Zanziar
Zanziar Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
In Zanziar the heroes must gather armies, ally with adventurers, vanquish other heroes and conquer cities in order to fulfill their goals. Each hero has his own set of victory conditions, out of which two must be completed to gain victory. The game allows a wide variety of tactics to be used to achieve victory.
Length of the Game
A game will usually last a few hours, but the length may vary. The very first games are bound to take longer, since it takes some time to familiarize all players with the rules. At first glance the rules may seem long and complicated, but after the first game you are likely to need only the quick reference sheet.
A Note on Die Rolls
There are a lot of situations in the game where die rolls decide something. In this rulebook we have used a common way of abbreviating: instead of "a six-sided die" we have written only "d6". d6 +2 means "throw one six-sided die and add 2 to the result", 2d6-1 means "throw 2 six-sided dice and subtract 1 from the sum of the results" and so on.
Beginning the Game
Contents of the Basic Set
Common gaming supplies are to be placed onto the game table, whereas the individual gaming supplies are given to each player.
Common gaming supplies
- 1 Game board
- 2 six-sided dice ("d6" hereafter)
Cards
- 25 City cards (light blue back), representing the cities on the map
- NOTE: It is recommended to use City Reference by Scott Everts, instead or in addition to the City cards.
- 48 Item cards (blue back)
- 30 Magical item cards (blue front)
- 18 Non-magical item cards (gray front)
- 36 Movement cards (blue and green back)
- 18 Adventure cards (red back)
- 18 Whenever cards (yellow back)
- 109 Unit cards (brown back)
- 11 Hero cards (brown front)
- 26 Adventurer cards (purple front)
- 72 Army cards (green front)
- 1 "Herd of Pigs" card (orange back)
- 8 Spell cards (purple back)
- NOTE: Spell cards are so buggy that the game designer recommends those to be thrown away.
Tokens
- 30 Blood tokens (drop-shaped)
- 15 Magic tokens (scroll symbol)
- 13 Mine tokens (pick-and-spade symbol on one side)
- 4 green ore tokens
- 9 iron ore tokens (only 8 are needed, one is a spare)
- 10 Adventure location tokens (compass symbol)
- 5 Dwarven bomb tokens (dynamite symbol)
- 4 Curse tokens (skull symbol)
Individual supplies
- 36 Party markers (shields, two each of Roman numerals I - III)
- 6 in each of six colors
- 60 Control markers (triangular banners)
- 10 in each of six colors
Markers and Tokens
Adventurer group markers (6x / player). One pair of tokens always represents one adventuring party. One marker is placed on the hex where the adventurer group is, while the other is kept next to the unit cards of the group.
Control markers (10x / player). A player places one of his or her control markers on top of every city or mine he or she controls.
Curse tokens. Curse tokens are used to mark cursed items.
Blood tokens. Blood tokens are used to mark hit points missing from units. Missing hit points don't affect the combat skill of a unit.
Example: Norri mercenaries have 7 hit points. If the unit takes 4 hit points of damage in battle, 4 blood tokens are placed on the unit card as an indicator of the lost hit points.
Magic tokens. Magic tokens are used to mark magic points missing from a unit.
Example: Eleth the Healer has 4 magic points. If she performs a spell, one magic point is consumed, and a magic token is placed on the unit card to indicate that she has only 3 points left.
Mine tokens. There are two kinds of mine tokens in the game: iron and green ore tokens.
Adventure location tokens. Adventure location tokens are placed on adventure hexes before the game starts. When an adventure location has been visited, the corresponding token is removed from the game.
Dwarven Bomb tokens. In some cases, units may acquire Dwarven Bombs (dynamite) that may be used once in an attack. When a unit acquires a Dwarven Bomb in a way other than from acquiring a Dwarven Bomb card, a Dwarven Bomb token is placed on the unit card and removed when the explosive is used. (This token is not necessary when you have the dwarven bomb item card.)
Setting Up the Game
Starting Locations
At the beginning of the game, each player controls one city of their choosing. Choose the cities in any order you deem sensible. NOTE: It is not always beneficial to be the one to begin selecting your starting city. Each player must have their own city; two or more players cannot be in the same city.
After starting cities are chosen, each player receives:
- 3 pairs of Adventurer group markers. One of each pair marks the position of one adventurer group on the map; the other indicates the Unit cards representing that group.
- 10 Control markers for controlled cities and mines.
- A quick reference card. Make sure to use quick reference card by Universal Head from BGG. Burn the original printed reference cards.
- 2 Whenever cards, face down. Each player receives two Whenever cards at the beginning of the game. The remainder of the Whenever cards can be returned to the box and are not used. The use of Whenever cards is not counted as an action on your turn, unless the card states otherwise. Whenever cards may be played whenever a player so wishes, except if the card gives instructions otherwise, in which case the card text must be followed exactly.
- 1 random Hero card, face down. Make sure that you don't show your Hero to anyone. (There will always remain extra Hero cards which will not be used in the game. Do not look at the extra Hero cards or allow anyone else to see them either.) Your goals are based on this Hero card.
- 1 random Adventurer card, face down.
- 1 random Army card, face down.
- 1 random Item card, face down.
Study your cards well. Read your individual winning conditions and start thinking of ways to achieve them. If game rules and card texts are conflicting, the cards take precedence.
Setting Up the Game Board
(See Map legend on page 27 and example of game area setting on page 29 for reference.)
- Separate Movement and Spell card decks. Those are no longer used in this rule revision.
- Put the adventure location tokens onto the adventure hexes on the game board. There are three adventure tokens fewer than there are adventure hexes, so players should select which three locations are to remain empty (and therefore contain no adventure). Tip: Keep those locations empty which are farthest from the players' starting cities.
- Place three green ore and eight iron ore tokens face-down on the game board and mix well. Move one face down token to each mine symbol on the game board. The remaining green ore token may be needed during the game.
- Shuffle the Adventure card deck and place it face down on the marked places on the game board.
- Set aside the "Herd of Pigs" card, face up, on the table.
- Shuffle the Adventurer and Army Unit cards together.
- Make sure that no Hero cards are in this deck. Place the deck face down on the table.
- Normally there is a draw pile and a discard pile of each card type. Only the Adventure card pile is recycled; when its draw pile is exhausted, the discard pile is turned over and shuffled to form a new draw pile. For all other card types, game play continues without any new cards of that type once its draw pile is exhausted.
Winning the Game
There are three ways to win the game:
- Fulfill any two of your Hero's goals. One way to win is to achieve any two of your Hero's victory conditions (see the "Goals of the Heroes of Zanziar" table). In the (rare) event of a tie, all tied players are considered victorious. Sometimes it is possible that it will be impossible for any player to win. In that case, there are no winners.
