The Ludarium · Teach sheet
Teach Root in ten minutes
2 to 4 players · 60 to 90 minutes · Ages 14 and up
The goal: Be the first to 30 victory points, with each faction scoring its own way, or win with an activated dominance card.
On your turn
- Birdsong: do the start-of-turn steps on your faction board.
- Daylight: take your main actions, crafting included, as your faction board lists them.
- Evening: finish your faction's steps, draw cards, then discard down to 5.
- Move: warriors go from one clearing to an adjacent one. You must rule the start or the end.
- Rule: most warriors plus buildings in a clearing. On a tie, nobody rules, except the Eyrie.
- Battle: roll both dice. Attacker deals the higher, defender the lower, capped by warriors present.
- Craft: activate your crafting pieces in clearings matching the suits on the card's corner.
- Birds are wild: a bird card counts as fox, rabbit, or mouse.
Three tips for your first game
- Teach the shared rules together, then give each player a few minutes with their own faction board.
- Scores are public. Before each turn, check who is closest to 30 and who can stop them.
- Explain dominance cards when someone reaches 10 points, not before.
Setup
- Pick factions: all four for four players. Drop the Vagabond for three, and the Alliance too for two.
- Seat players and pick the first player at random. Put every score marker on 0.
- Shuffle the 54-card deck and deal 3 cards each. With two players, remove the dominance cards first.
- Put 4 ruins on the map slots marked R and 12 items on the item supply.
- Set up in order: Marquise, Eyrie, Alliance, Vagabond, following the back of each faction board.
- Marquise: keep in a corner, a warrior in every clearing but the far corner, 3 buildings nearby.
- Eyrie: a roost and 6 warriors in the opposite corner. Alliance: 3 cards as supporters.
- Vagabond: pick a character, pawn in any forest, 3 quests face up, an item under each ruin.
Scoring
- First to 30 victory points wins immediately.
- Anyone: 1 point per enemy building or token removed.
- Anyone: crafted items score the points on the card (the Eyrie score 1).
- Marquise: points for each building placed, rising as each track empties.
- Eyrie: points each Evening for the roosts on the map.
- Alliance: points for each sympathy token placed.
- Vagabond: aiding factions, quests, exploring ruins, and battling Hostile factions.
- Dominance: at 10 or more points, trade your score for a goal of ruling clearings.
Game end: The game ends the moment a player reaches 30 points, mid-turn included, or meets an activated dominance card's goal at the start of their Birdsong.