Creature Caravan

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• Setup
  • 1. Place the "Start" map tile first (either side up), then add all map tiles randomly in a horizontal row to the right. Place the Eastrey tile at the end of the row.
    2. Place the market board and ember zombie board near the map.
    3. Create supplies of the food, bag, coin, fruit, and ember zombie tokens.
    4. Shuffle the treasure chest tokens face down and create a supply.
    5. Shuffle the cards into a deck (or 2). Leave space for a face down discard pile(s).
    6. Each player takes:
       • a player board
       • 5 dice
       • 1 coin
       • chooses a color and takes in their color:
         • 15 cubes
         • 12 tents
         • 1 caravan token
    7. Each player draws 8 cards, kept secret.
    8. Pick a start player and they choose a start space in the 1st column of the start tile. Others do so in clockwise order (must choose different spaces).
• Gameplay

  • Note: Tents and treasures are the only deliberately limited components. If you run out of anything else, use a suitable substitute.

    • The game lasts 12 turns. The player with the most victory points at the end wins.
    • Over the course of 12 turns, all players act simultaneously by rolling and placing dice on actions, then everyone places a camp.
  • Taking a Turn
    • • At the start of each turn, all players roll all their dice.
        • Dice can be re-rolled once, but all dice must be re-rolled.
      • All players simultaneously place dice on actions.
        • These are placed on player boards/cards in their tableau.
        • When placed, the entire action must be completed before moving to the next action.
        • Each action can only be taken once per turn.
        • Action spaces for a die value that is the minimum value of die needed to take the action.
        • After placing a die, actions can be resolved in any order, but all must be completed before starting another action.
        • Some cards have multiple actions, which are resolved separately.
        • You do not need to use all of your dice before ending your turn.
        • Some actions have an additional resource cost, printed in the lower left corner of the die
    • Action Types
      • Travel
        • • Move your caravan orthogonally only in any direction, but you must move to the terrain type pictured.
          • Plains: any square without a canyon, mountain, or lake.
            • All cloud spaces, all of Eastrey, and all white towers are plains (unless a white tower sits in another land type).
          • Some icons show multiple land types that can be moved to.
          • "Vertical" travel may only move up or down in the same column.
          • Moving into or through a threat (ember zombie) space forces you to take 1 ember zombie token.
            • -1 VP each at game end.
            • You may discard a zombie token when you attack a zombie.
      • Gain Resources
        • • Gain the pictured resource in the quantities shown.
      • Draw
        • • Draw the number of cards indicated.
            • If there is a hand icon, draw the indicated number, but keep only the number on the hand icon.
      • Trade at Market
        • • Make 1 available trade at the market.
            • Return the indicated number of bags or coins and take food equal to that number +2.
            • Place 1 of your cubes in the top space of that column.
              • These will move down a space at the end of the turn
          • Each player may only make 1 trade per column.
          • If there is a cube covering the trade icon, that trade is no longer available.
      • Attack
        • • If your caravan is on a space with a threat symbol, but you have not yet placed a camp, you can attack 1 zombie here.
          • Place dice on any number of spaces with an attack (sword and number) value until you have >= attack power for an open column.
            • After attacking a zombie, discard 1 ember zombie token.
            • Place a cube in the top of the column.
            • The rules for cube placement and movement are basically the same as for the trade action.
  • Free Actions
    • • Discard for resources: discard 1 card from hand to gain 1 food; discard 3 cards to gain 1 coin.
      • Add a creature to your caravan: pay the cost for a card in hand (upper left) and place it next to your player board as a new action space.
        • "Turn Start" effects begin next turn.
        • Some cards only activate when the card is played.
        • You are limited to 12 cards in your tableau, unless a card says otherwise.
        • There is no hand limit.

      Optional Rule: Trading

      For more interaction: at any time players may exchange food and cards in hand (nothing else). You may not show a card before trading, but may state its name and types (e.g. "Aged Engineer," or "Magic"). No other info about hand cards may be revealed.

  • End of Turn
    • 1. Market & Ember Zombie boards: cubes above a trade or attack icon slide down 1 space.
         • If a cube reaches an icon, all cubes in that column slide to it and that trade/zombie is no longer available.
      2. Camps: each player places a camp on their caravan token's space.
         • You may have more than one camp on a space, and may camp on a space holding another player's camp or caravan.
      3. Creature card map effects: receive any rewards your caravan cards grant for camping on specific spaces.
      4. Map effects (bonuses):
         • White tower: draw 3 cards.
         • Fruit: take a fruit token. A fruit token can be placed on a creature card to reduce the required die value to 1 for the rest of the game.
           • Fruit may be stored for later use.
           • Once placed, a fruit cannot be moved.
           • Fruit cannot modify player board actions.
         • Treasure: draw 1 random treasure token. If a bag, fruit, or coin is shown, take the matching item immediately.
           • Keep the treasure token face down near your board for end game scoring.
• The Map
  • • Opponents' camps & caravans: ignore other players' camps and caravans when moving, camping, collecting treasure/fruit/cards from white towers, and taking zombie tokens.
    • Your camps: once you have a camp on a white tower, fruit, or treasure space, or zombie space you can no longer collect its reward or fight a zombie.
    • Threat spaces: any time you move to or through a threat space, take an ember zombie token (-1 VP each). Discard 1 each time you attack a zombie. You take no extra tokens when camping.
    • Land types: plains (anything without mountains, lake, or canyons), mountains, lakes, and canyons.
    • Clouds: count as plains, with no special rules, but interact with some cards.
    • Moving to Eastrey: the Eastrey tile is one large space adjacent to the 6 spaces in the column to its left. Once you move to Eastrey you cannot move again; at each turn's end while there, place a camp as normal.
• End of the Game & Scoring