- Collect all seven pieces of the Staff of Wyrmandalus. If any player owns all of the pieces of the Staff, he or she immediately wins the game. The seven pieces have to be in the same hex and in the inventories of the player's units.
- Defeat all competing Heroes.
If a player meets any of these conditions, proof should be presented. If the victory is false, the game continues. Otherwise, the other players should also show their cards, to verify that no other player has also met a winning condition (and thus resulting in a tie). You may only be eliminated from the game if your Hero dies.
Units
Unit Cards
There are three kinds of Unit cards in the game: Heroes, Adventurers, and Armies. Each player has one Hero card (with a brown front and a crown symbol), which can't be discarded, traded or changed. The Hero determines a player's winning conditions and the Hero's death results in the player's elimination from the game. Adventurer cards are purple, and each represents one extraordinary individual. Only Adventurers and Heroes can carry items (see Items) and lead adventurer groups. Army cards comprise the majority of Unit cards. All Unit cards have the unit's race, gender and special skills printed on them. Unlike Heroes and Adventurers, Armies are considered gender-neutral - neither male nor female.
Using Cards Face Down
All Unit cards that you draft or receive throughout the game enter play face down. You can use Unit cards either face up or face down. Face up Units have the skill values and special skills printed on the card, while face down Units are considered Army units without any special characteristics. You can turn a card face up at any time (except between a die roll and its resolution), but a face up card may not be turned face down again. All Unit cards (except one's Hero) may be discarded at any time.
Regardless of skills printed on the front of the card, a face down Unit is considered to have 1 point in each skill, except Magic, which has 0 points. This is indicated on the back of the card. When performing an action that affects the whole adventurer group, you can only use one face down card at a time. That is, you may have more than one face down card in your group, but only one of them may contribute its skill values to resolving the action (for example in the Combat row during battle or using Con to recruit new units).
A face down Adventurer cannot lead an adventurer group. It is considered an Army unit. A face down Hero has the above characteristics of all other face down Units. It still has 0 points in Magic and 1 point in all other skills, and cannot use any of its special abilities. However, it can still lead an adventurer group, draft units, carry items, etc. If you never use your face down Hero in these ways, you can use it like any other face down unit. However, if you use your face down Hero in any of these capacities, you must, if asked, point out which card the Hero is (but you do not need to turn the card face up).
Background information and strategy tips for playing each hero can be found later part in this rulebook.
A Special Unit: The Herd of Pigs
There is a chance that an angered archmage or backfiring spell will turn one of your units into a Herd of Pigs. This is represented by a special card. Discard the old unit card and take the special card instead. If someone else gets the same penalty later, the earlier Herd of Pigs will be transformed into a random unit (take a new random card from the Unit deck). Thus, there can be only one "Herd of Pigs" in play at any given time. The Herd of Pigs comes into play face up.
Adventurer Groups
An adventurer group is a party of one to five units. All of your units must always be assigned to an adventurer group or garrisoned in one of your cities. Garrisoned units cannot move out of the city or actively do anything, but can only defend if they are attacked. Adventurer groups, on the other hand, can move, fight, search for treasure and perform other actions (see Actions of a Game Turn).
Each player can have up to three adventurer groups at a time. The maximum size of an adventurer group is five units, and each group must be led by either a Hero or an Adventurer. The other units in the group can be Heroes, Adventurers or Armies. If, in a group, the only unit capable of leading the group dies, is teleported to another hex, or the group becomes leaderless for any other reason, all remaining units in the group must be discarded, unless the group is in a city you control, in which case you can reassign the units as city guards.
During your game turn, you may freely split, merge and reorganize your adventurer groups as long as all of the units are in the same hex. Both units and items can be moved freely between an adventurer group in a city and units guarding that city. Neither the above reorganization tasks nor the giving and receiving of items uses up an adventurer group's action.
Actions of a Game Turn
There are two kinds of rounds in the game: game rounds and battle rounds (see Battles). A game round consists of one turn for each player, and up to three battle rounds may take place within one turn. During your turn, you may move your adventurer groups (see Movement), and then each group may perform one of the following actions. You may choose not to move nor perform actions with any group; you may even skip your entire turn if you so choose.
Possible Actions
If your adventurer group's movement ends in an Adventure hex with an Adventure location token on it, you must resolve an Adventure (see Adventures). That group may not perform any more actions this turn. Otherwise, each of your adventure groups may do one of the following, each turn:
- draft units or search for treasure in a city which you control (see Cities)
- attack the troops in a neutral city or convince them to join your ranks (see Cities)
- induce a revolt in an enemy city (see Cities)
- search for treasure in a mine (see Mines)
- attack a city or an adventurer group belonging to another player (see Battles)
- cast a spell using a Hero or Adventurer (see Magic)
Reorganizing your adventurer groups or trading with other players (see Trading) does not consume an action.
Heroes
Goals of the Heroes of Zanziar
| Hero Name | Hero Goals |
|---|---|
| Odrix the Chancellor | • Control the ancient dwarven cities (Pulvis, Odrixia, Iduria and Bugt) • Own two items of dwarven manufacture • Control two mines |
| Simma the Prophet | • Have at least one dwarf or hobbit unit in your army • Attempt at least three adventures • Control one mine and two small towns (size 1 or 2) |
| The Leader of Largos | • Keep your identity concealed (i.e. hero card face down) and control a green ore mine • Control the Country of Largos • Own at least two pieces of the Staff of Wyrmandalus (magical item) |
| Queen Hilëiath of Kuduk | • Keep the Little Prince (an Adventurer) alive and in group with Hilëiath or Vottere • Control Country of Kuduk • Control Country of Gory and one of the following countries Largos, Haugen or Vidal-Sis • Own a piece of Maikakano (a magical item) and one non-magical item |
| Prince Olaf of Fär | • Control 3 mainland coastal cities • Control Fär, the Kingdom of Isles • Gather 10 points worth of magical items. Point values are marked in each item card |
| Princess Anna of Fär | • Own at least two pieces of the Staff of Wyrmandalus (magical item) • Reveal the identity of Leader of Largos - (the hero card of Leader of Largos is placed face-up in the play) • Either Anna or Olaf in control of Fär |
| Warchief Shuragub of the Orcs |
Skills
Each Hero, Adventurer, and Army has four skills: Combat, Magic, Diplomacy, and Con. A larger value indicates better skill. Heroes have skill values between 0 and 5, Adventurers between 0 and 6, and Armies between 0 and 10. Despite their lower skill values, Heroes tend to be more versatile because they have more balanced ability in all skills.
