Divine Right (Basic Rules)

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Introduction

Divine Right is a fantasy game dealing with the struggles for power and territory between the various kings, queens, sorcerers, and other inhabitants of the continent of Minaria. Players begin as monarchs of different kingdoms. As the game proceeds, each player attempts to build fragile alliances of kingdoms long enough to crush all opposition and win the game. Assassination and backstabbing are popular pastimes in Minaria, and loyal allies may suddenly abandon the field in the middle of a campaign through the use of black magic, treachery, or skillful diplomacy.

More than just a game, Divine Right is a work of fantasy literature, in which the players control the destinies of nations. You organize the alliances, seek out magical treasures, and lead your armies and fleets into battle and sieges to plunder, and ultimately (if you have been wise) victory. The game is divided into three levels of play: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Make sure to master the Basic Game before moving on to the Intermediate and Advanced rules included which are on the accompanying CD-ROM.

Game Inventory

Map Board 6 Army Display Sheets 14 Identity Cards 600 Counters (two sheets) 22 Personality Cards 2 dice

52 Diplomacy Cards CD-ROM 12 Envoy Personality Cards

If any parts are missing, please check the CD-ROM for replacements or write to:

Right Stuf International Attn: Divine Right P.O. Box 71309 Des Moines, IA 50325

Basic Game

The Basic Game is the most streamlined version of Divine Right. The Magicians, Special Mercenaries, and Magic Devices provided in the counters, as well as the special qualities of the Scenic spaces, are not used in Basic play. Once players have mastered the basics of siege, movement, combat, and diplomacy, they will be ready to move onto the evolving complexity of the Intermediate and Advanced games. These rules introduce new material and modes of variant play.

In general, the rules of the Basic Game also apply to both the Intermediate and Advanced Games.

Rounding of fractions: any place in these rules where rounding is required require that fractions be rounded down, unless specifically stated otherwise.

Game Pieces

The multi-colored cardboard counters are the playing pieces (or chits) for Divine Right. In the Basic Game there are hero units and two types of combat units: armies and fleets. There are also a number of other unit types, including ambassadors, magical items and more.

The Coat of Arms and color identify each separate nation of Minaria. It appears on each type of unit belonging to that kingdom. All of a kingdom’s forces are the same color. Mercenary units are black and white; each player should record the ID Letters of the mercenary armies and fleets he controls.

The Movement Allowance indicates the maximum number of movement points that a unit may expend in a single turn. Terrain Bonus symbols mean the units moves faster than most through certain types of rough terrain. See Special Terrain Bonus.

Basic Game Units and Markers

Monarch (hero) Movement Rate

Coat of Arms Monarch Symbol

Regular Army Unit Movement Rate Coat of Arms

Starting Location Terrain Bonus Symbol

Regular Fleet Unit Movement Rate

Coat of Arms Starting Location

Ambassador Marker

Common

Mercenary Army Movement Rate

ID Letter Mercenary Army Symbol

Common

Mercenary Fleet Movement Rate ID Letter Mercenary Fleet Symbol

Army Group Marker Plundered Castle Marker Randomizer Chit Queen Marker Mercenaries

The mercenary armies and fleets shown above are the only ones used in the basic game. They are designated “common mercenaries” to distinguish them from the special mercenaries of the intermediate and advanced games. All common mercenaries begin the game off board in the “mercenary force pool”. They are deployed on the board through random events. Common mercenaries that are eliminated for any reason are returned to the mercenary force pool.

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Army Group Markers

Due to the difficulty of handling large stacks, the players may wish to use Army Group markers to represent unwieldy stacks on the map. Five marker counters are provided for each of six possible players.

An Army Group marker deployed on the board corresponds to a force of units stacked in the corresponding box on the player's Army Display Sheet. Any units that enter or exit the space containing the Army Group marker may subsequently be added to or subtracted from the stack on the sheet. Any units in the Display Sheet box may be placed into the space of the Army Group counter. There is no movement point cost for moving units to, or taking them from, the Display Sheet. Because some units move at different rates, it may be prudent to keep any slower-moving units on the map and the other, faster, units on the Display Sheet, otherwise the slow units could be inadvertently moved at the same rate as the faster units. A good rule to remember is that an Army Group Marker may move only as fast of the slowest unit in the off-map stack.

Queen Markers

Much of Divine Right refers to monarchs as male in nature, but all players have the choice of having either a male or female (as given on the Identity Card) as the monarch of their Kingdom. If a player decides to utilize a female monarch for his kingdom, the Queen marker is placed on the Kingdom's identity card to designate that the monarch in play is the Kingdom's female ruler. All bonuses listed on the kingdom's monarch unit apply whether the monarch is male or female.

In the basic game all non-player monarchs are assumed to be male, and there is no difference in the basic rules between male and female monarchs. Both of these points change in the advanced game.

The Game Map

The game map depicts the continent of Minaria. A hexagonal grid is superimposed upon this map to regulate movement and combat. In these rules the hexagons of the map are referred to as ‘spaces’ or ‘hexes’. Each kingdom is outlined and colored to clearly define national boundaries. There are some areas that are ‘unclaimed’ and do not belong to any particular kingdom.

