The game is played over 3 seasons: Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Winter concludes the game with end game scoring.
Negotiate to form new Alliances. Any allied clans place their alliance markers on the game board.
Each turns is either a Mandate Turn or Kami Turn. Each season, the political phase covers:
Mandates are resolved in clockwise order, starting from the player to the left of the current player. Each Mandate offers one ability to all players, and one bonus ability only to the current player and their Ally.
All Players: Summon one figure at each of their Strongholds. Summoned Shinto may be sent to a Shrine tile to worship.
You and Ally: Summon one additional figure.
All Players: Move each of their figures across one border or shipping route.
You and Ally: May also build a Stronghold for 3 Coins.
Current player goes first.
All Players: Buy one available Season card. Pay its Coin cost.
You and Ally: Pay one less Coin.
All Players: Collect 1 Coin.
You and Ally: Collect Rewards from each Province where you have superior Force.
You Only: Replace any two figures (from different players) on the Map with one of your own of the same type (bushi for bushi, monster for monster, etc). If you have an Alliance, break it and lose Honor.
Resolve each Shrine tile from left to right. The player with the most Force on each Shrine gets its Kami's ability.
Resolve War in order on the Provinces with a War Number token.
Players secretly bid Coins on the different War Advantages. Going from left to right, the player who bid the most Coins on each War Advantage may choose to execute it:
Seppuku: May kill all your figures. Gain 1 VP and Honor for each.
Take Hostage: May take 1 hostage. Take 1 VP from opponent.
Hire Ronin: May add your Ronin tokens to your Force. You do not lose your Ronin tokens.
Battle Outcome: The player with the most Force in the Province wins the Battle, killing all losing players' figures (unless they belong to their Ally).
Imperial Poets: Gain 1 VP for every figure killed (includes all killed figures, not just your own).
Losers discard the Coins they used. Winner distributes the Coins they used equally among the losers as reparations.
To finish the game, do the following:
Gain VP from
Player with the most VP wins the game. If tied, highest Honor wins. If tied are Allied, they share the victory.
Sacred Bounty - Ever growing and evergreen, the Bonsai Clan needs to spend very few Coins when acquiring resources.
The cost of everything they buy, be it a Season card or a Stronghold, is limited to 1 Coin at the most. If it costed 2 or more Coins, it costs them 1 Coin. If it costed zero Coins, it remains free.
In case the Bonsai player benefits from a discount, such as the Train Mandate Bonus, it applies after the clan ability, bringing the cost to zero.
Gossamer Wings - The Dragonfly Clan can literally fly all over the map, showing up anywhere without the normal restrictions faced by other Clans.
When the Dragonfly player Summons one of their figures, it can be placed in any Province, whether they have a Stronghold there or not. The number of figures they can Summon with a Recruit Mandate is still tied to the number of Strongholds they have on the Map.
When the Dragonfly player Moves one of their figures, it can be placed in any Province on the Map, no matter how far. Figures belonging to the Dragonfly Clan never have to use Shipping Routes to Move from one Province to another.
Wily Presence - At the start of the War Phase, the Fox player may place a Bushi in each Province where they have no force.
Eddies in the Stream - Ever adaptable and unpredictable, the Koi Clan is able to use Coins as if they were Ronin. At the start of the War Phase, the Koi player must discard all Ronin tokens they have and take the same number of Coins from the common pile.
When resolving the Hire Ronin step of a Battle, all Coins the Koi player has in their reserve count as Ronin tokens, adding their Force to the figures in the Province if the Koi player won the Hire Ronin War Advantage.
Dictate the flow - The Lotus Clan determines the flow of politics by turning the Political Mandates they play into anything they wish.
On their Mandate Turns, the Lotus player selects one of the 4 Political Mandates they drew and places it facedown on the board, without any of the players seeing what it is. The Lotus player then announces what Political Mandate will be executed, choosing anything they want (IRecruit, Marshal, Train, Harvest, or Betray*).
Brutality - The Moon Clan is a shady adversary, imbued with a powerful and mysterious force that makes them much stronger than any other Clan.
All figures belonging to the Moon Clan count as 2 Force, at the very least. If they acquire an Enhancement that adds more Force to a given figure, it adds on top of the base 2 Force. Likewise, if they acquire a Monster (Lucky God) with a Force higher than 2, then that number overrides the Moon ability.