Combat
The Combat skill indicates how good at fighting a unit is. It also represents how much damage the unit can take before dying (hit points). Combat is used to:
- fight other units
- conquer cities
- overcome natural dangers or other special events
The value of a unit's Combat skill indicates its number of starting hit points. When a unit has no more hit points, it is dead and is discarded. Lost hit points do not affect the Combat skill of a unit (the same skill value is used for action resolution regardless of the unit's remaining hit points). A blood token is used to indicate a lost hit point.
The use of Combat in battle is detailed in the Battles section.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy represents leadership, negotiation, eloquence, morale, empathy, and related abilities. It is the peaceful and honest means to achieve a goal, and can be difficult but rewarding. Diplomacy is used to:
- draft new units (see Cities)
- recruit neutral units (see Cities)
- prevent battles (see Battles)
Diplomacy is always used by one unit against the Diplomacy total of the target group or party of neutral units. When Diplomacy is used against units from the same culture as the user (printed on the card next to a unit's race), a +1 bonus applies to the user. Diplomacy cannot be used against natural threats such as wolves.
Con
Intrigue, guile, intimidation, cunning, and other methods of coercion are represented by the Con skill. It is the art of getting what you want by whatever means possible without resorting to force. Failure at coercion often leads to violence. Con is used to:
- draft new units (see Cities)
- win over neutral units (see Cities)
- gain advantage in battle (see Battles)
- cause a revolt in an enemy city (see Cities)
Contrary to Diplomacy, Con is always used by a group of units against one enemy or neutral unit. Con cannot be used against a Hero.
Magic
Magic represents a unit's ability to perform spells. It also represents the amount of magical energy the unit has to cast spells (magic points). Magic is used to:
- cast spells as specified by the unit's special abilities or learned through special events
- fight other units or overcome natural or special events (just like Combat).
The value of a unit's Magic skill indicates its number of starting magic points. One magic point is used whenever a spell is cast, a magical attack is used, or any other occasion when Magic skill is checked (e.g. in an Adventure). Lost magic points do not affect the Magic skill of a unit. A magic token is used to indicate a lost magic point.
Magic points do not regenerate naturally, but some adventures, events, and items may restore magic points. If a unit runs out of magic points, it is unable to use magic until it recovers magic points. One cannot have negative magic points - if a situation causes a unit to lose more magic points than it has, the remainder is lost from the unit's hit points instead.
If a unit's Magic skill is 0, it has no magical ability at all and cannot attempt spells or magic of any kind, regardless of bonuses or items.
Magic can be used not only to cast spells but also in battle, as detailed in the Battles section.
Magic
Casting Spells
Units that know how to cast spells have the specific spells listed on their cards. Heroes and Adventurers can also learn new spells during the game. Learned spells can be marked using the Spell cards. Magic is very unpredictable. Whenever a spell is cast, roll d6. On a result of 1, the spell fails and the spell point is lost. Each spell cast consumes one magic point, whether the spell succeeds or not (unless indicated).
Magical Spells
Combat only spells
| Spell name | Spell description |
|---|---|
| Fireball | Fireball deals d6 – (enemy Magic) + (caster's Magic) damage. It is a hazardous spell. Roll d6 twice when checking for whether the spell fumbles. If either roll results in 1, see the Spell Fumbles table. If you get 1 twice, roll twice on the fumble table. |
| Charm | Charm prevents the target unit from attacking. The spell lasts until the end of the battle (3 battle rounds). To succeed, roll d6 + (caster's Con). If the result is higher than the target's Magic skill, the spell succeeds. If you fumble the spell, nothing of note happens. |
| Fly | +2 to Fleeing roll. Fumbling the spell has no special consequences. |
| Protect | Causes each unit in the adventure group to gain two extra hit points, which will be deducted first if the units take damage. The effect wears off after three battle rounds and the extra hit points disappear. Remember to mark the extra hit points with something. • Protect is not cumulative. That is, you cannot cast several protect spells for the same group. • Fumbling this spell has no special consequences. |
General purpose spells
| Spell name | Spell description |
|---|---|
| Cure Plague | The spell cures the plague ravaging Zanziar. This spell is useful only to few heroes. As the spell is very demanding, it has double the normal chances of fumble. Roll additional die. On result of 1 on either die, spell fumbles. Consult spell fumble table. |
| Curse | Curse can only be applied to items, both magical and non-magical. The spell will reverse all special powers of an item. Example: A steel axe gives +1 to combat, but a cursed steel axe gives -1 to combat. (See also Items section.) The cursed item remains on the Hero or Adventurer indefinitely (or until destroyed); cursed items cannot be discarded. A fumbled Curse spell will curse 1d3 (halve the result of 1d6 and round up) random items in the caster's own adventurer group. If the group has no items, the fumble transforms a random Army from the adventurer group into a Herd of Pigs (see the Units section). |
| Heal | Heal is used to cure any Adventurers or Heroes in an adventurer group. A Heal spell can also be applied to Adventurers or Heroes of other players who are in the same hex. A Heal spell can never be fumbled. The spell will heal all Adventurers or Heroes in the group, including the caster, for two hit points, unless stated otherwise. If this spell is used during battle, only the members of the caster's group can be healed. |
| Teleport | Teleport moves up to three units, determined by caster (can include the caster as well), from the caster's side to a distance location, up to a 6 hexes away (in a straight line). If units are moved over the edge of the board, they appear on the opposite edge of the board. Roll d6 twice when checking for a spell fumble. If either roll results in a 1, see the Spell Fumbles table below. If both rolls result in a 1, roll twice on the Spell Fumbles table. |
Movement
Movement on the game board is based on movement points. Adventuring groups receive a number of movement points when it is their turn to move and spend these to enter adjacent hexes. As long as they have enough movement points to spend, they can continue to move.
Each group performs its movement separately and has its own pool of movement points. An adventurer group may only move before it has performed its action for the turn.
The number of movement points a group must spend to move into an adjacent hex depends on the terrain that the group is moving into, not the terrain of where the group currently is. Left-over movement points that the group can or will not use this turn are lost.
There are two modes of movement: movement by land and movement by sea. Each group determines which to use at the start of their move and must stick to that mode for their whole movement. Sea movement must be chosen if the group is on a sea hex, land movement if the hex is land-locked. Only on coastal hexes can the player decide which mode the group uses.
Default Movement Points
Groups receive default movement points depending on the mode of travel they choose. If they choose:
- Land movement they receive 2 movement points by default, whereas
- Sea movement gives them three 3 movement points.
Both default movement point values can and will be adjusted by heroes, adventurers, items, and movement cards.
