Ylandyss Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Setup
• Game Objective
• Starting the Game
• Playing the Game
• The Melee
• The Resolution
• Acquiring Reinforcements
• End of the Round
• End of the Game and Victory
• Credits

Game Components

Ylandyss has the following components:

• 148 cards. Divided into starting cards, draft cards, and cards from the reinforcement deck, as explained further on.
  • Character cards show a strength value and a character type (written in bold in the text box).
  • Action cards show a cost and a value; they don't usually add strength to your total, and they are the cards that carry the game's spells and miracles.
• 4 control sheets. One for each player. Each control sheet has a strength counter, a loot zone, and a chest (coffer).
• 80 assorted tokens. Including coin tokens, first player token, strength bonus tokens, and total strength tokens.
• This rulebook.

Game Setup

Separate the 16 draft cards into a pile of their own (cards with an ochre-colored text box). From the rest, separate those that don't have a cost symbol (the coin in the upper left corner) and deal the following to each player:

• 3 Infantry Soldier
• 2 Traveling Merchant
• 2 Mage Apprentice
• 2 Acolyte
• 2 Stun
• 2 Sacred Strength

There are enough copies of each of these cards for four players. If you are fewer, set the extra cards aside, as you won't need them for the game.

The remaining cards will be the reinforcement deck. Shuffle them and put them in a pile within reach. Set the coins and the strength bonus tokens aside. Then deal each player a control sheet and a total strength token, and finally, randomly determine the starting player and give them the first player token.

Game Objective

The objective of the game is to obtain as many victory points as possible by the end of the game. These victory points are obtained either by acquiring cards for your deck that have a value (the number in the blue gem at the base of the card), or by accumulating coins. During the game, players will earn coins that they can spend to acquire new cards for their deck or save in their chest so that they count as victory points. When a player accumulates a sufficient amount of coins in their chest, the game ends and victory points are counted to determine the winner.

Starting the Game

Before starting the first turn of the game, deal 4 draft cards to each player. Each player must choose one of these cards to keep and pass the rest to the player on their left. Perform this action a total of three times so that, in the end, each of you will have chosen three cards for yourself and one will be left over. Mix the three cards you chose with the ones you were dealt at the start to form your starting deck of 16 cards. This deck is personal and you must not mix it with your opponents'. Whenever you must draw cards, do so from your deck, and whenever you must discard cards, you must do so onto your own discard pile.

Set aside all the leftover draft cards; they will not be used again during the game.

TWO-PLAYER VARIANT

Shuffle the draft cards, lay five of them face up on the table, and deal two more cards to each player, face down. After looking at the face-down cards they were dealt, the starting player chooses one of the ones that are face up on the table, the second player then chooses two, and finally the starting player chooses their second card.

To finish, each player chooses one of the two face-down cards and discards the other, to have the three draft cards they are due.

Playing the Game

Ylandyss is played in rounds. At the end of each one you must determine whether the game ends and, if not, a new round begins.

Each round of Ylandyss consists of the following phases, in this order:

Initial Phase

Draw cards from your deck until you have 7 cards in hand. If you kept cards in hand from the previous round, you must draw until the total is 7.

If at any point you must draw a card from your deck and it is empty, shuffle your discard pile so that it becomes your new deck.

The starting player draws two cards per player from the reinforcement deck and places them face up on the table so that everyone can see them (EXCEPTION: In the two-player game, place 5 cards).

These are the reinforcement cards for this round and will remain in the center of the table until they are acquired by some player or discarded during the final phase.

Melee Phase

Starting with the starting player and clockwise, each player has the option to play a card or pass. The melee continues with players playing cards until everyone chooses to pass, at which point the phase ends.

Resolution Phase

Compare the strength each player has achieved during the melee and determine what order they finished in. Give the winner of the melee the coins they are due and the starting player token.

Also resolve all card effects that trigger during this phase.

Reinforcement Phase

In the order determined during the resolution phase, players may choose to acquire up to two reinforcement cards from those in the center of the table.

Final Phase

Determine whether the game ends. If not, you may remove from your deck one of the cards you played, and then discard all played cards and those in your hand that you don't want to keep.

