Villainous Vikings (Second Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• A Viking's Mission
• Components List
• Setup
  • 1. Prepping the Longship
  • 2. Prepare the Journey Deck
  • 3. Ready to Launch
• Captain Abilities
• Locations
  • Location card anatomy
• Warriors
• Player Turn
  • Move to a Region
  • Use a Location Card
  • Use an Asgard Card
  • Regroup in the Northlands
  • Acquire Bonuses
  • Replenish the Journey Pool
• Battle
  • Combating Locations
  • Captain Vs Captain Combat
• Ragnarök [Game End]
• Entry into Valhalla [Scoring and Victory]
• Battle Sequence (reference)
• Battle Outcomes (reference)
• Costs (reference)
• Turn Actions (2 per turn) (reference)

A Viking's Mission

Your goal in Villainous Vikings is to amass as many Valhalla Points as possible so that after Ragnarök occurs your Captain has the best seat in Valhalla to tell his tales of battle and drink his mead. You will gain Valhalla Points by raiding, trading, and battling the other Captains who are also vying for Odin's favor.

Components List

• 1 game board
• 14 counters
  • 5 Shield markers
  • 1 Gold Hoarder token
  • 1 Trade Network token
  • 1 Trader and Pillager token
  • 1 Conquest Legacy token
  • 5 Viking Longship standees
• 108 cards
  • 9 Asgard cards
  • 1 Ragnarök card
  • 50 Location cards
  • 25 Warrior cards
  • 15 Longship Crew Section cards
  • 8 Viking Captain cards
• 6 Combat dice (with sticker sheets)
  • 2 White
  • 2 Gray
  • 2 Red

Setup

1. Prepping the Longship

a. Longship Construction - Each player selects one of the Longship standees and the corresponding shield marker. The Longship Standee is placed in the Northlands area of the map as well as the Gold Hoarder, Trade Network, and Conquest Legacy tokens. Each player then takes the three Longship Crew section cards that have sails that match the color of their selected Longship. The three Longship Crew sections should be placed face-up (colored sails with images of dice) in front of the player, with the section with the white dice being placed to the left, the grey dice section in the middle, and the red dice section to the right.

b. Assigning Viking Captains - Now that the players have a Longship, they need someone to command it. Players choose one of the Captain cards to command their Longship and places the Captain card in their Player Area next to their Longship Crew section cards. Captains can either be chosen by the players or assigned randomly.

2. Prepare the Journey Deck

a. Set aside the Ragnarök card.

b. Separate and shuffle the Location/Asgard cards into three decks based on their Ages.

c. Once the different Ages have been separated and shuffled, it is time to construct the Journey Deck. The size of the Journey Deck depends upon the number of players in the game:

i. Three players; use eight Age I, eight Age II, and ten Age III cards.

ii. Four players; ten Age I, ten Age II, and twelve Age III cards.

iii. Five players; twelve Age I, twelve Age II, and fourteen Age III cards.

d. After selecting an appropriate number of Age cards, take three of the selected Age III cards and shuffle the Ragnarök card in with them. These are the last cards of the Journey Deck. Place the remainder of the selected Age III cards on top.

e. Once the Age III cards are placed in the Journey Deck, place the Age II cards on top of the Age III cards, and complete the Journey Deck by placing the Age I cards on the top of the deck.

3. Ready to Launch

a. Create the Journey Pool by drawing a number of cards from the Journey Deck equal to the number of players in the game plus two (i.e., 7 cards in a five player game). Place these cards face-up next to the map. These are the initial cards the players can interact with.

b. Determine the first player through whatever method seems appropriate; randomly, beard length, etc. After selecting the first player, play proceeds clockwise from the first player, with the player to the left becoming the 2nd player, and so on.

c. Finally, place the player's shield marker on the gold track as follows:

i. 1st player - 0 gold

ii. 2nd player - 2 gold

iii. 3rd player - 4 gold

iv. 4th player - 6 gold

v. 5th player - 8 gold

This is the amount of gold each player starts with. This amount can grow or shrink over the course of the game.

Note: If a player gets more than 30 gold, flip the shield marker over to its +30 side and keep counting the gold. If they drop below 30, flip it back to its normal side. A player cannot have more than 60 gold.

Captain Abilities

Each Captain has 4 different abilities that confer special bonuses and will influence how you play Villainous Vikings:

A Captain's Static Ability is always available whenever the Captain is involved in an action that meets the ability's requirements (such as attacking an Explored Region).

Three Heathen Hammer Abilities that are only available if you roll a Hammer symbol on a certain die. Whenever you roll a Hammer on a die in combat, the Heathen Hammer Ability of the same color on your Captain card is triggered (though only up to once per color in a Battle).

