Tharos

Tharos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components

Each copy of Tharos contains:

16 region cards
8 building cards
40 action cards
40 player cards (10 cards each per player)
8 attack cards
6 round end cards
1 game round token
1 start player token
72 dice (a set of 18 dice each per player: 8 white, 3 red, 3 yellow, 2 green, and 2 blue dice)
4 cloth bags (one per player)
20 wooden cubes (a set of 5 cubes per player: 2 red, 1 green, 1 blue, and 1 yellow cube)
4 player mats (one per player)
4 medal mats (one per player)
48 guild markers (12 each per player)
40 mine markers (10 each per player)
16 ore markers (3 each in yellow, green, blue, and red, 4 in white)
16 crystal markers (3 each in yellow, green, blue, and red, 4 in white)
40 coins (8x $5, 32x $1)
16 transformation markers
8 player aids (in English and German)
2 rules booklets (in English and German)

The region cards, ore and crystal markers, transformation markers

The 16 region cards, from now on called regions, form the central play area. Each region type matches a die color: wastelands are white, plains yellow, mountains blue, hills red, and forests green. Each region receives one ore marker and one crystal marker of the matching color, which the players may collect by different actions. Additionally, each region receives a randomly assigned transformation marker, whose effect may be used once per turn by each player.

Player components

The player mat consists of several areas. At the top edge is the dice depot holding used and temporarily set aside dice. Below are the different action spaces showing most of the actions available to the player. At the bottom right is the dice store, where the player may buy additional dice.

In each turn the players draw dice from their bag and use them for different actions.

The players use guild markers to mark the influence of their steam guild. They place guild markers on regions, their player cards, public buildings and attack cards. The number of guild markers is limited to 12 per player.

The player places their mine markers on regions, to score victory points for them during the final scoring. The number of mine markers is limited to 10 per player.

The player marks their medals and combat points with the five wooden cubes on their medal mat.

The players mark received medals with their wooden cubes in four different areas on the medal mat: combat medals, exploration medals, trade medals, and civil medals. At the left edge the players mark received combat points after successfully warding off attacks.

The players activate their player cards to use their actions during the game. The activation costs are shown on the top left. All cards offer actions, some of them also offer permanent actions.

The building cards

The players build the building cards as public buildings; the costs are shown on the top left. If they pay additional costs, the players take possession of the building and mark them with one of their guild markers. All players may use the actions if they pay the appropriate costs.

The action cards

The action cards offer different advantages to the players, which they may play in addition to their chosen actions.

The attack cards

During each turn, the players must defend themselves against attacks of the Circumdate Caelo Trust. Its attack strength is determined by the attack cards and varies from attack to attack. "R" stands for the round, so that the attack strength of the trust increases from round to round.

The round end cards

If the players lose one or more attacks during a round, they suffer losses at the round's end as determined by the round end cards. "R1" stands for the first round and so on. Additionally, these cards remind the players that they may turn in received combat points for combat medals.

Round marker, start player marker, coins

The players move the round marker during the game from one region row to the next. In this way they keep track of the four game rounds and mark the regions on which they are attacked by the trust. After each turn of a round, the players pass the start player marker clockwise to the next player, marking the player who starts a turn. The players pay for different actions with their coins. During the final scoring, the players also gain victory points for their remaining money. The currency in Tharos is called Jar.

Set Up

A. Shuffle the 16 regions and place them face up in a 4x4 grid. This is the play area.

B. Place one ore and one crystal marker of the matching color on each region.

C. Shuffle the 16 transformation markers and place one face up on each region.

D. Shuffle the 8 attack cards and place them face down to the top left above the first row of regions as a draw stack. Shuffle the 6 round end cards and place them face down as a draw stack to the top right above the first row of regions. During the game, you will place four attack cards face up between these two draw stacks.

E. Place the round marker to the left of the first row of regions.

F. Shuffle the 40 action cards and place them face down next to the play area as a draw stack. You need some space next to it for a face up discard pile of all played and discarded action cards.

G. Place the 8 building cards next to the draw stack of action cards. During the game, you may look at these cards at any time. Furthermore, built public buildings will be on display in a row next to the play area.

H. Place the coins in a general supply. You start the game without any money.

I. Each of you chooses a steam guild and takes the following components: a player mat, 12 guild markers, 10 mine markers, 10 player cards, a medal mat, a set of 5 wooden cubes, a set of 18 dice, and a bag.

J. Place 6 dice on the matching spaces of your dice stores: 1 red, 1 yellow, 2 green, and 2 blue dice.

K. Place the remaining 12 dice in your bags: 8 white, 2 red, and 2 yellow dice.

L. Place the wooden cubes on the "0" spaces matching the colors on your medal mats.

M. Place the 10 player cards face up as a stack next to your player mat. During the game, place your active player cards in a row above your player mat.

N. Place your 12 guild markers and 10 mine markers next to your player mat.

O. Randomly determine the start player, who takes the start player marker.

You are now ready to start Tharos!

Game Overview

In Tharos, the players use dice for different actions. Money and action cards are also helpful to play successfully.

