Sand Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Components for Each Player
  • General Components
• Setup
  • General Preparation
  • Preparation of the Players
• Game Description
• Game Turns
• The Upkeep Phase
  • Choose a Mission Card
  • Determine the Turn Order for the Next Round
  • Replenish Plants in the Cities
  • Roll the Dice
  • Reveal New Missions
• The Missions
• End of the Game
• The Desert: The Game Board
  • The Dice Stand
  • The Specialization Seals
  • The Turn Markers
  • The Mission Deck and Missions for the Current Round
  • The Phase Marker
  • Locations: The Port, the Cities, the Oasis, and the Camps
    • The Port
    • The Cities
    • The Oasis
    • The Camps
  • The Shelters
  • The Routes
    • The Established Paths
    • The Shortcuts
• The Log: Your Player Board
• The Companions
  • The Custodian
  • The Navigator
  • The Young Worm
  • The Shaman
• Record of Goods Delivered
• The Merchandise
  • Plants
  • Crafts
  • Relics
  • Iwakura Rocks
• The Desert Travelers
  • Sonett, the Achiever
  • Zhaslir, the Walker
  • Zorthack, the Druid
  • Narosh, the Whisperer
  • Stamash, the Skilled
  • Zhirtalla, the Devotee
  • Surmesh, the Pythoness
  • Zhema, the Muse
• Actions of the Game
  • Travel
  • The Worms
  • Load Plants
  • Delivery of Goods
  • Load/Deliver Crafts or Relics
  • Delivery Rates and Money
  • Abandoned Goods
  • Care for Your Worm
    • Hydration
    • Food
    • Health
  • Modifying the Value of a Die Using Prayers or Money
  • Pray
  • Earn Prestige
  • Compose Songs
  • Special Action of the Acolytes
• Alhazred and the Spirit of Imomushi — Solo Mode
  • Preparing the Game
  • Experience Level of Alhazred
    • Novice Level
    • Medium Level
    • Expert Level
  • End of the Round and Upkeep
  • How Alhazred Plays
  • Travel: The Codex Cards
  • Delivering and Loading Goods
• Chronology of the Kemushi Saga
• Icon Glossary
  • Numbers
  • Missions
  • Track and Action Icons
• Credits

Components

Components for Each Player

• 1 player board (p. 16)
• 4 Companion tiles (p. 18)
• 1 Worm tile (p. 23)
• 1 player aid card
• 1 Worm
• 1 Turn Marker (p. 13)
• 1 Shelter (p. 15)
• 5 cubes (track indicators) — white, black, red, blue and gray, just like the Boxes of Goods on page 5 (p. 20)
• 6 Song tokens (p. 29)
• 1 Action Selection "Blocked" tile
• 4 Action tokens (p. 8)

General Components

• 1 game board (p. 12)
• 8 Basic Traveler tiles
• 8 Desert Traveler tiles (p. 21)
• 40 Mission cards, divided into 5 workdays of 8 cards each (p. 11)
• 1 dice stand (p. 13)
• 4 dice (one of each color) (p. 8)
• 1 Phase marker (p. 8)
• 6 Camp tiles (p. 15)
• 12 Minor Tribe tokens (p. 15)
• 1 cloth bag
• 4 Specialization Seals (p. 13)
• 115 cubes (Boxes of Goods) (p. 20)
• 25 coins of value 1, 15 coins of value 5, 10 coins of value 10, 10 coins of value 20, 8 coins of value 50, and 8 coins of value 100

Plants: 20 Flowers, 20 Shoots, 20 Fruits, 20 Seeds.

Crafts: 5 Bowls, 5 Instruments, 5 Flasks.

Relics: 5 Metals, 5 Writing Materials, 5 Timepieces.

Iwakura Rocks: 5 Iwakura Rocks.

Solo Mode Components: 1 Alhazred tile, 1 Worm tile, 8 Codex cards.

Setup

General Preparation

1. Place the game board within reach of all players.
2. Separate the Mission cards by day, and shuffle each deck separately. If there are four players, return the deck for the last workday to the box, since you will play one less workday/round. From each deck, randomly take as many cards as the number of players plus one (i.e., if you are three players, take four cards) and return the others to the box. Stack the selected cards face down together, from the last workday to the first (last with brown background on the bottom and first with gray background on top) to form a single deck. From this, reveal the cards for the first workday and leave them in the spaces to the right of the deck of cards. Arrange these Mission cards numerically, from left to right, so the highest value is next to the deck of Mission cards and the lowest value is in the rightmost space.
3. Place the four Specialization Seals on the game board.
4. Set aside four white cubes: Each player takes one of these cubes (return any of those four left over to the box). Do the same with the black, red, blue, and gray cubes. These will be your indicator cubes (see next page, points 2 and 3). Put the 20 other cubes that match the colors of the plants (blue, red, white, and black) in the bag and leave the rest of the cubes (for the crafts, relics, and Iwakura rocks) next to the game board, forming a common reserve. In the following rules, we will refer to the cubes for merchandise (plants, crafts, relics, and Iwakura rocks) using the generic term "Boxes."
5. Following the order indicated by the cities, draw Boxes from the bag at random, one at a time. Place one Box in one of the spaces in each of the four cities closest to the sea (in the first round, these cities only contain one Box). Then, place random Boxes in both spaces of each of the other cities.
6. Separate the Camp tiles by the colors on the back. Place the three blue tiles randomly in the spaces closest to the sea and the gray ones in the spaces closest to the mountain.
7. On each of these tiles, place two Minor Tribe tokens: one with value 1 below one with value 2.
8. Place the dice stand near the board and place the dice next to it. Leave the money within reach of the players.

Preparation of the Players

Each player chooses the color which they are going to play, takes their player board and a helper card, and places:

1. Their Desert Worm in the port space of the main board.
2. Their track indicator cubes: blue in the "15" space of the Hydration Track, red in the "15" space of the Food Track, and gray in the "10" space of the Health Track.
3. Their white and black cubes in the "0" spaces of the Prayer and Prestige Tracks, respectively.
4. 5 coins of value 1 in their supply.
5. Their four Action tokens in their Action Pool—the side with the Box on it is placed face down—and the "Action Section Blocked" tile covering the first space of their Actions Used section.
6. Their Shelter in the corresponding space.
7. Their six Song tokens in the corresponding space.
8. Their Companion tiles, face down, on the corresponding spaces.
9. Their Worm tile on the corresponding space, showing its basic side.
10. Randomly place your Turn markers on the game board. Players who will play second, third, or fourth will get the Prestige reward indicated.
11. Shuffle and place on the table a number of Desert Traveler tiles equal to the number of players plus one (e.g., five tiles if there are four players). In the opposite order to the turn order, each player chooses one Desert Traveler tile and places it on their player board, displaying their ability. Put the rest back in the box.

