Relic Expedition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Training Expedition
• Setup
• Objective
• Order of Play
  • Take Actions
    • Supply Line
    • Movement
    • Trailblazing
    • Helicopter Flight
  • Example Actions
  • Losing A Turn
• Backpack
• Relics
  • 2 Players
  • 3-4 Players
• Supplies
  • Machete (8)
  • Raft (6), Headlamp (6), Climbing Gear (6)
  • Vine (8)
    • Vine Example
  • First Aid Kit (8), Banana (8), Tranquilizer Dart (12), Trap (4)
• Tiles
  • Relic Tiles (36)
  • Helicopter Clearing (4)
  • Quicksand (8)
  • Animals (16)
  • Vines (8), Bananas (8)
  • Feature Starters (3)
• Features
  • Relics On Features
  • River: Katari Mayu
  • Cave: Xibalba's Door
  • Mount Rumihatun
  • Feature Example
• Animals
  • Movement
  • Example Animal Movement
  • Snake
  • Boar
  • Panther
  • Monkey
  • Animals: Outcome of Encounters
  • Complex Encounters

Components

• Backpack trays, explorers (4)
• Large tile boards (4): Basecamp, Mountain, Cave, River
• Dice (3)
• Draw supplies (50) in supply bag (1) — green pattern backs, tan faces: first aid kits (8), traps (4), tranquilizer darts (12), headlamps (6), rafts (6), climbing gear (6), machetes (8)
• Board supplies (20) — green pattern backs, green faces: bananas (8), vines (8), panther-only traps (4)
• Animals (16): snake, boar, panther, monkey
• Stack tiles (96) — tan pattern back
• Starting tiles (16) — pink pattern backs
• Relics (36) — gold pattern backs
• Triangle curse markers (36)

Training Expedition

The first time you play the game, or when you introduce it to others, you may want to remove the following, more complex components: 8 bananas, 8 vines, 4 monkeys, 8 banana tiles, and 8 vine tiles.

The instructions for these more complex components are marked with a red star. If you choose to play without these components, skip over those sections in this guide.

Some of the other pieces contain a monkey symbol along with another symbol: four tiles with relic tables, four darts with boars, and the animal die with three other animal symbols. Leave these components in play, ignoring the monkey symbol.

Setup

1. Place the large basecamp tile board in the middle of the play area. Each player places his explorer on its own helicopter clearing.
2. Give each player the backpack tray corresponding to the color of his explorer.
3. Randomly place starting hexagon tiles (pink backs) face up on every empty space adjacent to an explorer. Remove any unused starting tiles from the game.
4. Stack the 96 remaining hexagon tiles (tan backs) next to the play area face down.
5. Place the 16 animals next to the play area.
6. Place the 20 board supplies (green faces) next to the play area.
7. Place the 50 draw supplies (tan faces) in the supply bag.
8. For games with 2 players, remove 6 non-matching relics, all different colors with different insignias.
9. Place the 3 feature tile boards and the triangle curse markers next to the play area. Place relics face down on the feature spaces with relic tables: Mountain, 4; River: 6; Cave: 6.
10. Place the remaining relics face down in a pile next to the play area.
11. Each player rolls the eight-sided die to determine who takes the first turn.

Objective

To win, a player must complete the following:

1. Collect Four Matching Relics: Four relics "match" if they have the same insignia or are the same color.
2. Fly Away From The Jungle: With four matching relics, a player must move to a helicopter clearing and use 3 actions to fly away to victory.

Order of Play

Each turn begins with the player rolling the two six-sided dice (one with animals, one with numbers). Each turn has two phases, one for each die:

1. Move Animals
2. Take Actions

If an animal symbol is rolled, then that animal type will be moved this turn. See the Animals: Movement section below for details. After the animals are moved, the roller takes his actions. The number rolled determines the number of actions the player can take that turn. He can use his actions to perform two main activities:

• Moving His Explorer
• Drawing A Supply

Take Actions

Each turn begins with the player rolling the two six-sided dice, one with numbers and one with animals. The number rolled determines the number of actions the player can take that turn. He can use his actions to perform any number of the following activities:

Supply Line

The player may draw a random supply from the supply bag. This uses 1 action. The player places the supply in any one of the eight slots in his backpack. A player can only have eight items in his backpack. If drawing a supply gives a player more than eight items, he must drop any excess items (place them face up) on the space where his explorer is located.

