How to Play Dominion: Nocturne

Game Objective

In Dominion: Nocturne, you take on the role of a person who feels ready for anything under the night air, even considering becoming a vampire due to their advantages. The game is the 11th expansion of Dominion and introduces new mechanics and night-themed cards, such as vampires, werewolves, and statues that come to life. The overall objective, as in Dominion, is to build the most powerful deck and accumulate the most Victory Points to win the game. The expansion adds Night Cards, Heirlooms that replace the starting Coppers, Fate Cards and Doom Cards that distribute Boons and Hexes, and a variety of extra cards.

Setup

1. Before the first game, remove the five sets of cards from their packaging and place them in the card tray. The included insert suggests a way to organize the cards.
2. Dominion: Nocturne is an expansion and cannot be played alone. To play, you will need the Base Cards and the Dominion rulebook (or Base Cards/older editions of Intrigue), which include the Treasure Cards, Victory Cards, Curse Cards, and the trash mat/cards.
3. Players must choose 10 sets of Kingdom Cards for each game. If using the random approach, they should shuffle the 33 Randomizer Cards from this expansion with those from any other Dominion game they choose to play.
4. If any Kingdom Card in use has a yellow stripe indicating an Heirloom and naming a card, each player will start the game with that Heirloom replacing a starting Copper. For example, in a game with Pixie and Tracker, players start with 3 Estates, 5 Copper Coins, a Goat, and a Pouch. Unused Coppers go to the Copper pile.
5. If any Kingdom Card in use is of the Fate type, shuffle the 12 Boons and place them face down near the Supply. Place the pile of 12 Will-o'-Wisps near the Supply as well.
6. If any Kingdom Card in use is of the Doom type, shuffle the 12 Hexes and place them face down near the Supply. Place the Deluded/Envious and Miserable/Twice Miserable cards near the Supply as well.
7. If the Druid is being used, deal three face-up Boon Cards to be used with it. If there are other Fate Cards in the same game, these Fate Cards will not produce these Boon Cards in that game; the deck will consist of the other nine Boons.
8. If the Necromancer is being used, place the three Zombies (Zombie Apprentice, Zombie Mason, Zombie Spy) in the trash.
9. If the Fool is being used, get the Lost in the Woods card and have it handy.
10. If the Vampire is being used, place the pile of 10 Bats near the Supply.
11. If the Leprechaun or Secret Cave are being used, place the pile of 12 Wishes near the Supply.
12. If the Devil's Workshop or Tormentor are being used, place the pile of 13 Imps near the Supply.
13. If the Cemetery is being used, place the pile of 6 Ghosts near the Supply.
14. If the Exorcist is being used, place all three piles of Spirits (Will-o'-Wisp, Imp, and Ghost) near the Supply.

Game Flow

Nocturne adds Night Cards and the Night Phase. In games that use Night Cards, the Night Phase occurs after the Buy Phase. The turn structure is as follows:

1. Action: The active player can play Action Cards.
2. Buy: The active player can play Treasure Cards and buy Supply Cards.
3. Night: The active player can play any number of Night Cards.
4. Cleanup: The active player discards played cards and remaining cards in hand, and draws a new hand of 5 cards.

Duration Cards (orange) have abilities that affect future turns. They are not discarded in Cleanup if they still have something to do; they remain in play until the Cleanup of the last turn in which they do something. If a Duration Card is played multiple times (e.g., with Throne Room), it will also remain in play until discarded, to track the multiple plays. It is recommended to keep track of which Duration Cards were played in the current turn (e.g., by placing them in two rows: older cards and cards from this turn).

Actions and How to Play

Players perform actions during the phases of their turn. The new mechanics and card types introduced by Nocturne are:

Night Cards

• Are played during the Night Phase, after the Buy Phase. You can play any number of Night Cards.
• Examples of Night Cards: Den of Sin, Ghost Town, Guardian, Night Watchman.
• Den of Sin: Stays in play and gives +2 Cards next turn.
• Guardian: When played, you are not affected by Attack Cards that other players play between then and your next turn.
• Night Watchman: Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Heirlooms

• Cards with a yellow stripe that say "Heirloom" and name a card.
• In games that use a card with this stripe, each player replaces a starting Copper with the named card.
• Examples: Cemetery replaces a Copper with a Haunted Mirror; Pixie with a Goat; Pooka with a Cursed Gold; Fool with a Lucky Coin; Secret Cave with a Magic Lamp; Shepherd with a Pasture; Tracker with a Pouch.
• Goat: Trashing a card is optional.
• Haunted Mirror: Does not offer a way to trash it, but does something if you find a way to do so.
• Lucky Coin: You can choose not to play Lucky Coin and thus not gain a Silver.
• Magic Lamp: The Magic Lamp itself counts as one of the six cards. A card of which you have two or more copies in play does not count; you must have exactly one copy in play for a card to count. You can play more Treasures after trashing the Magic Lamp and still get its benefit for that turn.
• Pasture: For example, if you have three Estates, then the Pasture is worth 3 Victory Points.
• Pouch: Simply gives you +1 Buy when you play it.