NOTE: If this is your first game, we recommend that you skip this step and play as the basic version of these characters (reverse side with no ability)—see "The Desert Travelers" on page 21.

The first player rolls the dice (they can reroll all of them once if they want), places them on the dice stand, and takes the first turn.

Game Description

A game of Sand consists of several rounds (called workdays), according to the number of players:

Players	1 to 3	4
Workdays	6	5

Each of these rounds is divided into three phases: Morning, Afternoon, and Night. In each of these phases, the players each take one turn, following the order in which their Turn markers are arranged.

At the end of each round (with the exception of the last one), an Upkeep Phase takes place, during which the players randomly draw new Boxes from the bag (plants) and place them, in order, on all the empty spaces on the board, after which they roll the action dice, which drive the actions in the following round.

Game Turns

During your turn, you will carry out actions that allow you to transport your loads from one place in the desert to another in order to sell them.

On your player board, you have four Action tokens, each of which is a color that corresponds to the color of one of the four dice. For some actions, it is enough to simply use the die of the appropriate color, while for others, you will have to observe its value; In some cases you will have to consider both. Action tokens represent the time you spend doing the various actions in the game (and don't forget that time is limited!). The dice are associated with the Action tokens of the same color and are used to determine the power of the actions you can do.

At the beginning of your turn, take any active Action tokens (ones not showing the side with the Box) of your choice of colors equal to the number of available spaces you have in your Actions Used section, and place them on those spaces. At the start of the game, there are only three slots available; the fourth will be unlocked later. You can't start playing your actions until you have placed all the Action tokens that you want to use.

As you perform the actions you choose using your Action tokens (in any order you prefer), return those tokens to their proper place, indicating that you have already performed those actions. On your turn, you can repeat the same action as many times as you want, as long as you have the appropriate Action tokens for it (however, you can only use each Action token once per turn).

As soon as you have resolved all your actions, your turn ends and it is the next player's turn. As soon as all players have played their turn, the current phase is over and the Phase marker is advanced: from Morning to Afternoon, then from Afternoon to Night. Once the Night Phase is complete, the round is over and the Upkeep Phase is resolved (see page 10).

The available actions are detailed below:

• Travel (p. 23)
• Load Plants (p. 24)
• Deliver Goods (p. 24)
• Care for your Worm
  • Hydration (p. 27)
  • Food (p. 27)
  • Health (p. 27)
• Pray (p. 28)
• Earn Prestige (p. 28)
• Compose Songs (p. 29)
• Special Acolyte Actions (p. 29)

The Upkeep Phase

As soon as the last player's turn of the Night Phase ends, the current round concludes and you must prepare the game for the next round.

If at that moment there are no cards left in the Missions deck, the game is over and you proceed to collect your last winnings (see "End of the Game" on page 12). Otherwise, continue below.

Before starting the next round, resolve the following steps in order:

Choose a Mission Card

Following the reverse order of the turn (first to choose is the last to have played in the previous round), take your Turn marker and place it on the unclaimed Mission card you want to take (see "The Missions" on page 11). Once all Turn markers have been placed, each player decides if they want to keep their card next to their player board (and score it at the end of the game) or if they prefer to earn the immediate reward at that moment and discard it. Once all players have resolved this step, discard any Mission cards that were not chosen.

Determine the Turn Order for the Next Round

The positions in which you have left your Turn markers determine the order in which you will play your turns during the next round. Return your Turn markers to their spaces so the player who has the rightmost marker is now in first position (highest) and the player who has the leftmost marker is in last position. The player who is now in first position gets nothing (they're already rewarded enough for being first). The second advances their marker one space on their Prestige Track (black); the third, two spaces; and the fourth, three. Set the Phase marker to the Morning position.

Replenish Plants in the Cities

Draw new Boxes of plants at random from the bag and place them on the game board, in all the empty spaces in the cities (including those marked with this icon), following the order marked by the numbers next to the city names on the board. The Boxes present on the board are kept in place.

Roll the Dice

The first player then rolls the dice and places them on the stand. If they wish, this player can reroll all of the dice once, but must keep the result of this second roll. These will be the results with which you will play the next round.

Reveal New Missions

The Mission cards indicate the current round. So, for the next round, reveal new Mission cards from the deck, as many as the number of players plus one extra (e.g., if there are three players, reveal four new Mission cards). Arrange the Mission cards numerically, from left to right, with the highest value next to the deck of Mission cards and the lowest value in the rightmost space.

You can now start the next round, beginning with the player whose Turn marker is first in the turn order.

The Missions

Desert journeys are dangerous, but they are full of opportunities for adventurous spirits to take advantage of; fortune can even be found under the rocks. You can never be sure of what a chance encounter on the road will bring.

The Missions come into play with the cards revealed each round. They are divided into five different decks, one for each of the rounds of the game (or travel workdays). If there are four players, the fifth round deck will not be used.

You will choose Missions at the end of each round (except the last one). In addition to using them to determine the turn order for the following round, they are a good way to earn rewards or money throughout the game.

The front of each Mission card consists of these main parts:

1. An immediate reward is shown at the top, which you can earn at the moment you receive the card in exchange for discarding the card and giving up the Mission.
2. The Mission entrusted to you is shown at the bottom, which is nothing more than a small task that is proposed to you and which, if you complete it, will allow you to earn additional money at the end of the game (unless you have delivered Iwakura rocks—see "The Shaman" on page 19). If you want to receive this reward, keep this Mission card next to your player board when you receive it.
3. These cards have a number at the bottom. When revealing Missions at the end of each round, arrange them in descending order from left to right (highest value in the leftmost space, lowest value on the rightmost space).

At the bottom and back of the cards, the number of black squares indicates the round in play. Note that the black squares do not match the other side of their card, but the ones on the Mission cards revealed next to them. This way you can easily see the number of the current round at a glance.

At the end of the rulebook, there is a summary of the rewards offered by the Mission cards.