Movement

The player may move his explorer from the space where it is located to an adjacent space. (This typically uses 1 action, though some special movements use more actions.)

When an explorer moves to a space, any empty space adjacent to the explorer should have a tile placed on it. The player selects a random tile from the stack and randomly places it face up in the empty space. (The player does not look at the tile before placing it; the orientation of the tile should be random.) When a new tile brings an item like a relic, an animal, or a supply into play, place the corresponding item on the tile.

A player can pick up a supply or a relic from the space where his explorer is located. Picking up an item from a space does not use an action; players can pick up or drop items as many times as they would like in one turn. A player may only have eight items in his backpack; if he picks up more than eight items, he must drop any excess items on the space where his explorer is located.

Trailblazing

Most of the tiles have one or more sides of dense jungle without paths. Moving across dense jungle without a machete uses 2 actions.

Helicopter Flight

A player may fly from one helicopter clearing to another (or, with four matching relics, out of the jungle to victory) using 3 actions.

Example Actions

Red rolls a 4, receiving four actions to use on this turn.

1st Action: Red moves down one space. He picks up the climbing gear and places it in his backpack.

2nd Action: Moving right would require two actions because of the dense jungle. For his second action, Red instead chooses to draw a random supply from the supply bag. He draws a machete and places it in his backpack.

3rd Action: For his third action, Red moves to the right. (With a machete, it now requires only 1 action to cross dense jungle.) Red retains the machete for future moves: supplies for movement are not used up.

The tile where the Red explorer is now located has three empty adjacent spaces. Red randomly selects a tile from the stack for the space below him and puts it face down in that space. He then turns it over and (without first looking at it) places it into position. This tile contains a panther icon, bringing a panther piece into play. A panther piece should be placed on top of the tile.

These steps are repeated for the other two empty spaces adjacent to the Red explorer: the mountain starter tile brings the mountain feature tile board into play, and the tile with a relic table brings a random relic into play face up. This whole process, moving to a new tile and placing new tiles in the empty adjacent spaces, counts as just one action.

4th Action: For his fourth action, Red moves to the right, revealing two new tiles. He picks up the green sun relic from the tile where his explorer is now located. (Picking up items does not count as an action.)

His backpack already has eight items. This relic would give him nine items, so he must drop one. He drops the first aid kit from his backpack face up on the tile.

Losing A Turn

Some encounters with tiles and pieces cause a player to lose his next turn. He lays his explorer on its side to indicate that his next turn has been lost.

1. If a player's explorer is lying down at the beginning of his turn, he still rolls the animal die and moves the animals as normal.
2. If a player's explorer is lying down when he would normally take actions on his turn, he instead stands his explorer upright. He cannot take any actions, pick up any items, or drop any items on this lost turn.

A player cannot lose two future turns at one time; once his explorer is lying down, it cannot be laid down any more. However, after losing a turn and standing his explorer upright, another encounter may occur that forces the player to lose his next turn again — before he gets a chance to take any actions.

Backpack

Each player has a tray for holding items, known as the player's "backpack." Supplies and relics are both placed in the backpack. A player obtains backpack items by drawing random supplies from the supply bag or by picking up items from the space where his explorer is located. Each player can only hold eight items at a time in his backpack. If drawing a supply or picking up an item from a space gives a player more than eight items, he must drop any excess items (place them face up) on the space where his explorer is located.

Relics

To win, players must collect four matching relics and use three actions to fly away from the jungle to victory. Four relics are considered "matching" if they have the same insignia or if they are the same color.

There are six different insignias and six different colors.

Insignias: bird, eye, hand, fish, sun, and moon.

Colors: purple, orange, red, white, green, pink.

