Gamehelpethnos

Overview

An area control game for 2-6 players, which randomly uses 6 of the 12 available tribes each game and lasts 3 Ages.

Exception: 2-3 player games use 5 tribes and last 2 Ages.

A New Age

Leave all Control Markers from the previous Age

Discard all bands and reshuffled the deck

Each player receives 1 card

Then a market of cards equal to double the player count is revealed

The Dragons are shuffled into the lower half of the remaining draw deck

Turn

On your turn, you either:

a) Recruit an Ally

OR

b) Play a Band

Recruit an Ally

Take either a visible card, or an unseen card from the deck

Variant: If there are no visible cards, draw 2 unseen cards instead of 1.

If taken seen card, a new card is NOT replaced

If you already have 10 cards in hand, you cannot Recruit an Ally

If you draw a Dragon, set it aside as a countdown, and draw a replacement from the same source

If you draw the Third Dragon, the Age ENDS

Play a Band

A band can either be all the same colour or all the same creature

After you've played it, pick one card in the band to be its leader

Check the Leader's colour against an area on the map, if the band is bigger than your stack there then you may place a single Control Marker. Note: This means: 1, you can play a band of a single card, 2, a big band will still only give you one control marker, no matter how much it beats the current height by* (See End of an Age)

After which, you may use the ability of your leader

Finally, discard all remaining hand cards to the market, i.e. you cannot keep cards for later

End of an Age

As discussed, the Age ends when the Third Dragon is drawn

All players discard remaining hand cards

Score each area independently with the number of award places equal to the age (i.e., 1st place only in the First Age; 1st-2nd places in the Second Age age; 1st-3rd places in the Third Age)

Exception: 2-player games only score 2nd place in the Second (final) Age

If there's a tie, the points are combined and divided equally, then subsequent places remain the same (e.g. on Third Age, if a tie for 1st, 1st & 2nd points would be added and halved, and third place still gets 3rd place points)

After which, the band sizes are scored based on their size:

Size	Score
1	0
2	1
3	3
4	6
5	10
6+	15

Discard all Troll and Giant markers present

If this was the final age, the player with the most points wins

Ties are broken by the most control markers on the main board, then by the player with the largest band of allies in the Third Age, then by second-largest and so on until the tie is broken

Tribes

There are 12 Tribes in the game, and each bring with them their own unique special rules, remembering these only apply if you make them the leader of the band

Centaurs	Play a second band and resolve it during Play a Band action
Dwarves	Count as having +1 card for End Age scoring, but not Control Marker placement
Elves	Allow you to keep a number of cards still in your hand equal to the band size instead of discarding all
Giants	If you have the largest band lead by a Giant, score 2 points and take the Giant marker. (Or score and keep it if you already have it!) End of Age scoring adds a score for holding the marker depending on the age
Halflings	You cannot place a control marker, but there are double the number of these cards, meaning in theory you can make larger bands for End Age scoring
Merfolk	In addition to placing a Control Marker, move your Merfolk marker the number of spaces equal to the band size. If you cross a Control Marker symbol, add an extra Control Marker anywhere. End of Age gives scoring for how far along you are, this is not reset each round, so you can keep progressing
Minotaurs	These let you place a control marker with one less card in the band than needed, with a minimum of 1
Orcs	In addition to the control marker on the board, add a control marker onto your Orc board matching the kingdom you placed the control marker. At end of Age, you can choose to score your orc board, or leave it to fill some more for a later age
Skeletons	Cannot be leader, but count as anything you want them to. They have no tribe or colour. They are killed off when the Third Dragon arrives, and as such will not score towards size of bands
Trolls	Gain a troll token equal or lower than the size of the band, these tokens break ties for tied control of areas
Wingfolk	As long as the band is large enough, you may place a Control Marker anywhere, not just in the matching area
Wizards	After discarding your hand cards, draw cards from the deck equal to the band size if you wish, but you don't have to (e.g. maybe you don't want to accidently draw Third Dragon with a big band)