Sea Kings
Sea Kings Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game includes a map of the Viking World, Viking ships, settlement meeples, scoring markers for fame, land (use settlement meeple), wealth, and two dice. The cards have three differently-colored backs to separate Main cards from Special Events cards and Character cards.
Game Board. The game board depicts the regions where Vikings were active. Regions, represented by circles, are connected by blue lines. Each region contains a box with numbers, showing the values for that region. Regions are red or green circles. Red circle regions may not be settled.
For example, Scotland (a region value of 2) and Scandinavia (a region value of 4) are connected by the blue line between them. Scotland may be settled, Scandinavia may not.
How to Win
The game ends when the last card of the play deck is drawn, and the final round is completed (so that everyone has had an equal number of plays). At the end of the game, the player who has scored the most points wins. Points are scored for successful discovery, trading, raiding, and settlement. Points are tracked using the fame, wealth and land markers placed on the number track around the edge of the board.
Set up
Each player selects a color group consisting of: Viking ship, settlement meeples, and scoring markers. Place scoring markers on the Scoring Track as players earn points. Place your Viking ship in Scandinavia.
Separate the cards into three decks; General cards, Red Raven cards, and Character cards. From the Special Event deck, set aside the "Frankish Castle" card.
Using the Character cards, shuffle them and deal three cards to each player in a two to four player game or two cards to each player in a five or six player game. Players select one of the dealt Character cards to be their Sea King and place it face up, and the others face down to use the quick reference chart side of the card.
Shuffle the General cards ONLY and deal six (6) cards to each player (each player may look at only his cards). Then shuffle all the remaining General cards with the Red Raven cards and count out 15 cards. Mix the "Frankish Castles" card into these 15, and place these at the bottom of the deck. This is now the play deck.
Character Cards. These are not shuffled into the play deck. The Sea King character special abilities can be used throughout the entire game. Special abilities only apply to the owning player. On the back side of every character card there is a helpful chart of the game turn sequence and scoring for your quick reference during gameplay.
Example character card: Rolf, The Rogue. Ability: "Add 1 when Attacking and Defending Viking Challenges."
General Card Backs. Shuffled with the Red Raven cards to create the play deck. General cards are for basic actions in game play. Players choose when to play.
Red Raven Card Backs. Shuffled with the General cards to create the play deck. These are red backed and played immediately when drawn. They affect all players but don't count as an action.
Sequence of Play
Determine playing order, youngest player first, then proceed clockwise.
There are two actions per player with 5 or 6 players. There are three actions per player if there are 2 to 4 players.
During your turn you may do two or three (depending on the number of players) of the following actions. You may do the same action twice, if you wish, but never more than twice:
- Challenge another Viking if you begin the turn in the same region
- Move yourself (your Viking ship) to an adjacent connected region
- Draw a card from the play deck
- Play a card from your hand
You may choose not to do some of these; you may even choose to do nothing at all, if you wish.
Examples of Sequence of Play With Three Actions:
- First example: You could move from Scandinavia to The Isles, play a Raid The Isles card and resolve it, and then move from The Isles to the Icelandic Seas. (You could not draw a card because it would be a fourth action.)
- Second example: You could move from Scandinavia to East Frankia, then draw two cards.
- Third example: You could move from Scandinavia to East Frankia, play Raid East Frankia and resolve it, then play Settle East Frankia and resolve it.
- Fourth example: While in Iberia you could play a Trade Iberia card, then move to Mediterranean, then play Discover Mediterranean card.
- Fifth example: Move from Scandinavia to Northeast England to Southwest England, then draw a card. Then in your next turn, play Raid Southwest England and draw two cards.
Challenging another Viking
When you begin your turn in a region with another Viking, you may challenge that Viking (No challenges are allowed in the first turn of the game). This counts as one of your actions. Each player rolls a die, and as challenger you add one to your roll. Also add one to whichever player has more Fame points, and whichever player has more Wealth.