2 Players

With two players, remove six non-matching relics like those shown below: all different colors with different insignias — purple bird, orange eye, red hand, white fish, green sun, pink moon.

This leaves 30 relics in total, including five of each possible match: 5 sun relics, 5 pink relics, etc.

3-4 Players

With three or four players, use all 36 relics, including six of each possible match: 6 bird relics, 6 green relics, etc.

Supplies

Machete (8)

Many tiles have dense jungle on one or more sides. Moving to a space across dense jungle requires one more action than normal. (Even if both tiles have dense jungle, moving across it still only requires one additional action.) If a player has a machete in his backpack, he can go through dense jungle in one action. Machetes are not used up; they are retained for future moves.

Raft (6), Headlamp (6), Climbing Gear (6)

Raft: A player must have a raft to move on the river, and he must keep one until he leaves the river. Rafts are not used up; they are retained for future moves.

Headlamp: A player must have a headlamp to move into the cave, and he must keep one until he leaves. Headlamps are not used up; they are retained for future moves.

Climbing Gear: A player must have climbing gear to move on the mountain, and he must keep one until he leaves the mountain. Climbing gear is not used up; it is retained for future moves.

Vine (8)

Players can move to a quicksand tile if they have a vine. Vines are not used up; they are retained for future moves.

Moving to a quicksand tile requires one less action than normal, as if the player were swinging over it.

The following restrictions apply:

1. A player cannot end his turn on a quicksand tile; he cannot move to a quicksand tile unless there is already a known tile to move to after that.
2. Dense jungle is factored into movements over quicksand.
3. A player cannot move over two quicksand tiles in a row. He must land on a non-quicksand tile first before swinging over another quicksand tile.

Vine Example

Yellow rolls 3 actions. He has only a vine in his backpack; he does not have a machete.

A. With the vine, he can move to a quicksand tile. This move uses no actions. Normally moving to a new tile uses one action, but it uses one less when the end tile is quicksand.

B. He finishes his swing over the quicksand moving to a normal tile. This uses one action, and he has two actions remaining. (He could not have moved up and to the right from one quicksand tile to another.)

C. After landing on a normal tile, retaining the vine, he can again move to a quicksand tile. Normally crossing dense jungle to a new tile would require two actions, but it requires only one when the end tile is quicksand.

D. He finishes his swing over the quicksand moving to a normal tile. This uses his third and final action. (He could not have moved up and to the right; crossing dense jungle would have used two actions, but he only had one action remaining.)

First Aid Kit (8), Banana (8), Tranquilizer Dart (12), Trap (4)

These supplies protect against the various dangers found in the jungle:

• First Aid Kits: Poison Ivy, Snake
• Bananas: Monkey
• Darts: Animals Depicted: Monkey/Boar (4), Boar/Panther (4), Panther Only (4)
• Traps: Animals Depicted: Boar/Panther (4), Panther Only (4)

If a player encounters one of these dangers, he may choose to trash (remove from the game) a supply that protects against it. The poison ivy or animal would then not inflict its usual damage.

Tiles

The jungle consists primarily of hexagon tiles. The revealed area of the jungle starts small, but it grows as players explore out from the basecamp tile board. When an explorer moves to a new space, new tiles should be revealed if necessary so that no empty spaces are adjacent to the explorer.

The player selects a tile from the stack and puts it face down in the empty space. He turns it face up, without first looking at it to determine the orientation of the dense jungle.

The edge of the table or play area is a limitation on the size and shape of the jungle. A tile is only revealed in the space if it would rest entirely on the table, without any part of it hanging off the edge.

Relic Tiles (36)

Tiles with a relic table bring a single relic into play, corresponding to the number 1 engraved on the table. When the tile is revealed, place one relic from the pile face up on the tile.

With two players and only 30 relics in the game, the relics will run out while relic tiles still remain in the stack. Simply ignore the relic table on the final six relic tiles.

The feature tile boards contain spaces with multiple relics on them. See the Features section below for details.

Helicopter Clearing (4)

Players may move from one helicopter clearing to another by using 3 actions. To win the game, a player with four matching relics must move to a helicopter clearing and use 3 actions to fly away to victory.

