Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar – Tribes & Prophecies Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Extra Resource Blocks
• Tribes
  • Player Setup
  • Special Ability
• Prophecies
  • Setting Up the Game
  • Scope of a Prophecy
  • Calamities
  • Bonus Points
• New Buildings
  • Effects
  • Renovation
• Fifth Player
  • Setting Up a Five-Player Game
• Quick Actions
  • Setting Up Quick Actions
  • Choosing the Quick Action
  • Performing the Quick Action
  • Changing the Quick Action
  • Age 2 Quick Actions
  • Quick Actions for Fewer Players
• Appendix
  • Farms
  • Notes on Tribes
  • Quick Actions
  • New Building Effects
  • Prophecies

Extra Resource Blocks

The resources (wood, stone, and gold) should be unlimited. These new blocks should be added to your basic set so that you don't run out of anything during a five-player game. A complete set of gold blocks is also included in case you own the first edition and would prefer to use the new color.

Tribes

Each player has a unique special ability that changes the rules and adds to the variety of the game.

Player Setup

After setting up the game (including revealing buildings and monuments and placing dummy workers, if any) mix up the Tribe Tiles and deal 2 to each player at random.

Starting Wealth Tiles should also be dealt at this time. While choosing Starting Wealth Tiles, each player also chooses 1 Tribe Tile to keep and returns the other one.

Special Ability

Your Tribe Tile gives you a special ability that you may use during the game. The ability is described on the tile. Detailed descriptions are in the Appendix of this rulebook (see Notes on Tribes).

Prophecies

With magical sight, prophets have foreseen three calamities that will befall the Maya. The wisest rulers will prepare for trouble and lead their people to greater glory.

Setting Up the Game

While setting up the game (along with revealing buildings and monuments and before players choose Starting Wealth Tiles) mix up the Prophecy Tiles and draw 3 at random. Place them in a random order on the prophecy board.

Scope of a Prophecy

Each prophecy foretells a calamity that will last for one quarter of the game. The effect of the first prophecy begins the day after the first Food Day. This calamity lasts until the end of the second Food Day.

On the next day, the second prophecy takes effect and this calamity lasts until the end of the third Food Day. Then the third prophecy takes effect and lasts until the end of the game.

Each prophecy's effect begins the day after a Food Day and lasts until the end of the next Food Day. This is true even if someone uses the time-speeding privilege to make the Food Day occur one tooth later than usual. No prophecy will be in effect for the first quarter of the game. For the final three quarters, each prophecy will take effect in turn.

Example (printed diagram): the prophecy begins on the day indicated by the upper arrow and lasts until the end of the day indicated by the lower arrow.

Calamities

The upper half of the Prophecy Tile depicts a calamity. The calamity will make some aspect of the game more difficult while the prophecy is in effect.

The calamity lasts until the END of a Food Day. It still applies even when you are collecting rewards on that Food Day. If the calamity makes you pay when you receive a reward from a temple or a building, you may choose to not pay and not receive that reward.

Similarly, if an action gives multiple benefits and a calamity requires you to pay for one of them, you can choose to not pay and not receive that benefit. In that case, you still receive the other benefits.

Example: This prophecy requires you to pay 1 corn whenever you receive a block of gold. Yaxchilan action 5 gives you 1 gold, 1 stone, and 2 corn. When this prophecy is in effect and you perform this action, you have two options:

1. either take 1 stone and 2 corn;
2. or take 1 gold, 1 stone, and 1 corn.

Note that you can pay the cost with corn you would have received from the action. You can also pay 1 corn, then take 1 gold, 1 stone, and 2 corn, but the result is the same.

Now suppose you have the third level resource extraction technology. Under normal circumstances, you could get 2 gold, 2 stone, and 2 corn from this action. While this prophecy is in effect, you have 3 options:

1. take 2 stone and 2 corn;
2. take 1 gold, 2 stone, and 1 corn;
3. or take 2 gold and 2 stone.

Each calamity is explained in the Appendix of this rulebook (see Prophecies).

Editor's note: the Contents page of the printed expansion lists 13 Prophecy Tiles, but the Appendix of this rulebook describes 11 calamities (Wrathful Gods, Angry God, Forest Fires, Drought, Gold Shortage, Desecration, Teacher Shortage, Forgotten Lore, Crowded Cities, Hunger, High Floodwaters). The two remaining tiles are not described in this copy; nothing has been added to fill the gap.

Bonus Points

At the end of the calamity (after everyone has dealt with feeding workers and taken rewards) players score bonus points as depicted on the other half of the Prophecy Tile. Note that it is also possible to lose points instead of gaining them. (If you lose more points than you have, you will end up with a negative victory point total.)