Finally, discard the reinforcement cards that were not acquired by any player.

The Melee

The melee is the main phase of the game. Starting with the starting player and followed by the player to their left, each player has the option to play a card or pass. If you choose to pass and you are not the player with the highest strength in play (see below), you give up playing any more cards during this phase and must wait until your opponents also pass and the phase ends. If you have no cards in hand, you cannot play and must therefore pass.

Cards are divided into two types: characters and actions.

To play a character, simply place the card in front of you on the table. All characters have a strength value with which they contribute to your total strength. Every time you play a character, don't forget to add its strength to your total.

Use the total strength token on your control sheet so that all your opponents can know how much you have at all times. All characters also have a type, written in bold in the text box. Some cards affect a certain type of character, either granting them benefits or harming them.

Playing an action is similar to playing a character except that they don't usually add strength to your total and they tend to have a requirement to be played. Specifically, many actions have a type, just like characters, that defines them as spells X or miracles X. To play a spell, you must control a mage X, and to play a miracle, you must control a cleric X. In addition, to be able to play a spell or miracle, the character's level (mage 1, cleric 3, etc.) must be equal to or higher than that of the action.

There is no limit to the number of spells or miracles you can play in the same melee, as long as you meet the necessary conditions to play them each time.

Leave the action cards you play on the table, next to your characters, so that the cards you have played during the melee can be seen at all times.

Example: In this situation, this player can play both Sacred Strength and Daylight, because both are miracles of a level equal to or lower than the level of Heliana's cleric, but they cannot play Celestial Ally because it is of a higher level, nor Stun, because it is a spell and they have no mage in play.

Some cards generate an effect when they enter play: you must resolve it if possible, but if not, simply ignore the text. If the effect makes you gain coins, place them in the loot zone of your control sheet. Do not place them in the chest: they will go there at the end of the round if you don't spend them.

There are also cards that generate an effect that won't be resolved until the resolution phase or the reinforcement phase: if so, this effect will only happen if the character remains in play when you reach it.

Other cards produce a continuous effect that is taken into account during the whole melee. It is possible that this "continuous effect" affects the strength of one or more of your characters: remember to modify your total strength to reflect it.

If an effect modifies the strength of one of your characters, you can use the strength bonus tokens to indicate it.

Some cards generate two possible types of effects: exhaust and eliminate. When you choose a character to be exhausted (usually another player's character!), turn it 90º to indicate its new condition. An exhausted character does not contribute its strength to its controller's total, even if its strength is later increased. However, the text of an exhausted character continues to have effect, even if it is activated in other phases, and it still allows you to play spells or miracles if it is a mage or cleric. When one of your characters is exhausted, remember to subtract its strength from your total on your control sheet.

There are also cards that straighten exhausted characters. In this case, put the card back in its upright position and add its strength to your total again.

Eliminating a character allows you to put it on its controller's discard pile. Remember to adjust the total strength to reflect that this character is no longer in play.

Example: This player had an Infantry Soldier and a Cavalry Troop in play, giving a total strength of 3. When they play the Commanding Officer, their strength jumps to 9, because they gained 3 from the officer, plus the +1 it gives the other two characters, plus the +1 the Infantry Soldier gains for there being two other soldiers. If the Commanding Officer is exhausted, this player's total strength will drop to 6, because the officer has strength 3, but the bonus it gives the others will still be taken into account. If the officer is eliminated, it will go back to the 3 they had at the start.

As an alternative to playing a card, you can pass. If you pass while being the player with the highest total strength and you have strength greater than 1, when your turn comes around again, you will once more have the option to play or pass again. However, if you are not the player with the highest strength, you give up playing more cards during the melee phase and must wait for the other players to finish. In case of a tie in strength, the strongest player is the one who comes first in turn order.

If at any point all players pass, the phase ends.

The Resolution

Determine which player has the highest total strength. That player will have won the melee. In case of a tie, turn order determines the winner (that is, the starting player wins all ties they are involved in, then the player to their left, etc.).

If you win the melee, you gain a number of coins equal to 1 + the total value of the cards played by your opponents. Do not count the value of the cards you played, only those your opponents played. Place these coins in your loot zone.