Fame and Wealth help a Sea King recruit more Vikings to help him. This is cumulative. If the comparison results in a tie, nothing happens. If one player wins the comparison, he has a choice of taking one Fame or one Wealth from the other player. Adjust the scoring markers accordingly, down one for the loser, up one for the winner. If the loser has no Fame or no Wealth, it cannot be taken from him. You cannot challenge the same opponent more than once in a turn.
Movement
Your Viking ship shows your location on the map of the Viking Age. For one action, move your ship to show that you've traveled from one place to another via the connecting lines between adjacent regions.
Draw a card from the play deck
For one action, the player may draw a card from the play deck to add to his hand. If a Red Raven card is next in the deck, it is played immediately. It affects all players where applicable, and does not count as an action by the active player drawing/playing it. When the play deck is exhausted, drawing a card is no longer an option. (This may happen occasionally as the final round of the game is played.)
Play a card from your hand
Most cards in your hand will be for specific functions to be used during your turn and cost an action to use. In all cases, when any play deck card is played it goes into the discard pile. You do NOT automatically draw a card to replace each card you use. The number of cards in a player's hand can vary quite a bit as the game progresses. There is no minimum or maximum hand size.
Play Deck: Discovery Card. You must be in the region specified on the card when you play it. You have made a discovery that makes you famous. Score fame points equal to the value of the region you're in.
Play Deck: Trade Card. You must be in the region specified on the card when you play it. Like Discovery, Trade is peaceful so there is no dice roll to resolve it. When you trade you score half the value of the region in wealth (round up).
Play Deck: Raid Card. You must be in the region specified on the card when you play it. A dice roll is used to resolve the Raid. Add four to the active Viking's roll. Add the value of the region to the defense roll. If the Viking is higher, he scores either Fame or Wealth (his choice) equal to the value of the region (it cannot be divided). If the roll is a tie, both roll again. If the Viking loses, the raid fails and that's the end of it (no harm done to Viking).
For example, a Viking plays a Raid Miklagard card. Defense strength is 6. The active Viking player is the attacker and rolls a 4, and as always adds 4, for a total of 8. Someone else rolls for Miklagard, gets a 3 for a total of 9. The raid fails.
Play Deck: Settle Card. You must be in the region specified on the card when you play it. A dice roll is used to resolve the attempt to Settle. Add four to the active Viking's roll. Add the value of the region to the defense roll. If the Viking is higher, he scores Land equal to the value of the region. If the roll is a tie, both roll again. If the Viking loses, the attempt to settle fails and that's the end of it (no harm done to Viking).
For example, an active Viking plays a Settle Rus card. He rolls a 3, another player rolls a 2 for the defense. The active Viking player wins 7 (3+4) to 5 (3+2). He scores three land points.
Rolling Dice
Raids and Settlements involve a dice roll by the active Viking player and by the "defense". Some player other than the active Viking player must roll for the defense. It doesn't matter who rolls, but the attacker may designate one player who cannot roll against him.
Play Deck: Blue Raven Cards
These cards can be played out of your turn sequence in response to other players (not costing an action) or during your turn as an action.
They have a blue raven flag in the upper left corner of the card face. These cards aren't tied to a particular region. They may be played anytime during your own or another player's turn.
For example, the Danegeld card could be played by player A during player B's turn when player B announces a Raid.
Danegeld (Play Anytime, before dice are rolled). Play before Raid is resolved. Raider does not have to roll but gets only half points (round up) which must be wealth, not fame.
Inhabitants of rich, well organized areas sometimes paid bribes to Vikings to persuade them to go elsewhere. This became known as Danegeld (Danish Gold). The assumption was that a bribe was cheaper than damage that raids would incur.
Strong Territory Defense (Play Anytime, before dice are rolled). +2 defender dice roll. Does not apply to Viking vs. Viking fights.
Weak Territory Defense (Play Anytime, before dice are rolled). Minus 2 defender dice roll. Does not apply to Viking vs. Viking fights.