The reward is related to the calamity. For example, if a prophet predicts that buildings will be more expensive, then players will be rewarded for buildings. All buildings will count, regardless of when they were constructed, so a wise ruler will prepare by constructing buildings before they become expensive. Such is the value of prophecy.

The rewards are explained in the Appendix of this rulebook (see Prophecies).

New Buildings

Like all civilizations, the Maya constructed new buildings atop the ruins of the old.

Effects

Building effects not found in the original game are explained in the Appendix of this rulebook (see New Building Effects).

However, all the new Age 1 buildings have one effect called renovation that we will explain in detail now.

Renovation

All four of the Age 1 buildings in this expansion can be renovated. This effect can be used on a monument or building that you construct later in the game.

Renovation allows you to tear down the older building and use the resources to build the newer one. Discard the building with the renovation icon. This counts as paying for each resource block that the two cards have in common. You only have to pay for the blocks that were not required by the older building. (But any blocks required by the older building and not the newer building are lost. You don't get "change".)

If you construct a building using Uxmal action 4, you must first compute the discount before converting the price to corn.

You may not renovate more than one building to construct a single building or monument.

If a building is discarded for renovation, it is no longer counted among your buildings and you may no longer get any benefits or rewards from it. In particular, if the building gives you a resource on Food Days, you can no longer receive that reward after discarding the building.

Example: Green has these two buildings. She wants to construct this one. She has 3 options:

1. Keep both older buildings and pay wood, stone, stone, and gold for the new one.
2. Discard only the blue building and pay wood, stone, and stone for the new one. (Or pay 6 corn if she's using Uxmal action 4.)
3. Discard only the green building and pay gold for the new one. (Or pay 2 corn on Uxmal action 4.)

She cannot discard both buildings to construct the new one for free because two renovation effects cannot be used to construct the same building (or monument).

Fifth Player

A new ruler has arisen to compete for dominance of the Mayan culture. Now all the rulers are asking their people to work faster.

Setting Up a Five-Player Game

This expansion contains additional components so that you can play with 5 players.

As always, the number of fields in the jungle corresponds to the number of players in the game. Use the Harvest Tiles included in this expansion to set up a fifth field for each of the Palenque harvesting actions (2, 3, 4, and 5).

The quick action board and the Quick Action Tiles should be set up as described below.

Quick Actions

The quick action is a special action available for only a short time. The available quick action changes frequently. The action is called "quick" because a player choosing the quick action gets to perform the action on the same turn.

Setting Up Quick Actions

Place the quick action board on the main board so that it covers up the Starting Player Space, as shown.

Divide the Quick Action Tiles according to their backs and mix up each group separately, face down.

Set the Age 2 Quick Action Tiles aside. They will be used later in the game.

Take all Age 1 Quick Action Tiles and place them face up on the Tzolk'in gear (in a random order) so that each tile corresponds to 2 days in Age 1. They will span the upper half of the gear, from the starting turquoise tooth to the opposite turquoise tooth.

The Quick Action Tile corresponding to the starting tooth is the first available quick action. Put it on the quick action board.

Choosing the Quick Action

On a turn in which you place workers, one of your options is to place one of your workers on a Quick Action Space.

Each Quick Action Space has a cost of 1. You may not place workers on more than one Quick Action Space per turn (but you are allowed to place one worker on a Quick Action Space and another on the Starting Player Space). If all Quick Action Spaces are occupied, then you cannot choose the quick action this turn.

Performing the Quick Action

The available quick action is the one depicted on the tile currently sitting on the quick action board. The Quick Action Tiles are explained in the Appendix of this rulebook (see Quick Actions).

A Quick Action Space is similar to the Starting Player Space:

• You get to use the benefits of this space on the same turn. As soon as you are done placing workers, you must perform the quick action. (If you also placed a worker on the Starting Player Space, you may take the accumulated corn before performing the quick action.)
• You do not wait for a pick up turn to get this worker back. The worker on a Quick Action Space returns to you automatically at the end of the round.

You are not allowed to place a worker on a Quick Action Space if the quick action is one you cannot perform. For example, if the quick action allows you to pay 1 corn and construct a building, you cannot choose the action unless you will have all the resources necessary for one of the available buildings and at least 1 corn when the time comes to perform the action. Once you have chosen the quick action, you must perform the action at the end of your turn.

Although the quick actions are similar to actions available elsewhere on the board, none of your technologies applies to a quick action. For example, if you use a quick action to take 1 wood, you cannot apply the first level resource extraction technology that gives you 1 extra wood (because that applies only to certain actions at Yaxchilan and Palenque). However, quick actions can be affected by other things, such as prophecies and special abilities of tribes.

Changing the Quick Action

When the arrow points to a tooth corresponding to a new Quick Action Tile, remove the old Quick Action Tile from the quick action board and replace it with the new one. In this way, the available quick action will change every other round (or sooner, if someone uses the time-speeding privilege).