However, unlike other Clans, the Moon Clan is limited in the number of figures they can have in any given place. There may never be more than 2 Moon Clan figures in a single Province. They also cannot have more than 2 figures distributed among all 4 of the Shrine tiles.
Moon Clan cannot acquire normal Monster cards. Lucky God monster cards are only available to Moon Clan and Sun Clan.
Enlightenment - Basking in the warm glow of Honor, the Sun Clan defies any opponent to challenge them in a contest of Honor, draining those who prove unworthy.
Whenever the Sun Clan wins a dispute that is tied and needs to be decided by comparing Honor, they gain 1 Coin and 1 VP, while the tied opponent loses 1 Coin and 1 VP (if they have any). This may happen when they win by Honor the following situations:
Sun Clan cannot acquire normal Monster cards. Lucky God monster cards are only available to Moon Clan and Sun Clan.
Shell of the Eternal - The Turtle Clan builds their Strongholds on top of the shells of giant legendary turtles. These indestructible fortresses can move around the Map and even join in the disputes for the Provinces.
When the Turtle player Moves their figures, they can choose to Move their Strongholds as well, exactly as if they were Clan figures. Each Turtle Clan Stronghold also counts as 1 Force in the Province they occupy, exactly as if they were Clan figures.
This may influence both Harvest and War. However, Strongholds may never be killed, never be Taken Hostage, and never be replaced by a Betray Mandate.
Goddess of the sun, Amaterasu allows her top worshipper to move their Clan marker straight to the top slot on the Honor Track. It doesn't matter how low their Honor was, they climb directly to the topmost position, shifting all others down in the process.
IMPORTANT: Note that this may change the Honor tiebreaker when resolving the following Shrines in this Kami Turn.
God of the wind, Fujin allows his top worshipper to perform up to 2 Moves with their figures on the Map. The player may either Move 2 of their figures to adjacent Provinces, or Move 1 of their figures twice in a row. Just like in a Marshal Mandate, the figure may either cross a Border or use a Shipping Route between Provinces.
God of war, Hachiman grants his top worshipper 2 Ronin tokens, taken from the common pile.
God of thunder, Raijin allows his top worshipper to Summon 1 Bushi, taking it from their Reserve and placing it in any Province on the Map, even if they don't have a Stronghold there.
God of the sea, Ryujin allows his top worshipper to acquire a Season card from those available next to the board, paying its full Coin cost just like in a Train Mandate.
God of the storms, Susanoo grants his top worshipper a number of Victory Points equal to the number of Strongholds they currently have on the Map.
God of the moon, Tsukuyomi grants his top worshipper 2 Coins, taken from the common pile.
Bonuses: If an ability increases the rewards gained by another action, they are considered part of the rewards gained by that action.
Daimyo: Daimyo figures (and those that count as Daimyo) are immune to any special effects that target a specific figure (Fire Dragon, Earth Dragon, Benten), but not immune to general effects that target a player (Oni of Plagues, Susanoo, Raijin, Path of the Serpent, etc.).
Honor: Whenever there is a tie, the tied player with the highest Honor wins. If there's ever a conflict in the timing of the execution of an ability, the involved player with higher Honor decides whether to go first or last.
Mandate: All events of a Mandate are considered to happen in a single moment. During a Harvest Mandate, if you gain multiple Coins or VPs from different Provinces, it is considered a single instance of gaining those rewards for triggering abilities. Effects that take place at the end of a Mandate only occur after all players have executed that Mandate.
Negotiation: During the Tea Ceremony and Political Phase, players may give each other Coins and Ronin tokens as part of their negotiations. Deals are never binding.
Place: When you "place" a figure, you simply take it from your Reserve and place it on the board. This does not trigger any Summon effects.
Start of Battle: The Start of a Battle is right before players prepare to allocate their Coins for its War Advantages. Start of Battle effects do not end a battle even if they remove all figures of an opponent.
Start of War: The Start of War phase happens once between the end of the Mandate Phase and before any battles have been fought.
Summon: No matter how many different figures you Summon onto the board in one instance (during a Recruit Mandate, for example), it is considered a single Summon for triggering abilities.