At game's end, collected medals determine victory or defeat. To gain medals, the players have to fulfill different requirements:

The players gain combat medals by turning in combat points during the end of each of the four rounds. The players receive these combat points for warding off attacks by the Circumdate Caelo Trust. They receive support by their player cards Cannoneer and Rumblepoke, and by some action cards.
The players gain exploration medals by exploring adjacent regions containing their guild markers and turning in these markers. The player card Cartographer and several other action cards offer the players more lucrative or easier requirements to gain exploration medals.
The players gain trade medals by turning in ore and crystal markers on built public buildings or with certain action cards. They collect these markers with the help of the player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist and one action card.
By building public buildings the players gain civil medals.

During the final scoring at the end of the game the players will gain more victory points - and then determine the winner!

NOTE: The different symbols are summarized on the player aids. All cards are explained in detail on pages 17 to 20 at the end of this rules booklet (reproduced below in the Glossary). Additionally, the player cards are summarized on the player aids.

IMPORTANT: Any reference to playing pieces - dice, guild markers, mine markers etc. - is always to the player's personal playing pieces. The player cannot manipulate the playing pieces of another player.

IMPORTANT: Each die symbol on all actions stands for an individual dice result. If a player needs two or more dice for an action, these symbols do not influence each other.

EXAMPLE: If a steam guild needs to use two die symbols for an action, they may use two dice in different colors each having a face value of 3 or higher.

Sequence of Play

Tharos is played over four rounds. Each round consists of four turns, in which the steam guilds first take several actions each and then are attacked by the Circumdate Caelo Trust on a single region. At the end of a round, after playing four turns, the players check for losses from attacks not warded off and prepare for the next round. After the fourth round Tharos ends with a final scoring and the players count up their victory points.

A. A Turn

In each turn the players carry out the following four phases:

I. Preparation: Reveal an attack card; determine the transformation effect; draw and roll dice II. Actions: Use dice on player mats or active player cards III. Attack of the Circumdate Caelo Trust: Ward off the attack IV. Clean up: Discard used dice; remove coins from player cards

I. Preparation

At the start of a turn the players reveal a new attack card, determine the transformation effect and draw their personal dice.

A) Reveal the Attack Card

A player draws and reveals the topmost attack card of the draw stack and places it face up above the region columns on the leftmost empty space. The region currently attacked by the Circumdate Caelo Trust is the card in the column below the attack card and in the row of the turn marker.

The attack card represents the attack of the trust. Each steam guild needs to defend against that attack separately during the third phase of the turn. The players determine the attack strength of the trust by adding the attack card value and the current round.

EXAMPLE: It is the second round of the game, as shown by the round marker next to the second row of regions. The guilds draw and reveal a new attack card affecting all of them and place it face up above the third column. Later, the Wastelands will be attacked by the trust. The current attack strength of the Circumdate Caelo Trust is 5 = attack card value of 3 plus round 2.

B) Determine the Transformation Effect

Each region offers the players a transformation effect. Each player may use the transformation effect of the region attacked by the Circumdate Caelo Trust once per turn during phases 2 or 3.

The following transformation effects are available:

(blank marker) The region has no effect.
(3 or 5 Jar marker) Each player gains 3 or 5 Jars.
(combat marker) Each player increases their combat strength by 1 or 2.
(+1 marker) Each player may increase the face value of any one die when placing a die for an action by 1 (even to 7).
(+/-1 markers in the die colors) Each player may increase or decrease the die value of one matching colored die when placing it for an action by 1. They may increase it to 7, but not below 1.
(white-die marker) For an action, each player may use a white die as any die color.
(flip marker) Each player may turn the face value of up to two white dice to their opposite side (e.g., changing a 2 to a 5).

C) Draw and Roll Dice

Each player randomly draws 5 dice from their bag, which they use for actions during the next phase.

If there are not enough dice in the bag, the player draws the remaining dice, thus emptying the bag. Then they take all dice from their dice depot (all used dice and dice set aside temporarily) and place them back into the bag. The player continues to draw dice until they have 5 dice.

NOTE: Thanks to card actions, the player may have more than 5 dice at their disposal.

Each player rolls all their available dice. These are now their active dice and are normally not rolled again during the turn. Thanks to actions, a player may reroll individual dice.

EXAMPLE: Power & Torsion draws 5 dice; three white dice, one yellow, and one red die. They roll all 5 dice and place them as their active dice next to the player mat.

II. Actions

Beginning with the start player and continuing in clockwise direction, each player takes one action or passes. This phase ends when all players have passed.

Each time a player takes their action, they may choose any available action. They are restricted to actions on their player mat, on their active player cards, and on public buildings. Additionally, a player may only choose actions on their player cards and on white action spaces once per turn.

The player places the dice used for actions on the chosen action spaces or the active player cards. If they pay money for an action, they place it into the general supply.

If the player already drew action cards, they may play one card in addition before or after the chosen action. Playing an action card does not count as an action; you cannot play an action card and then pass!

In addition, the player may use the transformation effect of the region attacked by the Circumdate Caelo Trust once per turn during phases 2 or 3.

A) Actions on One's Own Player Mat

The player takes an action on their own player mat.

With one exception, white action spaces each offer two actions. The player may only choose one of the two actions per turn by placing the matching die or dice on the space, thus blocking it for now. They cannot choose the other action in this turn.

