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Shadows Over Camelot: Merlin's Company Rulebook

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Shadows Over Camelot: Merlin's Company Rulebook [SOCMerlin] Rules EN reprint 2015_Merlin Co Rules EN 18/05/15 17:56 Page2 s a battle-tested knight with the experience of many a campaign, you thought that the lands Aaround Camelot had no more secrets in store, • 7 New Knights, represented by their and that vanquishing the forces of Evil might become own unique Coat of Arms, each mere child's play. matching the color of one of the original 7 knights of the original game You could not have been more wrong. Better put your (King Arthur excepted, of course, as sword to the forge and sharpen your blade once again there can only be one true king!) - for new threats are gathering in the mists of Avalon... • 63 New cards: Scouts are returning with stories of a coven of witches - A new deck of Loyalty cards, in- whose dark magic and nefarious schemes threaten the cluding 1 additional Traitor card kingdom. Even the most well-traveled roads to Camelot 9 Loyalty cards Loyal Traitor no longer offer safe passage. - 16 New Travel cards, featuring 1 events that might occur as you Thankfully in these darkest of times, there are new travel from Quest to Quest knights still brave enough (or is it fool-hardy?) to join the Round Table, and Merlin himself has seen fit to - 14 Black cards, including 7 new 16 Red cards Travel begin meddling in the kingdom's affairs... Special Black cards - all witches al- Are you a knight who will rest on your laurels, lied to Morgan - to ensure a mix of new and old threats surrendering to the coming darkness, fading in the shadows that can only lead to treason and treachery? Or will you step forward, heart ready and sword at your side, to pledge allegiance to the King and join us 14 Black cards 7 Standard 7 Special on this heroic journey? - 23 White cards, including 8 new Special White cards - QHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHQ much needed beneficial events to supplement those in your original game Welcome to Merlin's Company, an expansion for the Shadows over Camelot™ board game. To play, you must have a copy of the original game. 28 White cards 15 Standard 8 Special Blue card Merlin Components - And a Summary card for Merlin This expansion consists of: • This expansion also includes a bonus figure of Sir Bedivere, a now hard to find promotional • A figure of Merlin - a new independent figure that was introduced at the original character on the board, who may sweep in game's launch and, for the first time, a copy at times of dire need to aid your cause. of his oft-requested official Coat of Arms and Merlin colored die. Sir Bedivere [SOCMerlin] Rules EN reprint 2015_Merlin Co Rules EN 18/05/15 17:56 Page3 Modifications Merlin The wise old wizard is now a full-blown inde- to the original game set-up pendent character in the game, complete with Before beginning to set up your game using Merlin's his own figure. Merlin starts the game off the Company: board; once certain events occur (see Travels & • Shuffle the 16 new Travel cards included in the expansion The Travel Deck), Merlin moves onto the to form a Travel deck, and place it off the board, within board and starts traveling from Quest to Quest, easy reach of the players. lending help to the Knights as follows: Merlin • Place the figure of Merlin next to the Travel deck. • Once during each player's turn, when his Knight is Merlin won't enter the board until the first Merlin Travels present on the same Quest as Merlin, the player may card is drawn from the Travel deck sometime during the choose to draw a White card from the draw pile. This course of the game. draw is a free Action and does not count toward the Knight's Heroic Action(s) for the turn. • Add the 14 Black cards included in this expansion to the Black cards of the original game • In addition, whenever Merlin travels to a Quest that is no longer in play (Quests for Excalibur, the Holy Grail, • Add the 23 White cards included in this expansion to and Lancelot & the Dragon), the drawing of a corre- the White cards of the original game sponding Black card does not trigger the addition of a QccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccQ Siege Engine around Camelot; instead, the Black card drawn is discarded, with no further effect. Some of the new White and Black cards included in this expansion are identical to some of the cards that came with the original game, but it does not matter if differences in wear and tear between your old deck and these new cards are visible or not. You will never Travels & know whether a new card is not just an old one with a fresher back. These apparent redundancies help preserve the balance of The Travel Deck effects and proportions in the now larger White and Black decks. The roads around Camelot have become uncertain and Each card in this expansion is also marked with an "M" dangerous. Unlike in the original game, moving from to help you quickly sort cards out at the end of the game. Quest to Quest is no longer a sure thing for the Knights... 