Merlin: Arthur Expansion — Rules Manual

Arthur's starting space
1
• 1 Action Rondel
• 1 Arthur pawn
• 4 Arthur boards
1 per player color
• 4 Black dice
• 1 Signet ring
• 1 Cards display
• 1 Picts display
• 30 Picts
• 1 Game round track
• 1 Game round marker
• 12 Flags
6 each of Black & Grey
• 1 Rulebook
Components
Expansion for the game by
Stefan Feld & Michael Rieneck
For 2 - 4 players of 14 years and up
Game Concept and Object of the Game
While the search for a successor is well under way, King Arthur has not abdicated his throne yet. Troops of Pict soldiers are emerging from the fog, and as the King, he must personally ensure everyone remains out of harm’s way.
This expansion enlarges the already rich decisions of Merlin by introducing a new figure, Arthur, which will move on its own rondel with its own brand new actions to explore.
Changes in Setup
Place the action rondel in the center of the game board, positioning it such that the colored stair sections align. (see illustration).
Place the Arthur pawn, the Grail, Excalibur, and the signet ring on their assigned spaces of the action rondel.
Place the displays for both the cards and the Picts next to the game board.
Reveal three mission cards and place them on the display. Mix all Picts, and stack them in two face down piles on the Picts display. Reveal the 4 top Picts, forming the actual display.
Give one black die to each player, and one Arthur board of their player color.
Finally, all players roll their 5 dice (3 of their player color, 1 white Merlin die, and 1 black Arthur die), placing them on their castle and Arthur board. In case a player rolls a quadruplet or a quintuplet, they must re-roll all their dice, if necessary several times, until the result shows at least three distinct numbers.
Exchange the black and grey flags of the basic game for the flags of this expansion.
Place the game round track on the corner of the game board, covering the previous track. Put the game round marker on the first space of the track.

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Example: The yellow
player moves Arthur on the
stairs space and advances
his knight to the black prin-
cipality space. He places
his Lady-in-waiting on the
corresponding space and
places one influence coun-
ter on that principality.
2
Changes to game play
The rules of the basic game apply except for the following changes:
Instead of taking 4 turns each round, each player now takes 5 turns. In addition to the
3 dice of their player color and the white Merlin die, each player also uses their black
Arthur die. It is still up to the player in which order they want to use their dice.
Note: For a better overview, the players now place their used dice on their Arthur board
instead of in the center of the rondel.
Using their black die, the players move Arthur along the inner circle of action spaces
of the action rondel. Arthur is moved a number of spaces equal to the pips of the black
die, in the direction of the player’s choice – clockwise or counter-clockwise. Then the
player performs the action of the space where Arthur’s movement ends.
The inner action spaces of the action rondel:
Resource spaces: (x4)
Shield, flag, construction material: Depending on the space, the
player claims one shield, one flag, or one piece of construction
material from any one principality, storing it on their castle board.
Influence counter: The player takes one of their influence coun-
ters from their castle board (if available), and places it on any
principality.
Grail, Excalibur, and Signet ring: (x3)
Stairs: (x1)
The Signet ring: The player claims the signet ring from the game board or from the player currently holding
it and places it on their Arthur board. Then, they select one mission card from their hand, and resolve it
immediately. The player gains the victory points as shown without having to meet the requirements.
The player may resolve a mission card by use of the signet ring in addition to resolving their one mission card
per turn, by meeting the requirements. If a player has resolved two mission cards during their turn this way,
they draw two new cards from the draw pile and/or the display at the end of their turn.
The player advances their
knight to the next principality
space in clockwise direction,
and performs that principality’s
action. The player will deploy
a henchman and perform their
corresponding duty.
The function of the
Grail and Excalibur
spaces is the same as
in the basic game.

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Example: The red player returns the green manor to its owner’s supply and replaces it with one of his of manors. He may neither claim one shield or flag nor place an influence counter.
Example: The blue player moves Merlin one step in counter-clockwise direction to the ‘Build a manor’ space. The player returns the required construction material to the principality of its origin, and places one of his manors on that terrain tile. Then he expends one Merlin’s staff token to repeat the action.
Example: The yellow player moves Arthur to a Picts space. He chooses one Pict and places the tile next to his Arthur board. Then he gains the bonus of one orange flag.
3
Merlin: (x1)
The player moves Merlin up to three spaces, clockwise or counter-clockwise, and performs the action of the space where Merlin’s movement ended. The player may expend one Merlin’s staff token as well, if they want to repeat that action.
Replace a manor: (1x)
The player chooses another player’s manor from the environs, and replaces it with one of their own manors from the supply. If the replacement is done on a tile showing a tower, the player does NOT get the bonus of a shield, a flag, or an influence counter. The replaced manor is returned to the supply.
Picts: (x3)
Shield, flag, construction material - The player claims the depicted shield, flag, or piece of construction material from the game board.
Player’s must aid King Arthur in defeating the invading Pict armies. If they do so, he will reward them with an immediate bonus and victory points during scoring.
The player selects one Pict tile from the display and places it to the right of their Arthur board. The player gains the bonus shown at the bottom of the tile immediately. The unoccupied space on the display is immediately replenished by revealing a new Pict from either of the stacks.
Influence counter - The player takes one of their influence counters from their castle board (if available), and places it on that principality.
Apple - The player takes one apple from the supply.
Build a manor - The player builds one of their manors on a terrain tile of the environs as shown. That terrain must not be occupied, and the player does not need to expend any construction material.

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Example:
The red player gains 3 VP for his manors in the environs.
Example: The red player chooses his builder in the orange
principality. He claims one orange construction material.
Example:
The red player collected Picts with a total value of 11,
the green player with a value of 9 plus 3 for the signet
ring, thus 12 in total: Green gains 3 VPs and red
looses 3 VPs.
© Copyright 2018 Queen Games, 53842 Troisdorf, Germany. All rights reserved.
The player may increase or decrease the number of pips of their
used die by 1, before moving the matching figure. This means they
can move the figure 7 spaces or the figure may remain on its current
space and perform that action.
The player may use their chosen die to either move their own knight,
Merlin, or Arthur, and perform the respective action. If they move
Merlin, they may expend a Merlin’s staff.
+/-1
Switch
The new special actions allowed by flags
New spaces on the action rondel
Apple: (x1)
Changes in scoring
Environs:
After the victory points for majorities of manors have been awarded, no more than one
manor of each player may remain in each given territory. Beginning with the First Player,
all players who have built more than one manor in a territory remove all their manors
from that territory but one (of their own choice), putting them back to the supply.
New Scoring: Picts
All players add the numbers shown on all of their collected Picts.
The player or players with the highest result score 3 VP each.
The player or players with the lowest result lose 3 VP each
(having no Picts at all counts as 0).
The player holding the signet ring increases their total by 3.
Subsequently, the players return all their Picts to the game box.
Activate henchman: (x1)
Move Arthur: (x1)
Victory points for manors: (1x)
The player chooses one of
their henchmen currently in
a principality, and performs
that henchman’s action in
that principality.
The player takes one
apple from the supply.
The player moves Arthur 1 space in clockwise or
counter-clockwise direction, then performs the action
of the space where Arthur landed.
The player
gains 1 VP for
each of their
manors in the
environs.

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