Default Movement Costs
Generally it costs:
- 1 movement point to enter a sea or plains hex, and
- 2 movement points to enter a mountain or forest hex.
These default costs can and will be adjusted by heroes, adventurers and units in the group. The presence of mines, cities, or adventure locations has no influence on the movement point cost.
Total Movement Points
Some units and movement cards will add to or reduce a group's movement points. Simply add or deduct these from the default value to get the group's total movement points. Among these cards are:
- Mounted units give +1 movement points to the group (only once per group), if the group moves on land. Note that the "if all armies are mounted" part of the card text is ignored.
- The "Favourable weather" movement card gives +1 movement point.
- The "Rainy weather" movement card deducts 1 movement point.
Terrain Bonuses
Note that some unit cards give movement bonuses for certain terrain types. Ignore the exact text on the card (the rules have been changed). Instead, if a unit card lists a movement bonus for a terrain type, the unit's group can enter hexes with that terrain type for 1 movement point less. For example:
- A group with Iiri Shepherds ("can travel in mountain hexes at the speed of 2 hex/turn") only pays 1 movement point to enter mountain hexes.
- A group with Gwyndham of the Forests ("+2 movement in forests") only pays 1 movement point to enter forest hexes.
Special Terrain Types
Mountains. It is impossible to cross mountains. A group may enter a mountain hex, but it must leave by the same route. You cannot travel from one mountain hex to another mountain hex. These restrictions are lifted if the group contains a face-up unit with a movement bonus for mountains OR a flying unit (such as Morgan the Magical Horse or any unit using fly spell).
Example: Sam moves his adventurer group to Odrixia (hex 10F) from hex 10E. When the group wishes to leave the city, it may only leave via hex 10E, from where it entered the city.
Rivers. Rivers can only be crossed where there is a bridge, unless the group has a face up card with the ability to cross rivers or travel on water. Moving along a river is not considered sea travel, even with units that can travel on water. Riverside hexes are also not considered to be coastal.
Bridges. Bridges restrict movement across a river. If another player controls the hex on the other side of the bridge, you must obtain permission from that player or fight in order to gain passage. If permission is not given the army trying to cross must fight the defenders or stop movement.
Cities. Riverside cities you control are assumed to have boats which allow your units to cross the adjacent river. A unit that has special movement abilities (i.e. travelling on water, travelling in mountains, movement bonus, etc.) confers them on the entire group that the unit is in.
Random Movement
Occasionally, an event or situation may arise in which a random movement direction is required. Roll 1d6 to determine the random direction based on the key in hex 01A on the game board.
Corrections
Some cards have old notation "+1 movement in Forest" or other modifiers to movement. All movement bonuses and penalties should be actually "movement points", not hexes. Thus "+1 Forest Movement" should subtract an MP from movement in Forests. This means that Forest movement is then just as "costly" as plains normally.
Similarly, -1 movement means one less movement point.
Movement Explained in Detail
The following is a detailed step-by-step procedure for how to handle movement for each adventuring group.
1. Decide on a mode of travel. The adventuring group must decide whether to travel by land or by sea.
- The group can only choose between land and sea, if it is on a coastal hex (naturally).
- For sea travel it must have a face up "can travel by water" unit in the group.
2. Receive movement points. The group receives movement points depending on its choice:
- For land travel, the group receives 2 movement points. +1 MP when a mounted unit is face up in the group. These points cannot be spent for entering sea hexes.
- For sea travel, the group receives 3 movement points. These can only be spent for entering sea and coastal hexes.
3. Draw movement card. The player draws a movement card for the group. Use the travel type he chose for the group and apply the effects, potentially changing the group's total movement points.
4. Spend movement points. The group now moves by spending movement points to enter hexes.
- It costs 1 MP to move into a plains hex.
- It costs 1 MP to move into a sea hex (only possible with sea travel).
- It costs 2 MP to move into a forest hex. If the group has a face up unit with a movement bonus in forests, this is reduced to 1 MP.
- It costs 2 MP to move into a mountain hex. If the group has a face up unit with a movement bonus in mountains, this is reduced to 1 MP.
- You cannot move from mountain hex to mountain hex, unless you have a face up unit with a "mountains" movement bonus in the group.
- You must leave a mountain hex in the direction you entered it, unless you have a face up unit with a "mountains" movement bonus in the group. If there was no clear direction (teleport or started there), move out in any direction.
- If the group has no face up unit with water travel, rivers can only be crossed at bridges, or when the player controls a city in the hex he is occupying or moving into (using boats from the city).
- Leftover MP can't be carried over into the next turn. They are lost.
- You cannot partially pay the costs of moving into a hex. You either pay the full cost and move into the hex, or not at all.
Movement Examples
A) In this example, Gwyndham of the Forests (Adventurer with a Forest movement bonus) is in Town of Nagya (11D) with a Horseman Horde unit (mounted), but his player doesn't control the city.
The group can only travel by land, but receives 3 movement points (2 plus the mounted bonus of 1). The movement card gives no movement points or penalties.
The group can move to:
- the mine in 13B, as it costs 3 MP to enter three forest hexes (thanks to Gwyndhams forest bonus).
- Iduria (13E) with 1 MP spent for the forest hex and two for the mountain hex.
- the adventure location at 09F, with 1 MP spent for each plains hex.
- the forest hex 10D by going around the river. The group cannot go there directly, because the river blocks them and they have no boats (blue doesn't control Nagya).
- Pulvis (10B) by using the bridge from 11C. They have to fight, if the yellow player controlling Pulvis doesn't allow them passage. If he does, the group can move on to 09C or 10C.
The group cannot move to:
- the plains hex 14D (beyond the adventure location 13D), because it must stop when entering an adventure location.
- Odrixia (10F) because it would need 2 MP to enter the mountain hex, and it will only have left 1 MP unspent after entering 10E.
- the adventure location 09D because the river blocks the direct route and 3 MP are not sufficient for going around the river or through Pulvis to reach this hex - it would cost 4 MP.
B) In this example, the Duke Härdeknut of Fär and a unit of his Blackriders embark in Älfjord (04A) for sea travel. While the Blackriders are mounted, this confers no movement bonus for sea travel. The movement card does not give a bonus either. The group receives three movement points.
The group can move to:
- the sea hexes 01B, 01C, 02C and 07A, because these are all 3 sea hexes away, costing 3 MP to move.
- the plains hex 07C because it is a coastal hex and costs 1 MP to enter (after having spent 2 MP for the sea hexes 05B and 06B).
- the coastal city Abo - for the same reason.
- the adventure location 02A because it costs only 2 MP to get there.
- the coastal hex 04C. Although it costs 2 MP to enter (it's a forest hex), the group has only spent 1 MP so far (on hex 04B).
