T HE L AW OF

Using This Book

Root contains two rulebooks, this rules reference and a
learning-to-play guide. This book is intended to be a con-
cise, authoritative, and complete reference. While many
players will be able to learn the game from this book,
those newer to the hobby should start with the learning-
to-play guide.

1
 Text in small capitals defines key terms. II Reverse Substitution. If you are prompted to
Text in italics gives reminders and clarifi- spend, discard, take, or give a bird card, you
cannot substitute a card of another suit.
cations. Faction icons mark rules that are
modified by the Faction Rules and Abil- 2.1.2 Draw from Shared Deck. Whenever you are
prompted to draw a card, take it from the shared
ities section of the Marquise (M), Eyrie deck. If the deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile
(E), Alliance (A), Vagabond (V), Cult to form a new deck.
(L), or Riverfolk (O). 2.1.3 Spend and Discard to Shared Pile. Whenever
you are prompted to discard or spend a card,

1. Golden Rules
place it in the shared discard pile, unless it is a
dominance card (4.3). L
Ambush Cards. There are five ambush cards:
1.1 Rules Conflicts
2.1.4

one mouse, one rabbit, one fox, and two birds.

1.1.1 Precedence. If text on a card or faction board You may play an ambush card for its suit, but it
conflicts with text in the rules reference, the card does not have an item or improvement to craft.
or faction board takes precedence. If text in the You may also play one in battle to deal hits (3.3.1).
learn-to-play guide conflicts with text in the rules
2.1.5 Dominance Cards. There are four dominance
reference, the rules reference takes precedence.
cards matching the four suits. You may spend a
1.1.2 Use of “Cannot.” Any rule that uses the term dominance card for its suit, but it cannot be craft-
“cannot” is absolute. It cannot be overridden by ed. You may also play one to permanently change
another rule, unless explicitly instructed. your victory condition (4.3).

1.2 Public and Private Information 2.2 Clearings and Paths

1.2.1 Hands. Players may only reveal cards in their The map of the Woodland is composed of many
hand if explicitly instructed, but the number of clearings linked by paths.
cards in their hand is public information. O 2.2.1 Adjacency. A clearing is adjacent to all other clear-
1.2.2 Discard. The discard pile can be searched at any ings linked to it by a path.
time. 2.2.2 Nation. Almost every clearing is aligned with one
forest nation: mouse, rabbit, or fox.
1.3 Negotiation and Deals
2.2.3 Slots. Each clearing has a number of slots, shown
1.3.1 Agreements. Players are free to discuss the game as white boxes. Whenever you place a building, it
during play, but agreements between players are fills an open slot. You cannot place a building in a
non-binding. clearing with no open slots.
1.3.2 Cards. Players may only give cards to each other 2.2.4 Ruins. Some slots begin the game filled with ru-
if explicitly instructed. ins. Ruins can only be removed by the Vagabond's
Explore action (9.5.6).
1.4 Game Structure
Each player’s turn consists of three phases: Birdsong, 2.3 Rivers
Daylight, and Evening. After a player completes all Many clearings are linked by rivers, which act as
three phases, the next clockwise player begins their paths for only the Riverfolk Company. Rivers do not
turn. Play continues until one player has won the divide clearings or forests. O
game (4.1).
2.4 Forests
2. Key Terms and Concepts Areas on the map fully enclosed by paths and clearings
are called forests.
2.1 Cards
2.4.1 Adjacency. A forest is adjacent to all clearings that
Each card has a suit matching one of the four forest
touch it without crossing a path, and it is adjacent
nations: bird, fox, rabbit, and mouse. Most cards also
to all forests that are separated by only one path.
have an item or improvement to craft (3.1).
2.1.1 Birds Are Wild. You can always treat a bird card 2.5 Pieces
as a card of another suit, even if you must spend, Each faction has various pieces matching the color at
take, or give multiple cards of the same suit. L the top of their faction board. Pieces are limited by the
contents of the game. If you are prompted to place,
I Forced Effects. When you are prompted to dis-
take, or remove a piece but you cannot, you must
card or give away fox, rabbit, or mouse cards,
place, take, or remove the maximum number possible.
you must treat your bird cards as the prompted
suit. 2.5.1 Warriors. If you are prompted to place a warrior,
take it from your supply. If one of your warriors is
removed, return it to your supply. ML
2
 2.5.2 Buildings. If you are prompted to place a build- 3.2.1 You Must Rule. To take a move, you must rule
ing, take the leftmost building from its track on the origin clearing, destination clearing, or both.
your faction board. If one of your buildings is re- VO
moved, return it to the rightmost empty space of 3.2.2 No Movement Limits. A given piece can be
its track. moved any number of times per turn. If you are
2.5.3 Tokens. If you are prompted to place a token, prompted to take multiple moves, you may move
take the leftmost token from its track, if any, or the same or separate groups of warriors.
take it from your supply. If one of your tokens is
removed, return it to the rightmost empty space 3.3 Battle
of its track, if any, or to your supply. When you battle, choose a clearing where you have
warriors or your pawn as the clearing of battle. You
2.5.4 Pawns. Pawns cannot be removed from the map. are the attacker. Choose another player in the clear-
2.5.5 Items. If you are prompted to take an item, take ing of battle to be the defender.
it from the shared supply and place it in the Craft- 3.3.1 Step 1: Defender Declares Ambush. The defend-
ed Items box on your faction board. If you are er may play an ambush card matching the clear-
prompted to remove an item, return it to the ing of battle. If the attacker does not foil this am-
shared supply. V bush, the attacker takes two hits immediately. If
2.6 Play Area no attacking warriors remain, end the battle im-
Your play area is the area around your faction board. mediately.
I Foil Ambush. After the defender plays an am-
2.7 Enemy bush card, the attacker may cancel its effect
An enemy is any other faction, except if they are in a by also playing an ambush card matching the
coalition with you (9.2.8). clearing of the battle. (The defender still discards
the played ambush card.)
2.8 Ruler
The ruler of a clearing is the player with the most 3.3.2 Step 2: Roll Dice and Add Extra Hits. Roll both
combined warriors and buildings in that clearing. dice. The attacker will deal hits equal to the higher
(Tokens do not contribute to rule.) If there is a tie between roll, and the defender will deal hits equal to the
players in a clearing, no one there is the ruler. EVL lower roll. If the rolls are equal, attacker and de-

