Sær Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Game Play
  • Initial Deployment
  • Player Actions
• Resolution
• End of Final Round
• Glossary
  • Seasons
  • Outpost Powers
  • God Powers
• Summary
  • Set-up
  • Rounds
  • Order of play

Contents

• 5 Outpost Cards (1 per colour)
• 5 Heroes Cards (1 per colour)
• 50 Raiders Cards (10 per colour)
• 10 Jarl Cards
• 5 God Cards
• 16 Glory tokens (purple)
• 4 VP cards and markers (black)
• 4 Player Guides
• 1 First Player Card

Card examples: Outpost (value 1; "Take 1 Glory at start"), Raiders (value 2), Heroes (value 4; "Adds Raid value of 4 for Red Outpost."), Jarl (+1; "Adds one raid point to each adjacent card."), Gods (e.g. Freya; "God power").

Game Overview

The winner is the player with the most Victory Points.

The game has three rounds, Spring, Summer & Ragnarok. Victory Points are awarded at the end of each round to players who control Outposts.

Each round players secretly commit their forces to capture or retain Outposts. Players can then take actions; adding forces by revealing cards, placing Glory or withdrawing cards. Once all players have passed, any hidden cards are revealed and the player with the strongest force in each colour gains control of that Outpost.

Game Setup

1. Set aside the Heroes, Gods and Outpost cards.
2. Place the Green Outpost in the middle of the table and randomly pick additional Outposts to have the number of Outposts equal the number of players +1. These are colours in play.
3. Remove from the game all Outpost, Raiders and Hero cards of colours that are not in play. For 3 players remove 2 Jarl cards, and for 2 players remove 4 Jarl cards.
4. Give each player a Jarl card and a Glory token.
5. Shuffle the remaining Jarl and Raider cards into a single play deck and deal 6 cards secretly to each player.
6. Create the Spring round Muster pile. Place the Heroes face up next to the play area with two cards from the deck.
7. Give the first player card to whoever has the biggest feet.

Game Play

Each round consists of Initial Deployment, Player Actions and Resolution.

Initial Deployment

• Players simultaneously place three cards from their hand face down in front of them to form their array.
• Once placed, players may not move cards in their array except as specified below.

Player Actions

Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise each player may take one action. Players continue taking actions in turn until everyone has passed:

• Withdraw by returning a face down card from their array to their hand. (Face up cards may not be withdrawn.) If this creates a gap in the middle of the array the remaining cards are then moved together to close the gap.
• Reinforce by turning one of the cards in their array face up, then add one further card from their hand to either end of their array face up. (A player may not add a card to the middle of their array and if a player has no face down cards remaining they may not take this action.)
• Inspire a face up card by placing a Glory token on it.
• Invoke the power of a God (final round only) by taking the special action associated with a God card they control. This action can only be taken once, after which the God card is discarded.
• Pass and take one of the remaining muster piles into their hand. Having done this, they may take no further actions this round.

Resolution

When all players have passed, resolve in this order:

1. Calculate raid points
2. Award Outposts
3. Give Glory compensation
4. Determine next start player
5. Prepare next round

1. Calculate raid points: All face down cards in players' arrays are turned face up and the raid points of cards is added up for each colour.

• Jarls add one raid point to each Raider or Hero they are adjacent to in the array (They add no points to other Jarls).
• Glory tokens add one raid point to the colour of the card they have been placed on (they add no value when placed on Jarls as Jarls have no colour).
• Outposts controlled by a player add their raid points to that player's strength.

Raid points examples key: Raiders: 2 Raid points. Jarls: +1 to adjacent cards. Heroes: 4 Raid points. Glory: +1 point to card placed on. Outpost: +Raid points on card.

2. Award Outposts: The player with the highest raid value in each colour wins or keeps the Outpost and scores VPs.

• Spring round – 1 VP per Outpost
• Summer round – 2 VPs per Outpost
• Ragnarok round – 3 VPs per Outpost

If players tie, (and none of them controls the Green Outpost that wins ties) then the Outpost is returned to the middle and no one gains control of it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the control of an Outpost only passes after the victor in each colour has been determined. Therefore gaining or losing control of an Outpost does not affect the resolution of the current round.

3. Give Glory compensation: Glory tokens are awarded as consolation to players who competed, but did not succeed in winning Outposts. One token is awarded for each colour for which a player had at least one raider or hero in their array, but for which they did not gain an Outpost (Note no Glory is awarded to an Outpost that was undefended by Raiders or Heroes and subsequently lost).