The group cannot move to:
- the coastal hex 03D, because it would cost 2 MP to enter and the group has only 1 remaining.
- the adventure location 07B, because it is a mountain hex and costs 2 MP to enter, which the group does not have at this point.
- the sea hex 01A because the group has to stop at 02A.
Flying and Teleporting
Some units can fly either as inherent skill or because they can cast 'Fly' spell. Flying units are not affected of any terrain bonuses or penalties, including 'mounted unit' bonus. In effect, all movement by flying units is considered to be on 'plains' and thus cost only 1 MP per hex.
Movement cards do affect flying units normally. Rainy weather makes even flying harder and slower :)
Teleporting is not affected of any movement restrictions and are not subject to movement cards, either. Teleporting is in addition of normal movement.
Locations
There are three types of important locations: Cities, Mines and Adventure locations on the game board. During game setup, special locations are marked on the board using tokens. These are mine and adventure hexes. Only those mine and adventure hexes with tokens on them are considered active and have effect when groups enter them.
Cities
City cards. The deck of city cards has one card for each city. Each card has the name of the city, its hex location, its size (from 1 to 3), the country it belongs to, and any special rules pertaining to that city. City cards are always open for inspection by all players.
When a city is controlled by a player, place a control marker on both its card and the corresponding hex on the board. Garrisoned units may be placed under the city card also. When an adventurer group is in a city, place the city card next to the adventurer group's unit cards to indicate the group's location.
NOTE: There is a city card reference sheet available as free download in Boardgamegeek.com. It is recommended at least for the first games.
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/59055/zanziar-city-reference-card
Controlling a city. All cities, except the starting locations occupied by the players, begin the game as neutral, and are always neutral unless at least one of a player's units are in it. Once a city is left unattended by player units, it is neutral again. Players may garrison units within a city, up to a number of units equal to the city's size (which are on the game board as well as on the city cards). Garrisoned units may be of any unit type, and do not require an Adventurer or Hero to lead them. Garrisoned units cannot move or attack, but can defend if a city is attacked.
A city can hold up to three full adventurer groups at once and as many garrisoned units as the city size allows.
Neutral cities. When an adventurer group enters a neutral city, draw a number of unit cards equal to the city size. These represent the city defense, mercenaries, and visiting adventurers. The adventurer group does not have to fight them, and has four options:
- Fight the neutral units (see Battles)
- Use Diplomacy or Con to recruit the units (see below)
- Leave the units alone
- Leave the city
When the last adventurer group leaves a city and there are no garrisoned units, the city card is returned to the city card deck and remaining neutral units are discarded. Should another adventurer group enter the city later, a set of new neutral units will be drawn.
Note: Movement stops if neutral units are encountered.
Recruiting neutral units. An adventurer group may try to convince neutral units in a city to join a player's side by using either Diplomacy or Con. Newly recruited units cannot perform or participate in actions until the player's next turn, and if added to an adventurer group, consumes that group's action for this turn (if applicable).
- Using Diplomacy: Attempt to recruit the entire group of neutral units at once. To succeed, d6+(Diplomacy of one Adventurer or Hero) must be greater than d6+(total Diplomacy of neutral units). Failure has no special consequences and another attempt at recruitment can be made in the next turn.
- Using Con: Attempt to recruit a single unit. Subtract d6+(Con of neutral unit) from d6+(total Con of adventurer group) and consult the "Using Con Against Neutral Units" table for the result.
Example: Sören's adventurer group enters the neutral city of Nizny-Tagil, which has a size of two, so he draws two Unit cards from the deck. The cards drawn were "Unit from 3rd Legion of Gory" (Dip:1, Mag: 0, Con:0, Com:8) and "Gwyndham of the Forests" (Dip:3, Mag:3, Con:1, Com:1). The group could fight them, but an Adventurer is useful to have and the Legion is strong in Combat. They could try to recruit them using Diplomacy, but Sören's group does not have an Adventurer or Hero with a Diplomacy score higher than the total of the two units' Diplomacy score (1+3 = 4). Con may be a better way to recruit these units, but in this way, only one unit can be recruited each turn. However, Sören can use the combined Con skill of all of the face up cards (plus one of his face down cards) in the group in his attempt. Finally, the group can do nothing and leave the city on the next turn, at which time both neutral units are discarded. The next time a group enters the city, two new units will be drawn from the deck.
Drafting new units. An adventurer group in a city may try to draft further units, using either Diplomacy or Con, after defeating or recruiting all of the neutral units that were there. Units cannot be drafted on the same turn in which you conquered the city (i.e. with a different group). Newly drafted units cannot perform or participate in actions until the player's next turn, and will consume an adventurer group's action if they are added to a group that has not used its action yet this turn. Drafting can be done in two alternative ways:
- Using Diplomacy: One of your Adventurers or Hero tries to convince the people of the city to join your noble cause. The larger the city, the more likely the effort will be successful. Sum up (Diplomacy)+(city size)+d6 and look up the result on the "Using Diplomacy for Drafting" table.
- Using Con: The adventure group tries to intimidate the townspeople to join you... or else. The smaller the city, the more likely coercion is to succeed. Calculate (total Con of group)-2*(city size)+d6 and see the result on the "Using Con for Drafting" table.
Searching for treasure. Every city has hidden treasures, be they in flea markets, cellars, or overgrown graveyards. An adventurer group in a city can spend its turn searching for treasure. Roll d6+(Con of one Adventurer or Hero) and consult the Searching for Treasure (City) table. A group can spend as many turns searching as desired.
Revolts. Revolts may occur when searching for treasure or when drafting units. When a city revolts, it immediately becomes neutral again. Draw a number of new neutral units equal to the city size. The situation is as though the adventurer group had just entered the city: the neutral units do not attack and the group is not forced to leave, and they can be fought or recruited later. Garrisoned units in a city that revolts are discarded unless you can place them into an adventurer group.
An adventurer group may use Con to incite a revolt in a city controlled by another player. The group must either be inside the city or within one hex of it. To succeed in causing an uprising, d6+(Con of Adventurer or Hero) must be greater than d6+(total Diplomacy of units in target city).