EXAMPLE: Power & Torsion already used the action Place guild markers on a player card with the white die. Thus, this action space is blocked for this turn and the steam guild cannot choose the second action Reroll of this action space for now.

The player may use the yellow action space on the bottom right of the mat any number of times, as long as they pay the respective costs in Jars. They do not need dice for this action, therefore they never block that space.

The player may place one or more red dice on the red action space several times during the turn. As a reminder, this space has a different shape as the white action spaces.

The player may select the following actions:

Money

The player needs Jars for different actions and to buy additional dice. They have the following choice on this action space:

Plenty of money: The player uses up to three white dice. They add the face value of the dice and gain money matching the total sum, up to a maximum of 8 Jars.

Little money: The player uses any one die. They gain half the face value of the die in Jars; rounded up in favor of the player.

A player's money is always open information for all players.

EXAMPLE: Power & Torsion chooses the action Little money and uses the red die with face value 5. After rounding up they gain 3 Jars.

When paying for different actions on their player mat, the player places the money back into the general supply.

The player pays money to another player only for one reason: If the player uses the action of a public building owned by another player, the owner gains part of the payment made to cover the costs of the action (see section Actions on public buildings).

During final scoring the player gains 1 victory point each per 5 Jars.

Action Card

The player gains different advantages when playing action cards in addition to their chosen actions. They have the following choices on this action space:

Plenty of choices: The player uses a white die. They draw a number of action cards according to the face value of the die divided by 2, rounded up in favor of the player. The player chooses 1 of the drawn cards and keeps it in their hand. They discard the other cards face up on the discard pile.

No choice: The player uses any one die. They draw 1 action card and keep it.

EXAMPLE: Next, Power & Torsion chooses the action Plenty of choices and uses the white die with face value 3. After rounding up, the steam guild draws 2 action cards and selects one of the cards to keep. They discard the other card.

The player may never have more than 3 action cards in their hand! If they draw a fourth card, they have to discard one card of their choice afterwards to stay within their hand limit.

IMPORTANT: The player may play one action card per chosen action. Playing these cards does not count as an action!

If the action draw deck is depleted, the players shuffle the discard pile and place the shuffled cards face down as the new draw deck.

Note: An overview of all action cards is in the Glossary.

On Player Card / Reroll

The player needs guild markers to use actions on certain player cards (check section Activate one's own player cards). Furthermore, dice results are not always satisfactory...

The player has the following choices on this action space:

Place one guild marker on a player card: The player uses any one die. They place 1 guild marker on one of their active player cards which needs these markers for its action. These are the Organizer and the Manipulator. The number on the top left in the guild symbol shows how many guild markers the player may place at most on these cards.

If all guild markers have already been placed on regions and cards, the player has to take back a marker from a region or another player card (never from an attack card) to place it on the selected player card.

EXAMPLE: The limit for the Manipulator is 3 guild markers. Crystal & Ore uses a white die for the action Place guild tokens on a player card and places 1 guild marker on the Manipulator. Thus, they again have 2 markers to use for this action.

Reroll: The player uses a white die. They reroll any number of still active dice of their choice.

On Region / Explore

The player marks regions on the play area with their guild markers so that they may later explore an area. They have the following choices on this action space:

Place one guild marker on a region: The player uses any two dice. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. They place a guild marker on a region of the play area which matches the color of one of the two dice. As long as the player follows this color restriction, they do not have to place their guild markers on horizontally and/or vertically adjacent regions. However, this may be helpful later to explore an area.

The player may only place one guild marker per region; however, there may be guild markers from all players on the same region.

If all guild markers have been already placed on regions and cards, the player has to take back a marker from a region or another player card (never from an attack card) to place it on the selected region.

EXAMPLE: Cogwheel Trust would like to place another guild marker on a region. They use a white and a blue die for this action. The steam guild now has the choice to place a guild marker either on the white wastelands or on the blue mountains. They choose the mountains because in this way two of their guild markers are adjacent.

Explore an area: The player uses any one die. They explore an area of exactly 4 horizontally and/or vertically adjacent regions where they had placed their guild markers before. The player removes these markers and puts them back in their personal supply. They gain 1 exploration medal which they mark on their medal mat.

There are action cards and player cards which modify the exploration, i.e., the number of adjacent regions is changed or a certain shape of adjacent regions is requested.

EXAMPLE: Power & Torsion already has 4 guild markers on horizontally and vertically adjacent regions. The steam guild uses the white die to explore the area. They remove the 4 guild markers and take them back in their supply. The steam guild gains 1 exploration medal and marks it on their medal mat.

Purchase Die / On Region (Mines)

The player increases their action choices with more dice. Furthermore, they increase their influence by placing mines. They have the following choice on this action space:

Purchase die: The player uses any one die. They purchase a die of their choice from their dice store and pay its price in Jars: A die in the bottom row costs 2 Jars, a die in the center row costs 4 Jars, and a die in the top row costs 6 Jars.

The player places the purchased die from the dice store on the dice depot of their player mat. When they need to draw new dice and the bag is empty, the player refills their bag by placing all dice from the dice depot in the bag.

If the player buys a die from the bottom or center row, all dice above them slide down in their column filling the gap. Therefore the player may buy them cheaper later.