3. Key Actions
fender will deal the same number of hits. A
I Maximum Rolled Hits. The maximum hits
you can deal from rolling equals the number of
3.1 Craft your warriors in the clearing of battle, whether
You can craft most cards from your hand into an you are the attacker or defender. V
item or improvement.
II Extra Hits. After counting hits from rolling,
3.1.1 Cost. To craft a card, you must use crafting piec- the attacker and defender can add extra hits
es of the nations listed in the card's bottom-left by using special abilities or other effects in
corner. The nation of a crafting piece matches its their play areas. Extra hits are not limited by
clearing. Each crafting piece may be used only warriors in the clearing of battle.
once per turn. A three-color question mark de-
notes a crafting piece of any nation. VO III Defenseless. If the defender has no warriors in
the clearing of battle, the attacker will deal an
3.1.2 Crafting Item. When you craft an item, score the extra hit. V
listed victory points, take the listed item from the
supply and place it in your Crafted Items box on 3.3.3 Step 3: Deal Hits. Attacker and defender deal hits
your faction board, then discard the crafted card. simultaneously. Each hit removes one piece. The
V player taking hits chooses which pieces to remove,
but must remove all of their warriors in the clear-
3.1.3 Crafting Improvement. When you craft an im- ing of battle before removing any of their build-
provement, place it in your play area. You may ings or tokens there.
use the effect of this improvement as described on
the card.
3.1.4 No Duplicates. You cannot craft an improvement
if you have an improvement of identical name in
your play area.

3.2 Move
When you move, you may take any number of your
warriors or your pawn from one clearing and move
them to one adjacent clearing.

3
 4. Victory 5. Setup
4.1 How to Win 5.1 Standard Setup Procedure
The first player to reach 30 victory points immediate- 5.1.1 Step 1: Assign Factions and Starting Player. As-
ly wins the game. sign one faction to each player using any method.
4.2 Scoring Victory Points Each game must include the Marquise de Cat, Ey-
Each faction has a unique way of scoring victory rie Dynasties, or Lizard Cult, and we recommend
points, but any faction can score victory points as including two of them. Determine the starting play-
follows. er and seating order randomly.

4.2.1 Removing Buildings and Tokens. Whenever 5.1.2 Step 2: Gather Faction Pieces. Each player takes
you remove an enemy's building or token, you their chosen faction board and all pieces of the fac-
score one victory point. tion color.

4.2.2 Crafting Items. Whenever you craft an item, 5.1.3 Step 3: Draw Starting Hands. Shuffle the deck.
you score the victory points listed on the card. Each player draws three cards.
5.1.4 Step 4: Place Ruins. Place a ruin marker on each
4.3 Dominance Cards slot with a ruin icon.
The deck holds four dominance cards, which can be
5.1.5 Step 5: Place Score Markers. Each player places
played to win the game without reaching 30 victory
their score marker on “0” on the score track.
points.
5.1.6 Step 6: Faction Setup. In the setup order (A, B,
4.3.1 Activating. During your Daylight, if you have
C, etc.), each player follows their faction's setup in-
at least 10 victory points, you may play a dom-
structions, listed in their rules section and on the
inance card into your play area to activate it.
back of their faction board.
Remove your score marker from the score track.
You can no longer score victory points. V
I Mouse, Rabbit, or Fox Dominance. You
6. Marquise de Cat
win the game immediately if you rule three 6.1 Overview
clearings of the nation matching the domi- The Marquise de Cat occupies the Woodland and wants
nance card at the start of your Birdsong. to turn it into an industrial and military powerhouse.
II Bird Dominance. You win the game imme- Each time the Marquise builds one of her buildings—a
diately if you rule two clearings in opposite workshop, sawmill, or recruiter—she scores victory
corners at the start of your Birdsong. points. The more of the same building she has on the
map, the more points she scores. However, to fuel
4.3.2 Activated Cards. An activated dominance card ongoing construction, the Marquise must maintain and
does not count against your hand limit, and it protect a strong, interconnected economy of wood,
cannot be removed from play. You cannot re- which make for easy targets for her adversaries.
place an activated dominance card with a dif-
ferent one. 6.2 Faction Rules and Abilities
4.3.3 Spending for Suit. A dominance card can be 6.2.1 Crafting. The Marquise uses workshops to craft
spent for its suit. However, when it would be during Daylight.
placed in the discard pile, instead place it near
6.2.2 The Keep. Only the Marquise can place pieces
the map to show it is available to be taken. L
in the clearing with the keep token. (Pieces may
4.3.4 Taking Available Cards. During your Daylight, be moved into this clearing.) If the keep token is re-
you can take an available dominance card into moved, it cannot be placed on the map again.
your hand by spending a card of matching suit.
6.2.3 Field Hospitals. Whenever a Marquise warrior is
removed, the Marquise may spend any card to im-
mediately place that warrior in the clearing with
the keep token.

