Uk'otoa Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Object of the Game
• Detailed Turn Order
• Win Conditions
• Card Types
  • Advance Uk'otoa (1, 2, or 3 Spaces)
  • Unleash a Tentacle (1, 2, or 3 Spaces)
  • Run!
  • Push!
  • Take Them Instead!
• The Factions
• Strategy Tips
• Advanced Set-up
• The Great Leviathan

Components

• 26 Ship Tiles (25 ship tiles and 1 ship wheel)
• 60 Action Cards
• 25 Sailor Pawns (5 blue, 5 red, 5 green, 5 yellow, 5 purple)
• 5 Faction Tiles
• 1 Uk'otoa Miniature

Set Up

1. Starting with the Ship Wheel Tile, each player places a Ship Tile with the arrow pointing to the previously played tile in clockwise order. For your first game, we recommend a concentric circle going out layer by layer. Place tiles until there are no more available.

   After placing all of the tiles, verify that each tile has only one arrow pointing to it, going in reverse order of how the tiles were placed, with the final tile being the Ship Wheel at the end of the board (often in the center of the board for a standard set up). This is your damaged Ship.

2. To finalize the board, place the Uk'otoa miniature on the last tile placed.

3. Shuffle the Action Cards, and deal 2 cards to each player, and then place the rest of the cards next to the Ship to form a draw pile.

4. Gather the Sailor Pawns, one color for each player at the table, and then put any remaining pawns back in the box. Each player then selects a color (and the Sailor Pawns that go with it) and again, going clockwise, places 1 of them on one of the available empty Ship Tiles. Continue to place until no more Sailors are available.

   The method works best partially randomized as your allied factions are still undeclared.

5. Place all of the Faction Tiles in your hand, and have each player randomly draw one tile and place it to their left. Each player should now have two colors next to them — one between them and the player on their left, one between them and the player on their right. These two colors are considered that player's "controlled" colors.

Object of the Game

In this game you are on two different 2-player teams. You and the person to your left are on a team, trying to protect the color you share between you. You and the person to your right are on a different team, trying to protect the color you share with them.

TO WIN:

As players remove Sailors during play, they will be placed on their corresponding Faction Tile until there are no more Sailors of that color on the Ship. A player wins if there are only two colors of Sailors remaining on the Ship and both colors are controlled by the same player, OR there is only a single color of Sailor remaining on the Ship.

The player who was most recently on a ship or boat goes first, and play proceeds clockwise.

BASIC TURN ORDER

1. Advance Uk'otoa (Optional)
2. Draw 2 cards
3. Play cards
4. Discard cards if you have more than 5 in your hand

Detailed Turn Order

1. ADVANCEMENT PHASE (OPTIONAL)

At the start of each player's turn (before drawing cards), they may choose to Advance Uk'otoa one space around the Ship as if you had played an "Advance Uk'otoa 1" card. (See "Advance Uk'otoa" below). Any Sailor on the tile to which Uk'otoa moves is eliminated.

2. DRAWING PHASE

Draw 2 cards from the Draw Pile. When there are no more cards to draw, shuffle the Discard Pile to create a new Draw Pile. Do not show the cards in your hand to other players.

3. ACTION PHASE

In this phase, you may play or discard cards from your hand. Cards may be played in three different ways.

i. If you play a single card, the action on the card occurs, and then you immediately advance to the discard phase.

ii. If you play a duplicate of cards (two of the same card, together), the action only occurs once, but you may continue this phase and play another card or another set of duplicates.

iii. Discard any duplicates or 3 cards of any kind. You may then draw one (1) new card and continue this phase.

EXAMPLE: On Abigail's turn, she plays a single "Advance Uk'otoa" card. She performs that action and her turn is over. On Roger's turn, he plays a pair of "Unleash the Tentacle 3 Spaces" cards. Roger performs that action once and then plays a pair of "Push" cards. Roger performs that action once and then discards 3 cards to draw a new one. Roger then plays a single "Run" card. Roger performs that action and his turn is over.

NOTE: For two Action Cards to be considered a duplicate, they must match in both type and number. "Advance Uk'otoa 1 Space" does not match "Advance Uk'otoa 3 Spaces".

4. DISCARD PHASE

In this phase, if you have more than 5 cards, you must discard as many cards of your choice until you have only 5 in your hand. If you have 5 or less skip this phase. Once all four steps have been completed, your turn ends and the player to your left begins the next turn.

Win Conditions

The game ends as soon as one of two conditions is met:

1. There is only a single color of Sailor remaining on the Ship. The two players that control that color enjoy a shared victory.
2. There are only two colors of Sailors remaining on the Ship and both colors are controlled by the same player. That player wins!

NOTE: When multiple Sailors are being eaten by an "Unleash the Tentacle" card, technically, the Sailor closest to Uk'otoa dies first, followed by the next-closest. So, the game could end halfway through completing the card (even if that last Sailor only gets to enjoy their "victory" for about two seconds).

Card Types

Advance Uk'otoa (1, 2, or 3 Spaces)

Move the Uk'otoa miniature towards the arrow indicating movement around the Ship, exactly the number of spaces dictated by the card. You cannot choose to move the Uk'otoa less than this number of spaces.

Any Sailor on a space into which Uk'otoa moves is immediately removed from the game and placed on its matching Faction Tile. When Uk'otoa leaves a space, that Ship Tile is removed from the game.