End of the Game

After completing the Night Phase for the last round, it is time to evaluate the final income for your trips and determine the victor.

Missions Accomplished — If you have not delivered any Iwakura rocks during the game, you get the rewards for all the Missions you have next to your player board for which you were able to meet the required conditions (see page 11).

Specialization Seals — You get an additional coin for each Box of this type of plant you have on your Record of Plants Delivered (see page 13).

Support for Minor Tribes — If you have accumulated the highest value worth of Minor Tribe tiles (even if it's tied), you get an additional 12 coins (see page 15).

Songs — If you are the one who has the most Song tokens on the game board (even if it's tied), you get 3 coins for each of them (see page 29).

The winner is whoever has the most money at the end of the game. In the event of a tie, the criteria to break the tie and determine the winner are, in order: whoever has delivered the most plants; whoever delivered the most Iwakura rocks; whoever has accomplished more Missions.

The Desert: The Game Board

The Desert is a vast mound of sand, barren and barely populated by the few species too stubborn to understand that they have no future here. Yet the silhouettes of ancient cities stand, old and dazed, like a ghost that does not yet know it is dead.

This section explains in detail the different elements of the board, the locations and routes, and everything that you must take into account during the game:

• The dice stand
• The Specialization Seals
• The Turn Markers
• The Mission deck and Missions for the current round
• The Phase marker
• Locations: the port, the cities, the oasis, and the camps
• The routes

The Dice Stand

The first player rolls the dice at the end of each round and places them on this stand so all of you can see the results. You can take and move the stand around along with the dice, even use it to indicate the active player.

The Specialization Seals

You can obtain these seals during the game by delivering plants (see page 24).

When desert travelers deliver plants during their journeys, they learn to preserve the different species and transport them in the best conditions, eventually specializing in certain specific types of plants.

During the game, you can obtain these seals, claiming any of those that are available on the game board. To claim a seal for a certain type of plant, you must have made at least four deliveries of that color of plant. Once a seal is obtained, you cannot exchange it for another, but you can obtain more than one seal during the game.

At the end of the game, you get an additional coin for each Box of that type of plant you have on your Record of Plants Delivered.

Example: The yellow player ends the game with the blue Specialization Seal; Since they have 6 blue Boxes on their Record of Plants Delivered, they get an additional 6 coins.

The Turn Markers

Each player has a Turn marker of their color. In each round, the player whose marker is highest takes their turn first; then the next, and so on. Turn order is determined at the end of each round. Turn markers are also used to choose Mission cards at the end of each round.

The Mission Deck and Missions for the Current Round

The cards revealed on the game board indicate the round you are playing at that time. At the end of each round, you will choose one of the available Mission cards, placing your Turn marker on the card you want to obtain (see "The Missions" on page 11). Once the Mission cards are assigned, reveal new cards from the Mission deck.

The Phase Marker

Once you've all played your turns, advance this marker to the next phase. At the end of the Night Phase, carry out an Upkeep Phase (see page 10).

Locations: The Port, the Cities, the Oasis, and the Camps

The Desert still has some inhabited places, sources of activity and wealth.

The Port

This is one of the few places that reminds desert dwellers that there is a living world beyond the confines of their sandy horizons.

Here you can deliver crafts and relics at a good price, so ships may then transport them to remote places. The whole port is considered one single location, as any city or oasis. You can also deliver plants here, but as they are not a commodity that travels well, you will be paid little for them.

It is also the only place where you can deliver Iwakura rocks.

The Cities

The Desert has ten ruined cities, sparsely inhabited but still important: Okh-ham, the city of the wailing oblivion; K'her-Txack, the city of the ape men; Nez-hm, the city of the engineer god; Shin-T'hahalash, the city of the lord of Worms; Toron-t'bosh, the city of the bull centaurs... Their names refer to the time when great furious spirits ruled them with an iron fist.

Today, men and women toil in mystical spaces sheltered from the heat, trying to grow plant life once more.

At these locations on the game board, you can deliver all kinds of craft and relic loads, as these items are in demand there, but they always pay the basic rate (as indicated at the bottom of the board). In addition, they are the only locations where you can obtain Boxes of plants, since they appear there in each Upkeep Phase. Cities do not accept deliveries of plants, however, since they already produce them locally and do not have to pay for transport to provide them.

Each city has a single space on which you can place a Song token if you take the Compose Song action there (see page 29).

The cities also display the colors of the acolytes that can operate in them (see "The Shaman" on page 19 and the Special Action of the Acolytes on page 29).

The Oasis

The Desert is not just a harsh ocean of dust and rock. Luckily, in the different oases that dot it, the ancestral spirit that cares for the desert offers travelers a breather.

You can build your Shelter in these locations (see page 15). Oases interrupt routes. Players need to stop there even if all the routes leading there are of the same color.

The Camps

Communities established in the Desert are always willing to pay for plants with craft items or relics.

The camps closest to the sea show a blue back and those closest to the mountains are gray. These communities have a main tribe and a minor tribe, with different demands and payment capacities.

The main tribes ask for a specific combination of plants, and in return, they pay you the higher rate for each plant delivered. In addition, if you make a joint delivery of both required plants, apart from the money, the main tribe also offers you a Box of crafts (those near the sea) or relics (those near the mountains), which you can transport and deliver to any city or port (see "Load/Deliver Crafts or Relics" on page 24).

Deliveries of plants to minor tribes bring you less money at that time, since they pay only the basic rate. However, each time you make a joint delivery of the two plants required by a minor tribe, on top of the money, you take a minor tribe token from the top of the stack there (if any remain).

These Minor Tribe tokens have a value of 1 or 2 points: at the end of the game, the player(s) who has accumulated the most points from minor tribes gets an additional 12 coins (each) (see Support for Minor Tribes on page 12).

The Shelters

Travelers can easily set up small shelters for their Worms and cargo. They set them up in strategic places in the desert, to which they return to rest and store merchandise until the time comes to deliver them under better conditions.

As soon as you cover the third Box space in your Record of Plants Delivered, your Shelter becomes available. Immediately place your Shelter in any of the cities, oases, or camps on the game board where there are no Shelters of the other players. You do not need to be in that location to place your Shelter. Once placed, you cannot change its location.

