Villainous Vikings Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• A Viking's Mission
• Component List
• Setup
• Captain Abilities
  • Ability Clarifications
  • Captain Sheets Shown in the Rulebook
• Player Turn
  • Use a Map Card
  • Interact with the Gods via an Asgard Card
  • Regrouping in the Northlands
• Heroes
• Battle
• Ragnarök (Game End)
• Entry to Valhalla (Scoring and Victory)

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.

Component List

• 1 game board
• 13 counters
  • 4 Shield markers
  • 3 Draugr tokens
  • 1 Trade Network token
  • 1 Conquest Legacy token
  • 4 Longship standees
• 103 cards
  • 9 Asgard cards
  • 1 Ragnarök card
  • 50 Map cards
  • 23 Hero cards
  • 12 Longship Crew Section cards
  • 8 Viking Captain sheets
• 6 Combat dice
  • 2 White
  • 2 Gray
  • 2 Red

Setup

1. Prepare the Journey Deck

   a. Set aside the Ragnarök card.

   b. Flip all of the Map and Asgard cards so they are face-down, then separate them into three decks based on their Age; shuffle each Age deck.

   c. Now that the three Age decks have been randomized, create the Journey Deck as follows; do not shuffle these together:

   • Top: 8 Age I cards
   • Mid: 8 Age II cards
   • Bottom: 10 Age III cards

   The remaining Map and Asgard cards will not be used in this game, so set them aside.

   d. Take the bottom five cards from the Journey Deck and shuffle the Ragnarök card into them, placing them back on the bottom of the Journey Deck.

   e. Place the Journey Deck in an easy to reach spot and reveal the top five cards; these form the initial Journey Card Pool of Map and/or Asgard cards for players to choose from. If one or more of the Map cards has a Hero listed on it, place the corresponding Hero card next to the Map card.

2. Prepping the Longship

   a. Assigning Viking Captains: Players can either select which Captain they want to use during the game or they can be randomly assigned.

   Note: When a player is using Glamr as his or her Viking Captain, the three Draugr tokens should be taken along with the Glamr sheet.

   b. Longship Assembly: Each player creates their Longship by placing one of each Longship Crew Section card (White, Gray, and Red) face-up as shown; they will also choose one of the four Longship standees and the corresponding Shield marker, placing the standee on the Northlands Region and the Shield on the zero space of the Gold track.

3. Ready to Launch

   a. Once setup is complete, determine who will be the first player; this can be done randomly, by measuring beard length, or in any other manner. Play will proceed clockwise from the first player.

   b. Players will start with the following gold:

Captain Abilities

Each Captain has four different abilities that will influence how you play Villainous Vikings:

• A Static Ability that is always available for use as long as the player can meet the requirements.
• Three Heathen Hammer Abilities that become available for the player to use when she rolls a Hammer symbol on the corresponding Combat Die.

The Captain sheet shows the Portrait, Title, Character Flavor, Static Ability, and Heathen Hammer Abilities.

Ability Clarifications

• Bjorn Ironside: Bjorn's Static Ability is against Explored Regions, giving him a permanent 2 Sword bonus when Raiding a Location (see "Raid" section below) that is in the same Region as a Location he has in his Player Area.
• Erik the Red: Erik's Static Ability is against Unexplored Regions, giving him a permanent 2 Sword bonus when Raiding a Location (see "Raid" section below) that is not in the same Region as any Location he has in his Player Area.
• Glamr: Glamr's Heathen Hammer Abilities allow him to add special Hero-like minions to his Longship; see the "Heroes" section below for more details.

Captain Sheets Shown in the Rulebook

The rulebook illustrates the Bjorn Ironside, Erik the Red, and Glamr Viking Captain sheets. In this PDF the ability text on those sheets is an image at a size too small to reproduce reliably, so it is not transcribed here. The sheets for the other Captains are not shown in this rulebook.

Player Turn

1. At the beginning of the Current Player's turn, she may choose to permanently expand the Journey Card Pool by one card if it is not at the maximum of eight cards; the cost of expanding is as follows:

   • 6th Card: 1 gold
   • 7th Card: 2 gold
   • 8th Card (Max): 3 gold

2. Take one of the following actions: a. Use a Map card: Raid or Trade b. Interact with the Gods via an Asgard card c. Regroup in the Northlands

3. Replenish the Journey Card Pool.

After the Current Player completes these steps, play moves clockwise to the next player.

