Roblins! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Card Anatomy
• Course of Play
  • A. Preparation Phase
  • B. Declaration Phase
  • C. Attack Phase
  • D. Resolution Phase
• End of the Game
• House Rules (Optional)
• Detailed Card List
  • A. Unit Cards
  • B. Special Unit Cards
  • C. Terrain Cards

Components

173 cards total (incl. blanks):

• 35 green player cards (with treasure pile backside):
  • 32 treasure cards
  • 2 goblins
  • 1 starting road
• 34 red player cards (with treasure pile backside):
  • 31 treasure cards
  • 2 goblins
  • 1 starting road
• 34 unit cards (incl. 4 blanks)
• 21 special unit cards
• 49 terrain cards

1 rulebook

Setup

1. Determine starting player. The starting player is the last person who stole something. (don't take this too seriously!)

2. The starting player takes the red treasure cards, the second player takes the green treasure cards.

3. The starting player (red) takes 3 single gold cards from their treasure cards into their hand (1). The second player (green) takes 4 single gold cards from their treasure cards into their hand (2).

4. Put the four value 3 gold cards aside. Shuffle all your remaining treasure cards, then separate them into two equal piles. Shuffle the value 3 gold cards into one of them and put the other pile on top of it (so all value 3 Gold Cards are in the lower half). Place the pile face down in front of you. This is your treasure pile (3).

5. Players place their starting road (4), goblins (5) and treasure pile in front of them on the table as shown in the picture.

6. Shuffle all terrain cards (6), unit cards (7) and special unit cards (8) into 3 unique piles and place them face down on the table so both players can reach them easily.

Now you are ready to play!

Card Anatomy

Unit Card: hit points (shown at the top), cost (lower left), carry value (lower right, e.g. 1/2), and type (shown at the bottom). All unit card types are described in detail under "Detailed Card List" below.

Terrain Card: terrain type (shown at the top), road ends (on the edges of the card), damage (the red marker in the centre of the road), and cost (lower left).

Course of Play

During the game, players take turns alternately, beginning with the starting player (red). Each player turn consists of the following 4 phases:

A. Preparation Phase B. Declaration Phase C. Attack Phase D. Resolution Phase

A. Preparation Phase

1. Return Defenders Return all of your defending units to the reserve close to your treasure pile.

2. Draw Cards You draw a total of 3 cards each round in any combination from the terrain/unit/special unit pile into your hand. You may look at each card you draw prior to drawing additional cards. There is no hand card limit. Your hand is hidden from the opponent at all times.

3. Buy Cards Choose the cards you want to buy from your hand. Then discard treasure cards from your hand at least equal to the combined costs of the cards you want to buy (you may sum up costs and pay as a whole). If you overpay, you won't get any change in return. You may discard 2 terrain/unit/special unit cards from your hand in any combination for 1 additional gold value (multiple times) and/or 3 terrain/unit/special unit cards for 2 additional gold value (multiple times). All discarded cards are placed face up on your discard pile.

4. Place Terrain Cards Bought terrain cards are placed adjacent to your existing road network. Road ends always need to connect when placing terrain next to either an existing terrain card or road ends of your treasure pile. At least one road end must always be accessible for your opponent. Road ends cannot lead below the center line of your treasure pile.

5. Place Support Cards Bought support cards are placed in the support area, the three spaces adjacent and below your treasure pile. You can have a maximum of 3 support cards in play. You can have the same support card multiple times. You can't place a support card over an existing support card.

6. Place Unit Cards Bought unit cards are placed in your reserve close to your treasure pile.

B. Declaration Phase

1. Declare Defenders Choose from your reserve all units you want to use as defenders this round. Place each of them at a road end. At each road end there can be only ONE defending unit, but a single defending unit can defend two or more neighboring road ends. Defending units deal damage to attackers equal to their hit points.

2. Declare Attackers Choose from your reserve all units you want to use as attackers this round. Bring these attacking units into an attacking order (which unit goes first, second... and so on). Choose a road end where you want to start your attack.

C. Attack Phase

You do not have to attack during your turn, so this phase can be skipped.

During the attack, your units will traverse the enemies' terrain following a chosen road from its road end all the way to the enemies' treasure pile. The first unit in attacking order will lead the attack and take damage from defending units, terrain cards and other effects along the road in the exact sequence as it encounters them.