EXAMPLE: Cogwheel Trust wants to buy a die and uses the yellow die for the action. The steam guild pays 4 Jars and places the green die from the dice store to their dice depot. The blue die slides down in that column - its price drops from 6 to 4 Jars.

Place one mine marker on a region: The player uses any one die with a face value of 6. They place 1 mine marker on a region matching the color of the die.

The player may place the first mine marker on any region matching the color of the die. Afterwards they have to place each additional mine marker on a region horizontally and/or vertically adjacent to at least one other region with one of their mine markers. The mine markers remain on the regions and are not relocated (however check chapter B. Round end, I. Losses).

During final scoring the player gains 1 victory point for each mine marker in play, as long as they placed at least 3 mine markers.

EXAMPLE: Crystal & Ore already has a mine marker on forests. The steam guild uses the white die with face value 6, to place another mine marker on the adjacent Wastelands. They cannot choose the Wastelands further away, as all their mines must be placed adjacent on regions.

Build

The player increases their influence by building public buildings.

Build a public building: The player uses a yellow die with a face value of 3 or higher and pays 10 Jars. They choose any one of the available building cards lying next to the action card draw deck and place it as a public building next to the play area. If the player pays an additional 2 Jars, they take possession of the building and place a guild marker on the top left guild symbol of the card.

When they build a public building, the player gains 1 civil medal which they mark on their medal mat. They do this with or without taking possession of the building.

EXAMPLE: Power & Torsion wants to build a public building and uses the yellow die with face value 4 for the action. The steam guild pays a total of 12 Jars: They build the New Market for 10 Jars and take possession of it by placing a guild marker on the card by 2 more Jars. Power & Torsion gains 1 civil medal for the building and marks it on their medal mat.

During final scoring the player gains 1 victory point for each public building in their possession.

Note: Immediately after building the public building, the player may use the action of the building once without paying its costs.

After it is built, all players may use the action of the public building (check section B. Actions on public buildings).

Note: An overview of all public buildings is in the Glossary.

Attack

The players must always defend themselves against the attacks of the Circumdate Caelo Trust.

Raise the combat strength: The player places one or more red dice (or dice changed to red color) on the Attack action space. In contrast to the white action spaces they may do this several times during the same turn! As a reminder this action space has a different shape.

Each player defends themselves separately against these attacks!

To successfully ward off the attack in the next phase, the player's combat strength (the total face value of the dice in the Attack space) must reach or exceed the attack strength of the trust.

With some action cards and player cards, the player may increase their combat strength, too.

EXAMPLE: The attack strength of the Circumdate Caelo Trust on the Wastelands is 5. Crystal & Ore uses their red die with a face value of 3 for this action. For now their combat strength is only 3. Therefore the steam guild has to place another die on the attack action space or needs help from their player or action cards.

B) Actions on Public Buildings

The player uses the actions of public buildings to their advantage, even if the owner of the building may profit financially.

Use a public building: The player chooses a public building already built. They pay the requested cost and take the action.

All players may use each public building. If a player owns the chosen public building, the player taking the action pays 2 Jars of the total costs to the owner. The remaining costs are paid to the general supply. The player does not pay an additional 2 Jars! If the player takes an action of a building they own themselves, they have to pay the full amount and do not gain a discount!

The player may use the action Use a public building any number of times in the same turn. They do not use a die for this action; therefore they do not block this yellow action space on their player mat.

NOTE THOUGH: The player may use each public building only once per turn!

Note: An overview of all public buildings is in the Glossary.

EXAMPLE: Cogwheel Trust uses the New Market. The steam guild does not use a die for this action. Instead, it only pays 5 Jars, giving 2 Jars of this payment to Power & Torsion, who owns that public building. Cogwheel Trust turns in 2 ore markers and 2 crystal markers and places them in the general supply, to gain 2 trade medals. The action space Use a public building is not blocked - therefore Cogwheel Trust may use it several times for different public buildings in this turn if they pay the costs of the actions of the selected public buildings.

C) Activate One's Own Player Cards

Instead of one of the actions of the player mat the player activates one of their player cards with this action.

Activate a player card: To activate a player card, the player uses the die or dice requested in the top left corner of the player card. The listed sum must be met or exceeded by the selected die or dice.

The player has to use the requested dice and may not use any additional dice. They place the active player card above their player mat and any dice used above the card for now.

The player may activate several player cards in the same turn.

After the player has activated a player card, they cannot take its action immediately, but may do so when choosing a subsequent action. The card remains permanently active as its costs have been paid.

During clean up the player removes all dice or Jar placed on the card.

Note: The overview of all player cards is in the Glossary; in addition, they are summarized on the player aids.

EXAMPLE: Next, Crystal & Ore activate their Crystallographist. The steam guild uses the white and blue dice which have a total face value of 9, thus exceeding the requested face value of the card. They place the Crystallographist above their player mat, the used dice above the card.

D) Actions on One's Own Player Cards

The player uses the actions of their active player cards to gain several advantages.

After activating their player cards, the player may use the actions of the cards above their player mat starting with their next action. They may use each action once per turn. Some of the player cards offer permanent effects which may be always used.

Using the permanent effect: Three player cards offer a permanent effect. The player may always use these effects, even after using the card's action during the turn.