For example, when a player declares a Raid or Settlement attempt, any player (including the one taking the action) may play "Weak Territory Defense."
Someone Else Gets the Credit (Play Anytime). Play when someone discovers a land. When someone discovers new land, you choose a different player (not yourself) who gets the credit (and the discovery points).
Loki's Curse (Play Anytime, after someone rolls a die for attack or defense). Make someone else re-roll a die and take the new result.
Loki the Trickster was the Norse god who sometimes assisted the gods, and other times caused problems for them. Scholars debate the origins of the god in the Norse pantheon, where he is clearly different from all others.
Fortune Favors the Brave (Play Anytime, after someone rolls a die for attack or defense). The card face as printed in this document carries no effect text beyond this heading; no effect is transcribed here.
There's a War On (Play Anytime). Play after someone plays a Trade card. Prevents a trade by another player (their card is discarded).
Note: the Blue Raven cards may be played for yourself or for another Viking, for example Danegeld.
Play Deck: Red Raven Cards
When a Red Raven card comes to the top of the Play Deck (after someone has drawn the card that was on top on it), it is revealed immediately and applies to everyone. Then the player who drew to reveal the Red Raven continues his turn, or if he's done, the next player plays.
Mass Settlement in Great Britain (Play Immediately). Anyone on the island of Great Britain may attempt to settle wherever he is, free action, go in play order.
The Vikings settled in many areas of Britain; their DNA patterns can be detected in the British to this day. Many English words (e.g. "egg") are borrowed from the Old Norse language.
Frankish Emperor Grants Land (Play Immediately). You may attempt to settle immediately if you're in either part of Frankia–but add two additional points to your dice roll.
Over a long period, one solution to the Viking problem was to grant coastal lands to Vikings who would fight off other Vikings. E.g. Normandy.
The "Great Army" (Play Immediately). If you are in England (either part) or Frankia (either part), you get to Raid or Settle (your choice) immediately as a free action, where you are. Go in play order.
The "Great Heathen Army" ravaged England but was stopped by Alfred the Great. It went to Frankia, and when famine forced it back to England Wessex used the fortified Burh system to stop it once more.
Christianity Adopted (Play Immediately). If you're in Scandinavia you gain two fame.
Christianity was gradually adopted by the Norse, and helped strengthen central authority at home which in turn reduced the occurrence of "going on a viking".
Varangian Guard (Play Immediately). If you're in Miklagard or Rus you gain two fame.
The Byzantine emperor employed Vikings as a personal guard unit; Harald Hardrada, who later became king of Norway, served. "Varangian" refers to Vikings in Russia.
Great Sea Battle in Scandinavia (Play Immediately). Any Viking in Scandinavia can attack any other there as a free action. Go in turn order beginning with player who drew this card.
Sea battles occurred very rarely. A famous one was between the kings of Norway and Denmark.
Frankish Castles (Play Immediately). No more Raids or Settlements in Frankia! (Except if Frankish Emperor allows Settlement).
The often-disorganized Franks built many Motte-and-Bailey (dirt and wood) castles from the 10th century onwards. The Vikings had no siege-craft, so castles could protect portable goods and people.
Keeping Score
Each player has three scoring markers, one each for land, wealth, and fame to use on the scoring track. From your adventures you earn points in each of these categories. Track your totals with the markers along the edge of the board. All three scores combined equal your total score.
| Adventure | Marker | Point Category |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | Fame | Fame = region value |
| Trade | Wealth | Wealth = half region value* |
| Raid | Wealth or Fame | Wealth = half region value* or Fame = region value |
| Settle | Land | Land = region value |
*Round up Region Value if needed.
End of Game, and Winning
The game ends when someone wants to draw a card and none is available; finish the round (so that everyone has played the same number of turns). Each player should add all three point categories for their total score. Then, the following items are the end of game calculations for final scores.
- The player(s) with the most land scores two extra points.
- The player(s) with the most wealth scores two extra points.
- The player(s) with the most fame scores two extra points.
- The player(s) with the least land loses one point.