Age 2 Quick Actions

You reveal the Age 2 quick actions on the first Food Day after feeding workers. By this time, 4 or 5 Age 1 quick actions have been removed from the Tzolk'in gear.

Place the Age 2 Quick Action Tiles randomly on the Tzolk'in gear as you did with the Age 1 tiles, except that this time you will place only 6, starting on the tooth after the turquoise tooth.

The last quick action will become available 2 days before the final round, which means (unless days are skipped) that it will be available for 3 rounds.

Quick Actions for Fewer Players

If you would like to use quick actions in a game with fewer than five players, you can add 6 dummy workers to make the gears as crowded as they are in a five-player game. Use the Starting Wealth Tiles to place the dummy workers, as explained in the rules for the original game. (Except that we now recommend using the marker disks in the non-player colors to represent dummy workers. That makes dummy workers easier to distinguish from players' workers.)

• In a two-player game, use 18 dummy workers and place the first 2 on Quick Action Spaces.
• In a three-player game, use 12 dummy workers and place the first 1 on a Quick Action Space.
• In a four-player game, use 6 dummy workers and place the first 1 on a Quick Action Space.

A dummy worker on a Quick Action Space will block that space for the entire game.

Note: It might happen that you do not have enough leftover Starting Wealth Tiles to place all the dummy workers. Just place as many as you can. Then after players have chosen Starting Wealth Tiles, use the discarded tiles to place the remaining dummy workers.

Appendix

Farms

In the basic game, all workers always required 2 corn on Food Days. In this expansion, the Hunger prophecy and the Yaluk tribe can require more corn. If workers require more than 2 corn, you need to use these rules for farms:

• This symbol actually means "one of your workers requires 2 less corn". (In the basic game, this is the same as "no corn", but now we need to be more precise.) No worker can benefit from more than one of these effects.
• This symbol still means that all your workers require 1 less corn. It is cumulative, so all your workers can benefit from two such effects, if you have them. (They would all require 2 less corn, which is not always the same as requiring "no corn".)

Each "feed one worker two corn" effect provides 2 corn to one worker. Your farms have 6 of these effects, but no worker is allowed to benefit more than once, so you can apply only 5 of them, one to each worker. That accounts for 2 corn each. The "feed all workers one corn" effect provides another 1 corn to each worker. You still must feed them each 1, for a total of 5 corn.

Example 1: It is a time of Hunger. All workers require 3 corn, not 2. You have 3 workers and the three farms above. The two "feed all workers one corn" effects provide 2 corn to each worker. The "feed one worker two corn" effect provides 2 more corn to one worker. That worker's needs are completely met. (More than met, actually. The effects could give the worker 4 corn, but the worker only needs 3.) You still must feed the others, for a total of 2 corn.

Example 2: This is also a time of Hunger. Moreover, you are the Yaluk tribe, which always requires 1 extra corn. So each of your workers requires 4 corn during Hunger. You have 5 workers and the 5 farms above.

Notes on Tribes

• AH CHUY KAK: The 2 (or more) workers must be placed on gears. The Starting Player Space and the Quick Action Spaces are not on gears and do not count. When you pick up the 1 worker, you have the same choices as you would on a pick up turn: use the corresponding action, use a lower-numbered action by paying corn, or do nothing.
• AHAU CHAMAHEZ: This can be used cumulatively with the level-1 theology technology to place a crystal skull 2 spaces ahead in Chichen Itza (for 1 corn). You can use this ability even if the action ahead is "perform any action". For example, on Tikal 5, you can pay 1 corn to use action space 6, which lets you choose any Tikal action for no additional cost.
• AHMAKIQ: This ability breaks the rule that requires you to either place or pick up workers every turn.
• BACAB: Your ability to begin each turn with at least 2 corn is not begging. It does not make you move down 1 step in a temple. Begging so that you can start with 4 corn is begging and does cause you to move down 1 step in a temple.
• BALAM: Note that you gain 1 corn total, not 1 corn for each step back. You may use the 1 corn you gained to pay costs associated with the action. You can even use this ability on a "perform any one action on this gear" space. For example, on Yaxchilan 6 or 7, you can perform a lower-numbered action and gain 1 corn instead of performing the lower-numbered action for free.
• CIT-BOLON-TUM: For example, to place 1 worker on action space 5, you pay 3 corn. To place 2 workers on two action spaces with a cost of 5, you could pay 3 for the first and 5+1 for the second or 5 for the first and 3+1 for the second – either way, it is 9 corn. When your worker is pushed onto this extra action space (8 on most gears, 11 on Chichen Itza) it is not yet pushed off the gears. For example, if you have a worker on Palenque 6, a player may use the time-speeding privilege and move your worker up to Palenque 8. If your worker is on Palenque 8, the next turn of the gears will push your worker off.
• HURACAN: You can also pay to use lower-numbered action spaces on either gear. For example, on Palenque 4, you can pay 1 corn to perform action 3 on Yaxchilan or Palenque.