Locations

Each Location card is part of a Region. The upper left corner of the map shows how many Location cards there are in each Region. To move to a Location, simply place your Longship standee in the corresponding circle on the map. Only one Longship can be in a Region at a time. If another Captain tries moving into the Region a Battle could ensue. All Locations are worth some Valhalla Points and gold if Colonized, and some locations have a Warrior associated with them.

For the purposes of Abilities, a Region is said to be Unexplored if the Captain currently has not Colonized any Location cards from the Region being attacked (i.e., you have no face-up Location cards from that Region in your Player Area). Conversely, an Explored Region is a Region where the Captain has at least one face-up Location card from the Region in their Player Area.

Note: It is possible for a Region's Explored status to change over the course of the game (see the Raiding and Battle sections).

Location card anatomy

Region Symbol; Location Title; Region Map; Location's Attack Dice; Gold Value; Valhalla Points; Accompanying Warrior (if any); Sacrifice Ability.

Warriors

Some Locations have great Warriors whom you will meet during your glorious travels around the world. The Locations with a Warrior are indicated by a banner with the Warrior's name on it. Most Warriors will fight for their Location, but some Warriors can be enlisted into a Captain's Crew. Each face-up Longship Crew section can hold one Warrior, so an undamaged Longship can have up to three Warriors.

When you add a Warrior to your ship, they must be placed in an empty Longship section; if no sections are free another Warrior must be discarded. If a Longship section with a Warrior is damaged (see the "Battle" section) the Warrior must either be moved to another section or discarded. If there are no free sections, you can move the Warrior to a section occupied by another Warrior, but that Warrior must be discarded.

There are three types of Warriors you might run across in your travels:

Hero: These Warriors are loyal and staunch defenders of their people and home. They will fight any Captain that attacks their Location by contributing their Static Ability to the Location's die roll. If a Captain successfully captures a Location with a Hero, the Hero will fight for their new leader. The victorious Captain can either add the Hero to their Crew or place him in the discard pile.

Mercenary: Warriors for hire can be found in numerous ports of call, and each has his price. Mercenaries will not fight for the Location, but neither will they fight for you unless you pay them first. You can spend the gold indicated on the Mercenary card during your turn to hire the Mercenary and add him to your Crew. If a Location is successfully conquered before the Mercenary there is bought, the Mercenary is discarded.

Sovereign: While each Location has its own leaders, some Locations are governed by great warrior kings. These Warriors will defend their territory to the best of their ability and fight to the death to repel invaders. As such, Sovereigns can call forth Heathen Hammer Abilities to add to the Location's defense, but if they lose and a Captain takes the Location, the Sovereign dies. Each killed Sovereign is worth Valhalla points at the end of the game and should be kept near the victorious Captain's Longship. Killed Sovereigns cannot be sacrificed or stolen; you keep them for the rest of the game.

Note: The Draugr Warriors are granted by Glamr's Heathen Hammer Abilities. They are treated as normal Warriors, but are not permanently discarded if removed from his Crew; they can return to Glamr's Longship if he rolls the appropriate Heathen Hammer.

Player Turn

During your player turn, you can perform two actions (including the same action twice):

• Move your Longship to a Region
• Use a Location card to Conquer, Raid, or Trade
• Interact with the Gods via an Asgard card
• Regroup in the Northlands
• Acquire a bonus token

At the end of your turn, replace any cards removed from the Journey Pool during your turn by drawing new cards from the Journey Deck.

After replenishing the Journey Pool, play moves clockwise to the next player.

Move to a Region

To move to a Region, simply move your Longship standee to the Region you want to enter. While you can move to a Region that does not have any Location cards in the Journey Pool, you can only Battle Locations in the Pool or another player's Player Area.

There can only ever be one Captain in a Region. If another Captain is in a Region you enter, you must fight them for their spot.

• The Captain whose Longship Standee is currently in the Region decides if they want to contest the entry, or retreat back to the Northlands.
  • If the Captain elects to stay and fight, the two players follow the rules of Battle to determine who is victorious (see the Battle section). The Captain who moved into the Region is viewed as the attacker, and whoever loses must retreat to the Northlands at the end of the Battle.
    • If the attacker loses and retreats on their first action, they can still conduct a second action.
  • If the Captain decides to retreat, they lose 2 gold per undamaged Longship Crew section they have (or all their gold if they do not have enough) and places their Longship standee in the Northlands.