Using the action of the player card: In most cases, the player uses dice for these actions. A few actions also need money or guild markers. If a card offers several actions using dice, the player may only use one of them per turn. The other action is blocked by placing the dice on the card.

If the player uses dice for the action, they place them on the card and then take the action. If the player pays money for the action, they place the coins on the card. They remove dice and coins during clean up in phase 4.

EXAMPLE: Crystal & Ore takes the action of their Crystallographist and places the white die with face value 2 and the yellow die with face value 3 on the card. The steam guild takes the white and yellow crystal markers from the horizontally adjacent Plains and Wastelands.

Two player cards offer actions which are used with guild markers. When the player activates one of these cards, they remove the requested number of guild markers from the card.

When taking the player mat action Place guild markers on a player card the player may again increase the number of guild markers on these cards. If the player takes the action on the player card, they use a guild marker from the card and place it back in their personal supply. Therefore they may use these actions several times per turn - even if the other action used (by a die) is already blocked.

EXAMPLE: Crystal & Ore takes the action of their Manipulator. The steam guild uses a guild marker from that card and places it back in their supply to raise the face value of the white die by 1 to 4. They may use this action several times in the same turn as it is never blocked by dice.

The player gains crystal and ore markers by using the actions of their player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist. They can only have one ore and one crystal marker in each of the five colors, thus only at maximum 5 of each type.

Ore and crystal markers do not replenish; however, see Action card #39.

With the hard-hitting support of player card Cannoneer the player may also ward off the attack independently of their combat strength.

With help of player card Rumblepoke the player may turn in these combat points during future attacks to increase their combat strength.

Note: The overview of all player cards is in the Glossary; additionally they are summarized on the player aids.

E) Pass

If the player cannot or does not want to take one of the actions explained above, they have to pass.

For this player, this phase is over. The other players continue to take actions in clockwise order.

After all players passed by using all their dice or not wanting to take another action, this phase ends.

III. Attack of the Circumdate Caelo Trust

Now the players have to defend themselves against the attack of the Circumdate Caelo Trust.

The attack takes place on the region marked by the round marker and the current attack card.

EXAMPLE: During the third turn of the second round the Wastelands will be attacked.

In player order each player checks if they ward off the attack. They are successful if their combat strength is at least as high as the trust's attack strength.

The trust's attack strength:

Current attack card value plus current round.

A player's combat strength:

Sum of the face values of the dice on the Attack action space, plus
Possibly additional combat strength from player cards and action cards.

Attack successfully warded off: Each player warding off the attack gains 1 combat point, marked on the leftmost track of their medal mat.

Losing against the attack: Each player who cannot match the trust's attack strength or is not able to ward off the attack by any other means, loses against the attack.

These players have to place one of their guild markers on the current attack card. At Round's End, the player has to check for losses for each marker.

If all of a player's guild markers have already been placed on regions and cards, the player has to take back a marker from a region or another player card (never from an attack card) to place it on the current attack card.

Moreover, if the player has a guild marker and/or a mine marker on the attacked region, they must remove these markers and place them back in their personal supply. Of course, they may place new markers on this region in future turns.

Turning in combat points for a combat medal: Once during each Round End the player may turn in 4 combat points for 1 combat medal, which they mark on their medal mat.

After all players assessed the attack, each player's combat strength is reset to zero (combat strength is not carried over between turns), and then this phase ends.

EXAMPLE: The Circumdate Caelo Trust attacks all steam guilds on the Wastelands. Crystal & Ore and Power & Torsion both have a mine marker, Cogwheel Trust has a guild marker on that region. The attack strength of the Circumdate Caelo Trust is 5 = attack card value 3 plus 2 for the current round. Power & Torsion has a combat strength of 1 with their red die. They turned in 1 combat point for Rumblepoke's permanent effect to raise their combat strength by 2. They also used Rumblepoke's action with the red die and raised their combat strength by another 3. With a total combat strength of 6 they ward off the attack. Crystal & Ore did not draw a red die and also could not use any other actions to defend themselves, thus losing against the attack. Cogwheel Trust used the white and yellow dice with face values 5 and 6 for their Cannoneer, warding off the attack. Power & Torsion and Cogwheel Trust both gain 1 combat point, while Crystal & Ore must place a guild marker on the attack card and remove their mine marker from the attacked region.

IV. Clean Up

The players clean up their play area and finish the current turn.

Clean up: Each player places all used dice and any unused dice from the current turn on the dice depot of their player mat. Any dice not yet bought remain on the dice store.

Each time the player draws dice and the bag is empty, they take all dice from their dice depot and place them back into the bag. Afterwards, the player continues to draw dice.

Any money used to take actions on player cards is placed into the general supply.

Passing the start player marker: The current start player passes the start player marker to the player to their left who will be the start player in the next turn.

B. Round End

The current round ends when the players have completed four turns and four attack cards are located above the top row of region cards.

Now, the players perform the following steps.

I. Losses

If the players lost against at least one of the four attacks, they have to check for losses.

Each player who was forced to place guild markers on attack cards suffers losses for each of these markers.

Attack cards with at least one guild marker are evaluated from left to right. For each attack card the players reveal one round end card from the draw deck. Each player with a marker on the respective attack card immediately implements the losses. The specific loss depends on the current round.