6.3 Faction Setup

6.3.1 Step 1: Gather Warriors and Wood. Form supplies
of 25 warriors and 8 wood tokens near you.
6.3.2 Step 2: Place Keep. Place the keep token in the
corner clearing of your choice.
6.3.3 Step 3: Garrison. Place a warrior in each clearing
except the clearing in the opposite corner from the
keep token.
4
 6.3.4 Step 4: Place Starting Buildings. Place one saw- 7.2 Faction Rules and Abilities
mill, one workshop, and one recruiter among the
clearing with the keep token and any adjacent 7.2.1 Crafting. The Eyrie use roosts to craft before re-
clearings, in any combination. solving the Decree during Daylight.

6.3.5 Step 5: Fill Buildings Tracks. Place your remain- 7.2.2 Lords of the Forest. The Eyrie rule a clearing
ing sawmills, workshops, and recruiters on the when tied for most combined warriors and build-
matching Buildings tracks of your faction board, ings there. They do not rule empty clearings. L
filling all their spaces except the leftmost space of 7.2.3 Disdain for Trade. Whenever the Eyrie craft an
each track. item, they ignore the listed victory points and in-
stead score only one victory point.
6.4 Birdsong
Place one wood token at each sawmill. 7.3 Faction Setup
6.5 Daylight 7.3.1 Step 1: Gather Warriors. Form a supply of 20
First, you may craft cards from your hand, using warriors near you.
workshops. Then, you may take up to three actions, 7.3.2 Step 2: Place Roost and Starting Warriors. Place
plus one action per bird card spent, in any order and a roost and six warriors in the corner clearing op-
combination, as follows. posite of the keep token. If the Marquise is not
6.5.1 March. Take two moves. playing, place those pieces in the corner clearing
of your choice.
6.5.2 Battle. Initiate a battle.
7.3.3 Step 3: Choose Leader. Choose one of the four
6.5.3 Build. Place a building. Eyrie leader cards and place it face up in your play
I Choose Building. Choose whether you want area. Stack the remaining leaders and place them
to place a sawmill, workshop, or recruiter. Find face up near you.
the leftmost building of that type remaining on 7.3.4 Step 4: Tuck Viziers. Tuck your two Loyal Vizier
your faction board. Note that building’s cost, cards, showing their suit, into the Decree spaces
listed at the top of its column. of your faction board matching the two listed on
II Choose Clearing and Pay Wood. Choose any your leader.
clearing you rule. Remove wood tokens equal 7.3.5 Step 5: Fill Roosts Track. Place your roosts on
to the building’s cost from the chosen clearing, the Roosts track of your faction board, filling all
any adjacent clearings you rule, or any clear- its spaces except the leftmost.
ings connected to the chosen clearing through
any number of clearings you rule. 7.4 Birdsong
III Place Building and Score. Place the chosen Your Birdsong has three steps in the following order.
building on the chosen clearing, and score the 7.4.1 Emergency Orders. If you have no cards in your
victory points revealed on the space under the hand, draw one card.
building removed from your faction board. 7.4.2 Add to the Decree. You must add one or two cards
6.5.4 Recruit. Place one warrior at each recruiter. You to the Decree, but only one card you add may be a
can take this action only once per turn. bird card. You may play each card to any column,
6.5.5 Overwork. Spend a card matching the clearing of and each column can hold any number of cards.
a sawmill, and place a wood token there. 7.4.3 A New Roost. If you have no roosts on the map,
place a roost and three warriors in a clearing with
6.6 Evening the fewest warriors.
Draw one card, plus one card per uncovered draw
bonus. Then, if you have more than five cards in your 7.5 Daylight
hand, discard cards of your choice until you have five. Your Daylight has two steps in the following order.

7. Eyrie Dynasties 7.5.1 Craft. You may craft cards from your hand, using
roosts.
7.1 Overview 7.5.2 Resolve the Decree. You must resolve the Decree,
The Eyrie Dynasties wish to restore their once-digni- starting with the leftmost column and moving
fied kind to their former glory in the Woodland by right. In each column, you must resolve all of its
retaking control of the forest clearings. During their cards, but in any order. For each card, you must
Evening, the Eyrie score victory points based on the take the action listed for its column, as follows. If
number of roosts on the map. The greater their pres- you cannot fully take an action, you immediately
ence in the Woodland, the greater their gains. fall into turmoil (7.7).
However, the Eyrie are bound by their Decree, an
ever-increasing set of mandated actions promised by
their leader. Each turn, they must take all of the ac-
tions on their Decree, or else fall into turmoil. 5
 8. Woodland Alliance
I Recruit. Place a warrior in any clearing with a
roost whose nation matches the card suit.
Move. Move at least one warrior from any
8.1 Overview
II

clearing whose nation matches the card suit.

The Woodland Alliance works to gain the sympathy
III Battle. Initiate a battle in any clearing whose of the various creatures of the Woodland who are
nation matches the card suit. dissatisfied with their present condition. Each time the
IV Build. Place a roost in any clearing you rule Alliance places a sympathy token, they score victory
whose nation matches the card suit and which points. The more sympathy on the map they have, the
has no roost. more victory points they score. Gaining the sympathy
of the people requires supporters. These supporters
7.6 Evening can also be put toward violent ends, inciting outright
Your Evening has two steps in the following order. rebellion across the forest. When a revolt erupts, the
7.6.1 Score Points. Score the victory points listed on Alliance will establish a base. Bases allow the Alliance
the rightmost empty space of your Roosts track. to train officers, increasing their military flexibility.