4. Determine next start player: Pass the First Player card to the player who has the most VPs at the end of the round. In the event of a tie, pass it to the tied player with the Green Outpost or, if neither has it, to the first tied player in clockwise order from the previous First Player.

5. Prepare next round: Discard the untaken muster pile, and all cards and Glory tokens played in players' arrays. At the end of the Spring round prepare the Muster piles for Summer. Randomly choose the Gods and place them out, each with 3 cards from the deck. Prepare one more Muster pile than the number of players.

End of Final Round

Add up the VPs and declare a winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player holding the Green Outpost wins. If there is still a tie the tiebreaks in order are: the player with the most unused Glory points, the most cards remaining in hand and finally the player closest in turn order to the start player. There is no second place.

Glossary

Seasons

Each round is associated with a season.

Spring: 1 VP is gained per Outpost at the end of the round. Muster piles comprise the hero of each colour in play and two face up cards from the draw deck each. The number of muster piles set out should be one more than the number of players.

Summer: 2 VPs are gained per Outpost held at the end of this round. Muster piles comprise a God and three face up cards from the draw deck. The number of muster piles set out should be one more than the number of players. Unused Gods are removed from play.

Ragnarok: 3 VPs are gained per Outpost held at the end of this round. Here are no muster piles.

Outpost Powers

When a player gains an Outpost at the end of a round, they take the card (from the middle of the table, another player or keep it if they already had it) and place it in front of them. If a player starts a round with control of an Outpost they may use its power that round.

• Green: The controller wins any ties that they are involved in as one of the tied players (including a tie for final victory).
• Blue: The controller draws 2 additional cards from the draw deck at the start of each round. (Note this Outpost does not have any Raid points so if it is undefended and unattacked it will be tied and return to the middle of the table.)
• Red: No special powers but a raid value of 3 points.
• Yellow: The controller is awarded 2 Glory points at the start of each round.
• Purple: Jarls played by the controller of this Outpost add 2 raid points to adjacent cards instead of 1.

God Powers

The Gods are added to the muster piles at the start of the Summer round. They are placed face up in front of the player who selected them. Each God has two potential powers, one on each side of the card. The side that is dealt face-up in the Summer Muster pile is the power used for that game. A God may be invoked once as a player's action in the Ragnarok round. When it is invoked, the player uses the power of that God and the card is then discarded.

Thor:

• Take the Heroes card which was discarded at the end of Spring turn into your hand.
• Take 4 additional cards from the draw deck.

Loki:

• Steal one Glory point from each other player's supply (if available) and place up to two of them immediately on a single face up card in your array. (Note: Glory which has already been placed on cards in a player's array may not be stolen.)
• Take and add two Glory to ANY card. This includes a face down card or an Outpost. (Reminder: If you place them on a Jarl it will add no value.)

Odin:

• Immediately gain 2 VP.
• Immediately gain 1VP and one Glory token.

Freya:

• Draw one card, look at it, then place it face down at either end of your array. (This may extend your array to 4 face down cards, giving the potential to play more cards).
• Take a Raider or a Jarl card from the discard pile and add it face up anywhere in your array, including between two cards.

The Norns:

• Turn one face down card face up in each of the other players' arrays (If they have no face down cards they suffer no effect).
• Retrieve all the Glory tokens on cards in your array. You may replay them as further actions this round.

Summary

Set-up

• Place out Outposts (#players +1). Always include Green.
• Give each player a Jarl and a Glory.
• Deal each player 6 cards.

Rounds

• 1 Spring: Muster piles = Hero + 2 Cards. Outposts worth 1 VP.
• 2 Summer: Muster piles = God + 3 Cards. Outposts worth 2 VP.
• 3 Winter + Ragnarok: No muster piles. Outposts worth 3 VP.

Order of play

1. Initial deployment (simultaneous): Place 3 Cards face down in your array.
2. Take one action in turn (continue until all pass):
   • Reinforce: turn a card in array face up and add a new card face up.
   • Withdraw: take a face down card from array back to hand.
   • Inspire: add a glory point to one face up card in array.
   • Invoke: Use your God power (once only).
   • Pass and take a muster pile into your hand (last action).
3. Resolve the Round:
   • Calculate Raid points.
   • Award Outposts (Most Raid Points per colour).
   • Give Glory compensation (One Glory per battle fought and lost).
   • Determine next start player (most VPs).
   • Prepare next round.