Use a Location Card

When in a Region, you can attempt to Conquer, Raid, or Trade with a Location in the Region.

a. Conquer: You can elect to attack a Location shown in the Journey Pool to attempt to bring the locals under your control. Attacking a Location follows the rules of combat laid out in the Battle section. If your attack is a failure, the card remains in the Journey Pool and you receive nothing. However, if your attack is successful, you choose whether to Colonize or Raze the Location.

• If you choose to Colonize the Location, perform the following actions:
  • Move the Location card from the Journey Pool to your Player Area.
  • Collect the amount of gold listed on the Location card.
  • If they have one, add the Location's Hero to your Crew (or discard the Hero if you do not want him).
  • If the Location has an unpurchased Mercenary, discard him.
  • If the Location has a Sovereign, place him in your Player Area; Sovereigns are worth Valhalla Points.
• If you choose to Raze the Location do the following:
  • If the Location has a Sovereign, place them in your Player Area; they are worth Valhalla Points.
  • Discard any other Warrior in the Location.
  • Collect three times the printed gold value (i.e., if a Location is worth 3 gold, collect 9 gold instead).
  • Repair a damaged Longship Crew section, if any, by flipping a face-down Longship Crew section face-up (starting with the grey section).
  • Discard the Location card.

b. Raid: You can try to attack a face-up Location another player has Colonized in an attempt to deprive them of its benefit. In order to Raid a Location, you must be in the same Region as the Location.

• To Raid, the player attacks the Location using the standard combat procedure (though the Location now has no Warriors).
  • If the player fails to win against the Location, the Raid is a failure and nothing further happens.
  • If the player beats the Location, the player collects two times the gold value printed on the card, repairs a damaged Longship Crew section (if any), and the owner flips the Location over to its face-down side.
  • Note: A face-down Location cannot be Raided again or sacrificed, and is worth no points at the end of the game.

c. Trade: Instead of attacking a Region, you can choose to Trade with it to improve your ship or position. You can perform one of the following actions when Trading:

• Repair your Longship: You can flip back to their face-up side as many damaged Longship Crew sections as you can afford to repair. You must spend the amount of gold indicated on the damaged side of the Longship card (3 gold for the middle section and 2 gold for the far right). The section furthest to the left must be repaired first.
• Hire a Mercenary: If a Location in the Region your ship is in has a Mercenary, you can buy him and add him to your Crew by paying the cost indicated in the top left corner of the Warrior card.
• Collect Danegeld: Collect the gold listed on a Location card. This can be done multiple times, even at the same Location (this represents both bullying locals into paying you to go away, as well as trade and other forms of "nonviolent" income).
• Rebuild a Colony: You can flip a Raided Location back to its face-up side by spending an action while in the same Region as the Raided Location (while it costs no gold, it does take an action). After being Rebuilt, the Location is flipped to its face-up side and is treated as a regular Colonized Location (i.e., it can be sacrificed in Battle, Raided, and is worth Valhalla Points at the end of the game).

Use an Asgard Card

You can use an available Asgard card in the Journey Pool to interact with the Gods. Simply follow the instructions on the card. Some cards call for Battles; these Battles occur before the Gods and do not take place in any Location or Region. As such, no Location or Region abilities apply and the Longship standees stay where they are.

Some cards call for the Journey Pool to be expanded or shrunk. The effects are permanent and cumulative, so it is possible the Journey Pool will end up bigger or smaller than at the start.

Asgard card anatomy: Card Title; Card Category; Instructions; Sacrifice Ability; Valhalla Points. (Example, "Hermod's Ride to Hel", Asgard Event: Select a Warrior, if any, in the discard pile and add him to your crew, then discard this card. If there are no discarded Warriors, take this card. Sacrifice: 2. Valhalla Points: 2.)

Regroup in the Northlands

If you are in the Northlands during your turn and have a damaged Longship, you can choose to repair a damaged ship section at no cost for an action (as in a normal repair, you must repair the grey section before the red).

Acquire Bonuses

There are four bonus tokens that can be obtained over the course of the game. All but one can be "bought." To obtain a bonus token, the player must meet the token's criteria, be in the Northlands, and spend an action to acquire it. You can only get one token with each action. Each token can only be acquired once and cannot be taken by another player. You retain it even if, after acquiring it, you no longer meet the requirements.

• Trade Network: You must have four face-up Location cards from four different Regions in your Player Area. Worth 5 Valhalla Points.
• Conquest Legacy: To obtain the Conquest Legacy token, you must have three face-up Locations from the same Region. Worth 5 Valhalla Points.
• Gold Hoarder: In addition to spending an action in the Northlands, you must spend 20 gold to buy the Gold Hoarder token. Worth 5 Valhalla Points.
• Trader & Pillager: As opposed to the other bonus tokens, this token is awarded and not bought with an action. When the Ragnarök card is revealed, the player with the lowest number of Valhalla Points immediately receives the Trader & Pillager token, worth 3 Valhalla Points. If players are tied for the lowest point total, no one gets the token.