Quick Actions

• Gain 3 corn.
• Gain 1 wood and 1 corn.
• Gain 1 stone.
• Gain 1 gold.
• Advance 1 level in the technology of your choice, paying the usual cost.
• Exchange corn and resources as many times as you want (as you would at Uxmal action 2).
• Pay 1 corn and construct one building.

Reminder: Technologies never apply to a quick action.

New Building Effects

• Discount (renovation icon): When constructing another building or monument, you can discard one building with this symbol and use its cost as a discount. (But you can't discard more than one to get a bigger discount.) See the Renovation section above for details.
• Food Day reward (single resource icon): From now on, at the end of each Food Day (after everyone's turn, but before you feed your workers) you receive the indicated reward. (Any corn you receive can be used to feed your workers.) Editor's note: the printed icon is a single resource lump; the printed parenthetical refers to corn, so the reward is read as corn here. Check against the physical tile if in doubt.
• Food Day reward (wood and crystal skull icons): From now on, at the end of each Food Day (after everyone's turn, but before you feed your workers) you receive either 1 block of wood or 1 crystal skull. The reward is wood on the first two Food Days and crystal skulls on the last two Food Days.
• Crystal skull building (blue building): When you construct this building, you immediately place a crystal skull on it (the one indicated in its cost). When you place the skull here, you gain the indicated reward. If you have the level-2 theology technology, you may use it at this time. A skull placed here counts as a skull placed in Chichen Itza (even for purposes of the monument from the original game). You have to have the crystal skull to be able to construct this building. To construct it using Uxmal action 4, you pay 2 corn and 1 skull. (Corn replaces the gold, but it can't replace the skull.) The third level of architecture applies only to resources, not crystal skulls.
• Technology building: Choose one technology in which your marker is at least at first level. Reduce your level in that technology by 1 and advance 1 level in each of the other three without paying any resources. (If you advance in a technology that is already at level 3, you gain the usual bonus.)
• Monument option: You may construct a monument (as though you were performing the monument option of Tikal action 4).

Prophecies

Many of these prophecies require you to pay an additional cost for doing something (like receiving a resource or going up in a temple). If you don't pay the cost, you don't do that thing.

• WRATHFUL GODS: Whenever you go up one step in any temple, you must pay 1 corn. Score points based on the total number of steps you have risen since the beginning of the game. The starting step counts as zero, and the one below it counts as -1. Score table: -3 to 0 steps: -3; 1–3 steps: 0; 4–9 steps: 6; 10 or more steps: 13.
• ANGRY GOD: Whenever you go up one step in the indicated temple, you must pay 1 resource block. Score points based on how many steps you have risen in that temple since the beginning of the game. Score table: -1 step: -3; 0–1 steps: 0; 2–3 steps: 6; 4 or more steps: 13.
• FOREST FIRES: Whenever you harvest wood from Palenque, you get 1 less block than normal. Score points based on how many Wood Harvest Tiles you have. Score table: 0: -3; 1–2: 0; 3–5: 6; 6 or more: 13.
• DROUGHT: Whenever you harvest corn from Palenque, you get 1 less corn than normal. (This does not apply to Palenque action 1, fishing.) Score points based on how many Corn Harvest Tiles you have. Score table: 0–1: -3; 2–3: 0; 4–6: 6; 7 or more: 13.
• GOLD SHORTAGE: Whenever you receive a block of gold, you must pay 1 corn. (If you gain corn and gold at the same time, you may use the corn to pay for the gold.) Score points based on how many blocks of gold you have. Score table: 0–1: -3; 2–3: 0; 4–5: 6; 6 or more: 13.
• DESECRATION: Whenever you receive a crystal skull, you must pay for it by moving down one step in the temple of your choice. Score points based on how many crystal skulls you have. (Placed skulls do not count.) Score table: 0: -3; 1–2: 0; 3–4: 6; 5 or more: 13.
• TEACHER SHORTAGE: Whenever you advance one level in a technology (even from level 3) you must pay 1 extra resource. Score points based on the total number of levels you have advanced. (Advances above level 3 will not be counted.) Score table: 0–2: -3; 3–4: 0; 5–6: 6; 7 or more: 13.
• You cannot use the level 2 effect of any technology. (But you must still advance to level 2 before you can advance to level 3.) Score points based on the number of technologies in which you have advanced at least to level 2. Score table: 0: -3; 1: 0; 2: 6; 3 or more: 13.