By placing a Shelter on the game board, you unlock four spaces on your player board where you can place goods. To use these spaces, you must be in the area where your Shelter is located and declare that you are going to pass goods from your Worm to your Shelter (without any action cost). The Action tokens that were occupied by those goods are now active again, as the goods are no longer on your Worm, but in the Shelter.

To retrieve the goods and deliver them to another location, you simply return to your Shelter and place the Boxes on the corresponding spaces in the Actions Used section of your board (at no action cost). Although the transfer of goods from your Shelter to your Worm does not cost any actions, if the merchandise loaded is a plant, the corresponding Action token is occupied as normal.

The Routes

In Sand, you can travel two types of routes: established paths and shortcuts. To take one route or another, you must pay the cost indicated on your Worm tile, as explained for the Travel action (see page 23).

The Established Paths

These paths are easy tracks and are known by all travelers, who journey along them without too many problems. They usually pass near the oases, where one can get supplies, and they make for safe transit, although their layout can be a little convoluted.

On the game board, the established paths are colored green and gray.

The Shortcuts

Shortcuts are more direct, but as they are less-frequented paths, they tend to be more dangerous and difficult to navigate.

On the game board, shortcuts are colored orange.

The Log: Your Player Board

All desert travelers carry their own logbook, a travel diary in which they write down all the details of their day-to-day: their expenses, earnings, alliances, and the details related to the care of their most faithful companion, the Worm.

Let's see what information your player board contains:

1. The Traveler: Place the tile that identifies your Traveler in this space.
2. The Worm: Place the tile with the details of your Worm here. At the start of the game, your tile shows its basic side. When your Worm first evolves, flip the tile over; after its second evolution, remove the tile from the game (see page 23).
3. Hydration: This tracks what you use to pay your Worm's Hydration costs when taking the Travel action (see page 23). You can advance the position of your marker with the Care for your Worm (Hydration) action (see page 27).
4. Food: This tracks what you use to pay your Worm's Food costs when taking the Travel action (see page 23). You can advance the position of your marker with the Care for your Worm (Food) action (see page 27).
5. Health: This tracks what you use to pay your Worm's Health costs when taking the Travel action (see page 23). You can advance the position of your marker with the Care for your Worm (Health) action (see page 27).
6. Prayers: This tracks what you use to increase the value of the die when performing the Travel or Care for your Worm (Hydration, Food, or Health) actions (see pages 23 and 27, respectively), at the rate of one Prayer for each point added to the die value. You can advance the position of your marker with the Pray action (see page 28).
7. Prestige: This tracks how many additional coins you receive when you make your next delivery of goods (see page 24). You can advance your position on this track through the Earn Prestige action (see page 28).
8. Action Tokens: Your four Action tokens are associated with the dice on the dice stand. As you perform your actions, you will place them in the available spaces in the Actions Used section of your player board (see page 8).
9. Actions Used Section: Divided into four spaces, this represents the time you have to take actions during your turns (see page 9). At the start of the game, you only have three slots available, but you can unlock the fourth when your Worm evolves for the first time (see page 23). It also has spaces for the goods you load onto your Worm.
10. Shelter: When you cover the third space on your Record of Plants Delivered, you will place your Shelter in a city, oasis, or camp of your choice on the game board. This unlocks four spaces in which you can store goods (see page 15).
11. Song Tokens: Leave your Song tokens here until you put them in the cities of the game board (see page 29).
12. Abandoned Goods: Place the Boxes of goods you have abandoned here (see page 25).
13. Specialization Seals: Place the Specialization Seals you get during the game here (see page 13).
14. Money: You can leave the money you gather during the game in this space.
15. Rates: A reminder of the prices that are paid when delivering each type of merchandise (see page 25).
16. Record of Plants Delivered: Place the Boxes of plants that you have delivered in this track. When placing each Box, you receive the reward indicated on the now-covered space (see page 20).
17. Record of Crafts Delivered: Place the Boxes of crafts that you have delivered in this track. When placing each Box, you receive the reward indicated on the now-covered space (see page 20).
18. Record of Relics Delivered: Place the Boxes of relics you have delivered in this track. When placing each Box, you receive the reward indicated on the now-covered space (see page 20).
19. Record of Iwakura Rocks Delivered: Place the Boxes of Iwakura rocks that you have delivered in this track. When placing each Box, you receive the reward indicated on the now-covered space (see page 20).
20. Money Chest: If you completely fill the delivery record for any type of merchandise, place each subsequent Box of that type that you deliver here, which immediately awards you a flat 5-coin reward (see page 20).
21. Travel Companions: These spaces are reserved for the tiles of the four Companions who may end up sharing your trip. At the start of the game, the Companion tiles are face down and you will flip them in the order you prefer whenever you manage to convince one of them to accompany you; that is, by covering certain spaces in your Record of Goods Delivered (see page 18).

The Companions

Travelers can be favored by the presence of some inhabitants of the desert, who sometimes agree to accompany them and help them in their journeys.

As you fill up your Record of Goods Delivered, you will have several opportunities to unlock these Companions. Simply flip the tile that suits you best, in the order you prefer. From that moment on, you benefit from the ability of your new Companion, which takes precedence over any general rule.

The Custodian

He is an expert Worm keeper who makes them feel better with his mere presence.

Allows you to take the Care for your Worm (Health) action using a single Action token, black or white, of your choice. If you wish, you can repeat the action using the other Action token.

The Navigator

She knows the desert like the back of her hand.

Once per turn, she allows you to travel two segments of the route (instead of just one) when you take the Travel action, and you can still take other actions between the two trips (such as Load Plants or Care for your Worm).

Place your Action token on the Navigator tile instead of leaving it in the Actions Used section. The die value corresponding to the Action token used must be enough to satisfy both paths. You can travel any combination of paths you prefer (established path + shortcut, established paths of two different types, etc.), but you must pay all the necessary requirements to cover both paths.

The Young Worm

Having the support of another Worm allows you to distribute the bales better and makes the path more bearable.

Allows you to place two Boxes of cargo on one of the spaces in your Actions Used section, as long as they are the same color. Also, if you have an occupied Action token and you pass through a city where there is a Box of the same color, you can load it without using an action to do so (as long as you don't exceed the limit of two Boxes in that space).

The Shaman

There are few people left in the Desert capable of understanding the messages of the most ancient spirits, crying because their time in the desert has come to an end. Although conventional, more superstitious merchants shy away from this type of idol, there are those who are willing to pay a good sum for them.