7.6.2 Draw and Discard. Draw one card, plus one card 8.2 Faction Rules and Abilities
card per uncovered draw bonus. Then, if you have 8.2.1 Crafting. The Alliance uses sympathy tokens to
more than five cards in your hand, discard cards craft during Daylight.
of your choice until you have five.
8.2.2 Guerrilla War. As defender in battle, the Alliance
7.7 Turmoil will deal hits equal to the higher roll, and the at-
If you cannot fully take an action in the Decree (7.5.2) tacker will deal hits equal to the lower roll.
for any reason, you fall into turmoil, as follows. 8.2.3 The Supporters Stack. To take various actions,
7.7.1 Step 1: Humiliate. Lose one victory point per the Alliance spends supporters, which are cards
bird card (including Loyal Viziers) on the Decree. on the Supporters stack. The Supporters stack
7.7.2 Step 2: Purge. Discard all of the cards on the De- can hold any number of cards, and it does not
cree except your Loyal Viziers. count against the Alliance's hand size. It is face-
down, but the Alliance may inspect it at any time.
7.7.3 Step 3: Depose. Flip your current leader face Supporters can only be spent for their suit.
down and set it aside, choose a new leader from
those face up, and place it near your faction 8.2.4 Removing Bases. Whenever a base is removed, the
board. Tuck your Loyal Viziers into the Decree Alliance must discard all supporters of matching
spaces listed on your new leader. nation (including birds), and remove half (rounded
up) of their officers.
I A New Generation. If you ever have no face-
up leaders remaining, flip all of your leaders 8.2.5 Sympathy Tokens. The Alliance has 10 sympathy
face up. tokens.

7.7.4 Step 4: Rest. End Daylight and begin Evening. I Placement Limits. A clearing can hold only
one sympathy token.
7.8 Leaders II Terms. A sympathetic clearing is one with a
The Eyrie has four leader cards, as follows. sympathy token. An unsympathetic clearing
7.8.1 Builder. Your Loyal Viziers begin on Recruit and is one without a sympathy token.
Move. Whenever you craft, you ignore your Dis- 8.2.6 Outrage. Whenever another player removes a
dain for Trade special ability (7.2.3). sympathy token or moves any warriors into a sym-
7.8.2 Charismatic. Your Loyal Viziers begin on Recruit pathetic clearing, they must add one card from
and Battle. Whenever you take a Recruit action, their hand matching the affected clearing to the
you must place two warriors instead of one. Supporters stack. If they have no matching cards
(including no birds), they must show their hand to
7.8.3 Commander. Your Loyal Viziers begin on Move
the Alliance, and then the Alliance draws a card
and Battle. During any battle as the attacker, you
from the deck and adds it to the Supporters stack.
deal an extra hit.
7.8.4 Despot. Your Loyal Viziers begin on Move and 8.3 Faction Setup
Build. Whenever you remove at least one enemy 8.3.1 Step 1: Gather Warriors. Form a supply of 10
building or token in battle, you score another vic- warriors near you.
tory point.
8.3.2 Step 2: Place Bases. Place the 3 bases on the spac-
es matching the three forest nations.
8.3.3 Step 3: Fill Sympathy Track. Place the 10 sympa-
thy tokens on the sympathy track.
8.3.4 Step 4: Gain Supporters. Draw 3 cards and place
6
them face down on the Supporters stack.
8.4 Birdsong IV Organize. Remove one of your warriors from
Your Birdsong has two steps in the following order. an unsympathetic clearing, place a sympathy
token there, and score the victory points listed
8.4.1 Revolt. Remove enemy pieces and place a base on the space revealed on your faction board.
and warriors, as follows. You may Revolt any
number of times. 8.6.2 Income. Draw one card, plus one card per uncov-
ered draw bonus. Then, if you have more than five
I Choose Clearing. A sympathetic clearing cards in your hand, discard cards of your choice
matching an unbuilt base. until you have five.

9. Vagabond
II Spend Supporters. Spend two supporters
matching the nation of the chosen clearing.
Resolve Effect. Remove all enemy pieces
9.1 Overview
III

