Tin Dragon

I have temporarily halted any sales of the game as I want to make a few minor tweaks to the rules and fix a few typos. I will resume sales once I have had a chance to make the changes and upload the new rules doc.

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You and your fellow Tin Dragons seek to accumulate the largest treasure hoard, but only one dragon may claim the title of the Mightiest of the Tin Dragons and rule the skies.

The game is playable with two to five players. Play time is about 10 minutes per player.

Assault the keeps that protect the riches of the nearby kingdoms, defeat their defenses, raid their coffers, duel your foes, and avoid the pesky heroes. When the kingdom has been sufficiently ravaged, the dragon with the largest hoard will be crowned the winner.

Tin Dragons derive their name from the silvery blue color of their hide and metallic scales. They possess extremely sharp claws and can let out a roar that only the most stalwart hero could resist.

The Board: Place the tin on the table with the bottom of the tin face up. At the six numbered locations place one Keep cylinder. Shuffle the treasure cards and deal 3 to each of the six locations face down creating a treasure pile for each location. The remainder of the cards are then placed off to the side and become the master treasure deck. The Crusader (blue meeple), Wizard (red meeple), and the Knight (orange meeple) are placed on the Castle at the center of the board.

The Dragons: Each player chooses a pawn (Dragon) and takes the d6 (Power Die) of the corresponding color and set it to 3. Next they roll a black die and place their pawn at the Keep with the matching number. Note: when directed to roll a d6 you will always roll a black die.

The Cards: Next deal 4 treasure cards to each player. Players will now select one of those cards and place it in front of them face down in your hoard (this is known as the players hoard pile) and pass the remaining cards to the player on their left. Players will select a second card and pass the cards once again. After selecting a third card players will shuffle the final card into the treasure pile of the Keep of their choice. Starting with the player that rolled the highest numbered Keep and proceeding clockwise. Finally players will pick up the three cards in their hoard pile which will make up their starting hand. Note: the area in front of you is known as your hoard.

The Black Dragon: Using the Black Dragon is optional, if you choose to play with these rules, shuffle the Rivalry treasure card into the master treasure deck and roll a d6 to determine which location to place the black dragon pawn at. Otherwise set the black dragon pawn and Rivalry card aside. See Black Dragon rules below for more.

POWER DIE

Your power die is a reflection of your Dragons magical energies. You start with 3 points of power. Any time you roll a d6, you may spend 1 point of power from your power die to increase the number rolled by one. If your power die ever drops to zero, place that die at the Castle. You may not gain any power again until you rest. On any future turn, you may skip your turn to rest and regain your die setting it to 3.

Start with the player whose rolled the lowest location number during setup and proceed clockwise around the table, each player in turn will complete five phases. DRAW, MOVE, SCHEME, COMBAT, and RAID in that order.

DRAW: You will start your turn by drawing one card from your hoard pile.

• Shuffle: Any time you draw a card from your hoard pile you may first shuffle it.

MOVE: Next you will move your dragon one space clockwise. You may spend power to add one to your movement for each point of power spent.

SCHEME: Select and perform one action from the following list.

• Offense: Select a card from your hand and resolve the offense symbol on that card. At the end of your turn you will place the card face down under your hoard pile. See the symbol reference for information on how to resolve each symbol.

• Power: Select a card from your hand and gain power equal to the number of power symbols on the card. At the end of your turn you will place the card face down under your hoard pile.

• Bolster: Choose a card from your hand, without revealing it, shuffle it into the card pile of the Keep of your choice.

• Draw: Draw one card from your hoard pile.

Chain: Once per turn, when the first action you take is to gain Power or take an Offense action and that card has a chain symbol you may SCHEME again before moving on to the next phase.

COMBAT: You may take engage Heroes and Dragons at your location in combat, as described and in the order listed below.

• Heroes: If there is a Hero present at your location you must engage that Hero (see Fighting Heroes below). If there are multiple Heroes you may choose the order that you engage them

• Dragons: You may then choose whether or not to duel any Dragons at your location (see Dueling Dragons below).

RAID: If there are no Heroes at your location, you may take each action below once per turn in the order listed below.