BONUS RULE: If all players agree to it beforehand, add an extra rule for whenever Uk'otoa takes a Sailor Pawn by moving into a space. Before moving Uk'otoa onto the space with a sailor, the active player must whisper "Uk'otoa", or discard a card at random. (This happens before the draw phase.)

Unleash a Tentacle (1, 2, or 3 Spaces)

Uk'otoa's deadly tentacle lashes out to eat anyone close enough. Choose any straight line from Uk'otoa's current position and remove all Sailors in that line that are within the number of spaces from Uk'otoa as dictated by the card (1, 2, or 3). You cannot choose to unleash a tentacle fewer than this number of spaces. Any removed Sailor is placed on its matching Faction Tile.

Diagram example: the active player can either remove a lone Sailor two spaces away in one direction, or remove two Sailors of different colors that are each within two spaces in another direction.

Run!

Choose any one of the Sailors you control and move that Sailor up to 3 spaces. Each space you move into or through must be empty, but the overall movement does not have to be in a straight line.

Diagram example: a Sailor can Run up to 3 empty spaces to reach any of several indicated spaces.

Push!

Choose any Sailors you control and move that Sailor up to 2 spaces. If there are any other Sailors in the way that can be pushed into an empty Ship Tile, they get pushed in that Ship Tile. You must stop if there is no more room to push (you can't push anyone off the Ship or into Uk'otoa).

Diagram example: a Sailor can push one Sailor, then a second Sailor before ending the action, or instead push a different adjacent Sailor.

Take Them Instead!

Choose any one of the Sailors you control that is adjacent to another Sailor you do not control. Swap the positions of those two Sailors.

Diagram example: a Sailor can be swapped with either of two different adjacent Sailors of other colors, but cannot be "swapped" with an empty space on the Ship.

The Factions

THE MYRIAD

The Myriad come from Wildemount and are no strangers to dealing with danger. Although they started as a small shipping company, they've become one of the greatest organized crime rings in Tal'Dorei, with stories of their exploits even reaching across the Lucidian Ocean. Though they are clever and cautious, their contacts won't help them when Uk'otoa rises from the depths.

THE REVELRY

Pirates will always sail the seas and the Revelry is no exception. Advanced in trade - though often what they trade was gained in true pirate fashion - the Revelry operates out of their stronghold at Darktow Isle, ruled over by their brutal and notorious monarch, the Plank King. Though the name Uk'otoa may be no stranger to the Revelry, whether they'll survive to tell the tale is another thing altogether.

THE CLOVIS CONCORD

Formed as a confederation of city-states that reside throughout the Menagerie Coast and the Swavain Islands, the Clovis Concord is a collection of different merchant guilds working together. Managed by different marquis and filled with a variety of colorful figures, they work in unison to transport goods and keep the conclave thriving. To them, Uk'otoa has remained a name mainly to be feared… thus far.

THE DARRINGTON BRIGADE

The Darrington Brigade is a group of adventurers founded by a former member of Vox Machina, Taryon Darrington. They act with the mission statement "fight for justice, win battles against evil-doers, and spread the Darrington name around the continent." Does the Darrington Brigade have what it takes to face Uk'otoa and survive?

ANK'HAREL

Also known as the Jewel of Marquet, the city of Ank'Harel has been ruled by J'mon Sa Ord since it was founded four hundred years ago. The city stands out as a multicultural mingling of many different races - such as half-elves, half-orcs, and halflings - all blending together in relative peace, with no judgment to be found. As it grows, its influence grows with it, reaching even further with each subsequent generation. However, will that influence be enough to fend off Uk'otoa?

Strategy Tips

• Because so much can happen between your turns, it is important to work and plan with the players to your right and left when it is not your turn.
• It is to your advantage to eliminate the "other color" of your teammates so that they will be forced to focus solely on helping the colors that you share with them.
• It is allowed and encouraged to talk openly about what cards and capabilities you have. You cannot show anyone else your cards directly, but you can say whatever you'd like in order to plan a series of moves that are to your advantage.
• When placing your Sailors on the Ship, try to avoid "lines" or "clumps" of one of your colors, since these become attractive targets for other players.
• The weaker cards (Advance 1, Unleash 1, etc.) are more common in the deck, making it easier to collect an exact pair of those cards to use for combos.

Advanced Set-up

This Advanced Set-Up emphasizes the strategy of knowing the factions with whom you will be playing rather than placing Sailors Pawns without knowing your faction ahead of time, and choosing one at random, as described in the previous set-up rules. After laying out the Ship tiles and placing Uk'otoa:

1. Randomly place one Faction Tile between each pair of players, then place all of the Sailor Pawns on it.
2. Players now take turns placing Sailors on the Ship, beginning with the starting player, then going counterclockwise. Players can choose a Sailor of either one of the two colors they control then place one on any empty location of the Ship.
3. Continue placing Sailors counterclockwise around the table until all Sailors have been placed on the Ship. If all of a player's controlled Sailors have already been placed on the Ship, then that player is skipped for placement.

Once all Sailors have been placed on the Ship, the starting player takes the first turn and play progresses clockwise.

The Great Leviathan

The rulebook closes with "The Great Leviathan," a sailors' sea shanty written by Taliesin Jaffe and Dani Carr, warning of Uk'otoa's power and urging sailors to keep the beast locked away.