Replenish the Journey Pool

If any cards were removed from the Journey Pool during your turn, replace the removed cards by drawing from the Journey Deck.

Battle

Whenever you are involved in combat, you and your opponent perform the following procedure simultaneously:

• Roll a die of the same color for each undamaged (face-up with a color die) Longship Crew section.
  • For example, if John's red section is damaged, he will roll the grey and white dice in future Battles.
• After rolling, total the number of swords that appear on the dice, as well as performing any applicable Heathen Hammer Abilities if the corresponding Hammer was rolled.
• If the Captain or Warriors in the crew have Static Abilities that apply, their effects are triggered.
• Then compare your sword total to your opponent's total. Whoever has the most swords is currently winning the Battle.
• The current loser (or attacker in case of a tie) can try to change the outcome of a Battle by sacrificing Locations, Warriors, or Asgard cards. You can discard up to one card of each type (so 3 total) to try and influence the Battle's outcome. For the remainder of the Battle, place them in front of your Longship to remind you that they are being sacrificed, but that their Static Abilities and Explored status are still in effect. Once the Battle is over, discard them. In addition to your sacrifices, you can also buy as many swords as you can afford.
  • Every Location card has a Sacrifice Ability. If a player discards a face-up Location card from their Player Area, they receive the icon(s) listed on the card.
  • Some Warriors and Asgard cards have a Sacrifice Ability. A player can discard the card to obtain the benefit listed on the card.
  • A player can buy swords for 5 gold per sword; you can use unused/discarded, face-down Location cards to represent bought swords.
• After performing any sacrifices/purchases, the sword totals are calculated again and a new victor is determined. The other player then gets the choice if they want to sacrifice anything or buy swords to influence the Battle.
• This continues until both combatants choose not to buy swords or sacrifice; at that point the Battle ends and the side with the higher sword total emerges victorious.

Regardless of who wins the Battle, players have to check for damage to their Longship Crew sections using the following procedure:

• Calculate the number of Hits you take by subtracting the number of shields you received during the Battle from your opponent's sword total. The number of swords remaining is the number of Hits your Longship takes (if zero or less, you take no damage).
• Each Viking Helmet on your Longship Crew sections can take one Hit. Count off the Hits from right to left until there are no more Hits remaining.
  • If all the Helmets of a Longship Crew section receive Hits, that Longship card is flipped to its damage side. It no longer contributes a die in Battle or absorbs Hits.
  • If there are not enough Hits to fully count off a section, that Crew section is not affected.

If your final Longship Crew section is damaged, your ship is sunk and you suffer the following penalties:

• You lose the Battle.
• Move your ship to the Northlands (even if the Battle was triggered by an Asgard card).
• Lose half your gold (rounded up).
• Discard one of your Location cards of your choice, if you have one.
• Flip the final Longship Crew section card (with the white die) back to its full strength side.

Combating Locations

Combat against Locations occurs as above, but has the following special rules:

• The player to the right rolls the dice indicated on the Location card for the Location.
• If the Location has a Hero or a Sovereign, their Static and Heathen Hammer Abilities are added to the result.
• When a Location without a Sovereign rolls a Hammer, treat it as two swords.
• The Location takes no damage, but their shield rolls have no effect; Captains are damaged as described above.
• Locations win all ties.

Captain Vs Captain Combat

Combat against other players follows the procedure above with a few unique rules:

• Viking warriors do not tie! If both Captains receive the same sword total, discard all sacrificed cards, apply any damage, and refight the Battle till there is a victor! This is treated as a new Battle and resolved as described above.
• Whoever loses the Battle retreats to the Northlands (unless the Battle occurred as the result of an Asgard card).
• If a Captain's ship is sunk, the other Captain receives half their gold.
• If both Captain's ships are sunk, the Battle ends with no victor and no one receives any gold (though they both still have to retreat to the Northlands, and lose half their gold and a Location card).

