Home A game
by Bruno Faidutti and Michael Schacht
For 3-6 players, ages 8 and above
45 to 60 minutes
Object
of the Game
Players bid on various character cards in a closed-fist (blind-bid) auction. The
winner of each auction can then use the card’s powers to gain coins,
Dragonstones, place spells on other players, or win scoring points. The first
player to earn three points on the special white scoring dice wins the game.
Components:
Learning
the game – New players
When you are first learning the game, or when introducing Fist of Dragonstones
to new players we suggest you read through and familiarize all players with the
powers of the Standard Character Cards. You should also review the Game Turn
Rules, which are printed on the back of each Player Screen.
We also suggest you visit our web site at www.dragonstones.com to play an on-line tutorial and browse through our tips and strategy section to improve your game. You can even play against other players (using the enclosed Days of Wonder Web Card) in an online version of the game.
Setting
up the game:
At the beginning of the game each player receives:
The remaining coins and stones are placed in the center of the table and make up the “bank” that players can draw from.
The Witch card is set aside, face up, and the 7 other Standard Character cards are shuffled and placed in a pile, face down, in the center of the table.
The Special Character cards are shuffled and placed in another pile.
During the game, the scores and stones of all players are public knowledge. Scoring dice and stones are placed in front of the screens, while Common Gold, Fairy Gold and Silver coins are kept hidden behind the screens.
If the bank runs out of stock of any type of stone or coin, that item is not available to the players.
Playing
the Game
The game is made
up of turns. Each turn consists of a series of bidding auctions for each of the
eight Standard Character cards, plus two Special Character cards. After each
auction, the player who wins the card then uses the powers of that card. At the
end of each turn the two Special Character cards used that turn are set aside
and two more cards from the top of the pile are included in the next turn. Turns
continue to be played until a player scores three points.
1-
Drawing special characters
Draw the two first cards from the Special Character pile. Read the cards aloud,
so that each player is familiar with the cards’ powers. Shuffle the two
Special cards together with the Standard cards (leaving the Witch aside) before
the first auction.
If there are no Special Characters left, all Special cards are shuffled together
to make a new draw pile.
2-
Witch Auction
Because the Witch character can be used to cancel the powers of the remaining
cards, she is always auctioned first (see Auctions below).
The player who wins the witch auction receives a Black Magic coin and places it
with his unspent coins behind the screen.
3-
Auctioning other characters
The other characters are auctioned, one by one, in drawing order. Simply turn
over the top card of the draw pile so every player can see which character is
being auctioned. After every auction, the winner, if any, uses the character
power before the new character is auctioned.
When all ten characters have been auctioned and played the turn is over.
4-
End of the turn – Returning of Fairy Gold
At the end of each turn, players take all of their Fairy Gold coins back behind
their screens – but their Common Gold and Silver coins are lost to the bank
for the remainder of the game. Fairy Gold is magic and always returns to its
original owner!
The two Special Character cards are discarded at the end of the turn, and
replaced with two new ones to begin the next turn. The Witch card is set aside
and the remaining Standard cards, along with two new Special cards, are shuffled
and the next turn begins.
When a character is auctioned, a player can bid any combination of Fairy or Common Gold coins that remain behind their screen to win the right to use the character’s powers. Players can also choose to bid nothing, but should still participate in the auction by bluffing a bid.
To
bid, players take the number of coins they wish to bid and secretly place them
in their closed fist. All coins bid will be spent for the rest of that turn, no
matter whether they win or lose the auction.
All players reveal their bid simultaneously by opening their fists. All Fairy Gold coins bid are spent and placed in front of their screens and will not be used again this turn. (They are returned to the players at the end of the turn.) All Common Gold coins bid by the players are permanently spent and because they are not returned go directly to the bank.
The
player who won the auction now uses the character action.
Tied
Auctions:
When two or more players bid the same number of coins, the players who tied
bid again, but this time using only their Silver coins. All Silver coins that
are bid are permanently spent by the players and go to the bank. The winner of
this tie-break auction can then use the character action. If players tie again
no one gets the character action, but the coins bid are still lost to the bank,
Note:
If there is a tie-break auction for the Thief, the second bidder referred to in
the character action is the second bidder of the tie break auction.
No
bids:
If no bids are made for a character, this character is passed on and not
played this turn.
When a player scores a point, he turns his die, adding the point scored to the face up side. The first player who turns his die to three is the winner.
Standard
Characters:
Witch
The Witch is always auctioned first in the turn.
The player who wins the Witch auction receives a special Black Magic coin. He
may bid this token in any of the following bids during the turn. When players
reveal their bids, if a player has bid his Black coin, the character being
auctioned is cursed and it’s special powers are canceled. The money spent on
the bid is still spent.
Note: If the owner of the Black Magic coin doesn’t use it during the turn,
he must give it back at the end of the turn.