• Loot: If your location has cards, flip over the top card of the Keeps card pile and resolve the defense symbol on that card. When resolved, place that card face down on the bottom of your hoard pile.

• Assault: If your location has no cards, and the Keep has not already been destroyed, you may attempt to assault the Keep (see Assaulting a Keep below).

When engaged in combat with a Hero, you will roll a d6 for your Dragon and must beat the Heroes target number of 3 to defeat them. Each Hero will add a bonus to their target number as described below.

If there are any Dragons at your location, they may spend power to increase the target number of a Hero by 1 for each point of power that is spent. This must be done before you roll your die. You may spend power to increase your roll as normal.

If you win the Hero will return to the Castle in the center of the board. Then draw one card from the master treasure deck.

• Knight: Add 1 to the knights target value for each Keep that is fortified. If the knight wins, your dragons power die is reduced by 2.

• Wizard: Add 1 to the wizards target value for each card in your hand. If the wizard wins, you must discard one random card from your hand to the bottom of the master treasure deck.

• Crusader: Add 2 to the crusaders target value for each destroyed Keep. If the crusader wins, your turn is over and you must miss your next turn. Lay your dragon pawn on its side as a reminder.

When you challenge another dragon to a duel, they may spend 1 point of power to move to the next Keep thus avoiding the duel. Each Dragon in the duel selects one card from their hand and places it face down. If they have no cards in their hand they have nothing to lose.

Each player rolls a d6. The player with the higher result is the winner, takes both cards into their hand, and may choose to move the loser one location clockwise. On a tie no cards change hands and neither Dragon moves. Either player may add 1 to their roll for each point of power they spend as normal. Starting with the defending player, players take turns spending power and increasing their die until one player decides to stop.

When assaulting a keep, you will roll a d6 for your Dragon and must beat the Keeps target number of 4 to defeat it. If a Keep is fortified you must first defeat the Fortification with a target value of 2. If there are any Dragons at your location, they may spend power to increase the target number of the Keep by 1 for each point of power that is spent. This must be done before you roll your die. You may spend power to increase your roll as normal.

Note: destroyed keeps are still considered a location for movement and dueling but new treasure cards and Heroes may not be placed there.

• Success: When you destroy a Fortification or a Keep, place it in your hoard. Fortifications are worth 2 victory points and Keeps are worth 4 victory points at the end of the game.

• Failure: When you fail your assault, discard one random card from your hand and shuffle it into the Keeps treasure pile. If the Knight has not been slain, move them to your location.

RUINS

When a keep is destroyed, draw a Ruins card and place it at that location. Each card will have a powerful effect that persists for the remainder of the game.

ENDING THE GAME

When three of the six Keeps have been destroyed, or all three of the Heroes have been vanquished, or all Keeps have no treasure left to be raided, the endgame will begin. Play will continue one more time around the table; however, it will cost you three points of power, paid before your turn begins to be granted that one final turn. After which you will score and determine a victor.

SCORING & VICTORY

At the end of the game, tally all victory points as described below. The Dragon with the most victory points will be declared Mightiest of the Tin Dragons and wins the game. If there is a tie for most victory points then no Dragon may claim that title.

• 1 point for each card in your hoard pile except for defense only cards which are instead worth -1 victory points each.
• 4 points for each Keep in your hoard.
• 4 points for each Hero in your hoard.
• 2 points for each Fortification in your hoard.
• 2 points goes to the player with the most points on their power die. If there is a tie for most power the bonus is not applied.

CONTEST EDITION

While the contest edition of Tin Dragon will not officially be published to The Game Crafter website I will be making it available for sale at the lowest price possible for anyone interested in checking it out. I will update the rules document with any updates or errata and will answer questions sent to me through this site or on the Tin Dragon Facebook page as fast as I can.

EXPANSIONS

I have been working on a full expansion to Tin Dragon that will add new Heroes, A Wizards Tower, a Dwarven Gold Mine, Dragon Special Abilities, and more.

SOLO PLAY

I have included rules for solo play as a free download. These are very early rules and have not been extensively tested. I will continue to update them as I receive feedback.