If your Shelter is already on the game board, once per turn, your Shaman can take any relic Box that is there and turn it into an Iwakura rock Box. Boxes of Iwakura rocks can be transported and sold at the port, just like other goods.

When your Record of Iwakura Rocks Delivered shows that you have delivered at least one of these Boxes, you must discard all the Mission cards you have saved next to your player board without receiving any immediate Mission rewards (at the end of the game you will not be able to score for any Missions you have completed). From now on, you can still collect the immediate Mission rewards (the rewards you get from discarding Mission cards), but you cannot save Missions to score at the end of the game.

The Shaman has a network of Acolytes who can perform a special action (see page 29).

Record of Goods Delivered

These tracks are found on your player board. Every time you deliver a Box of goods of any type, place that Box on the corresponding delivery record (plants, crafts, relics, or Iwakura rocks), in the leftmost empty space (finishing the top row first in the case of the plants track). By doing so, you immediately get the reward indicated in the now-covered space.

In most cases, this reward is money. Sometimes, you can choose between two possible rewards, separated by a slash "/".

Possible rewards include:

• You get coins equal to the amount indicated.
• Makes your Worm evolve (see page 23).
• Place your Shelter on the game board (see page 15).
• Flip the tile of one of your Companions to its active side (see page 18).
• Advance your Prayer Track marker, as many spaces as indicated.
• Advance the markers on your Hydration, Food, and/or Health Tracks, as many spaces in total as indicated, in the combination you prefer.

Money Chest: If you completely fill up the Record of Goods Delivered for any type of goods, each subsequent Box of that type that you deliver is placed on the chest space and immediately earns you a fixed reward of 5 coins.

The Merchandise

In Sand, there are several types of merchandise, each identified by a color and grouped into four general types:

Plants

They grow in sacred refuges in the cities and are essential in bringing the desert back to life. All the tribes need them to make the desert green again.

Flowers, Shoots, Fruits, Seeds.

Crafts

The tribes that live near the sea produce some of the most useful and beautiful crafts in the area, and they are highly prized in the cities and in the most remote places.

Bowls, Instruments, Flasks.

Relics

The tribes that inhabit the foot of the mountains search for treasures among the ruins of the cities.

Metals, Writing materials, Timepieces.

Iwakura Rocks

Some mystics who live in the Desert know how to listen to the spirits of yesteryear. The particularities of the Iwakura rocks are explained in detail in "The Shaman" (see page 19), but it is worth remembering that the merchandise these mysterious beings work with is gray in color.

The Desert Travelers

The Desert is a merciless place for those who have no choice but to live there. The inhabitants of this place need the services of brave men and women who, on the backs of their strong Worms, cross the dunes to transport their merchandise from one town to the next.

In Sand there are eight Desert Traveler tiles. Each of them has a special and unique ability that prevails over any general rule that you can find in this rulebook.

However, we recommend that for your first game you play only with the basic versions of these characters (the same for all of them). In this way, since they lack any special abilities, all will be travelers of the same ability and experience. This makes for a perfectly balanced game while you are learning to play Sand. If you are reading this rulebook for the first time, you can go directly to the next section. In any case, we encourage you to use the Travelers' abilities as soon as you are familiar with the game.

Sonett, the Achiever

You can exchange the cargo Boxes in your Shelter for Boxes of a different color of your choice, but of the same type.

That is, you can return Boxes of plants of a certain color that you have in your Shelter to the bag and exchange them for other Boxes of plants of another color; or exchange your Boxes of crafts of one color for crafts of another color; or relics of one color for other different-colored relics.

Zhaslir, the Walker

Once per turn, you can take a shortcut without using any Action tokens, ignoring the required die value for that route but paying all other required costs plus an additional 3 Health points.

For practical purposes, you can make an additional free Travel action, without using any Action tokens. This does not imply that every time you take a shortcut you have to do it in this way; if you prefer, you can use an Action token as normal and pay the normal costs for that route.

Zorthack, the Druid

Even if you have not flipped your Shaman, if you have installed your Shelter on the game board, you can take the Acolyte action (see page 29) without having the color of merchandise that matches the acolyte, by paying 2 coins and using the Action token matching the color of the acolyte. For example, you can use a blue Action token to have a blue acolyte place a red plant in your Shelter.

If you have flipped your Shaman, you can choose to take the Acolyte action as normal, paying 1 coin, or you can do it this way, with fewer limitations but paying 2 coins.

Narosh, the Whisperer

Every time you take a Care for your Worm action for Hydration or Food, on top of what the relevant die indicates, you also get a bonus of six extra spaces. If you advance the Health Track, you get a bonus of four extra spaces.

Stamash, the Skilled

Your Action tokens always show their active side, and they are not occupied when you take the Load Plants action.

If you want to take advantage of the Young Worm Companion's ability, you must momentarily give up this ability when taking the Load Plants action, and thus occupy the Action token you have used (to apply his ability, the Young Worm requires you to have an occupied Action token).

Zhirtalla, the Devotee

At the start of the Morning Phase of each game round, advance your marker six spaces on the Prayer Track.

Surmesh, the Pythoness

During your turn, you may take two dice from the Stand, turn them over so they are showing their opposite side, and leave them off the stand (that is, a 1 becomes a 6 for example). At the end of your turn, return them to the stand with their original values.

Zhema, the Muse

Other players cannot remove your Song tokens from cities.

The Songs that are sung about you are second to none and last over time, which can bring you a large amount of extra money with each delivery of goods, if you know how to use them correctly.

Actions of the Game

Travel

This action allows you to move with your Worm from one place to another. Without a doubt, it is one of the actions that you will use the most during the game. To perform it, you must first choose the route you want to travel: an established path (color gray or color green) or a shortcut (orange, see page 16). You must then use an Action token of any color whose die value is equal to or greater than that required by your Worm in order to travel that type of path (or modify the value of said die—see "Modifying the Value of a Die Using Prayers or Money" on page 28).

Then, move your Worm along the route you want to travel and update your Hydration, Food, and Health Tracks, as indicated on your Worm tile. If you cannot pay what is required at the time you start the route or if the die value matching the Action token you used is not high enough, you cannot travel that section of the route. Remember that Oases interrupt routes, even if the road has the same color on both ends.

Each travel action allows you to travel a single leg of your route, but you can then use another Action token to travel again.