- The player(s) with the least wealth loses one point.
- The player(s) with the least fame loses one point.
If there's a tie, all tied players gain the bonus or penalty. No individual score (say, a player's score for land) can go below zero.
Once these have been accounted for, the winner is declared. Highest final score wins. If there is a tie, the tying player with the highest score in any individual category score wins. If that is still a tie then the game ends in a draw amongst the tied players.
Rogue Sea Kings!
Players may choose to use these supplemental rules. They contribute to the Viking experience by adding the ability to take over other Viking's settlements and hijack other Viking's trade. Sometimes Vikings were not the nicest warriors to their fellow clans and took what they wanted when they wanted it. These enhancements bring that aspect to life. All of the game rules apply, with the following additions.
Dice Roll Modifications
When you attempt to settle, or challenge another Viking, you can spend wealth or fame points to increase your dice roll. All modifications are purchased before the dice are rolled. Spend one wealth to gain +1 on die roll, or one fame to gain +1 on die roll, or spend one of each to gain +3 on a die roll. You cannot spend more than one of either per turn. This can be done when you settle without a card, as well.
When two Vikings are involved, the attacker must state first what dice roll modifier he is buying, then the defender must state also, before dice are rolled.
Viking-to-Viking Challenge
The attacker still gets the +1 die modifer bonus for attacking if he did not move beforehand. However at the cost of two actions a player may move to an adjacent region, then challenge a Viking there. In this case he does not get the +1 challenger bonus.
The challenge dice rolls can be modified as indicated under Dice Modifications. However, unlike the standard game, there is no bonus modification for having more Fame or Wealth. Furthermore, the winner of the challenge can move the loser one region away (whether vacant or not).
If a player's Viking ship is in a region with at least one of his settlements, he cannot be challenged, though his settlement can be attacked.
Settling
When you successfully settle, place a settlement meeple of your color in the region. A maximum of two settlements (they can both be yours) can be in a region. There are just four settlement meeples per player, you are limited to four settlements. You can voluntarily remove a settlement meeple in one place when you successfully settle another.
You can, only once in your turn, attempt to settle as an action without using a settle card. You add 0 (zero) rather than 4 to your dice roll in such circumstances, however. Scandinavia, Iberia, Mediterranean, Miklagard, and Middle East can never be settled (notice they have red circles denoting their region.)
A player's settlement defends with the bonus of the region, not the usual Viking +4. If someone attacks a settlement when the owner is present, add two (+2) to the dice roll of the defense because of the morale benefit of their Sea King.
If you have two settlements in a region, when one is attacked, add one (+1) to the defense roll.
When you attempt to settle in a region where there is already a single Viking settlement, you can choose either to attack that settlement, or settle the region (as settle rules allow). If you attempt to settle the region and succeed, then yours is the second Viking settlement in the region.
If there are two settlements, you must attack one of them. When you successfully attack a Viking settlement, the settlement meeple is removed and replaced with your own! The player losing the settlement does NOT suffer any point loss, and the attacker gains the regions value.
Hijacking Trade
When you play a trade card, if there is another Viking ship in the region he or she can attempt to hijack the trade by doing a Viking-to-Viking Challenge. There is no +1 bonus for the challenger. The winner of the Viking challenge is the one who scores the points for the trade!
For the Viking challenge, if the original trader wins, he scores for the trade plus gets the points for winning the Viking Challenge. If the original trader loses the Viking challenge he does not lose points, as the winner of the Viking challenge is trading instead.
If the player hijacking the trade wins the Viking challenge he does not get the points for the Viking challenge but does for the trade. Hence it might be wise not to trade when other Vikings are around.
End of Game (Rogue Sea Kings)
At the end of the game, points are calculated in the same manner. Then additional land points are scored equal to the region value for each existing settlement meeple in that region per player.
For example, Viking A has two settlement meeples in Scotland. He would score 4 extra land points for those two settlement meeples totaled (2 + 2). For this version, land is worth considerably more.