that are still adjacent to other unenclosed areas!

Artifacts: If you enclosed an area with one or more Artifacts, record these by circling Artifact symbols on your Realm sheet. Only the player who encloses areas with Artifacts receives them; the number of Workers does not matter!

Buy a Card: If you enclose at least one area, you may buy a card. Pay the amount of Gold listed on the Card, adjusting your marker on your Gold track accordingly. Then circle the Gold symbol (oval) on the card.

Blocking Cards: if you have bought all 3 cards in a column on your sheet, announce this to the other players, and they must immediately place an "X" at the bottom of that column. No further cards may be purchased from this column by any player!

Crafts: these can be substituted at a 2:1 rate for any other Resource whenever you need them. If, for example, you want to buy a card that costs 3 Gold and you only have 2, you may also use 2 Crafts to provide the difference. You may only substitute Crafts when you do not have enough of the other Resource. Note: If you build the Market, you may substitute Crafts for any Resource at a 1:1 rate!

End of Game and Final Score

When 3 of the 4 pre-printed Resource spaces (at the bottom of the Map) have been enclosed and scored, the round is played to its conclusion (just before the starting player would take their turn again). With 2 players, use the Resource spaces above the river between row 4+5 and with 3 players, use the Resource spaces above the river between row 7+8.

Players then convert their remaining Resources separately 2:1 for Victory Points, add 1 VP for each card they bought but did not use and add 1 VP for every remaining Artifact. The player with the most VP wins! If there is a tie, the tied player who built the highest-scoring Monument wins.

Spell List

• Acquire: Buy any available Card without paying Gold.
• Clone: Draw an additional Worker on any empty space adjacent to one of your other Workers.
• Conjure: Move the Marker for one of your Resources to "5."
• Construct: Build a Building or Monument without paying any Wood.
• Muster: Draw a Worker on any empty space that is adjacent to a drawn Resource or Worker (or one of the 4 Starting Resource spaces).
• Rage: One of your Workers is worth 2 (or 3) Workers when scoring this turn.
• Ship: Draw a Worker on an unoccupied Ship space. This Worker will now score any areas adjacent to that lake that are enclosed this turn or on a later turn.
• Swamp: Blacken any one (or 2 adjacent to each other) empty hex space(s) adjacent to at least one other drawn Resource or Worker. This counts as a boundary when enclosing areas.
• Terrain: Roll 1 (or 2) dice and draw those Resource symbols on the Map, adjacent to at least one other drawn Resource or Worker. Note: you do not add an additional Worker.

Building List

• Academy: You immediately score 1 VP every time you build a Building, Monument or Relic.
• Bank: You pay 1 Gold less when buying Cards (but you must always pay at least 1 Gold).
• Carpenter: You use 1 Wood less when building Buildings or Monuments (but you must always use at least 1 Wood).
• Market: You may substitute Crafts for any other Resource at a 1:1 rate.
• Poorhouse: If you have no Gold, Wood, Crystals or Crafts at the end of your turn, immediately gain 1 of each that is at "0".
• Saw Mill: You gain 2 additional Wood for every Wood hex space you score with at least 1 Worker (these are not multiplied by the number of your Workers).
• Shrine: You immediately score 3 VP every time you cast a Spell.
• Statue: You gain 1 additional VP for every City hex space you score with at least 1 Worker (these are not multiplied by the number of your Workers).
• Store: Score 2 VP every time you exceed your maximum number of Resources from scoring an enclosed area. If you score multiple areas in a turn, it is possible to score this bonus more than once during a turn.
• Tower: You gain 2 additional Crystals for every Crystal hex space you score with at least 1 Worker (these are not multiplied by the number of your Workers).
• Treasury: You gain 2 additional Gold for every Gold hex space you score with at least 1 Worker (these are not multiplied by the number of your Workers).

Key Differences with the Pandoria Boardgame

Pandoria Merchants keeps some of the main elements of the board game, but there are several key differences in addition to the components:

• You use dice to determine the 2 resources on your "tile."
• The merchants of Pandoria produce an additional Resource: "Crafts."
• You draw your worker on its own hex space, not on a space with a resource.
• Workers stay on the board the entire game.
• Resource tracks have a capacity of only 5, and every 2 resources over that is exchanged for a victory point.
• You can buy any Spell and Building "Card" on your sheet, but if you buy all 3 in a column, your opponents are locked out of buying further Cards from this column.
• There are no special powers for each realm.
• The Artifacts and Relics from the Pandoria Artifacts expansion are included in this game.