there. Then, place the base matching the clear-

The Vagabond plays all sides of the conflict, making
ing there, and place warriors there equal to the
friends and enemies as suits his ends, while going on
number of sympathetic clearings matching the
quests to increase his renown throughout the wood.
base’s nation. Finally, place one warrior in the
Each time the Vagabond improves his relationship
Officers box. (Remember to score one victory point
with another faction, or removes a warrior belong-
per token and building removed.)
ing to a faction hostile toward him, he scores victory
8.4.2 Spread Sympathy. Place a sympathy token, as fol- points. He can also complete quests to score victory
lows. You may Spread Sympathy any number of points. To move and act effectively the Vagabond must
times. manage his pack of items, expanding his selection by
I Choose Clearing. An unsympathetic clearing exploring the forest ruins and providing aid to other
adjacent to a sympathetic clearing. If there are factions.
no sympathetic clearings, you may choose any
clearing.
9.2 Faction Rules and Abilities
9.2.1 Crafting. The Vagabond exhausts H to craft. All
II Spend Supporters. Spend supporters match-
of his H match the nation of his current clearing.
ing the nation of the chosen clearing. The num-
If the Vagabond crafts an item, he may immedi-
ber of supporters that must be spent is listed
ately take it, face up.
above the sympathy token.
9.2.2 Lone Wanderer. The Vagabond pawn is not a war-
a Martial Law. You must spend another
rior, so he cannot rule a clearing or stop another
matching supporter if the target clearing has
player from ruling one. The Vagabond pawn can-
at least three warriors belonging to another
not be removed from the map.
player.
9.2.3 Nimble. The Vagabond can move regardless of
III Resolve Effect. Place a sympathy token in the
who rules his origin or destination clearing (3.2.1).
chosen clearing. Score the victory points listed
on the space revealed on your faction board. 9.2.4 Defenseless. In battle, the Vagabond is defense-
less (3.3.2.III) if he has no undamaged S.
8.5 Daylight
9.2.5 Items. The Vagabond’s capabilities depend on the
You may take the following actions in any order and
items he acquires. Items on the Vagabond’s fac-
combination.
tion board can be face up, face down, or damaged.
8.5.1 Support. Add a card from your hand to the Sup- The Vagabond exhausts items, flipping them face
porters stack. down, to take many actions.
8.5.2 Train. Spend a card whose nation matches a built I Item Tracks. When gained, T, X, and B are
base to place a warrior in the Officers box. placed face up on their matching tracks. Each
8.5.3 Craft. Craft a card from your hand, using sympa- track can only hold three matching items. If
thy tokens. the Vagabond would gain such an item beyond
this limit, leave the item where it is.
8.6 Evening II The Satchel. When gained, M, S, C, F, and
This phase has two steps in the following order. H are placed face up in the Vagabond's Satch-
8.6.1 Military Operations. You may take actions, as el.
follows, up to your number of officers, in any or- 9.2.6 Maximum Rolled Hits. In battle, the Vagabond’s
der and combination. maximum rolled hits (3.2.2.I) equals his undam-
I Move. Take one move. aged S, face up or face down, in his Satchel.
II Battle. Initiate a battle. 9.2.7 Taking Hits. Whenever the Vagabond takes a hit
III Recruit. Place a warrior in any clearing with (3.3.3), he must damage one undamaged item,
a base. moving it to his Damaged box. If no undamaged
items remain to damage, the Vagabond ignores
any remaining hits. 7
 9.2.8 Dominance Cards and Coalitions. The Vagabond a Infamy. Whenever you remove a warrior of
may only activate a dominance card in games a Hostile faction in battle, score two victo-
with four or more players. When the Vagabond ry points. (Do not score points for removing the
activates a dominance card, he forms a coalition warrior that made the faction Hostile.)
with the player with the fewest victory points (or b Moving into Hostile Clearings. You must
any tied for fewest) other than himself. He places exhaust an extra M to move into a clearing
his score marker on that player’s faction board— with any warriors of any number of Hostile
if that player wins the game, the Vagabond also factions.
wins.
c Aiding Hostile Factions. You cannot move
9.2.9 Relationships. Your faction board shows a Rela- a relationship marker out of the Hostile box
tionships chart composed of four spaces on the by using Aid, but you can still Aid a Hostile
Allied track and one Hostile box. This chart holds faction to take crafted items.
a relationship marker from each non-Vagabond
faction in play. d Coalition with Hostile Faction. You can
form a coalition (9.2.8) with a Hostile fac-
I Improving Relationships. You can improve a tion. If you do, move their relationship
relationship with a non-Hostile faction by tak- marker to the Indifferent space.
ing the Aid action.
a Cost. Aid a non-Hostile faction the number 9.3 Faction Setup
of times listed between their current Allied 9.3.1 Step 1: Choose Character. Choose a character
space and their next Allied space during the card.
same turn. A given Aid action counts toward
9.3.2 Step 2: Place Pawn. Place your character pawn in
only one improvement in relationship.
any forest.
b Effect. Move that faction's relationship
9.3.3 Step 3: Get Quests. Shuffle your quest deck, draw
marker to the next Allied space. Score the
three quest cards, and place them face up near the
victory points listed in the new space.
map.
II Allied Status. If a faction’s relationship mark-
9.3.4 Step 4: Gather Items. Form a supply of 19 item
er reaches the final space on the Allied track,
chits and place them near the map: 4 M, 3 X, 3 S,
you are now trusted by the warriors of that fac-
3 T, 2 C, 2 B, 1 H, 1 F.
tion. This faction is now Allied.
9.3.5 Step 5: Populate Ruins. Take the four ruin mark-
a Aiding Ally. Each time you Aid an Allied
ers from the map, and take a B, M, H, and S.
faction, score two victory points.
Shuffle these items and place one beneath each
b Moving with Ally. Whenever you move ruin marker. Return each set of ruin and item to
during Daylight, you may move warriors an empty ruin slot on the map.
from one Allied faction with you from your
9.3.6 Step 6: Take Starting Items. Take the items listed
origin clearing to your destination clearing.
on your character card. Place any T, X, and B items
Allied warriors follow the normal movement
listed face up on the matching tracks of your fac-
rules of their faction and do not gain the
tion board. Place all other listed items face up in
benefit of your Nimble special ability.
your Satchel.
c Attacking with Ally. Whenever you initiate
9.3.7 Step 6: Set Relationships. Take a relationship
a battle, you may treat Allied pieces of one
marker for each non-Vagabond faction and place
faction in the clearing of battle as your own.
them on the Indifferent space of the Relationships
The maximum hits you can roll equals the
chart on your faction board.
number of that Ally's warriors there plus
your total undamaged S. (You cannot use Al-
lied warriors to deal hits against the same Ally.)
d Taking Hits with Ally. In a battle where you
treat Allied pieces as your own, you can take
hits by removing Allied warriors. However,
if you choose to take more hits by removing
Allied warriors than by damaging items in
the same battle, that Allied faction becomes
Hostile. This rule overrides the condition
for becoming Hostile in 9.2.9III.
III Hostile Status. If you ever remove a warrior of
a non-Hostile faction, their relationship mark-
er immediately moves to the Hostile box. This
faction is now Hostile.
8
9.4 Birdsong 9.6 Evening
Your Birdsong has two steps in the following order. Your Evening has four steps, as follows.
9.4.1 Refresh. Flip two exhausted items face up for 9.6.1 An Evening’s Rest. If you are in a forest, move
each T face up at the start of your Birdsong. Then all items in your Damaged box to your Satchel or
flip up three more exhausted items. their matching track, and flip them face up.
9.4.2 Slip. You may move into an adjacent clearing or 9.6.2 Draw Cards. Draw one card, plus one card per X
forest without exhausting any M, even for moving face up on the matching track.
into a Hostile clearing (9.2.9.III.b). 9.6.3 Discard Cards. If you have more than five cards
9.5 Daylight in your hand, discard cards of your choice until
You can exhaust items to take the following actions, in you have five.
any order and combination. 9.6.4 Check Item Capacity. If you have more items to-
9.5.1 Move. Exhaust one M to move, plus one M if the tal in your Satchel and Damaged box than your
destination clearing has any Hostile warriors. You item limit—six plus two per B face up on the
may move with Allied warriors (9.2.9.IIb). You matching track—remove items from your Satchel
cannot move into a forest. If in a forest, you may and Damaged box until you have items equal to
only move into an adjacent clearing. your item limit, and return them to their supply.