If a player cannot implement the loss because they do not have any of the requested components, they are lucky and do not suffer any losses.

If a player can only implement a part of the loss they have to do so.

Afterwards, the players take the guild markers from the attack cards and place them back in their personal supplies.

Note: An overview of all round end cards is in the Glossary.

EXAMPLE: In the second round Crystal & Ore did not ward off the attack on the Wastelands and had to place a guild marker on the attack card. At round's end they reveal round end card # 5 which forces them to discard 2 action cards. The steam guild does not have any action cards in hand. Therefore they do not suffer any losses.

In the third round Power & Torsion and Cogwheel Trust both lost against an attack of the trust. They reveal round end card # 4 which forces them to lose 10 Jars. Cogwheel Trust has only 6 Jars which they lose. Power & Torsion has 13 Jars and have to lose the full 10 Jars.

II. Combat Medals

In this step each player may turn in 4 combat points for 1 combat medal after suffering losses. They reduce their combat points on the leftmost track of their medal mat and then mark the gained combat medal. The players do not have to do so - especially if they intend to use combat points to increase their combat strength with their player card Rumblepoke in later turns.

Combat points not turned in are not lost. However, a player may never have more than 7 combat points!

EXAMPLE: At the end of the second round Power & Torsion has 5 combat points which the steam guild would like to use with Rumblepoke in the next rounds to increase their combat strength. Crystal & Ore has 6 combat points and they turn in 4 of them for 1 combat medal. Cogwheel Trust only has 3 combat points and cannot turn anything in.

III. Clean Up

The players collect any face up attack cards above the top row of regions. They shuffle these cards together with the remaining cards from the draw deck and again place all cards face down as next round's new draw deck.

The same is done to any face up round end cards: They shuffle them together with the remaining cards of the draw deck and place them as the new draw deck.

IV. New Round or End of Game

At the end of the first three rounds, the players move the round marker down to the next row of regions and begin the next turn (check section A. A Turn). After finishing the fourth round, as tracked by the round marker, the players finish the game with the final scoring.

Game End and Final Scoring

Tharos ends after the fourth round.

The players now finish the game with the final scoring. They gain the following victory points:

3 victory points per combat medal
4 victory points per exploration medal
4 victory points per trade medal
2 victory points per civil medal
2 victory points per set of four different medals
1 victory point per 5 Jars
1 victory point per public building owned by the player
1 victory point per mine marker on regions (only if they placed at least 3 mine markers; they do not get victory points for 1 or 2 placed mine markers)
1 victory point per dice symbol on the top left corner of active player cards

The player with the most victory points controls the most successful steam guild of Tharos!

EXAMPLE: At game end, Power & Torsion has a total of 44 victory points: The steam guild gains 27 victory points for their medals (9 victory points for 3 combat medals, 8 victory points for 2 exploration medals, 8 victory points for 2 trade medals, and 2 victory points for 1 civil medal). Power & Torsion has one set of four different medals = 2 victory points. In addition, they gain 5 victory points for their 5 mine markers on the regions, 1 victory point for owning the New Market, 8 victory points for the dice symbols on their active player cards, and 1 victory point for their remaining money.

Glossary

Action Cards

The player may play 1 action card per chosen action. Please take a look at these details.

Note: The action cards 1, 9 and 22 are exceptions to all other action cards. They are played during preparation and/or clean up (then discarded) and not in addition to an action.

1: During preparation the player chooses 5 dice from their dice depot instead of drawing them from their bag. If the player may draw additional dice because of other actions or cards, they only do so after completely executing this action card.

2: The player turns in 1 or 2 guild markers from any regions; the regions do not need to be horizontally or vertically adjacent to each other. The player gains 8 Jars for each marker turned in.

3: The player has the choice to turn in 2 markers of the same type for 1 trade medal, or to turn in 4 markers of the same type for 2 trade medals. They place these markers into the general supply.

4: The player moves 1 guild marker to any region; it does not need to be horizontally or vertically adjacent to the original region of the chosen marker.

5: The player uses 1 action space twice during the same turn. Both times, the player has the choice which action they take on white action spaces. They need the respective dice and, if necessary, they need to pay money for both actions.

6: The player turns in 12 Jars for 1 trade medal. They pay the money to the general supply.

7: The player raises their combat strength by 2 (temporarily placing the card next to the attack space as a reminder).

8: The player chooses any one die from their bag, rolls it, and immediately uses the die for the chosen action. If they need several dice for the chosen action, they use additional active dice.

9: If the player is not happy with the dice they drew during preparation, they place all of them on the dice depot and again draw the same number of dice from their bag. If the player may draw additional dice because of other actions or cards, they only do so after completely executing this action card.

10: The player turns any one active die to any side. They may only choose a face value between 1 to 6.

11: The player stocks up Organizer and/or Manipulator with guild markers if they have activated those cards. They may only place a total of 2 guild markers on the Organizer and a total of 3 guild markers on the Manipulator.

12: The player rolls any number of their dice. They may only reroll dice they did not already use for actions.

13: The player gains 1 ore or 1 crystal marker from the supply. They may choose any available color of the chosen marker (they are still restricted to 1 marker of each color). At the start of the game, all ore markers and crystal markers are on regions, so the supply is empty.