1. There are four helicopter clearings on the basecamp tile board, one on the mountain feature, and four on individual stack tiles.
2. A player must have climbing gear to use the clearing on the mountain for a helicopter flight.
3. Any of the nine helicopter clearings can be used to win the game.

Quicksand (8)

Explorers (without a vine) cannot be moved to a quicksand tile. Animals moved to a quicksand tile are removed from the game.

If a player moves to a poison ivy tile, his turn ends immediately and he loses his next turn. (See the Order of Play section above for details.) This damage can be avoided with a first aid kit. If a player moves to a poison ivy tile and trashes a first aid kit from his backpack, he can continue his turn and avoid losing his next turn.

Animals (16)

When a tile is revealed that contains an animal symbol, the corresponding animal piece is placed on top of that tile.

See the Animals section below for details about animal movement and encounters.

Vines (8), Bananas (8)

When a banana tile or a vine tile is revealed, the corresponding supply is placed face up on the tile.

Feature Starters (3)

River, Cave, Mountain.

Three tiles bring a feature tile board into play. When a feature starter tile is revealed, the corresponding feature is connected to the tile immediately. See the Features section below for details.

A feature starter tile is not part of the feature itself. For example, a headlamp is required to enter the cave, but a headlamp is not required to move to the cave starter tile.

Features

The three large tile boards represent features found in the jungle: the river, the cave, and the mountain. Each feature comes into play immediately when the corresponding feature starter tile is revealed.

The starter tiles all have one spot to which the feature connects. The player who revealed the starter tile selects how to place the feature so that one of its matching spots connects to the spot on the starter tile.

Feature tile boards cannot overlap other tiles that have already been revealed, nor can they hang off the edge of the table or play area. If the feature cannot be connected to the starter tile in its revealed position, then that starter tile should be rotated 60° clockwise until it is possible to connect it to the feature tile board.

In some rare cases, even after rotating the starter tile all the way around 360°, there is no possible way to connect the feature to the starter tile without part of it overlapping other tiles or hanging off the table. In these cases, place the starter tile back into the stack of tiles and reveal another tile in that space instead.

Relics On Features

Each feature tile board has one or more relic spaces on it. These spaces each contain multiple relics corresponding to the number engraved on the table. Before the game starts, place relics face down on each of these spaces: one relic for each number (Mountain: 4; River: 2×3; Cave: 2×3).

When the features come into play, the relics remain face down. They are turned face up when an explorer moves to a space adjacent to them.

A player can only pick up half of the relics initially placed on a given feature space. ("These relics have lain dormant for centuries on the feature, and they are under a curse.") For example, if Yellow were to move forward one more space on the river, he could pick up either of the two relics there — but not both. If he picks up the pink moon relic, the curse on the feature relics would prevent him from picking up the white fish from that space at any point in the game.

The curse is very specific: it only applies to that player and that relic while the relic is on that space. Any other player could pick up the white fish. If other relics or supplies were dropped on that space, any player (including Yellow) could pick them up. If the white fish were picked up and moved to another space, any player (including Yellow) could pick it up.

River: Katari Mayu

The river opening on the river starter tile must connect to one of the three openings on the river tile board. The river has six total relics, three spaces with two relics each.

Players may enter and exit the river at any place, with normal movement rules. (Dense jungle and machetes are taken into account.) Moving to a river space reveals tiles in any empty spaces adjacent to the explorer as normal.

Cave: Xibalba's Door

The opening of the cave starter tile must touch the one opening on the mouth of the cave tile board. The cave has six total relics, three spaces with two relics each.

A wall surrounds the cave; it cannot be penetrated. Players can only move into the cave from the cave starter tile through the mouth of the cave. Moving to a cave space does not reveal adjacent tiles through the cave wall.

Mount Rumihatun

The base of the mountain starter tile must touch one of the two openings on the mountain tile board. The mountain has four total relics in the center.

