Merlin

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• Setup
  • • Place the game board.
    • Put the round marker on the 1st space of the round track.
    • Place Merlin on the Dragon's Principality space (black) on the rondel.
    • Place the grail and Excalibur on the their spots on the rondel.
    • Place the flags, construction materials, and shields on their corresponding spaces.
    • Place the apples on their space.
    • Shuffle the mission cards and place them face down on the board. Flip the top 3 cards and place them face up next to the board.
    • Mix the traitor tiles face-down and place them on the matching spaces in 3 face-down stacks.
    • Construct the environs:
      1. Mix all the terrain tiles face-down.
         • If playing with 2-3 players, remove 1 tile each of mountain, wood, and lake, both with and without tower. Return them to the box.
      2. Arrange the terrain tiles in rows of 6 face-up tiles each, enclosed by the 2 terrain frames.
    • Each player takes (in their color):
      • 1 castle board
      • 1 knight
      • 4 henchmen
      • 6 influence counters
      • 3 Merlin's staffs
      • 7 manors
      • 1 scoring marker
      • 1 100 point marker
      • 3 personal dice
      • 1 apple
      • 1 Merlin die
    • Shuffle the starting tiles and deal 1 to each player.
      • Each player places their knight on the shown principality.
      • Each player takes the flag, shield, and construction material shown on the tile.
      • Each player places 1 of their influence markers on the depicted space.
      • After everyone is complete, return the starting tiles to the box.
    • Each player then:
      • Places their score marker on the 0/100 space of the score track
      • Stacks their manors next to the environs
      • Places their 100 point marker near the score track
      • Places the rest of their components on the matching spaces on their castle board.
      • Takes 3 traitors, attaching them to the assigned spaces of their castle board.
        • Traitors with identical shields are placed on top of each other.
      • Draws a hand of 4 mission cards from the deck.
      • Rolls their 4 dice and place them on their castle board.
        • If a triplet or quadruplet is rolled, the player must reroll all their dice. Repeat until there is no longer 3 or 4 of a kind.
    • Pick a start player and give them the start player marker.
• Gameplay

  • The game is played over the course of 6 rounds with players using their dice to move their knight or Merlin and performing the action in the space they move to. The round ends when all players have taken 4 turns (used all their dice).

  • Player Turn
    • • Choose 1 of your dice and place it in the center area of the board.
        • Note: There can be any number of figures (knights and/or Merlin) on a space.
        • You may spend an apple to change the facing of your die to any side before placing the die and moving a figure.
        • If it's a white (Merlin) die, move Merlin a number of spaces equaling the die value in either direction.
        • If it's a die in your player color, move your knight a number of spaces equaling the die value in the clockwise direction.
      • After moving a figure (your knight or Merlin), take the action of the space where the figure landed.
        • If you used Merlin, you may spend one of your Merlin staffs to immediately repeat the action taken.
        • Note that each Merlin staff is usable once per game.
      • You may also complete 1 (and only 1) of your mission cards.
      • When all players are out of dice, proceed to the end of round instructions.
  • Actions
    • Principality Spaces

      • 

        • Choose a henchman from their board or from another principality and place them on the corresponding space in the principality of the space you stopped at.
          • If the space is already occupied by another player's henchman, the other player returns the henchman to their player board.

        The Builder

        • Claim 1 piece of construction material from that principality (if available) and store it on your board.

        The Shield-bearer

        • Claim 1 shield (if available) from the principality and store it on your board.

        The Flag-bearer

        • Claim 1 flag (if available) from that principality and attach it to the matching spot next to your player board.

        The Lady-in-waiting

        • Take 1 of your counters from your player board (if available) and place it on the principality, adding it to any existing counters already there.
    • Victory Point Spaces

      • 

        Shield, Flag, Construction Material

        • Take 1 VP for each shield, flag, or construction material on your castle board, depending on the space.

        Influence Counter

        • Gain 1 VP for each of your influence counters that have been placed in the principalities.
    • Influence Spaces

      • 

        Flag, Construction Material, Shield

        • Claim 1 shield, flag, or construction material from any 1 principality where you have at least 1 influence counter and store it on your board.

        Henchmen

        • Choose a principality in which you have at least 1 influence counter and send 1 of your henchmen there.
          • See the principality spaces for info on what the henchmen do.
          • The henchman can come from your board or another principality.

        Excalibur

        • Claim Excalibur from the board or from another player and chose and remove 1 of the traitors attached to your castle board and discard it.

        The Grail

        • Claim the grail from the board or from another player and take 1 apple from the supply and store it on your board.
    • Relocate 1 Henchman Space

      • 

        • Choose 1 of your henchmen from any principality and move it to the next principality in either direction and perform their duty.
          • See the principality spaces for info on what the henchmen do.
    • Exchange Spaces

      • 

        • You may exchange 1 shield, flag, or construction material you have and take 1 shield, flag, or construction material from any principality.
          • Note the items exchanged do not have to be the same type. e.g. You can exchange a shield for a flag.
    • Mission Spaces

      • 

        • You may discard up to 2 of your mission cards and draw the same number of cards from the display and/or draw pile.
          • When a card is taken from the display, replace it immediately.
          • If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard to make a new draw pile.
    • Build a Manor Spaces

      • 

        • You may build 1 manor in the environs.
          • It can be built on any terrain tile not already occupied by a manor.
          • To pay for the build, spend one of the construction materials that line up with the space in which you want to build. Only spend 1 material, not 1 of each.
            • Draw a (virtual) line from the space to all of the frame spots showing a construction material that line up with the desired space.
          • If the tile shows a tower, you may claim 1 shield or flag from any principality or you may place 1 of your influence counters on any principality.
        • You may not build more than 7 manors in the environ.
  • Mission Cards
    • • You may resolve 1 (and only 1) of your mission cards at any time during your turn.
      • If you meet the requirements (upper-left part of the card), gain the points shown in the shield and discard the card.
        • Note that you do NOT spend the items required, you must simply have them.
      • After you resolve a mission card, draw a new one at the end of your turn.
        • You can draw from the display or from the top of the deck.
        • If you draw from the display, replace the it from the deck.
        • If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard to form a new draw pile.
  • End of Round

    • After the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Round

      • Everyone picks up and rolls their 3 personal dice and a Merlin die.
        • If 3 or 4 of a kind are rolled, reroll until you do not have 3 or 4 of a kind.
        • Place your dice on your castle board.
      • Pass the 1st player marker to the next player to the left.
      • Move the game round marker to the next space.