Winning a Battle: If a figure has a special ability that triggers off of winning a Battle with that figure (Oni of Souls, Piety, Kitsune), it doesn't need to still be alive and in the Battle at the end of it in order to activate its ability. It just needs to be in the Battle at some point of it.
An unofficial FAQ with references is being maintained at in this Google Doc
Q. Can Benevolence be used when you pay War Reparations at the end of a Battle?
A. No, it only works when you spend Coins purchasing a Season card or Stronghold. It doesn't trigger off of giving Coins in War Reparation, or having Coins charged/ taken by other effects.
Q. Do I get this card's ability for reaching Winter with an Alliance?
A. No, this only grants points for having an Alliance in Spring, Summer, and Autumn. It doesn't matter whether those Alliances lasted until the end of the season or not.
Q. Does the Komainu also count as a Shinto for the purpose of Betrayal?
A. Yes, for all intents and purposes the Komainu counts as both a Monster and a Shinto. So it can replace Monsters or Shinto during a Betray Mandate, or likewise be replaced by them while on the Map.
Q. If I have an Ally, and during a Harvest Mandate I gain 1VP from a Province and 2VP for another, how many extra VP does Loyalty grant me?
A. All those VP were gained at the same moment, so you only get 1 extra VP.
Q. If I have an Ally, and during a Battle I Seppuku 2 figures (2VP, plus another 2VP from Righteousness), and then I win Imperial Poets (5 VP), how many extra VP does Loyalty grant me?
A. The resolution of each War Advantage is a separate event, so those were two separate instances of gaining VP. You gain 1 extra VP during Seppuku and 1 extra VP during Imperial Poets.
Q. How often can I charge a player for using the same Shipping Route?
A. You may charge them once per instance when they use that Route (regardless of how many figures they move through that Route at that time). For example, once during a Marshal Mandate, then again when they use Fujin's Kami ability, then again during another Marshal...
Q. If a richer player plays a Harvest Mandate, gaining 1 base Coin, then 2 Coins from a Province, and 1 Coin from another Province, how many Coins does Way of the Merchant grant me?
A. All those Coins the richer player got were gained at the same moment, so you only get 1 Coin.
Q. Can I use Betray to replace a Daikaiju that is in the ocean with one of my Monsters in reserve?
A. No, while in the ocean the Daikaiju is not considered to be on the Map.
Q. If a player has Path of the Serpent, can they charge so the Earth Dragon may move a figure out of its Province through a Shipping Route?
A. Yes. If the player controlling the Earth Dragon chooses to move an opponent's figure out of its Province through a Shipping Route, the player with Path of the Serpent may choose to charge 1 Coin from the player whose figure is being pushed out. The player must pay if they have the Coin, but if the player has no Coins, then the figure can't be pushed via the Shipping Route.
Q. Does the Oni of Plagues prevent figures from being pushed into its Province by the Earth Dragon?
A. Yes, if the figure being pushed out belongs to a player with higher Honor than the Oni of Plagues player, it cannot be pushed into the Oni of Plague's Province.
Q. If a player has Path of the Serpent, can they charge the Nure-Onna so it can cross a Shipping Route during the War phase?
A. Yes.
Q. If my Phoenix is killed by Seppuku, comes back immediately, and then is killed again at the end of the Battle, how many VP do I gain for Imperial Poets?
A. You gain 2 VPs. 1 for each instance of that figure being killed.
Q. Since he counts as a Stronghold, can Fukurokuju be killed?
A. No, Strongholds cannot be killed as a basic rule (except that the Daikaiju can destroy them).
Q. If 2 players are tied as the richest opponents, do I lose Honor twice for taking Coins from both of them?
A. No, you only lose Honor once each time you use this ability.
Q. If I am the one playing the Marshal Mandate, does Path of the Builder allow me to build 2 Strongholds?
A. No, it only allows you to build 1 Stronghold regardless of who plays the Marshal Mandate.
Q. Does Susanoo keep a Shinto being summoned in his Region from climbing to one of the Temple tiles?
A. No. Climbing to the Temples is not considered a Move.
| Credit: | CMON Rising Sun rules manual and FAQ, transferred to PlayerAid by Cory Osborn (https://boardgamegeek.com/user/GamePimp) |
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| Version: | 1.0 |