14: The player turns in 1 ore and 1 crystal marker of the same color from their supply for 1 trade medal. They gain these markers only when using player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist as well as action card 13.

15: The player turns in 3 guild markers from any regions for 1 exploration medal. The three regions do not have to be horizontally or vertically adjacent.

16: The player chooses a die color and face value between 1 to 6. The action card is considered to be a die. The player does not gain a "real" die.

17: The player places 1 guild marker on any region, as long as they have not already placed a guild marker on it.

18: The player places 2 guild markers on 2 adjacent regions of the top row. If the player already has guild markers on the two central regions or on 3 regions of that row, they may only place 1 guild marker.

19: The player chooses one of the three effects. They raise their combat strength by 4 (temporarily placing the card next to the attack space as a reminder), or they draw and roll 2 dice and place them to their active dice, or they move 1 die from the dice store to the dice depot without paying money for that die.

20: The player chooses one of the two effects: They raise their combat strength by 4 (temporarily placing the card next to the attack space as a reminder), or they gain 8 Jars.

21: The player places 1 guild marker on Organizer and/or 1 guild marker on Manipulator if they have activated those cards. They may only place a total of 2 guild markers on the Organizer and a total of 3 guild markers on the Manipulator.

22: During clean up, the player chooses any two dice which were available during the turn. During preparation of the following turns, they may add one or both of the dice to the drawn dice - before rolling all of them together. After adding the last die, they place the empty card on the discard pile.

23: The player places 1 mine marker on any region. They may choose any region which does not need to be horizontally or vertically adjacent to regions with their mines.

24: If the player chooses the action Plenty of money, they gain twice the amount of Jars; not in addition to the regular amount!

25: The player increases or decreases the face value of any one die by exactly 2. They may increase the face value to 7 or 8 but cannot decrease it below 1. A 2 may be lowered to a 1.

26: The player chooses any one die from the dice depot and rolls it. They immediately use the die for the chosen action. If they need several dice for the chosen action, they use additional active dice.

27: The player removes a guild marker from an attack card (a defeat from an earlier turn in the same round).

28: The player chooses one of the two effects: They draw two dice from their bag, roll them, and place them with their active dice, or they draw 3 action cards and choose 1 of them to keep in their hand. They discard the other cards face up on the discard pile.

29: The player takes back 2 of their active player cards for any one medal. They may choose player cards that they already used in the turn.

30: The player turns in 5 Jars to activate a player card. They ignore the regular dice costs of that card.

31: The player turns in any one medal for another medal. They do this to either gain a more valuable medal or to gain an additional 2 victory points for a set of four different medals.

32, 33, 34: If the player has a mine marker on each of the three regions, they gain 1 exploration medal. The player does not remove the mine markers on the regions; the markers remain there. (The required arrangement of three regions is shown by the pictogram on each card and is not described in the rules text.)

35, 36, 37, 38: The player turns in 4 guild markers on the requested regions for 2 exploration medals. (The required arrangement of four regions is shown by the pictogram on each card and is not described in the rules text.)

39: The player places a total of 3 ore and crystal markers from the supply back on matching regions for 1 civil medal. Each region can only contain at most 1 ore and 1 crystal marker. They must choose a total of 3 markers and may choose how many of them are ore markers and crystal. If there are only 1 or 2 markers in the supply, the player places what they can.

40: The player turns in 1 guild marker from a player card together with 1 guild and 1 mine marker from any regions for any one medal. When removing the mine marker the player may create two separate groups of mine markers on the play area.

Player Cards

The players have the following player cards.

BANKER Activation: The player needs a white and a yellow die with a total face value of 10 or more. Permanent effect: If the player chooses the action Plenty of money they gain an additional 2 Jars. At maximum they gain 10 Jars. Action: The player uses a yellow die. They gain money matching the face value.

STEAM DYER Activation: The player needs a white and a yellow die with a total face value of 8 or more. Action: The player uses any one die with face value 3 or higher. They immediately use a white die as any die color for an action. If they need several dice for the chosen action they use additional dice.

ORE DIGGER Activation: The player needs a white and a blue die with a total face value of 8 or more. Action: The player uses any two dice with face values between 2 and 4. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. The player takes up to 2 ore markers from horizontally or vertically adjacent regions in the colors of the dice. If there are no matching ore markers on adjacent regions, or only one color matches the markers, the player only takes one marker. The player may only have a single ore marker in each of the five colors. If they use two dice of the same color, they may only take one ore marker from a matching region. The player gains trade medals when turning in these markers on public buildings.

CRYSTALLOGRAPHIST Activation: The player needs a white and a blue die with a total face value of 8 or more. Action: The player uses any two dice with face values between 1 and 3. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. The player takes up to 2 crystal markers from horizontally or vertically adjacent regions in the colors of the dice. If there are no matching crystal markers on adjacent regions, or only one color matches the markers, the player only takes one marker. The player may only have a single crystal marker in each of the five colors. If they use two dice of the same color, they may only take one crystal marker from a matching region. The player gains trade medals when turning in these markers on public buildings.

CARTOGRAPHER Activation: The player needs two green dice with a total face value of 6 or more. Action: The player pays 2 Jars. They turn in 3 guild markers from horizontally and/or vertically adjacent regions to gain 1 exploration medal. The player places the guild markers in their personal supply.