2 QccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccQ Each time a Knight chooses to Move to a new Quest as Then proceed with the game's normal set-up as described on a Heroic Action during his turn or through the use of his pages 6 and 7 of the original Shadows over Camelot rule- Special Power (Sir Tristan), he must: book. • first declare where he wishes to move; • then draw a Travel card from the top of the Travel Deck and apply its effect before potentially completing his Seven New Knights move and reaching his intended destination. In Merlin's Company, due to his unique stature, King Arthur is always present. Assign his Coat of Arms at random to one All other moves in the game, such as those triggered by the of the players before proceeding further. completion of a Quest, or those made out of turn, in reac- tion to the play of a Special White or Black card, do not trig- ger the draw of a Travel card, and are still governed by the When the time comes to draw Knights (Step 5 of the origi- same rules as in the original game. It is only those moves nal game set-up), you may now either: made by the Knight as a Heroic Action during his turn or • Replace the entire set of Knight's Coat of Arms that through the use of his Special Power that are modified. came with the original game (including Sir Bedivere, • If the Travel card drawn is a Nothing Hap- but excluding King Arthur who is already assigned) pens card, then... nothing extraordinary with the 7 new Knights included in Merlin's Com- happens! The Knight completes his move pany: Sir Bors, Sir Caradoc, Sir Gaheris, Sir Gareth, Sir and successfully reaches the Quest of his Geraint, Sir Lamorak and Sir Owain, before drawing choice. Gameplay resumes as normal. Knights at random from this new set of Coat of Arms; • If the Travel card drawn is a Merlin Travels • Or select the Knight of your choice (old or new), pro- card, the Knight successfully reaches the vided that no two Knights be of the same Coat of Quest of his choice and Merlin's figure is Arms' color (i.e. if a player selects Sir Gaheris and his moved to his side on this new Quest. Because yellow Coat of Arms, then Sir Galahad cannot be in Merlin is not a Knight, he is allowed to travel the game). Use the Knight figure that matches the color to join a Knight on any Quest, including a of your Coat of Arms to represent you on the board. Solo Quest (Black Knight, Lancelot). [SOCMerlin] Rules EN reprint 2015_Merlin Co Rules EN 18/05/15 17:56 Page4 • If the Travel card drawn is a Vision card, new deck. Do NOT reshuffle the Travel deck in any other in- the Knight becomes so inspired by the vision stance, such as when instructed to reshuffle the Black and of the Grail that he moves to that Quest, in- White draw and discard piles. stead of his intended destination. If the Grail Quest is no longer in play, the Vision has no effect and the Knight may complete his move Disposing of Black cards as if he had drawn Nothing Happens. • If the Travel card drawn is a for Quests no longer in play Charged!, Lost! or Ambushed! When Black cards are drawn that relate to a Quest that is card, the Knight must success- no longer in play (Quests for Excalibur, the Holy Grail, fully complete the challenge de- and Lancelot & the Dragon), they are now permanently re- scribed on that card or suffer the moved from the game, rather than discarded. Thus they consequences and immediately cannot appear in subsequent reshuffles of the decks during end his turn. the game. Drawing such a card still leads to the addition of a Siege Engine around Camelot, whenever applicable. • If the Travel card drawn is a Captured! card, the Knight is captured and held for ransom. He remains in place and can no 7 and 8 player games: longer play (place the Captured! card under the Knight's figure, to remember this) until Two Traitors! one of his companion Knights spends one With Merlin's Company, the game now accommodates of his Heroic Actions to discard a Special White card up to 8 players (7 Knights & King Arthur).
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