Once the leading unit has taken damage equal to its hit points it is immediately knocked out and placed back into your reserve. The next unit in attacking order now leads the attack and continues along the road, taking remaining damage from the current source (if there is any left) or the next sources encountered and so forth.

Each source (terrain, defending unit etc.) can deal damage only ONCE during an attack, always to the leading unit! After that all following units can traverse that card without taking any damage.

All units that are not knocked out or removed due to other effects on the road reach the opponents' treasure pile and draw coin cards from the pile equal to their combined carry value at a maximum of 3 coin cards per turn. All stolen coin cards are added to your hand and can be used to buy cards during your next turn.

Attack Order example (from the manual): The acting player chooses to attack with these 3 units in the order from left to right, along the right road. This road deals 1 damage to the first attacking unit. This goblin has 2 hit points, so he survives, and all units reach the treasure pile. They have a combined carry value of 2, so they steal 2 treasure cards. The attacking order can have a big impact! Had a regular goblin led the attack, it would get knocked out by the road, and only the 2 remaining goblins with a combined carry value of 1.5 would reach the treasure pile. They could steal only 1 treasure card.

Damage example (from the manual): This road deals a total of 3 damage to attackers. First 1 damage by the defending goblin and then 2 damage by the road. This road deals only 1 damage, so it's the best attack route.

D. Resolution Phase

1. Return Attacking Units Return all your attacking units to your reserve.

2. Draw Coin Cards from Your Own Treasure Pile You may draw up to 3 gold coin cards from your own treasure pile. But beware: you will lose the game once your treasure pile is empty! You can look at each card you draw this way and then decide to continue or stop.

After the Resolution Phase your player turn ends, and the opponent begins their turn.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately when one of the players' treasure pile is empty. That player loses the game.

House Rules (Optional)

You don't like certain cards? You may remove creature or terrain cards at your own leisure prior to the game setup, e.g. to simplify the game for playing with young goblin leaders.

Detailed Card List

A. Unit Cards

Forest Goblin: Takes 1 less damage from forest terrains.

Mountain Goblin: Takes 1 less damage from mountain terrains.

Water Goblin: Takes 1 less damage from water terrains.

Scottish Goblin: Doesn't have to pay road taxes from terrain cards.

Runner Goblin: Can defend ALL road ends on adjacent terrain cards.

B. Special Unit Cards

Tunnel Goblin: Place the Tunnel over one of your opponents' terrain cards. It remains there for the rest of the game. You may enter/leave this card through any tunnel symbol that is connected to a road end. You may also start your attack at a tunnel symbol that is openly accessible. Tunnel symbols are considered road ends for all purposes. Your opponent may place new terrain cards around the Tunnel Goblin, as long as their road ends connect to the tunnel symbols.

Tunnels cannot be placed adjacent to Treasure Piles.

Defender: Defender units cannot attack. Defenders are found in the Special Units Deck, but they go into the reserve and can be placed during the Declare Defenders step like any regular unit.

Banker (support card): You may draw one additional treasure card from your treasure pile OR put one back from your hand each round.

Cartographer (support card): You may draw one additional terrain card each round.

Recruiter (support card): You may draw one additional unit card each round.

Archer (support card): Can shoot onto any terrain card that is adjacent to your treasure pile, dealing 1 damage to the unit leading the attack there. The archer deals its damage last, after all damage from landscapes and other sources has been dealt.

Tax Collector (support card): Place into your opponents' support area. While the Tax Collector is in play, your opponent can't use your gold to pay cards from their hand. Discard the Tax Collector at the beginning of your next turn. If your opponent has a Banker, they can't get a Tax Collector.

C. Terrain Cards

Fields Terrain, Forest Terrain, Mountain Terrain, Water Terrain: Terrain card types as illustrated in the rulebook's card list (the source shows these as card images only, without descriptive text).

Double Terrains: On double terrains, attacking units take damage from all damage markers they encounter along their route of attack separately. A Forest Goblin for example would ignore 1 damage from the forest part of the terrain tile, but not from any other terrain type he encounters on it.

Bridge: A maximum of two attacking units can cross the bridge during an attack.

Road Taxes: These terrain cards deal no damage to attacking units. Instead, the attacking player has to discard one gold card from their hand as road tax if one or more attacking units cross here. If that player has no cards left in hand, the units can't move on and the attack ends.