Countries. The area on the game board is divided into eight countries, each comprising a number of cities:
- the western Valar kingdom of Kuduk: Abo, Argeau, Basilea, Bugt, Nizny-Tagil
- the eastern Valar state of Largos: Pulvis, Nagya
- the island kingdom of Fär, home of the Norri: Asaheim, Alfjord
- the alliance of Dwarven Cities, under the mountains: Iduria, Odrixia
- the Theocracy of Vidal-Sis, swampy and mysterious hinterland controlled by religious zealots: Selendor, Salmonside, Nidar
- the Great Empire of Gory, the dominant military power of Zanziar: Ragusa, Mombule, Bratusar, Lapek, Tragy
- the Kingdom of Haugen, a corrupted former Valar kingdom conquered by the Norri: Siros, Nafud, Pelagros, Rog
- the double town of the Elven Nations: Graven, Zirconia
Controlling a country. A player controls a country if he or she controls all of the cities within it. Controlling a country gives you the ability to draft extra units in that country at the beginning of each turn. Consider d6+(number of cities in the country) on the "Drafting from a Country" table.
The player controlling a country can choose in which city within that country the new units are recruited.
Mines
There are two kinds of ore that are mined in Zanziar: ordinary iron ore and green ore. Green ore is a toxic material that is used in making magical items.
Some Heroes' goals involve controlling mines. When an adventurer group enters a mine hex for the first time, flip the token over to show the type of mine it is. Whenever any group enters a hex containing a green ore mine or stays there from a previous turn, the group takes d6-1 damage, distributed among its units as the player desires. So, potentially there are risks in just revealing which type of mine there is.
Each turn, a group at a mine may attempt one search for treasure there. For each attempt, roll d6 and consult the "Searching for Treasure (Mine)" table.
A mine is considered controlled by the player whose adventurer group has most recently visited it. Indicate this with a control marker. Units cannot be left to garrison a mine, so an entire adventurer group must stay at the mine if one chooses to guard it.
Adventures
A group that enters a hex with an adventure token in it must draw an adventure card. Then the player either chooses to attempt the adventure with a Hero or Adventurer in the group, or to avoid it by fleeing.
Adventure cards either have non-zero skill values, or a text describing what to do in order to successfully complete the adventure. If there are skill values, choose one of the non-zero skill values for the Hero or Adventurer to challenge, unless otherwise specified. Roll d6 and add the Hero or Adventurer's corresponding skill value. The challenge is a success if this total equals or exceeds the skill value on the adventure card, and is rewarded with one random item in addition to the benefit described on the card. Likewise, if the challenge is unsuccessful, the Hero or Adventurer must take the penalty described on the adventure card.
Only on a successful adventure is the adventure token removed from the game board. Otherwise, the adventure card is discarded and the token remains where it is until an adventure is successfully completed there. A group is not compelled to leave the adventure hex if it fails in an adventure and may remain there to try a new adventure on subsequent turns.
If the group decides to avoid the adventure instead, follow the procedure for fleeing from battle (see Fleeing). The adventure token remains on the board, and the card is discarded.
Battles
Battle Basics
Battles in Zanziar can be bloody and deadly, risking your Hero in battle is rarely worth the risk. Players can choose to attack neutral groups, guarded cities or adventuring parties of other players but combat between a player's own adventuring parties never takes place. Entering a city controlled by another player is automatically considered an attack, unless you have permission from the player to enter. The fighting units must be in the same hex. Battles always take place between two parties, even if there is a third group present. The defender can try to avoid combat for a turn using Diplomacy (see Diplomacy to prevent battles below).
During one game turn, up to three battle rounds can take place. Each battle round comprises three battle phases (Magic, Con and Combat). You can continue the battle on another game turn or game round, but it doesn't go on automatically. The defender doesn't have to take all of his units into the battle, one is the minimum. The only unit is then very probably slaughtered, while the rest can try to flee. If the attacker defeats all the defender's units which took part in the combat, the remaining defender units are forced to flee immediately (see "Fleeing" in the rule tidbits of this section).
Before the battle, the fighting units must be arranged into battle rows. The attacker always arranges his or her units first, then it is the defender's turn. Both sides have three rows, Magic, Con and Combat. During a battle only the units in the Magic row can cast spells, only the units in the Combat row can use Combat skill and so on. Units in the Magic row must have one magic point left. A battle row can include 0-5 units - they can be empty too. The Magic rows are rearmost, Con rows are in the middle of the ranks and Combat rows are in the front line, facing each other. After each battle round both sides can change their formations.
When the battle starts, the attacker's magic row acts first, then the defender's. After Magic phase comes the Con phase and again the attacker can act first. Last comes Combat. Then the first battle round has ended. After possible rearrangement of ranks the attacker's Magic row starts again.
Diplomacy to Prevent Battles
Before a battle (be it between two players or a player and a group of neutral units), either party can try to use Diplomacy to prevent the combat. To succeed, the Diplomacy of the user's Adventurer or Hero + d6 must be equal or greater than the opposing units' Diplomacy total + d6. You can't prevent the battle from taking place, you can only delay it for one turn: next round your opponent can try to attack again - and you can try to prevent the battle.
Overview of Battle
- Movement must be resolved first. Read movement card. See whether two adventurer groups end up to the same hex. The group moving in is the attacker.
- Decision to fight? The attacker has the first option. If he chooses not to, the defender can still initiate a fight.
- Diplomacy round. The defender can try to use his diplomacy to prevent the battle. The attacker may never use diplomacy.
- a) If Diplomacy is successful, there is no battle. End of action for this adventuring party. Adventuring parties still remain on the same hex. b) If diplomacy fails, combat follows. Attacking player sets up his combat rows (see example below).
- Defender sets up his battle rows.
- Attacker's magic row is resolved.
- Defender's magic row is resolved.
- Attacker's CON row is resolved.
- Defender's CON row is resolved.
- Combat rows of attacker and defender are resolved simultaneously.
- Damage is allocated and casualties are removed.
- Both parties can announce that they'll flee.
- a) If parties fled, resolve fleeing. b) If both parties are present, continue combat.
Battle Phases
Magic. Magic is a 1 vs 1 attack. Each unit in the magic row can either cast a spell (explained in detail in the Magic section) or perform a magical attack against an enemy unit of choice, except Hero. Only units in the Magic row can cast spells during a battle. When a Magic attack is performed, count Magic + d6 for both the attacker and the defender. The damage caused is the difference of the values and is received by the unit of the player with the lower value. A unit in a Magic row who has had to defend against Magic can't use Magic during the same battle round. Every use of magic, even when defending while being magically attacked, costs one magic point.
Example: Matt has Rölli the Shaman (Magic 4) in his Magic row. He decides to attack Eleth the Healer (Magic 4), who is the only unit in Joanna's Magic row. Matt throws 4 and Joanna 2. Hence, Matt's attack value is 4+4=8 and Joanna's 4+2=6. 8-6=2, so Joanna's Eleth takes two hit points of damage. Both units also lose one magic point. Now it is Joanna's turn to attack with Magic, but since she only has Eleth in her Magic row and she has had to defend against Magic, she can no longer cast a spell or attack. It's time for the Con phase now.