It's possible that some effects, especially ones that gain coins, are triggered during this phase. Remember that all coins gained go to the loot zone. Perform any actions that draw coins at the very end, and keep in mind that coins can only be drawn from the loot, never from the chest.

Acquiring Reinforcements

During this phase, each player will have the option to acquire up to two reinforcement cards from among those found in the center of the table. To do so, follow these steps:

• Determine the order in which players will acquire cards. To do this, check each player's total strength. The player with the most strength, who therefore won the melee, will be the first player in this phase. The rest of the players are ordered after them according to their total strength. In case of ties, use the same criterion as in the previous phase.
• On your turn, you have the option to acquire one of the reinforcement cards by paying its cost. You can pay with coins you have in your loot (but not in your chest) or with cards from your hand, discarding them.

Each discarded card is worth one coin, whatever the card. You can combine both ways of paying, as long as the total of coins paid plus cards discarded add up to the cost of the card you want to acquire. You must also subtract from your total strength the cost of the card you wish to acquire. If that puts your total strength below 0, you simply cannot choose that card and must settle for a cheaper one or not acquire any. This rule is very important: if, for example, you end the melee with strength 0, you won't be able to acquire any card!

Place the card you have acquired on your discard pile, along with the cards discarded to pay for it.

• Once each player has had the option to acquire a card, another round takes place so that players who wish to may acquire a second card. Simply repeat the two previous steps. Regardless of how many reinforcement cards remain unacquired at the end of this step, you can never acquire more than two cards in the same reinforcement phase.

• At the end of this phase, move the coins from your loot that you did not spend to your chest. You will no longer be able to use them to acquire new cards, but they will count when the winner is decided.

Example: It's your turn to reinforce. Although you have enough resources to buy Ulna, Cold Eyes, you can't do so because you ended the melee with only 4 strength, which is less than her cost of 5. You could acquire Aruna, Opportunist, or the Black Dragon, paying with the three cards in your hand and one coin from your loot, with two cards and two coins, or with one card and the three coins (you cannot use the coins from your chest), but that would reduce your total strength to 0 and you would not be able to buy any card in the second round.

Alternatively, you could discard two cards to buy the Guild Mage and wait to see if, when your turn comes around again in the second round, the Meteor Shower is still there and you can acquire it, either by paying with two coins or by discarding the card you have left and paying one coin. Both cards add up to a total cost of 4, which is not more than the total strength you have, so you could acquire both.

End of the Round

Determine if the game ends (see the following section: End of the Game and Victory). If not, carry out the following actions:

• If you wish, remove from your deck a card of your choice that you played this turn. Set these removed cards aside; they will not be used again during the game.
• Put all your cards in play onto your discard pile. If you have cards in hand that you don't want to keep for the next round, put them on your discard pile too.
• Discard all reinforcement cards that no player acquired. Put these cards on a separate discard pile. If the reinforcement deck runs out, shuffle these discarded cards to form a new reinforcement deck.
• Set each player's total strength counter to 0.
• Give the starting player token to the winner of the melee.

End of the Game and Victory

If, at the start of the final phase, a player has 20 coins in their chest (15 if it's your first game), the game ends and you must determine the winner. To do this, add up the value of the cards you have in your deck and the coins in your chest to find your total victory points. The player with the most will be the winner.

In case of a tie, the player with the most value in their deck will be the winner. If the tie persists, hand a sword to each player: the winner will be decided in trial by combat (swords not included).

If you want to make games faster, you can reduce the number of coins needed to end the game to 15 or even 10. This is especially recommended in games with two or three players, or in beginner games.

If, on the other hand, you want to play a more strategic game with longer-term plans, you can choose to raise the necessary amount to 25 or 30 coins. Simply find the amount that makes the game last as long as you consider best, but remember to decide it before the game begins and inform all players.

Credits

Author: Pau Carles.

Illustrations: Bernat Muntés, Chechu Nieto, Eivid, Evelt Yanait, Héctor Herrera, Susana Conde, and Verónica Casas.

Graphic design: Chechu Nieto.

© 2015 DMZ Games www.dmzgames.es