9.5.2 Repair. Exhaust one H to move one damaged 9.7 Vagabond Reference
item to the Satchel (if M, H, S, C, or F) or to 9.7.1 Thief. This Vagabond starts with M, F, T, and S.
its matching track (X, T, B), and flip the item
face up. I Special Action: Steal. Take a random card
from a player in your clearing who has fewer
9.5.3 Craft. Play a card from your hand, and exhaust than three warriors there. You can always steal
the H of listed nation to craft it. If a card requires from another Vagabond in your clearing.
multiple of one nation to craft, you must exhaust
the listed number of H. All of your H match the 9.7.2 Tinker. This Vagabond starts with M, F, B, and
nation of your clearing. If you craft an item, you H.
may place it face up in your Satchel or on the I Special Action: Day Labor. Take a card from
matching track. the discard pile matching your clearing’s na-
9.5.4 Battle. Exhaust one S to initiate a battle. You tion.
may battle with Allied warriors (9.2.9.IIc). Then, 9.7.3 Ranger. This Vagabond starts with M, F, C, and
check your relationship with the defender. S.
9.5.5 Strike. Exhaust one C to remove a warrior from I Special Action: Hideout. Repair three items,
your clearing. If a player has no warriors there, then immediately end Daylight.
you may instead remove one building or token of
that player. Then, check your relationship with 9.8 Playing with Two Vagabonds
that player. 9.8.1 Add Extra Item to Ruins. During setup, use both
9.5.6 Explore. Exhaust one F to take one item under a sets of items for ruins, and place two items in each
ruin marker in your clearing, reveal it, and place ruin slot. When a Vagabond explores a ruin with
it face up in your Satchel or on its matching track. two items, he may look at them and take one of
Then, you score one victory point. If you remove his choice. By taking two Explore actions, a Vaga-
the last item from a ruin, remove the ruin marker. bond could take both items from one ruin.
9.5.7 Special Action. Exhaust one F to take the action 9.8.2 Randomize Setup Order. Randomly determine
listed on your character card. which Vagabond sets up first.
9.5.8 Aid. Exhaust any one item, and give one of your 9.8.3 Share Quests. Either Vagabond may complete
cards matching your clearing to any player there any of the three face-up quests. Do not add extra
(even Hostile). Then, you may take one item, if any, quest cards during setup.
from that player’s Crafted Items box, and place it
face up in your Satchel or on its matching track.
Then, check your relationship with that player.
9.5.9 Quest. Choose a quest whose nation matches
your clearing, and exhaust the two items listed on
the quest to complete it. Score one victory point
per quest of matching nation you have completed,
including this one. Place the quest in your play
area, and then draw a new quest and place it near
the map. Finally, draw a card (from the deck).
9
 The final two sections refer to factions 10.4 Birdsong
available in the Riverfolk expansion. Your Birdsong has three steps in the following order.
10.4.1 Adjust Outcast Nation. Inspect the cards in the