Example: The green player prepares to travel along an established path of color gray. They use their white Action token (whose corresponding die has a value of 5), update their Hydration (spend 2 points), Food (spend 1 point), and Health (spend 1 point) Tracks, and move their Worm to the new location. Once the action is completed, they return the Action token to their pool.

If they wanted to take the shortcut, they would use a value-6 die and spend 1 Hydration, 3 Food, and 2 Health instead.

The Worms

Desert Worms are large and hardy. Noble brutes capable of carrying the goods that must be transported. The more they travel, the more they grow and the stronger they become.

Each player starts the game with a basic Desert Worm. During the game, it can evolve a couple of times: the first time by flipping the tile over and the second time by discarding it. Each evolution makes the Worm better and more efficient at traveling, which is reflected in the costs indicated on its tile.

The only way for your Worm to evolve is to place Boxes on your Record of Goods Delivered.

When your Worm first evolves, remove the "Action Space Blocked" tile. From then on, you can take four actions per turn. Also, each time you evolve your worm you will obtain boons on several tracks, as indicated on the tile.

Load Plants

When you arrive in a city where plants are available, you can perform this action to load them onto your Worm. To do this, use the Action token of the color corresponding to that plant (blue for flowers, red for fruit, white for buds, and black for seeds).

1. Flip over the matching Action token that you just used and place it in your Actions Used section (with the Box side up).
2. Then take the Box and put it on top of that Action token.

Both the space in your pool occupied by the Box and that Action token are now "locked" and cannot be used for any further actions until you either deliver or abandon the Box (see "Delivery of Goods" below and "Abandoned Goods" on page 25), thereby emptying the space and flipping the Action token to its active side.

Delivery of Goods

Delivering goods is an action for which you don't need to spend an Action token. You can do a Delivery of Goods action in any location, delivering up to as many Boxes as you carry, but always all in one go. In the camps, on top of delivering all the Boxes you want, you can do joint deliveries in order to obtain other rewards (see "The Camps" on page 15). In fact, if you plan it well, on the same workday you can load goods, take them to a different place, and deliver as many as you want.

When you deliver goods, collect the money for the fare plus everything that is indicated at that moment on your Prestige Track and add the benefits of your Songs (see page 29). After this, your Prestige Track indicator returns to the "0" space. Then, place the Box of goods on the first empty space of the corresponding Record of Goods Delivered on your player board (see page 20) and take the reward from the space you have covered.

Load/Deliver Crafts or Relics

When you make one Delivery action turning in two plant Boxes that match the colors required by the main tribe at a camp, on top of the money, you receive the indicated craft or relic Box in return (see page 15). For example, when you deliver a white and a red Box to this tribe, you receive an orange Box in return. Load it in the same way as the plant Boxes (since it is a cargo without an associated action, that Box will not occupy any Action tokens, but it will occupy a space in the Actions Used section of your board).

You can only deliver crafts and relics in the port and the cities. When you deliver such products, collect the indicated money, just like when you deliver plants (based on the corresponding fee and taking into account Prestige and Songs—see below). Then, put the Box on the first empty slot of the corresponding Record of Goods Delivered (crafts or relics) and get the reward from the slot you covered.

Delivery Rates and Money

The port, cities, and the tribes in the camps are each willing to pay for some goods (plants, crafts, or relics) if you deliver them. Each location indicates which merchandise it is interested in buying and the rate that they will pay according to their level of interest in those goods. This is a fixed price that appears on your player board. The higher rate is always more lucrative than the basic rate.

Example: The yellow player delivers a green Box to a city and gets 4 coins (based on the basic rate for crafts). Then, they place the Box in the first empty space on their Record of Crafts Delivered.

Money is a key element in Sand, as it determines the winner of the game: the player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. Players will obtain coins and keep them on their personal board. They can give themselves change at any moment with coins from the common pool. This rulebook often mentions that players win or pay coins: we always consider these to be coins of value 1. Meaning that if an icon indicates that a player obtains 8 coins, they would take whichever combination of coins from the common pool that matches that value. If players have to pay money, it is returned to the common pool.

Abandoned Goods

Action tokens are "occupied" when you use them to load plants (blue, white, red, or black Boxes) onto your Worm. In such a case, it may happen that you have to perform an action with a token that is currently occupied by a Box. Since you can't use an occupied token, you will have no choice but to leave that Box in the desert so you can flip the Action token to its active side. To do so, place the Box in the Abandoned Goods space of your player board. This is not considered an action.

Starting on your next turn, you can take an action with the die of that color without using your Action token. After doing so, return the abandoned Box to the bag.

Example: At the beginning of their turn, the green player has a blue Box in their Actions Used section, so their blue Action token is occupied. However, they must perform the Care for your Worm (Hydration) action to advance in that track so they can start their next journey.

Their only option is to get rid of the Box to activate their blue Action token; to do so, they place the blue Box on the Abandoned Goods space of their player board, and they can now take care of their Worm with the blue Action token. They may also perform the Travel action they wanted to.

At any time during their next turn, the player can return the blue Box to the bag to perform any of the actions the blue die allows them to do, without using their blue Action token. In this case, they take the opportunity to perform the Hydration action for free.

Care for Your Worm

On your player board, next to your Worm's Hydration and Food Tracks, there are blue and red dice, respectively, that match the colors of the indicator cubes. The black and white dice are displayed next to the Health Track. You can only do these Care for your Worm actions if you use an Action token matching the color of the corresponding die/dice.

Hydration

If you use a blue Action token to perform this action, you can advance your Hydration Track marker as many spaces as the blue die indicates (not exceeding space "15"). You can also use Prayers or money to advance more squares than indicated by the dice, at the rate of one Prayer or one coin per additional square (see page 28).

Example: The brown player has to hydrate his Worm, since his next three-leg route requires him to have at least 8 Hydration points but his marker is only on 2. The blue die shows a "2", but he still decides to take this action and spends 4 coins to reach the necessary Hydration value of 8.

Food

This action is carried out in the same way as Hydration, but using the red die and Action token, and without exceeding space "15" on the Food Track. You can also use Prayers or money to advance more spaces than the die indicates, at the rate of one Prayer or one coin per additional space (see page 28).

Health

Taking care of your Worm and treating its wounds takes more time than other actions. For this reason, you must use two Action tokens instead of just one.

To perform this action, you must use your black and white Action tokens: place each on a different space in the Actions Used section of your player board.