ORGANIZER Activation: The player needs a white and a green die with a total face value of 8 or more. They place 1 guild marker on the Organizer as a card supply. There may be only a total of 2 guild markers on this card. Action: The player uses 1 guild marker from the Organizer. They either draw and roll 1 die from their bag and place it with their other active dice, or they reroll up to two active dice. They may also reroll the same die twice. The player may use this action several times per turn. They do not use dice for this action, thus they do not block the dice action of this card, or this action when placing the dice on the card after using the dice action. Action: The player uses any two dice with face value 5 or higher. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. The player exchanges 1 active player card for a player card from their hand. If there are guild markers on the returned player card, the player places them back in their personal supply.

CANNONEER Activation: The player needs a red die with face value of 5 or more. Action: The player uses any two dice with face value 3 or higher. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. The player increases their combat strength by 3.

Action: The player uses any two dice with face value 5 or higher. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. The player wards off the attack at the end of the turn independent of their combat strength.

RUMBLEPOKE Activation: The player needs a white and a red die with a total face value of 8 or more. Permanent effect: Once per turn, during the Attack of the Circumdate Caelo Trust phase, the player may turn in 1 combat point to increase their combat strength by 2. Action: The player uses a red die. They increase the combat strength by the face value plus 2.

STEAM PRESSURE PLANT Activation: The player needs three white dice with a total face value of 13 or more. Permanent effect: During preparation, the player draws 6 dice from their bag. They place 1 of the dice on their dice depot before rolling the other dice. If the player may draw additional dice because of other actions or cards, they only do so after completely executing this action card. Action: The player uses any two dice with face value 5 or higher. The colors and face values of the dice may be different. They choose 1 action card from the discard pile and take it to their hand.

MANIPULATOR Activation: The player needs two white dice with a total face value of 8 or more. They place 2 guild markers as a card supply on the Manipulator. There may be only a total of 3 guild markers on this card. Action: The player uses 1 guild marker from the Manipulator. They increase or decrease the face value of any one die by 1. The player may use this action several times during the same turn. They do not use dice for this action therefore they do not block it. They may increase the face value to 7, but cannot decrease it below 1.

Round End Cards

The following round end cards are available in Tharos. Check B) Round End, I. Losses, too.

Round 1 to 3: Nothing happens.
Round 4: The player loses a civil medal.

Round 1: Nothing happens.
Round 2: The player takes an active player card back to their hand.
Round 3: The player takes an active player card back in their hand and places 2 mine markers from any regions back in their supply.
Round 4: The player places 3 mine markers from any regions back in their supply.

Round 1: The player places 1 guild marker from any region back in their supply.
Round 2: The player places 2 guild markers from any regions back in their supply.
Round 3: The player places 3 guild markers from any regions back in their supply.
Round 4: The player loses 1 exploration medal.

Round 1: The player loses 3 Jars.
Round 2: The player loses half of their money, rounded up.
Round 3: The player loses 10 Jars.
Round 4: The player loses all of their money.

Round 1: The player loses 1 action card.
Round 2: The player loses 2 action cards.
Round 3: The player loses all of their action cards.
Round 4: The player loses 1 trade medal.

Round 1: The player places 1 guild marker on any one of their player cards back in their supply.
Round 2: The player places 2 guild markers on any of their player cards back in their supply.
Round 3: The player places 3 guild markers on any of their player cards back in their supply.
Round 4: The player loses 1 exploration medal.

Public Buildings

The players may build these public buildings. When taking the public building's action, the player pays the requested cost. If another player owns the chosen public building, the player taking the action pays 2 Jars of the total costs to the owner. The remaining costs are paid to the general supply.

CIVILIAN OFFICE The player pays 4 Jars. They turn any one active die to a face value of 5 or 6.

LARGE MARKET The player pays 2 Jars. They turn in 5 ore markers or 5 crystal markers from their supply to receive 2 trade medals, which they mark on their medal mat. They place the markers into the general supply next to the play area. The player only gains these markers when using player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist as well as action card 13.

LITTLE MARKET The player pays 2 Jars. They turn in 3 ore markers or 3 crystal markers from their supply to receive 1 trade medal, which they mark on their medal mat. They place the markers into the general supply next to the play area. The player only gains these markers when using player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist as well as action card 13.

NEW MARKET The player pays 5 Jars. They turn in 2 ore markers and 2 crystal markers (a total of 4 markers) from their supply to receive 2 trade medals, which they mark on their medal mat. They place the markers into the general supply next to the play area. The player only gains these markers when using player cards Ore Digger and Crystallographist as well as action card 13.

NOTARY'S OFFICE The player pays 8 Jars. They use 1 action space they already used earlier in the turn. They may take any of the available actions and need the respective dice and - if necessary - have to pay money for that action.

ORGANIZATION OFFICE The player pays 15 Jars. They choose 1 action card from the discard pile and take it to their hand.

SECRET SOCIETY The player pays 8 Jars. They turn any one active die to a face value of 3 and place it on the Attack action space of their player mat (check action Attack).

SURVEYOR'S OFFICE The player pays 4 Jars. They move 1 guild marker from any region to a horizontally or vertically adjacent region without one of their guild markers.