Fate Cards and Boons

• Fate Cards can, in some way, give Boons to players. The Fate type means that Boons are shuffled at the start of the game.
• Boons are a face-down deck of cards that are revealed as needed.
• "Receiving a Boon" means turning over the top Boon and following the instructions on it. If the Boons deck is empty, shuffle the discarded Boons to reform the deck.
• Received Boons normally go to the Boons discard pile, but three (The Field's Gift, The Forest's Gift, and The River's Gift) stay in front of a player until that turn's Cleanup.
• Examples of Boons: +1 Action, +1 Buy, +1 Card, Gain a Silver, Gain a Will-o'-Wisp, Gain a Copper into your deck.
• The Moon's Gift: If your discard pile is empty, this will do nothing.
• The River's Gift: You draw the card after drawing your hand for your next turn.
• The Sky's Gift: If you choose to do this with fewer than three cards in hand, you will discard the rest of your cards, but not gain a Gold. Discarding three cards gives you one Gold, not three.
• Bard: You get +1 Action and receive a Boon.
• Blessed Village: You see the Boon before deciding to resolve it immediately or at the start of your next turn. If you save it for next turn, it stays in front of you until then (or until the end of that turn, if it says to keep it out until Cleanup).
• Druid: At the start of the game, three Boons are turned face up for the Druid. When you play Druid, you choose one of its three Boons to receive.
• Idol: If you have one Idol in play, you receive a Boon; if two, other players gain a Curse; if three, you receive a Boon, and so on.
• Pixie: If you receive a Boon that says to keep it until Cleanup, move it to in front of you and remember that you receive it twice.
• Sacred Grove: You have to receive the Boon; other players can choose to receive it.
• Tracker: If you gain multiple cards with this in play, this applies to each of them - you can put any or all of them on top of your deck.

Doom Cards and Hexes

• Doom Cards can in some way give Hexes to players. The Doom type means that Hexes are shuffled at the start of the game.
• Hexes are a face-down deck of cards that are revealed as needed.
• "Receiving a Hex" means turning over the top Hex and following the instructions on it.
• "Each other player receives the next Hex" means turning over only one Hex, and other players follow the instructions on that same Hex.
• If all Hexes have been used, shuffle the discards to reform the deck.
• Received Hexes always go to the Hexes discard pile.
• Examples of Hexes: Gain a Curse into your hand, Discard up to 3 cards in hand.
• Bad Omens: Normally, you will end up with a deck consisting of two Coppers, and a discard pile with the rest of your cards.
• Delusion: Deluded/Envious is two-sided; take it with the Deluded side face up.
• Envy: Deluded/Envious is two-sided; take it with the Envious side face up.
• Famine: Revealed cards that are not Actions are shuffled back into your deck.
• Fear: You discard an Action or Treasure if you have any, and only reveal your hand if you have no Actions and no Treasures.
• Locusts: Types are the words in the bottom banner, such as Action and Attack. If there is no cheaper card that shares a type, the player gains nothing.
• War: If you don't find a card costing 3, your entire deck will end up in your discard pile, with nothing trashed.
• Cursed Village: If you already have six or more cards in hand, you do not draw any cards. When you gain the Cursed Village, you receive a Hex.
• Tormentor: Cards in play from previous turns are still cards in play; cards you played this turn but are no longer in play (like a Pixie you trashed) are not in play.
• Werewolf: Can be played in your Action Phase or Night Phase. If played in the Action Phase, you draw three cards; if played at Night, each other player receives the next Hex.
• Cursed Gold: You can choose not to play Cursed Gold and thus not gain a Curse.

States

• Three Hexes and one Kingdom Card give players a State. This is a card that goes in front of a player and applies a rule.
• Deluded and Envious affect a single turn and are then returned.
• Miserable and Twice Miserable affect scoring at the end of the game.
• Lost in the Woods affects a player's turns until another player takes it.
• A State only applies while a player has it.
• Boons, Hexes, and States are never in a player's deck.