Ragnarök: Aesir and Jötunn
Ragnarök: Aesir and Jötunn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
To play the game you will need the deck of 54 Ragnarok cards, and 5 markers and 9d6 per player.
Setup
One player will be the Aesir Norse Gods and will battle, in a series of realms, against the Jötunn Frost Giants played by the other player for the fate of the world. To win the game a player must win total 5 battles in the 9 Realms (These do not have to be consecutive wins).
To begin, separate out the 9 Realm cards, shuffle them and place them one by one in a row 9 cards long between the two players. (See diagram to the right for a sample setup.) Next, each player will take either the set of 9 Norse God cards or 9 Frost Giant cards. Shuffle each separate set as well, and place them face down in front of you, along with 9d6 (your Wisdom dice) for each player, to use in the battle. Lastly take the remaining 27 cards - Wonder, Monster, Treasure, Dwarven, and Shield Hall cards - shuffle them and place them face down as the Draw Pile. Each player will draw 5 cards from this pile to form their initial hand.
Example Game Setup: The Draw Pile sits at one end of the row of the 9 Realms (the battles are played on these realms in order, starting from the one closest to the draw deck). Each player has their 9 Norse God or Frost Giant cards, shuffled and placed face down, plus their 9d6 Wisdom dice and 5 Markers.
Note: See page 3 for an explanation of all cards and their icons.
Play
A battle takes place in each Realm, starting with the one closest to the Draw Deck. Each player will use Strength, Wisdom, and Cunning in their battle, vying to have the most powerful attack.
1. To start a battle each player draws 3 cards from their Norse God or Frost Giant set and chooses 1 of them to add to their hand of 5 cards. They will put the other 2 back and shuffle the remaining cards in the set.
Note: If you are battling in the 8th and 9th Realms you will have either 2 or 1 Norse God or Frost Giant cards when starting the battle. For the 8th Realm choose one of the 2 remaining cards to begin. For the 9th Realm you will use the final card in your set.
2. "Strength": Players simultaneously play the Norse God or Frost Giant card with its Strength value face up next to the Realm currently being fought over. They will then each play 2 additional cards face up (Wonder, Monster, Treasure, Dwarven, and Shield Hall cards) from their hand simultaneously, adding to a player's total Strength value through the use of Wisdom Dice (from your pool of 9d6) in step 3. The number of Wisdom dice to roll are shown with the large square dice icons in the lower half of the cards.
Note: Remember to look at the circle or square icon on the Realm card, giving players possible additional bonuses during the battle (see explanation on page 3).
3. "Wisdom": Players then roll the number of Wisdom dice to gain additional Strength as follows:
- a die showing a 1 or 2 = no bonus to Strength value
- a die showing a 3 or 4 = +1 bonus to Strength value
- a die showing a 5 or 6 = +2 bonus to Strength value
The total is then added to the current Strength value.
4. "Cunning": One final card is played after dice are rolled giving each player a Cunning Bonus. The Cunning Bonus options are shown as the small icons at the bottom of the cards. Note: See next page for explanation of the icons.
The Cunning Bonus values are then added to the current Strength for a final Strength Value. Whichever player has the highest Strength value wins the battle and should place a marker on the Realm to claim it.
In the case of a tie neither player marks the Realm as won.
5. Leave the Norse God and Frost Giant cards in place next to the Realm card and discard all other cards used during the battle (the discard stack can be placed to the side of the Draw Pile).
Each player then picks 3 additional cards from the Draw Deck and adds them to their hand. If the Draw Deck is exhausted at any time, shuffle the discard stack to create a new Draw Deck. The next Realm in the line is the next battle location. Repeat steps 1-5.
Battle in each Realm until one player wins a majority of battles (these need not be consecutive wins). This player then wins the game and decides the fate of the world.
In the case of a game tie after battles in all 9 Realms, the player who first won a realm is the winner.
Example Play
- Player 1 has played a card with a Strength Value of 9; they have also played a Dwarven card allowing them to roll 1D6 and a Treasure card allowing them to roll 3d6 more. Current total Strength = 9 + 4d6 to be rolled.