10. Lizard Cult

Lost Souls pile, ignoring birds. The suit with the
most cards becomes the new Outcast Nation—
move the outcast marker, with its Outcast side
10.1 Overview showing, to that nation. If that nation was already
Catering to those creatures who have been discarded the Outcast, flip the outcast marker to its Hated
by the other factions, the Lizard Cult seeks to over- side. If no one suit had the most cards, the outcast
whelm its foes through sheer force of will. The Cult marker stays on its current nation and side.
relies on word of mouth and beak to spread its gospel, 10.4.2 Discard Lost Souls. Discard all of the cards in
and new enclaves can spring up anywhere on the map. the Lost Souls pile to the discard pile. (Dominance
Where the Cult rule clearings, they can build gardens, cards become available to take.)
which will further radicalize the animals that live
there. While other factions spend cards to achieve their 10.4.3 Perform Conspiracies. You can spend acolytes
aims, the Cult acts chiefly by revealing cards and grad- to perform conspiracies in clearings matching the
ually drafting the ideal set of followers. Unless used Outcast Nation, in any order and combination, as
for scoring, these cards are not spent and are returned follows. If the Outcast Nation is Hated, the con-
to the Cult's hand during Evening. However, this gen- spiracy costs one less acolyte, to a minimum of
tler approach makes movement and combat operations zero.
difficult, and so these actions can only be undertaken I Crusade. Spend two acolytes to initiate a bat-
by the most radicalized members of the Cult. tle in a clearing of the Outcast Nation, or may
move from a clearing of the Outcast Nation
10.2 Faction Rules and Abilities and then may initiate a battle in the destina-
10.2.1 Crafting. The Cult uses gardens to craft during tion clearing.
Evening. II Convert. Spend two acolytes to remove an en-
10.2.2 Hatred of Birds. Bird cards are not wild for the emy warrior from a clearing of the Outcast Na-
Cult. tion, and then place one warrior there.
10.2.3 Revenge. Whenever a Cult warrior is removed III Sanctify. Spend three acolytes to remove an
while defending in battle, it is placed in the Aco- enemy building from a clearing of the Outcast
lytes box instead of the Cult’s supply. Nation, and then place a garden of matching
nation there.
10.2.4 Pilgrims. The Cult rules any clearings where they
have any gardens. This overrides the Eyrie's Lords 10.5 Daylight
of the Forest (7.2.2). You may reveal any number of cards from your hand,
10.2.5 Fear of the Faithful. Whenever a garden is re- placing them face up in front of you, and perform one
moved, the Cult must discard a random card. ritual per card revealed, in any order and combination,
as follows. Cards you reveal cannot be used for any
10.2.6 The Lost Souls Pile. Whenever any card is spent
other purposes during Daylight.
or discarded (even a dominance card), place it in
the Lost Souls pile instead of the discard pile. The 10.5.1 Sacrifice. Place a warrior in the Acolytes box. To
Lost Souls pile can be inspected by any player at perform this ritual, you must reveal a bird card.
any time. 10.5.2 Build. In a clearing you rule matching the re-
vealed card, place a matching garden.
10.3 Faction Setup
10.5.3 Recruit. In a clearing matching the revealed card,
10.3.1 Step 1: Gather Warriors. Form a supply of 25
place a warrior.
warriors near you.
10.5.4 Score. Spend any unrevealed card (placing in Lost
10.3.2 Step 2: Place Warriors. In the corner clearing op-
Souls) and score victory points as listed at the top
posite from the Marquise’s keep or Eyrie’s start-
of the column of the leftmost empty Gardens
ing roost, place four warriors and a garden match-
space on the track matching the revealed card.
ing that nation; if both the Marquise and Eyrie
are in play, choose one of the two other corners. 10.6 Evening
Then place one warrior in each adjacent clearing. Your Evening has three steps in the following order.
10.3.3 Step 3: Pick Outcast. Place the outcast marker on 10.6.1 Return Cards. Return all cards that you revealed
any nation space in the Outcast Nation box. This to your hand.
nation is called the Outcast Nation.
10.6.2 Craft. You may craft using gardens.
10.3.4 Step 4: Fill Gardens Tracks. Place your gardens
on the matching spaces of your Gardens tracks, 10.6.3 Draw and Discard. Draw one card, plus one card
except the leftmost space of the placed garden. per uncovered draw bonus. Then, if you have
10 more than five cards in your hand, discard cards
 of your choice until you have five. II Riverboats. The buyer treats rivers as paths

11. Riverfolk Company

until the end of their turn.
III Mercenaries. During Daylight and Evening of
this turn, the buyer treats Riverfolk pieces as
11.1 Overview their own. (The buyer cannot battle with Riverfolk
When news arrived that the Woodland on the shore of
warriors against Riverfolk pieces.)
the great lake was descending into all-out war, the Riv-
erfolk Company quickly dispatched its officers to set a Taking Hits. The buyer must split hits tak-
up shop. As other factions purchase services, the River- en evenly between their pieces and Riverfolk
folk will be able to further entrench their commercial pieces, with the buyer taking odd hits.
interests by building trade posts across the forest. The b Vagabond Mercenaries. The Vagabond can-
construction of these posts is a viable way to score not buy Riverfolk mercenaries.
victory points, but so too is the raw accumulation of
wealth. However, a big treasury makes for an easy tar- 11.3 Faction Setup
get, and so the Riverfolk must balance protecting their 11.3.1 Step 1: Gather Warriors. Form a supply of 15
growing treasury with expanding of their operations warriors near you.
into the more dangerous clearings of the forest.
11.3.2 Step 2: Place Warriors. Place four warriors on
11.2 Faction Rules and Abilities any clearing or clearings connected to the river.
11.2.1 Crafting. The Riverfolk craft during Daylight by 11.3.3 Step 3: Fill Trade Posts Tracks. Place the 9 trade
committing funds to empty spaces on the Trade posts on the matching spaces of your Trade Posts
Posts tracks of the nations on the crafting cost. tracks.
11.2.2 Swimmers. The Riverfolk treat rivers as paths and 11.3.4 Step 4: Gain Starting Funds. Place three warriors
may move along rivers regardless of who rules in the Payments box.
their origin or destination clearing. (They can still 11.3.5 Step 5: Set Starting Prices. Place a service mark-
move using paths.) er on one space of each Services track.
11.2.3 Public Hand. The Riverfolk place their hand face
up above their faction board. If another player 11.4 Birdsong
would take a random card from the Riverfolk’s Your Birdsong has three steps in the following order.
hand, the cards are flipped face down, shuffled, 11.4.1 Protectionism. If the Payments box is empty,
drawn from, and then flipped face up. place two warriors in it.
11.2.4 Funds. To take many actions, the Riverfolk com- 11.4.2 Score Dividends. If there are any trade posts on
mit and spend funds: warriors in their Funds box. the map, score one victory point per two funds.
11.2.5 Trade Posts. The Riverfolk score victory points 11.4.3 Gather Funds. Move all warriors on your faction
when they build trade posts. board to the Funds box.
Trade Disruption. Whenever a trade post is
11.5 Daylight
I