Use a Map Card

If you want to visit one of the Locations listed on a Map card in the Journey Card Pool, take the following steps:

1. Move your Longship to the Region: Place your Longship standee on the Region that corresponds to the Location you want to visit. For example, if the London card is in the Journey Card Pool, you may move your ship to England to try to visit the city.

2. Check for Enemy Captains in the Region: If another player has her Longship in the Region you just entered, she may choose to intercept your Longship. If your opponent elects not to intercept your Longship, she moves her Longship to the Northlands and you continue on to step 3 below. Otherwise, the two of you enter Battle (see "Battle" section below); whoever loses the Battle is forced back to the Northlands, but if you lose it is also immediately the end of your turn.

3. Raid or Trade: You can elect to either Raid the Location or Trade with its inhabitants:

   a. Raid: When Raiding a Location, you engage in Battle against the locals (see "Battle" section below). If your Raid fails your turn ends immediately, but if you are successful, you:

   • Collect the amount of gold listed on the Map card.
   • Deal with Heroes in the Location (refer to "Heroes" section):
     • Add any Convert Heroes to your Viking crew.
     • Discard any Mercenary Heroes (they may only be Hired during a Trade action).
     • Place any Boss Heroes into your Player Area; they are worth Valhalla Points at the end of the game.
   • Place the Map card for this Location in your Player Area.

   or

   Raze the Location by discarding the Map card, collect gold equal to the amount listed a second time, and then Take Captives (replenish one empty Crew Section of your Longship, with Gray being replenished before Red).

Interact with the Gods via an Asgard Card

If there is an Asgard card in the Journey Card Pool, you may use it to interact with the Gods; simply choose the Asgard card and follow all of the instructions listed on it.

Note: Any Battles that occur because of an Asgard card are considered to be outside of the normal world, so no Location bonuses apply for either side of the Battle.

After the Asgard card has been resolved, reveal a new card from the Journey Deck to refresh the Journey Card Pool.

Regrouping in the Northlands

If you begin your turn in the Northlands or decide to move there, you may replenish one of your Longship Crew Section cards (in order; White, Gray, then Red) at no charge, but to replenish an additional Longship Crew Section card you must spend five gold. This is your only action for this turn.

Example: Harald Fairhair is forced back to the Northlands when Erik the Red enters the Region he is in and Harald decides not to Intercept because he is down to just his White Longship section. On Harald's next turn there is a Viking Captain in each of the Regions shown by the available Map cards, so he cannot go to a Location and make a Trade; he decides to use his turn to replenish his Gray Longship section for free as well as spending five gold to replenish his Red Longship section so he is at full strength the next turn, giving him a better chance to make it to a Location.

Heroes

Heroes are the prominent warriors you meet on your various travels throughout the world. There are three types of Heroes you will come across:

• Convert: This Hero is a staunch defender of his people and will help defend his homeland against any attempt to conquer it, but once defeated he will fall in step with the new leadership; he adds his Static Ability to the Location side of any fight to acquire that Map card, but the player who receives the Map card may also add the Convert to one of the Crew Sections of his Longship.

• Mercenary: Warriors for hire can be found in numerous ports of call and each has his price; he will not fight alongside the locals, but he also will not fight for you unless you pay him his fee first. A Viking Captain may hire a Mercenary during a Trade action at his Location by paying his fee, at which point he is added to one of the Crew Sections of the Viking Captain's Longship.

  Note: Any unhired Mercenary on a Location that is successfully Raided is placed in the Hero discard pile; you must pay the fee during a Trade action to have a Mercenary join your crew.

• Boss: Each city has its own leadership and in some cases they are great warriors themselves, rivaling even the best Viking Captains; Bosses will defend their homeland to the best of their ability, sometimes even calling forth Heathen Hammer Abilities from the Gods, and will never fight for anyone but themselves (meaning Boss Heroes will never join your crew). Each conquered Boss is worth Valhalla Points at the end of the game, so if you conquer a Location that includes a Boss, place the Hero card in your Player Area.