Example: As his first action, John moves into Lauren's Region to attack Paris. However, Lauren is unwilling to leave without a fight (or spend the 4 gold to retreat) so John attacks her. John's ship is at full strength, while Lauren's ship has a damaged red section. John rolls all three dice, while Lauren only rolls the white and grey dice. Lauren rolls a sword and a shield, while John rolls 2 swords, a shield, and a white Heathen Hammer. The Static abilities of their Captains and Warriors are added, giving a total of 2 swords for Lauren to John's 3. John's Heathen Hammer grants him an extra sword, bringing his total up to 4. Lauren decides to sacrifice her Warrior as well as spending 10 gold to bring her total up to 5 swords. John does not have anything worthwhile to sacrifice, and so loses the Battle. Lauren's Static Ability doubles her shields, so she emerges unscathed (2 hits are not quite enough to flip her grey section). John takes 4 Hits (his shield cancels one of Lauren's swords) and must flip over his first (red) Longship Crew card. However, there is not enough damage to flip the second card, so the remaining two hits have no effect. John then retreats to the Northlands and can conduct his second action.

Ragnarök [Game End]

As soon as the Ragnarök card is revealed the game ends, and the Captains are summoned to their final battle amongst the Gods. Before the start of the Battle, you can repair your Longship by spending the normal repair costs of the damaged section(s) you wish to repair (i.e., two or three gold).

Ragnarök is fought as a series of consecutive Battles, with each player rolling against all the others. In each Round, the player with the lowest number of swords loses and is kicked out of Ragnarök. The final player standing is the winner of Ragnarök and receives the Ragnarök card (worth 7 Valhalla points).

The Battles that occur during Ragnarök follow the same procedure as normal Battles with the following exceptions:

• The first player to roll during Ragnarök is the player whose turn it currently is.
• Ragnarök does not take place in the normal world, so Region bonuses do not apply.
• After all players have rolled, each player gets the chance to sacrifice Location/Asgard/Warrior cards to increase their number of swords. Once every player has declined to sacrifice anything the round ends and the loser is determined.
• If, after all sacrifices, two or more players tie for lowest, the tied players roll again until they are not tied; the one with the lower total is kicked out of Ragnarök.
• Longships do not take damage during Ragnarök.

Entry into Valhalla [Scoring and Victory]

Once the victor of Ragnarök has been determined, players add up their Valhalla Points to determine their overall standing with Odin the All-Father and the other Gods. Whoever has the highest ranking is considered to be the greatest Viking in history! In the case of a tie, the player who did better in Ragnarök is the victor.

Total your Valhalla Points from the following sources:

• Asgard cards
• Face-up Location cards
• Sovereign cards
• Gold: receive one Valhalla Point for every five gold
• Bonuses
  • Trade Network
  • Conquest Legacy
  • Gold Hoarder
  • Trader & Pillager

Battle Sequence (reference)

1. Roll the Called for Dice
   • a. Players roll the colored dice that correspond to their face-up Longship cards
   • b. Locations roll the dice shown on the top of their card
2. Add all Relevant Heathen Hammer Abilities
   • a. Apply the effects of rolled Heathen Hammer Abilities
   • b. When a Location without a Sovereign rolls a Hammer, treat it as two swords
3. Apply any Warrior/Captain Static Abilities
4. Total the Number of Swords Rolled
   • a. The Side with the most swords is currently winning the Battle
5. Sacrifice Cards or Gold
   • a. The current Loser can sacrifice Warriors, face-up Locations, or gold for their Abilities
   • b. The other player can decide if they want to sacrifice/spend anything
   • c. After all combatants decline to sacrifice anything, the victor is determined
6. Check for Longship Damage
   • a. Subtract the number of shields you rolled from the swords your opponent rolled
   • b. Each remaining sword is a Hit, count off one Helmet for each Hit; any section that is completely counted off is damaged and flipped

Battle Outcomes (reference)

Captain vs Location

• Side with most swords wins
• Location wins ties

Captain vs Captain

• Captain with most swords wins
• Reroll all ties
• Loser retreats to Northlands

Costs (reference)

• Repair (Port): 3 gold for grey and 2 gold for red Longship Crew section
• Repair (Northlands): 1 section free
• Extra Sword: 5 gold per sword
• Gold Hoarder token: 20 gold
• Retreat: 2 gold per undamaged section

Turn Actions (2 per turn) (reference)

1. Move to a Region
   • a. Fight if there is already a Captain there
2. Attack a Location in the Journey Pool
   • a. Colonize: Collect gold and add to Player Area
   • b. Raze: Collect 3x gold, repair, and discard
3. Raid a Location Owned by Another Player
   • a. Collect 2x gold value, repair a damaged Longship section, and flip the Location card
4. Trade with a Location in the Journey Pool
   • a. Repair damaged ship sections
   • b. Hire a Mercenary
   • c. Collect Danegeld: collect gold from a location
   • d. Rebuild a Raided Colony
5. Use an Asgard card in the Journey Pool
6. Regroup in the Northlands
   • a. Repair a damaged ship section for free
   • b. Acquire Bonus Token in the Northlands