removed, the Riverfolk remove half of their

You can commit and spend funds to take actions, as
funds (rounded up).
follows, in any order and combination. When you
11.2.6 Buying Services. At the start of another player's commit a fund, move the warrior to the Committed
Birdsong, that player may buy Riverfolk services. box. When you spend a fund, return the warrior to its
I Cost. The buyer must place warriors from owner's supply.
their supply into the Riverfolk's Payments box 11.5.1 Move. Commit one fund to take a move.
equal in number to the cost of that service liste
11.5.2 Battle. Commit one fund to initiate a battle.
on the Riverfolk's Services track.
11.5.3 Craft. Commit funds to craft a card from your
II Number of Services. Each turn, a player may
hand. Instead of moving these warriors to the
buy one service plus one per clearing with a
Committed box, you must place them on empty
trade post where that player has any pieces.
spaces of the Trade Posts tracks matching the na-
III Vagabond Funds. The Vagabond pays for ser- tions listed on the crafting cost.
vices by exhausting items—for each item he ex-
I Export. You may forgo the listed benefit of
hausts to do so, the Riverfolk place one of their
crafting a card, disarding it if it is an improve-
own warriors in the Payments box.
ment, to place one of your warriors in the Pay-
11.2.7 Riverfolk Services. The Riverfolk offer three ser- ments box.
vices, as follows.
11.5.4 Draw. Commit one fund to draw a card.
I Hand Card. The buyer takes any card from the
11.5.5 Recruit. Spend one fund to place a warrior in any
Riverfolk's hand and adds it to their hand. (This
clearing with a river.
service may be bought multiple times if the buyer has
access to sufficient trade posts.) 11
 11.5.6 Establish Trade Post with Garrison. Spend two

Key References
funds to place a trade post and a warrior.
I Choose Clearing. Choose any clearing with-
out a trade post that is ruled by any player. Craft (3.1)
II Spend Funds. Spend two funds of the player Play a card, and use the crafting pieces of the nations
who rules the chosen clearing. listed in its bottom-left corner. (Vagabond exhausts H.)

III Place Trade Post and Score. Place the match- The nation of a crafting piece matches its clearing, and
ing trade post in the chosen clearing. Score the each crafting piece may be used only once per turn.
victory points listed on the space revealed on
your faction board. If you craft an item, score its victory points, take its
item, and discard the card.
11.6 Evening
Your Evening has two steps in the following order.
If you craft an improvement, place the card in your
11.6.1 Discard Cards. If you have more than five cards play area. You may use its effect. You cannot craft an
in your hand, discard cards of your choice until improvement if you have one of the same name.
there are five.
11.6.2 Set Costs. You may move each service marker to Move (3.2)
any space on its track, setting the service to a new Take any number of your warriors or your pawn from
cost. one clearing and move them to one adjacent clearing.

Credits You must rule the origin, destination, or both. A given

Game design by Cole Wehrle. piece can be moved any number of times per turn.
Illustrations by Kyle Ferrin.
Editing by Joshua Yearsley. Battle (3.3)
Proofreading by Kate Unrau. You can battle in a clearing where you have warriors or
your pawn.

Based on an original idea by Patrick Leder. Step 1: Defender May Ambush. Attacker may cancel
defender's ambush card by also playing ambush card.
Development by Leder Games St. Paul Staff:
Patrick Leder, Cole Wehrle, Jake Tonding, Step 2: Roll Dice and Add Extra Hits. Attacker will
deal hits equal to higher roll, and defender will deal
Clayton Capra.
hits equal to lower roll.
Graphic design and layout by Cole Wehrle,
Kyle Ferrin and Jaime Willems. The maximum hits you can deal from rolling equals
Playtesting by ###. your number of warriors there.

extra hits are not limited by warriors. If defender has

no warriors there, the attacker deals an extra hit.
Cole dedicates this game to his younger brothers and
sisters, who never let him forget how to play. Step 3: Deal Hits Simultaneously. Each hit removes
one piece—warriors first, then buildings and tokens as
chosen by the player taking the hits.
Kyle dedicates this game to his children, who have
always requested cute animal drawings.
Remember: Score a victory point each
time you remove a building or token.

Setup (5.1)
Step 1: Assign factions, then determine starting player
and seating order randomly.
Step 2: Give faction board and pieces to players.
Step 3: Draw and give three cards to each player.
Step 4: Place ruins on each slot with a ruin icon.
Step 5: Place score markers on the “0” space.
Step 6: Set up factions in setup order (A, B, C, etc.).

12
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