      Scoring After the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Rounds

      • After the scoring in the 2nd and 4th rounds, perform the same steps as for the 1st, 3rd, and 5th rounds above.
      • After the 6th round, proceed to the end of game steps.

      Scoring Traitors

      1. You must repel the traitors you have by spending the shield associated with the traitor. If you spend the shield, discard the traitor back to its matching principality.
         • If you hold Excalibur and repelled all your traitors, gain 3 points.
         • If you have multiple traitors showing the same shield, you must spend 1 shield per traitor.
      2. Lose 3 points for each traitor you did not repel. Then discard all your traitors back to their matching principality.
      3. Draw 3 new traitors from the stacks and attach them to your player board.
         • If the stacks are empty, shuffle the discarded traitors to form 3 new stacks.

      Environs

      • For each group of connected terrain of the same type, VP are awarded for the most manors in that area.
        • 1 VP per hex in the grouping.
        • If there is a tie, divide the number of points between the tied players, rounded down.

      Influence

      • For each principality, the player with the most influence scores VP.
        • Start with the black principality and continue clockwise in the scoring.
        • The number of points is equal to the total number of influence counters in that principality.
        • If there is a tie, divide the number of points between the tied players, rounded down.
      • After scoring a principality, all counters, down to 1 per player, are returned to the players' supplies. i.e. there should be a max of 1 counter per player after this step.
      • Once per scoring, the player with the Grail may place the grail in a principality where they are tied with another player to take all the points (tie-breaker).
        • After the scoring of all principalities are complete, the grail is returned to the player that had it.

      Henchmen

      • Each player gains 1 VP for each of their henchmen in a principality (no points for henchmen on player boards).
• End of Game

  • The game ends after the scoring phase after the 6th round.

    Gain additional points for:

    • Each apple is 1 VP
    • Each unused staff of Merlin is 2 VP
    • Count the number of unused materials (shields, flags, and construction materials) and divide by 3 (rounded down) and score that many points.

    The player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the players share the victory.

• King's Favor Module

  • This module will give players a choice when resolving a mission card. Players will have the option to forgo points in favor of a special ability.

  • Setup Changes
    • • Each player takes a module board and 4 seals in their color.
  • Gameplay
    • • The henchmen in the lower left corner of the mission card indicates the section of the board that will be activated.
      • A 1 point card has access to the top row ability, a 2 point card can choose the top or 2nd row ability. A 3 point card can choose any of the 3 rows.
        • After choosing a row, place a seal over the chosen row.
      • Only 4 abilities can be activated on their module board (hence the 4 seals). You may not move already placed seals.
      • Abilities in the 3rd row are permanent, but can only be used 3 times per game (once per scoring). Once the ability has been used, flip the seal over. Flip it back to face up after the next scoring phase.

      Icon	Ability
      	Each time you resolve a mission card with this henchman on it, gain 1 extra VP regardless of if you gain VP or acquire a new ability.
      	When moving your knight to a principality and choosing a henchman, you may instead send that henchman to any principality. Note: this cannot be used to keep an already placed henchman in the same principality.
      	When moving your knight/Merlin to a space that allows for manor building, you may perform that action twice. You may not use a staff of Merlin with this ability.
      	You may repel 1 traitor attached to your castle board without needing the corresponding shield. You also score 1 VP for this action.
      	When moving your knight/Merlin to a VP space, you may score an element (influence, shields, flags, construction materials) of your choice regardless of what icon is shown on the space you moved to. You also score 1 VP for this action.
      	When moving your knight/Merlin to an influence space, you may use this ability instead. 1 after the other, choose 2 principalities in which you have at least 1 influence and place 1 of your henchman there, performing their action. You may choose the same principality twice. You may not use a staff of Merlin with this ability.

• Reference

  • Flags

    You may use as many flags as you wish on your turn. After using the flag's ability, return it to its principality.

    • Repel traitors (black): You may repel all traitors attached to your player board showing 1 shield type without having to spend a shield (or even own it).
    • Missions: You may resolve 2 mission cards during your turn. If you do, gain 2 additional VP. Draw 2 new mission cards at the end of your turn.
    • Backwards: You may advance your in a counter-clockwise direction.
    • Turn 1 die: You may flip 1 die to its opposite side before moving your figure. e.g. a 5 to a 2
    • Different action: After you have moved a figure, you may instead perform the action of any space occupied by another player's knight instead of the space where your figure is.
    • Mirroring: After you have moved your knight, you may place your knight on the opposite space of the rondel and perform the action of that space instead.
      • Your knight remains on the new space and will move from there on your next turn.

    Mission Card Requirements

    Icon	Requirement
    	Specific flags, construction materials, or shields
    	Any kind of flags, shields, or construction materials
    	Influence counter(s) in a particular principality
    	Influence counter(s) in any principality
    	Specific henchman in a specific principality
    	Any 2 henchmen in a particular principality
    	2 specific henchmen in any principality

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