You may only have one Mercenary or Convert per face-up Longship card. If you are forced to turn one of your Longship cards face down (refer to the "Battle" section) that has a Hero associated with it, you must move that Hero to another section or discard him; if you must discard a Hero, you get to choose which Hero to discard.

Note: The Draugr tokens that go along with Glamr's Heathen Hammer Abilities count as Heroes; they take up the Hero position of the Longship card that matches the token's color and any Hero already on that section must be moved or discarded.

Battle

Any time a player needs to engage in Battle with a Location or another Viking Captain, the following steps will determine the outcome:

1. Battle Prowess: Each player's Battle Prowess is tracked by which Longship Crew Section cards are still face up, indicating they are fully manned; the face-up side of each card shows a cube corresponding to one of the Combat dice, instructing you which dice you will roll during the Battle. Map cards have a similar display in the upper right, with one to three cubes that show the Combat dice your opponent will roll.

   Example: John has the White and Gray Crew Sections of his Longship fully manned, so he will roll the White and Gray Combat dice; since he is attacking Lisbon, the Location will be rolling the Gray and Red Combat dice, as shown on the Map card.

2. Roll Combat dice: Each player participating in the Battle rolls the appropriate Combat dice per their Battle Prowess.

   a. Captain vs. Captain: When Battling another Viking Captain, each player rolls the Combat dice for his or her Longship.

   b. Captain vs. Location: When Battling a Location, the Current player rolls the Combat dice for his Longship and chooses another player to roll the Combat dice for the Location.

3. Heathen Hammer Abilities: Viking Captains and Bosses have Heathen Hammer Abilities that activate when a Hammer is rolled on one or more of the Combat dice; if you have a Hammer showing on one of your Combat dice, look at your Viking Captain sheet (or Boss card if you are rolling for a Location) to see what ability is activated. If the ability has special functionality besides giving you bonus Swords or Shields, follow the instructions before proceeding; otherwise, move on to step 4.

   Note: If a Hammer is rolled for a Location that does not have a Boss, treat that Hammer as a Sword for the Location.

4. Total Attack Strength and Defense: Attack Strength is the total number of Swords for your side, while Defense is the total number of Shields; each side will total their Attack Strength and Defense in the following order:

Ragnarök (Game End)

As soon as the Ragnarök card is in the Journey Card Pool, the game ends and the players are summoned to their final showdown in front of Odin the All-Father. Each player has an opportunity to replenish their crew as if trading (two gold per Crew Section to be replenished) before all of the Viking Captains enter a free-for-all Battle against each other.

Ragnarök will consist of a number of Battles equal to one less than the total number of players (two players will lead to one Battle, three to two Battles, and four to three Battles); the final victor receives the Ragnarök card, worth six Valhalla Points.

Follow the standard Battle Sequence with these exceptions:

• A player with Ragnar as his Captain rolls his Combat dice first, followed by Svein Forkbeard; this makes it easier for them to use their Red Heathen Hammer ability. After those players, if any, have rolled, the other players can roll in any order.
• Players skip the Taking Losses section.
• All Viking Captain and Hero abilities apply as usual; if any directly affect an opponent, you choose which opponent is targeted.
• Like the Battles related to Asgard cards, this does not take place on the normal world, meaning there are no Region or Location bonuses.
• In each Battle, the player with the lowest Attack Strength is knocked out of Ragnarök, with the other players continuing on to the next Battle (or if only one remains, she is declared the victor); in the case of a tie for the lowest Attack Strength, the two (or more) tied players reroll all of their Combat dice as if entered in a new Battle (meaning they do not receive the benefit of any sacrificed cards previously played).

Entry to Valhalla (Scoring and Victory)

After one of the players has been declared the victor of Ragnarök, each player will tally up their Valhalla Points to determine their overall standing with Odin the All-Father and the other Gods; whoever is in the best standing is considered the greatest Viking(s) in history!

Total your Valhalla Points as follows:

• Asgard cards
• Boss cards
• Map cards
• Bonuses
  • Trade Network
  • Conquest Legacy
  • Gold
    • One Valhalla Point for every three gold you have at the end of the game.
    • Gold Hoarder: If you have the most gold at the end of the game, you receive an additional six Valhalla Points; no one receives the points in the case of a tie.