Then, on your Health Track, advance the gray indicator as many spaces as the black or white die indicates, whichever is higher (without going beyond space "10"). You can also use Prayers or money to advance more squares than indicated by the dice (see page 28).

Example: The brown player continues to travel his route, knowing that it will cost him 6 Health points. Using the white die, he only has 3, so he spends a coin to get to 4 plus 2 points from his Prayer Track to reach the 6 Health points he needs.

Modifying the Value of a Die Using Prayers or Money

Travelers can use their faith or invest part of their earnings to be more efficient on the road.

You can spend money to increase the value of the dice when taking Travel actions or taking care of your Worm (Hydration, Food, or Health) at the rate of one coin for each point added to the value of the die. You can also use Prayers for the same purpose, also at the rate of one Prayer for each point added.

You can combine Prayers and money to change the value of a die during the same action. A die can end up having a value greater than 6. This modification is temporary (it does not change the actual value on the die) and is only in effect during the current turn.

Pray

The inhabitants of the Desert know that beneath the dunes, the heart of an ancient being still beats, drowned by the sands of time; A guardian spirit that struggles to break free and take care of those who walk on its withered back. They refer to it as the Bit-O'kuu.

If you use the white Action token to perform this action, you can advance your Prayer Track indicator as many spaces as the white die shows (not exceeding space "10"). You cannot spend Prayers or money to enhance this action.

Earn Prestige

Becoming better known as a desert traveler allows you to raise your rates and make more profit when you transport your plants across the desert.

If you use the black Action token to perform this action, you can advance your Prestige Track indicator by as many spaces as the black die shows.

Prestige is used to obtain more money when delivering goods (see page 24), but the indicator returns to the "0" space after each delivery. You cannot spend Prayers or money to enhance this action.

Compose Songs

Brave desert travelers often attract bards who sing of their adventures (for a fee), resulting in increased fame for them and additional earnings. People love to hear stories of trips to remote cities.

When you get your Worm to a city, you can use an Action token of any color to place a Song token in that city. Each Song token you have placed on the game board grants you a bonus which allows you to earn 1 additional coin every time you take the Delivery of Goods action (see page 24).

Example: The brown player has placed 2 Song tokens in 2 different cities. He currently has a Prestige value of 4. When he makes a merchandise delivery, in addition to what he is paid for it normally, he will receive an additional 6 coins (4 for Prestige, plus 1 for each Song token on the game board). Once this is done, his Prestige Track returns to space "0", but the Song tokens remain in place.

There can only be one Song token in each city. Any player can put one of their Song tokens in any city, regardless of whether there is already a Song token from another player there. If that city already contains a Song token, simply replace it with one of your own and return the evicted token to its owner. However, you cannot replace a Song token if its owner is also in the same city with you.

At the end of the game, the player or players with the most Song tokens on the game board get 3 coins for each of them.

Special Action of the Acolytes

The Shaman has a network of acolytes spread throughout the different cities of the Desert. Each of them corresponds to a color of plant. If you take an action using an Action token matching the color of one of the acolytes and the city that acolyte is in contains a Box of goods of the same color, you may pay the acolyte one coin to deposit that Box in your Shelter (you do not have to be in the same city as the acolyte or the Shelter).

Example: In the city of K'ha-pah, there is a white acolyte. The Brown player decides to take his action with the white Action token so that the acolyte takes the white Box (fruits) to his Shelter, which is located in a nearby camp.

Alhazred and the Spirit of Imomushi — Solo Mode

The spirit of the One Ancient Worm inspires the work of Alhazred, the codex writer. This wise man is determined to restore the Desert to its former glory.

Preparing the Game

Set up the game as if it were a two-player game. Choose a color for Alhazred and place his Worm on the center camp closest to the mountains. Take a player board, but don't worry about the track markers. Place Alhazred's Worm tile and Traveler tile on the corresponding spaces. Alhazred begins the game with the four action spaces available on his board, so you don't need to cover anything with the Blocked tile.

Determine the level of experience you want to assign to him; To do this, place a black cube on the corresponding space of his tile (one of those that are set aside for the players when setting up the game). Give him five value-1 coins. Shuffle the eight Codex cards and place them in the space for the Custodian Companion, forming a deck. If you have decided that Alhazred is an expert, put all six Song tokens on his board.

Experience Level of Alhazred

At the beginning of the game, place a black cube on the Alhazred tile to indicate the level of experience you want to assign to him (novice, medium, or expert). Alhazred will play obeying that level's instructions. You always play as usual, applying the normal rules of the game.

Novice Level

Each time he makes a delivery, Alhazred only collects the money indicated at the referenced rate but does not earn any of the rewards indicated in his delivery record (see page 20). He ignores the Money Chest (see page 20). He ignores the Song tokens (see page 29). He ignores the Specialization Seals (see page 13). If he has collected more points from the minor tribes than you at the end of the game, he receives the corresponding reward (see page 12).

Medium Level

Each time he makes a delivery, Alhazred collects the money indicated in the rate reference and earns the monetary rewards indicated in his delivery record (he ignores any other types of rewards). He ignores the Money Chest (see page 20). If he arrives in a city with one of your Song tokens, he removes it from the game board and returns it to you, without further ado (see page 29). If he delivers four plant Boxes of the same color before you do, remove the corresponding Specialization Seal from the game (see page 13). If he has collected more points from minor tribes than you at the end of the game, he receives the corresponding reward (see page 12).

Expert Level

Each time he makes a delivery, Alhazred collects the money indicated in the rate reference and earns the monetary rewards indicated in his delivery record (he ignores any other types of rewards). He uses the Money Chest in the normal way (see page 20). If he arrives in a city where one of your Song tokens is located, he will replace it with a token of his color (see page 29). At the end of the game, Alhazred automatically collects 3 coins for each of his Song tokens on the game board (you only collect for them if you have more tokens than Alhazred). If he delivers four plant Boxes of the same color before you do, he gets the corresponding Specialization Seal to score at the end of the game (see page 13). If he has collected more points from minor tribes than you at the end of the game, he receives the corresponding reward (see page 12).

End of the Round and Upkeep

This phase runs as usual, with some exceptions. Unlike how the end of the round is resolved in a PvP game, in solo mode, Alhazred always chooses a Mission after you, specifically the card closest to the Mission deck (highest value). He immediately gets the monetary reward from the Mission, regardless of whether or not he meets the requirements.