- Current Realm (Asgard): Each Realm gives a bonus to one type of card during a battle. Circle icons give an immediate +1 Strength value bonus to the card matching the circle's color. Square icons add 1 extra Wisdom die per Wisdom card, in a battle, if the square icon's color matches the color of a Wisdom card played to that battle.
- Player 2 has played a card with a Strength value of 5 (with a bonus +1 for the realm it is played in) = 6; they have also played a Monster Card allowing them to roll 2d6 and a Wonder card with a Strength value of 5. Current total Strength = 11 + 2d6 to be rolled.
- Wisdom: Player 1 has rolled 4d6 for a bonus of +3 (+2 for the rolled 5 and +1 for the rolled 4) to their Strength value. Current total Strength = 12. Player 2 has rolled 3d6 for a bonus of +1 (for the rolled 4) to their Strength value. Current total Strength = 12.
- Cunning: Player 1 has played a final card (Monster) allowing them to roll an additional 1d6, but upon rolling, does not provide any additional Strength value bonus. Current final Strength = 12. Player 2 has played a final card (Shield Hall) giving them a +3 bonus to their Strength value. Current total Strength = 15. Player 2 wins the battle in this Realm, and a marker is placed on the Realm to show Player 2 has won this battle.
Explanation of the Cards and Their Icons
9 Realm cards
These cards form the game board. Each Realm will give a bonus to one type of card during a battle.
Circle icons give an immediate +1 Strength value bonus to the card matching the circle's color.
Square icons add 1 extra Wisdom die per Wisdom card, in a battle, if the square icon's color matches the color of a Wisdom card played to that battle (but not to the played Cunning Bonus cards).
(Example: Asgard, World of the Aesir — gives a +1 Strength Bonus to Norse God cards.)
9 Norse God cards
Each has a strength value used in battles.
The Loki card allows a player to swap Loki for any other Norse God previously played in a battle.
(Example: Odin, One-Eyed Allfather — Strength value of 9.)
9 Frost Giant cards
Each has a strength value used in battles.
The Utgard-Loki card allows a player to swap Utgard-Loki for any other Frost Giant previously played in a battle.
(Example: Ymir, of Fire and Ice — Strength value of 9.)
4 Wonder cards
Each has a strength value used in battles.
This card has no Cunning icons.
(Example: Yggdrasill, The World Tree — Strength value of 5.)
4 Monster cards
Large icons show how many Wisdom dice to roll during a battle.
Cunning icons show bonus Wisdom dice to roll.
(Example: Jormungand, Encircling Serpent — roll 2 Wisdom dice during the battle; roll 2 additional Wisdom dice as a Cunning bonus.)
The 7 Treasure cards
Large icons show how many Wisdom dice to roll during a battle.
Cunning icons show the number of times you may rotate one or more Wisdom dice up one number for a better for a Strength bonus.
- 1 means rotate 1 Wisdom die up one number (i.e. 2 pips to 3).
- 2 means rotate 1 die up two numbers or two dice each up one number (i.e. 3 pips to 5 or a 2 to a 3 on one die and a 4 to a 5 one another die).
- 3 means rotate 1 die up three numbers, 1 die up two numbers and 1 die up one number, or 3 dice each up one number.
(Example: Draupnir, Odin's Ring — roll 1 Wisdom die during the battle; rotate any 1 Wisdom die up one number as a Cunning bonus.)
6 Dwarven cards
Large icons show how many Wisdom dice to roll during a battle.
Cunning icons show bonus Wisdom dice to roll only if the icon colors match Wisdom cards previously played.
The bonus will either be 1 or 2 dice.
(Example: Eitri, Mastersmith — roll 1 Wisdom die during the battle; add 1 additional Wisdom die for each card played that matches these colors in a battle as a Cunning Bonus.)
6 Shield Hall cards
Large icons show how many Wisdom dice to roll during a battle.
Cunning icons show a bonus amount to add to Strength values.
(Example: Fensalir, Frigg's Hall — roll 1 Wisdom die during the battle; add +1 to total Strength value during the battle as a Cunning Bonus.)