  • After 12 turns the game ends. Once the final camps are placed and camp rewards taken, players may take any number of free actions, then score. Most VP wins. Ties: the player with the most combined cubes on the market and ember zombie boards wins.

    Scoring

    • Reach Eastrey: 5 VP if you have at least one camp in Eastrey.
    • Total Distance: 1 VP per column you moved forward (count the start space and your end space; don't count tents). Max 25 VP, only if you camp on Eastrey.
    • Spaces with your camps: 1 VP per space containing one or more of your camps (count spaces, not camps).
    • Ember Zombie board: VP shown for each of your cubes.
    • Market trades: VP shown for each of your cubes.
    • Card VP: total all points on teal banners of cards in your caravan.
    • Treasures: total all points on teal banners of your treasure tokens.
    • Ember Zombie tokens: -1 VP per zombie token you still hold.
• Solo / Bot Mode

  • Solo mode adds a bot opponent (also usable as an extra player in any game). Each human sets up normally. The bot gets 1 player board (bot side up), 5 dice, and a set of tents, cubes, and a caravan marker.

    • Place the bot's caravan on a starting space by die roll (starting-column spaces are numbered 1-6 top to bottom).
    • Instead of a starting hand, give the bot one of these card pairs (placed by its board): Aged Engineer + Trinket Wagon (recommended); Nizra the Witch + Plains Wagon; Lizardfolk Herbalist + Scaled Stallion; or Glogo Traveler + Noble Commander.

    Each turn, after the humans finish, run the bot:

    1. Roll 5 dice.
    2. Assign dice in order, top to bottom on the bot board (place only one die or set per action):
       • First, any one set of double 4s/5s/6s (highest set first).
       • Next, any one set of double 1s (a single 1 doesn't count here).
       • Then remaining dice of values 2-6 on matching spaces.
       • Any leftover dice go in the "Combat Dice" section.
    3. Take dice actions that were met, top to bottom:
       • Double 4s/5s/6s: place a cube on the lowest available market trade (if tied, choose coins). Normal trade limits apply.
       • Double 1s: move caravan forward 2, then up 2 if possible (ignore movement off the map edge). No zombie tokens.
       • Value 2: move caravan forward 1, then down 1 if possible. No zombie tokens.
       • Value 3: draw cards one at a time (up to 6) until one matches an incomplete VP set on a played card; play it. Otherwise nothing.
       • Value 4: if there are combat dice, roll them and sum, then add 1 per attack action on the bot's played cards. If 6+, place a cube on the lowest available zombie. If 5 or less (or no combat dice), the bot gains a zombie token. (Often there are combat dice but no 4 — just ignore the combat dice that turn.)
       • Value 5: place a fruit token on the bot board (1 VP each, bot only).
       • Value 6: draw 5 cards, keep the one with the highest printed VP (ignore modifiers); play it. If tied, you choose.
    4. Camp: place a tent on the bot's caravan space. The bot collects only fruit and treasures from the board; a treasure giving a fruit gives a fruit, but a coin/bag treasure gives nothing. Disregard all other camp bonuses.

    Bot Reminders

    • The bot uses no card actions (except when calculating attack) and ignores card abilities and combat bonuses.
    • The bot has no hand and no card limit.
    • Do not discard bot zombie tokens after combat.
    • Recommended: ignore/discard the Young Manticore if drawn for the bot.

    Bot Scoring

    Market & ember zombie VP as normal; map VP as normal (1 VP per camped space, 1 VP per space moved forward, 5 VP if it reached Eastrey); 1 VP per camp on a white tower; 1 VP per fruit token; treasure VP; and VP from all played cards (count all applicable bonuses, but no points for incomplete VP sets). Apply negative card VP and subtract zombie tokens.

    Bot Challenge+

    • Level 2: when the bot has 5+ fruit tokens, it rolls 1 extra die per turn (never more than 6 dice).
    • Level 3: the bot rolls 1 extra die per turn for every 4 fruit tokens it has.
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