Con. After the Magic phase comes the Con phase. The attacker chooses a group of Con users to attack a single enemy unit from the Combat or Con row of the defender. You can attack with your whole Con group at once or divide it into several groups. However, each unit belongs to exactly one group during each battle round. Con can never be used against the enemy's Magic row or Hero. Compute (attackers' con+1d6)-(defending unit's con+1d6) - the result is then determined by the "Use of Con in Combat" table below. If a unit (temporarily) switches sides due to Con, it joins in the same combat row it was before being conned.
After the attacker's Con row has acted, it's the defender's turn. However, if a unit from the Con row was attacked during the attacker's Con turn, it can't act again on the defender's Con turn. If it was attacked during the Magic phase, it can still use its skill.
Use of Con in Combat
| Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| -4 or less | The units trying to CON leave the group permanently (discard the units). This can't happen to a Hero. If a Hero Cons and fails, all other units of the adventurer group leave (discard them immediately). |
| -2 to -3 | The unit using CON leaves the battle situation. If it is a neutral unit discard it; otherwise it rejoins the group after combat, if there are any survivors. If not, discard it as well. This can't happen to a Hero. If a Hero Cons and fails, one of his other units in the same adventurer group leaves (discard them immediately). |
| -1 or 0 | Nothing happens. |
| 1 to 2 | The targeted unit won't fight during this battle round due to confusion. |
| 3 to 4 | The targeted is seduced and therefore won't fight in this battle. |
| 5 | The target flees from the battle after hearing horror stories (discard it). |
| 6-7 | Target joins the battle on the side of unit trying the CON for this battle round. On the beginning of the next battle round the conned unit returns to the original owner. |
| 8 or more | The target joins the side of the unit doing the CON permanently. |
Combat. The Combat phase is the last and simplest. The two Combat rows attack each other simultaneously. First an attack value is calculated for both sides (Combat total of the row + d6). The side with the lower value takes damage equal to the difference of the attack values. The units with the higher value don't get hurt at all.
Example: Matt charges against Joanna with Olaf (a Hero with Combat of 6), who also has a +2 Steel axe in his inventory. He rolls d6 and gets 1. Thus his attack value is 6+2+1=9. Joanna's Combat row consists of Kudukian Peasants (Combat 4) and Band of Valar Nobles (Combat 4). Joanna throws 3, so her attack value is 4+4+3=11. Because Matt's value is lower, Olaf has to take 11-9=2 hit points of damage. Combat always ends after three full battle rounds. Both parties are too weary to continue. End of action for attacking adventurer group.
The damage accumulated during the Combat phase can be freely distributed among the row that received it. If the damage exceeds the combined hit points of the row receiving damage, the excess will be passed on to the next row until all damage has been taken or all the damaged units are dead. If there are no units in the Combat row, when the Combat phase begins, the second row (Con or Magic if Con is missing), has to defend against Combat. The Con or Magic row defends with its Combat total but doesn't get the d6 bonus that the attacking Combat row receives.
A group defending a city receives a Combat bonus equal to city size for each unit in garrison.
NOTE: An attacking group can consist of at most 5 units, while a defending group can consist of 5 units and as many units as the city can garrison.
Examples on certain points
-
Attacker's unit does magic attack against the Adventurer or Defender (standing in con row). Die shows 3, resulting in 3+1=4 for attacker. Defender has magic of 0, but rolls 3, resulting 4-3=1 points of damage to Adventurer. Attacker's magic row unit has used his only magic point (add magic token) and thus must be placed on some other row on subsequent battle rounds.
-
Defender has no magic row, thus nothing happens.
-
Attacker has a mighty con row, having Army and Adventurer with magical item. He decides to combine his CON and attack the only viable alternative (Con works against Combat and Con rows): the dwarven fighters on defender's combat row. 3+2+2+die(4)=11 against dwarves 1+die(3)=4, equals 11-4=7 difference and according to the table "Use of Con in Combat" the target joins the side using the Con skills for this round.
-
The defender opts not to reveal his face down card, and thus only gains +1 from that. His combined CON would be 4, but he still chooses to use two separate Con 'attacks'. 1+die(6) against the First legion of Gory who have no CON at all (0+die(2)=2), resulting in 7-2 = difference of 5, which equals: "Target flees in battle after hearing horror stories" ...And there is still another group to go. 3+die(2) against the Iiri scouts having con of 3 and luck in die(6) 3+2=5 against 3+6=9 results in -4 "The units trying to Con leave the group permanently (discard the units)".
Bad luck: the defender would have to end the battle if the face down card is not another Adventurer or Hero. Luckily the face down card was his Hero, which he is now forced to turn face-up. On this battle round the Hero's abilities cannot be used, however, as the Hero already acted as a face down card.
- Combat is to take place, but now the odds have changed radically as the defender doesn't have any combat row since his dwarves (10) joined attacker, whereas the attacker's Legion of Gory (7) fled. The attacker's combat row is now 10 + 4 + die(2) = 16 against the first row of the defender, which is the Con row, in which the defender only has his Hero. Regardless of how heroic he is, he is now very dead, as even Olaf would get 16-6=10 points of damage.
Battle Against More Than One Opponent
Combat is always between two adventure groups, but nothing prevents a situation where three players in a same hex decide to have a battle. Then two of those have a battle and the third can bargain with both of the participants BEFORE the battle for unit exchanges or other trades. You are, after all, allowed to trade your units. Thus, two allied players can join their forces, but only up to maximum of 5 units each side + garrisons can take part in the combat.
Rule Tidbits: Fleeing
When you are trying to flee, roll d6. The result determines the number of cards that escape intact, including both units and items. The rest are left behind and discarded. Cursed items escape automatically and aren't counted towards the escape limit. Should you flee from battle all surviving units move one hex in a random direction.
Example: Anne fights with Kudukian peasants and Prince Olaf wielding a cursed Skjaaer the magical sword and wearing the Gloves of chivalry. Anne decides that it's wiser to leave the battle. She throws a two, so she can take two cards with her from the battle. She has to choose Olaf, who is her Hero. Now she can choose whether she leaves the Kudukian peasants or the Gloves of chivalry to the battlefield. The cursed sword remains with Olaf in any case.
Items
Only Heroes and Adventurers can use items. Each Hero and Adventurer can carry up to three items. If you obtain more items, you must discard or give away your extra items to any unit in the same hex. The face-up side of cards representing items can be either blue (magical) or gray (non-magical). Like unit cards, items can be either face up or face down. When Adventurers or Heroes use items, they must always be revealed. A face up item must remain face up for the duration of the game. You can use item cards at any time, even in the middle of combat.