Players may enter and exit the mountain at any place, with normal movement rules. (Dense jungle and machetes are taken into account.) Moving to a mountain space reveals tiles in any empty spaces adjacent to a player as normal. However, new tiles are not revealed through the cave wall.

The mountain has a helicopter clearing on one of its spaces, which can be used like all the other clearings.

Feature Example

Yellow rolls a 4, receiving 4 actions to use on this turn.

1st Action: Yellow moves up one space. He has climbing gear, so he can move to a mountain space. There is one empty space adjacent to his explorer, so one new tile is revealed. (Moving to a mountain or river space reveals adjacent tiles as normal. However, new tiles are not revealed through the cave wall.) Yellow places a new tile from the stack there.

Relics on features are placed face down when the game starts. When an explorer moves to an adjacent space, these relics are turned face up.

2nd Action: Yellow moves to the center of the mountain. He cannot pick up all the relics that came into play on this space; he can only pick up two of the four. He picks up the two green relics. He places a yellow curse marker on the other two to indicate that he cannot pick them up from this space at any point in the game.

He already has eight items, so he must now drop two. He cannot drop his climbing gear; he must keep at least one while on the mountain. He drops a raft and a dart.

3rd Action: Yellow moves right one space. There are two empty spaces adjacent to him, so two new tiles are revealed. One of the tiles contains a relic table, and a relic from the pile is placed face up on that tile.

4th Action: Yellow moves right again, revealing three tiles. (Players may enter and exit the mountain and river features at any place. However, they cannot move through the cave wall.) He picks up the relic on the tile, his fourth green one. He already has eight items in his backpack, so he must drop one: he drops the orange bird.

Yellow has used all four actions, and he passes the dice to the next player.

Animals

Animals inflict damage on a player in encounters that occur when an animal and an explorer end up on the same space in one of these two ways:

1. An animal moves to a space with an explorer.
2. An explorer moves to a space with an animal.

Movement

In the first phase of each turn, animals are moved. If an animal symbol is rolled on the die, then each animal of that type in play will move that turn. The roller selects one animal of that type and moves it one or two spaces. After that, moving clockwise from the roller, each player moves an animal of the selected type until all the animals of that type in play have moved exactly once that turn.

The following rules govern how an animal can be moved:

A. Each animal can be moved by only one player each turn. B. An animal can be moved 1 or 2 spaces by that player. (An animal can be moved one space and back again for the second space.) C. Animals already on a space with an explorer (from a previous encounter) are occupied and cannot be moved. D. Multiple animals can share a space. E. Animals are not affected by dense jungle or by poison ivy. F. If an animal moves to a space with an explorer on it, an encounter occurs. (It cannot pass through a space with an explorer on it.) G. All animals can be moved on the initial basecamp tile board. H. Four-legged animals (panthers and boars) cannot be moved on the mountain, the river, or the cave feature tile boards. I. Animals can be moved to a quicksand tile and immediately removed from the game. (Advanced Variant: Once all players are comfortable managing their backpacks, and if all players agree, this movement can be eliminated so that animals are not allowed to be moved to quicksand tiles.)

Example Animal Movement

1. Red rolls both dice: a snake and a 4. All the snakes in play will be moved first, and then Red will take his 4 actions.
2. Red, as the roller, chooses which snake to move first. He moves one snake 2 spaces to the tile where Purple is located. (Arrow A.) This forces an encounter.

An encounter with a snake causes a player to lose his next turn. However, Purple trashes a first aid kit (removes it from the game) to protect himself from the snake; he avoids losing his next turn. Supplies that protect against animal encounters are not retained; they are consumed once they are used.

3. The Blue player, sitting to the left of the Red player around the table, next moves one of the two snakes that have not yet been moved this turn. He moves the one nearest him 2 spaces to the left, towards Yellow. (Arrow B) (Animals cannot be moved through quicksand, so Blue cannot force an encounter with Yellow this turn.)
4. The Purple player, sitting to the left of the Blue player around the table, moves the last snake 2 spaces towards Yellow. (Arrow C) (He could force an encounter with Blue, but he chooses instead to threaten Yellow.)
5. All three Snakes in play have now moved this turn. The Yellow player, sitting to the left of the Purple player around the table, does not get to move a snake this turn.
6. Red now takes his 4 actions.