As this example card shows, Alhazred will obtain 8 coins, regardless of the Relics he has at that moment or at the end of the game.

How Alhazred Plays

You play in the usual way. You are always the first player and Alhazred the second.

Each turn, Alhazred makes three special travel actions, ignoring the dice and costs of the routes he travels. At the start of his turn, reveal three cards from the Codex deck and resolve them one at a time.

The criteria for carrying out his actions are listed below, in order of priority (if a criterion cannot be applied, go to the next one):

1. Travel and deliver previously loaded goods. It doesn't matter if he collects the money from the higher rate or the basic rate. He always moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, without worrying if there is a better delivery action on a different card.
2. Travel and load new merchandise.

Travel: The Codex Cards

Imomushi's primal spirit drives the Worm that Alhazred rides, so traveling costs him nothing. Consequently, he always travels through the shortcuts in the direction indicated by the Codex cards (following a logical path of progress).

On the Codex cards, the scroll side shows an arrow in one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, with a number inside. On top of the cities and camps on the board, you will find a compass. Taking that icon as reference, count as many shortcuts as the number indicates (even if you go around the city several times). That is the path that Alhazred will follow.

Alhazred will always try to load or deliver Goods, traveling along the indicated shortcut. If he is not carrying anything or there are no Boxes to load in that direction, he will take the next shortcut path in the direction of the arrow, and so on until he finds a viable path. If there is no viable path available, he will take the first shortcut indicated by the card, finish his current action and move on with the next card.

Example: Alhazred is at Ugdru-Rashaar City. In order to determine the next path to follow, he reads this card, which indicates that, starting from the compass icon, he has to count two shortcut paths in a clockwise direction. He will be travelling through the middle path, bound towards K'Her-Txack.

Delivering and Loading Goods

Whenever possible, when Alhazred arrives in a city or camp, he automatically delivers all of his Boxes of goods. Collect the money from the fees that correspond to those goods and place the Boxes in their corresponding delivery records. Depending on his experience level, he gets the monetary rewards indicated in the records (if any) and ignores any other type of reward, such as Shelter, Worm evolutions, etc. When he delivers plants to the camps, if he matches the required combination by either tribe, he will receive and load any corresponding goods or Minor Tribe tokens (see page 15).

Once the deliveries are made, if he can, he loads new Boxes of goods. Alhazred loads only one Box at a time and only when entering a location. That is, he does not load any Boxes if he starts his turn in a city where there are Boxes; he only loads one when he gets to a new location. Alhazred does not use any actions to load goods, but every time he arrives in a city, if there are Boxes there and he has room to load them, he takes one. If there are two Boxes available in the city, he takes the one on the left.

Alhazred can place two goods Boxes in each space in his Actions Used section, regardless of the color of the Boxes.

Example: Alhazred arrives at this camp and delivers a white and a blue Box, and he receives a yellow Box. If he would have delivered a red and a black Box, he would take the Minor Tribe token available there.

Chronology of the Kemushi Saga

Sand shares its setting with Devir's Bitoku, Yokai Septentrion Games' Bamboo, Silk, and Daitoshi, forming a connected timeline of games (Bitoku, Yokai Bamboo, Silk Daitoshi, Sand).

Icon Glossary

Numbers

• When an icon has an adjacent red number, it means that you have to spend as many units as the number indicates.
• When an icon has an adjacent black number, it means that you receive as many units as the number indicates.

Missions

• You get a certain amount of money for each group of Boxes like the one indicated that you have delivered. Example: at the end of the game, you get eight coins for every trio of yellow Boxes delivered.
• At the end of the game, if you are the one who has delivered the most goods of that type, you receive the money indicated.
• At the end of the game, if you have not delivered any of that type of merchandise, you receive the money indicated.
• At the end of the game, if you have delivered at least two Boxes of each of the indicated colors, you receive the money indicated.
• At the end of the game, if you have delivered at least that many Boxes of the indicated type of goods, you receive the money indicated.
• If your last delivery in the indicated Record of Goods Delivered matches the color of the required Box, you receive the money indicated.

Mission cards distinguish between an Immediate reward (collected when you take the card, giving up the Mission) and a Reward at the end of the game (collected only if the Mission's condition is met).

Track and Action Icons

• Hydration: Move forward or backward as many spaces on this track as indicated (see page 27).
• Food: Move forward or backward as many spaces on this track as indicated (see page 27).
• Health: Move forward or backward as many spaces on this track as indicated (see page 27).
• Prayers: Move forward or backward as many spaces on this track as indicated (see page 28).
• Prestige: Move forward or backward as many spaces on this track as indicated (see page 28).
• Money: You receive or pay coins equal to the amount indicated (see page 25).
• Die for travelling: Indicates the minimum value of the die required to cross a path (see page 23).
• Shelter: Place your Shelter on the game board (see page 15).
• Worm: Evolve your Worm (see page 23).
• Travel companion: Flip the tile of one of your fellow travelers (see page 18).
• Modifying the value of a die: You can spend money or Prayer points to increase the value of the dice when taking Travel or Care for your Worm actions (see page 28).
• Money chest: If you completely fill a Record of Goods Delivered, each subsequent Box of that type that you deliver immediately earns you a fixed reward of 5 coins (see page 20).
• Combined advancements: Advance the markers on your Hydration, Food, and/or Health Tracks, as many spaces in total as indicated, in the combination you prefer (see page 20).

Credits

Sand probably would have never existed if not for the generous efforts of those people who, week after week, gave away their personal time and experience in many playtesting nights. They are not aware of how important they were in the creation of this game. Wholehearted thanks go to: Daniel Suarez, Ciro Hurtado, Claudio Perez, Fabian Golyñski, Francesco Arce, Franco Tóffoli, Gastón Ávendaño, Guillermo Acuña, Gustavo Rubino, Inaki X. Baigorria Y., Lionel Angerami, Luciano Cabrera, Mael Morholt, Mario Fridge, Martin Oddino.

• Authors: Ariel Di Costanzo and Javier Pelizzari
• Illustrators: Ernest Sala, with colors by Mado Peña
• Editor: David Esbrí
• English Translation: Jonathan Hart
• Proofreaders: Marià Pitarque and William Niebling
• Layout: Meeple Foundry and Diego San Martín Pierron

Published by Devir Contenidos S.L., Rosselló 184, 08008 Barcelona.