Armor
Armor protects your character by giving extra hit points. The armor's hit points are always subtracted first when your character is attacked and the armor is destroyed if its hit point reach zero. If you lose a damaged armor, the damage it has taken isn't transferred to your character. Note that items giving a Combat bonus don't give extra hit points and armor doesn't give a Combat bonus.
Example: Anna of Fär (a Hero) has only 1 hit point. However, she wears a Chainmail of Moonlight steel, which gives +6 hit points. She takes 4 points of magical damage in a battle. Now she has 3 effective hit points (the one original and the two remaining hit points of the armor). She takes 2 hit point damage next round. Now the armor is destroyed and discarded, but Anna herself remains uninjured.
Cursed Items
The Curse spell negates all the special powers of an item. For example, +1 bonus becomes a -1 penalty. All bonuses that aren't countable disappear. However, the magical point values aren't negated - even cursed items count towards the 10 point goal that some Heroes try to achieve. Curses don't affect victory conditions either: Hilëiath can win with a cursed Piece of Maikakano and so on.
Cursed items can never be dropped but the orcish chieftain can destroy them. Curse can't be canceled. A cursed item will remain cursed for the rest of the game. Mark the cursed item with a Curse token.
Dwarven Bomb
You may obtain a Dwarven Bomb from the item pack, but also from an adventure or with the unit Dwarven engineers. For the two latter cases there are Dwarven Bomb tokens to remind of the item. The properties of Dwarven Bomb are:
Usable only once, discard after use, throw d6. On 1 distribute d6+1 damage among your own troops, otherwise you get +5 Combat for the battle round.
Trading
Players who are in the same hex may freely trade items, Armies and Adventurers between adventurer groups. Without being in the same hex, you can make deals that don't involve units or items. Such arrangements could for example include changing the ownership of cities. If you trade away a city, all units guarding it are discarded unless you can assign them to an adventurer group of yours.
If the deal would come into force immediately or during the same game turn, you must adhere to its conditions but if you have agreed to do something in the future - be it in the next time or the distant future, nothing forces you to keep your promise.
Trading does not consume an adventurer group's action.
Variants
Below you'll find suggestions of the game designer, mostly to decrease the rather formidable luck factor of the game. None of these variants are mandatory, but might make the game experience better especially for the more experienced gamers, who expect luck to play a lesser role in their games. Let it still be said, that even with these variants, luck plays a clear role in this game.
A Die Reroll
A game designers suggested variant for the game allows each player to have one reroll for any roll within the game. This is easiest done by having a simple token as reminder of the reroll. Once reroll is used, the token is discarded. The idea of the reroll is to decrease the luck effect.
Double Die Rolls
Based on testing and user comments, the luck factor is a major cause for problems with more advanced players. To decrease the luck factor, it is recommended to replace each d6 die roll with two separate die rolls, where the player can freely choose which of the results they would prefer to use.
This will speed up the game, as revolts, collapsing mines and teleportation to unwanted directions are vastly decreased. Recruiting and treasure hunting becomes also rather much more effective, which might mean that Heroes with 'find certain item' type of goals can have some advantage over others. Should this become an obstacle, you can limit the double rolls to non-city actions and still gain a lot less luck dependancy.
This variant, however, should not be used with the 'reroll' variant suggested earlier on as both variants are actually meant to 'fix' the same issu
Tables
Magic: Spell Fumbles
NOTE: The Spell Fumbles table is referred to in the Magical Spells section above but is not printed in this edition of the rulebook.
Using Diplomacy for Drafting (City)
| Diplomacy + city size + d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 4 or less | The city revolts |
| 5 or 6 | Nothing happens |
| 7-10 | A random unit is drafted |
| 11 or more | Two random units are drafted |
Drafting From a Country
| d6 + (number of cities) | Result |
|---|---|
| 3 or less | All of the cities in the country revolt |
| 4-7 | Nothing happens |
| 8 or more | Receive one face down unit from the deck. It must be garrisoned in a city in the country where it was drafted. Normal maximums for a city's number of garrisoned units apply. |
Searching for a Treasure (Mine)
| 1d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | The mine collapses! The group suffers d6+1 damage (distribute among units as desired). Remove the mine token from the board. |
| 2-4 | Nothing found. |
| 5-6 | Find one item. |
Searching for a Treasure (City)
| 1d6 + (Con of Adventurer or Hero) | Result |
|---|---|
| die roll of 1 | Looted a sacred shrine. The city revolts! (see Revolts, above) |
| 2-4 | Find nothing. |
| 5-8 | Find one item. |
| 9 or more | Treasure trove! Draw two item cards. Keep one and place the other at the bottom of the Item deck. |
Use of Con in Drafting
| Con total of group - (2 x city size) + d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 5 or less | The city revolts. |
| 6-8 | Nothing happens. |
| 9-12 | A random unit is drafted. |
| 13 or more | Two random units are drafted. |
Use of Con Against Neutral Units
| (Con total of group + d6) - (Con of the neutral unit + d6) | Result |
|---|---|
| -3 or less | The units using Con leave the group permanently (discard the units), except for Hero units. If a Hero is involved in a failed Con attempt, all other units of the adventurer group leave (discard them immediately). |
| 0 to -2 | The units using Con take a serious beating from a neutral unit. Each point below zero equals one hit point of damage. |
| +1 to +5 | Nothing happens |
| 6 or more | The target joins the side of the units doing the Con permanently. |
Map Legend
The game map is divided into hexes. Each hex is marked with a horizontal row number in two digits and a vertical position with letters. In vertical markings A represents the upper end of the board (North). The further you go in alphabet, the closer to the bottom of the board (South) you will be.
- Forest hex
- Plain hex
- Mountain hex: see "Movement" (Special Terrain Types) for restrictions on moving in mountains.
- Bridge: Rivers can only be crossed using a bridge, unless you have a face-up unit with the ability to cross rivers or travel on water or you control a city in the hex where you want to cross the river.
- Mine (without a mine token)
- Coastal hexes: Coastal hexes are all seaside hexes and the hexes next to Lacus Silens, the lake in the left part of the map.
- City
- Adventure location (without an adventure location token)
Release Notes 8.0.X
Clarifications
- Starting cities section totally rewritten.
- Movement cards & spell cards removed.
- LAST VERSION OF THE LIVING RULEBOOK!
Questions, comments or problems with the rules? From the Zanziar website you will find a constantly updated FAQ, possible errata and an active forum where the game developers resolve any problems you might have encountered. Please visit: http://www.zanziar.org (also http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38868/zanziar).