Snake

A snake causes a player to lose a turn. (See Order of Play for details.) This damage from a snake can be avoided if the player trashes a first aid kit during the encounter.

Boar

A boar causes a player to lose a turn, and it also knocks the player unconscious. He places all the items from his backpack face up on the space where his explorer is located. (This puts them at risk of being picked up by other players.) He cannot pick up any items on the turn he loses; he must wait until the turn after the lost turn to pick up the items.

This damage can be avoided if the player trashes a tranquilizer dart or a trap with a boar symbol on it.

Panther

A panther causes a player to lose a turn, and it also injures the player so severely that he must be evacuated from the jungle. The player places all the items from his backpack face up on the space where his explorer is located. He then removes his explorer from the board, laying it down in front of him. The player also receives one of the extra panther traps for his backpack. On the turn he loses, he stands his explorer upright on a helicopter clearing of his choice. He cannot pick up any items on this turn; he must wait until the turn after the lost turn to pick up any items. On that turn after the lost turn, he can move as usual — often with hopes of returning to the spot of the encounter, trapping the panther, and reclaiming his lost items.

This damage can be avoided if the player trashes a tranquilizer dart or a trap with a panther symbol on it during the encounter.

Monkey

Monkeys seek to protect the relics from the explorers and keep them in the jungle. A monkey steals a random item, either from the player's backpack or from the board. (The player does not lose a turn.) The stolen item is revealed to all players and removed from the game. If the stolen item is a relic, the monkey has achieved its goal: the monkey is removed from the game, as well.

To determine which item the monkey steals, the player who moved the monkey rolls the eight-sided numbered die:

1. The monkey will steal the item in the backpack slot corresponding to the number rolled.
2. If that backpack slot is empty, then the monkey will steal one of the items face up on the space where the encounter occurs. The player who moved the monkey randomly selects one of the items from the space.
3. If that backpack slot is empty and there is no item face up on the board where the encounter occurs, the monkey does not steal an item in the encounter.

The damage inflicted by the monkey can be avoided by trashing a banana or a monkey dart.

Animals: Outcome of Encounters

An encounter between an animal and an explorer can end with the animal in one of the following states:

A. Occupied: An animal on a space with an explorer cannot move. After an encounter, animals are "occupied." They cannot move again until all explorers have left the space. B. Tranquilized: If a tranquilizer dart is used in an encounter, the animal is immediately tranquilized: lay the animal on its side. The animal cannot move or inflict any damage on other players until all explorers have left the space. C. Trapped: If a trap is used, the animal is immediately removed from the game.

Complex Encounters

A. Multiple Animals: Animal encounters happen sequentially. Suppose a snake is moved to a space with a player: that encounter is resolved. A second snake might then be moved to the same space on the same turn by another player: that encounter is resolved separately.

If a player moves to a space with multiple types of animals (such as a snake and a boar), he encounters all of them; he determines the sequence of the encounters.

B. Previous Encounter Space: After an encounter happens on a space, another player might move on to that space on a later turn. Any animals still tranquilized would not inflict damage on the new player. However, animals that are merely occupied would inflict damage.

C. Multiple Players: If an animal moves to a space with multiple explorers, the animal might encounter all of them. The player to the left of the mover is encountered first. If the animal ends that encounter tranquilized or trapped, the encounter ends; but if the animal is merely occupied, then (continuing left around the table) the next player is encountered. This continues until all players on the space are encountered or the animal is tranquilized or trapped.

D. Monkeys and Feature Supplies: Monkeys, like snakes, can be moved to a feature tile board. A player on a feature might have a monkey try to steal from him the supply he needs to access that feature. (For example, the backpack slot corresponding to the number rolled on the eight-sided die might contain the only headlamp a player in the cave has in his backpack.) Because the player is actively using that supply to access the feature, the monkey cannot steal that item. In that case, the eight-sided die should be re-rolled to select another item for the monkey to steal.