Note: The second Black Magic coin is used only if the Ghost or Doppelganger
character replicates the Witch. You’ll need a third black coin if both do, but
this is very unlikely to happen.
Magician
The player who wins the Magician auction can pay any four stones to the bank and
score one point; or take three Silver coins from the bank.
Sorcerer
The player who wins the Sorcerer auction can pay four identical stones (same
color) to the bank and score two points; or take one Common Gold coin from the
bank.
Thief
The player who wins the Thief auction takes one stone of his choice from the
second highest bidder. In case of a tie for second bidder, he may steal a stone
from the tied player of his choice.
If
only one player bids for the Thief, all other players are considered second, and
he may steal from any one of them.
Note:
If the second bidder has no stones, the Thief can steal a Common Gold coin from
him. If he has no Common Gold, the Thief can steal a Fairy Gold coin. If there
is a tie for second highest bidder, the Thief must choose, if possible, to steal
from a player who owns at least one stone.
Wizard
The player who wins the Wizard auction can pay three stones, one of each color,
to the bank and score one point; or take three Silver coins from the bank.
Red,
Blue and Yellow Dragon
The player who wins any of these Dragon auctions takes one stone of the
dragon’s color from the bank.
Special
characters:
Alchemist
The player who wins the Alchemist auction takes three Common gold coins from the
bank and places them behind his screen.
Ancient
Dragon (2 cards)
The player who wins the Ancient Dragon auction takes one stone of his choice
from the bank.
Brigand
The player who wins the Brigand auction takes all Common Gold and Silver coins
from the player of his choice.
Doppelganger
The player who wins the Doppelganger auction keeps this card and places it face
up in front of him. He can play this card later in the game after winning the
auction for another character. This allows him to use the power of the character
he has won twice in a row instead of just once.
Note: The Doppelganger cannot be played on the Necromancer.
Dwarf
(2 cards)
The player who wins the Dwarf auction takes four or five (depending on the text
on the card) Silver coins from the bank.
Enchantress
The player who wins the Enchantress auction can pay any five stones to the bank
and score two points; or take one Fairy Gold from the bank.
Fairy
(2 cards)
The player who wins the Fairy auction takes one Fairy Gold coin from the bank
and can now play with this extra Fairy gold until the end of the game.
Ghost
The player who wins the Ghost auction chooses one of the characters already
auctioned this turn (even if it was not played or was cursed by the Witch) and
plays it as if he won this character.
Gnome
The player who wins the Gnome auction takes two Common Gold and Two Silver coins
from the bank.
Goblin
The player who wins the Goblin auction draws a character at random from the pile
of cards that have not been auctioned yet this turn. He then plays that card as
if he had won this character. The drawn character card is then placed with the
characters already played this turn.
Note: The Goblin is passed on if he is the last card drawn in the turn.
Goldsmith
The player who wins the Goldsmith auction takes one Magic Amulet (Red coin) from
the bank. Later in the game, he can spend this amulet in an auction to double
the value of the Gold or Silver coins he bids. For example: Four Common Gold
coins, plus the Red coin is worth eight Gold coins. The amulet is returned to
the bank after it is bid.
Imp
The player who wins the Imp auction chooses a character from the pile of cards
that have not been auctioned yet this turn. He then plays that card as if he had
won the auction for this character. The drawn character card is then placed with
the characters already played this turn.
Note: The Imp is passed on if he is the last card drawn in the turn.
Merchant
The player who wins the Merchant auction can buy as many stones as they wish of
any color by paying to the bank one Common or Fairy Gold, or three Silver coins
for each stone.
Necromancer
The player who wins the Necromancer auction may score one point by paying all of
the coins bid in the auction, including Fairy Gold, to the bank.
Note: The player who wins the Necromancer auction is not bound to use this
power. This allows him to retain the Fairy Gold coins that he bid.
Quack
Wizard (2 cards)
The player who wins the Quack Wizard auction pays all of his stones to the bank
and score one point. If the player has no stones, he scores the point for free.
Rainbow
Dragon
The player who wins the Rainbow Dragon auction takes all the stones from the
bank and places them in the Dragonstone storage bag. He then names a color (Red,
Blue or Yellow) and draws stones one at a time from the bag until he either:
decides to stop and keep the stones he has drawn; or he draws a stone of the
chosen color and must give back all the stones he has drawn.
Note: If there are no more stones of a color in the bank, the player cannot name
that color.
Sorcerer
Apprentice (2
cards)
The player who wins the Sorcerer Apprentice auction pays two identical stones
(if he has them) to the bank and score one point.
Troll
The player who wins the Troll auction chooses one of the three colors of stones.
All players – including himself – lose all of their stones of that color.
Two-headed
Dragon (2 cards)
The player who wins the Two-headed Dragon auction takes two stones of each color
from the bank and places them in the Dragonstone storage bag. He then randomly
draws two stones from the bag to keep. The remaining stones are placed back in
the bank.
This site is created and maintained by: Carl-Gustaf Samuelsson