Terrain features such as mountains and hills are also represented with graphics and are explained in detail in the Terrain Effects Chart. Note that the deployment space for each kingdom’s monarch is outlined in white. This space is also that kingdom’s royal castle.

MAP ERRATA: Each castle should have a defensive value printed on the map The following castles are missing these values:

Aws Alzak – 4 Parros – 3 The Keep – 2 Zefnar – 3

Also, the Dark River appears to run through a hexside as it leaves Muetar. This is incorrect; the river at that point is in the more southerly of the two hexes. It may be helpful to black out the blue portion of the river graphic in the more northerly hex.

The Cards

There are four types of cards used in Divine Right:

Identity Cards

Identity cards feature the country’s king, queen, the name of the kingdom, the national coat of arms, the name of the Royal Castle, and the number of regular armies and fleets (if any) belonging to the kingdom. The Eaters of Wisdom, the Storm Riders and the Black Hand are not used in the Basic Game.

Personality Cards

Personality cards are paired with all non-player monarchs. Each card gives a brief profile of the monarch and lists what effects the monarch's personality will have on diplomacy, movement, combat, etc. Each is numbered.

ERRATA: Card number fourteen may be more easily understood as having the following effect: if the monarch’s “kingdom of origin” is part of the alliance attempting to activate/deactivate the monarch, there is a +1 bonus to the diplomacy roll. If the monarch’s “kingdom of origin” is part of another alliance, there is a -1 penalty to the diplomacy roll.

There is a misprint on Card number ten. It should indicate that this monarch may NOT lend a movement bonus to any unit.

Diplomacy Cards

There are two types of diplomacy cards: Diplomatic Ploy and Special Mercenary. The Diplomatic Ploy cards list special maneuvers, functions, and tricks of the diplomatic art, and confer bonuses to diplomacy rolls. The Special Mercenary cards show the name of a Special Mercenary and the location of their deployment. All Special Mercenary cards should be removed from the deck when playing the Basic Game.

Envoy Cards

These cards are not used in the basic game. See intermediate and advanced rules.

Game Setup

Spread the map on a table. Carefully separate the Diplomacy cards. Set aside the envoy and special mercenary Diplomacy cards, which are not used in the Basic Game. Next separate the 14 Identity cards and the 22 Personality cards. Go through the stack of Identity cards and remove the Storm Riders, the Eaters of Wisdom and the Black Hand; these are not used in the Basic Game. Shuffle the remaining Diplomacy cards and place them, face down, near the map. Shuffle the remaining Identity cards. Each player draws one Identity card. The card drawn designates the home kingdom of that player. Players should note the color for the kingdom they have selected and gather the matching units (monarch, ambassador, armies, and fleets). Read the player monarch's Identity card carefully. It lists the number and type of units that belong in the kingdom's military (or ‘force pool’). Players now place their armies and fleets on the map according to the starting locations printed on the unit counters. Monarchs always start in their kingdom’s Royal Castle. (Royal Castles are castle spaces with a white outline and an asterisk.) The ambassador marker is placed on the player’s Identity card. If the player wishes the kingdom’s monarch to be female, place a Queen marker on the identity card.

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Some kingdoms have special rules that can be beneficial to their troops. Players should check the rules section Special Rules for

Select Kingdoms to see if any such rules apply to the kingdoms

they have chosen. It may also help to read the historical notes pertaining to the kingdom in Geography and History of Minaria. The Identity cards not chosen by the players represent "non-player monarchs." The units of these monarchs’ kingdoms are not initially placed on the game board. For the remainder of the game, players will attempt to use Diplomacy to ally themselves with these monarchs and their forces in the struggle for control of Minaria. Shuffle the Personality cards and, without looking, place one card beneath each of the remaining Identity cards. Any unused Personality cards are placed face down on the table near the Diplomacy cards. The selected cards give each non-player monarch a distinct personality that is revealed later in the game when an ambassador visits the monarch.

The turn counter should be placed on the Turn Indicator at the bottom of the map for turn 1. After each complete game turn has been completed the counter should be moved forward. This will help players remember how many turns remain to the end of the game and keep track of diplomatic banishments.

One randomizer chit for each player (numbered 1-6) should be placed in a small container. Initial player order is determined by each player drawing a randomizer chit from an opaque container. The player with the lowest number goes first.

The game is ready to begin.

Victory

Victory is determined one of two ways:

A) Eliminate (capture or kill) all opposing player monarchs B) Accumulate the largest amount of Victory Points. The player who amasses the most points after 20 turns is the winner. Victory Points are awarded as follows:

Deed Points

Plundering Enemy* Castle 5 × castle’s defense strength Plundering Enemy* Royal Castle 10 × castle’s defense strength Capturing Enemy Player monarch 70

Killing Enemy Player monarch 70 Killing Enemy Allied Monarch** 40 Capturing Enemy Allied Monarch 30

*including those of enemy-allied non-player kingdoms

** except by assassination. Assassinating a Non-Player Monarch gains a player no victory points at all.

Castle defense strengths are indicated on the board adjacent to each castle. A player plunders enemy castles by successfully besieging them. See Siege Phase, below, for the mechanics of this process.

In the Basic Game, the following castles do not exist and cannot be plundered: the Invisible School, the Tower of Zards, and the Keep. Executing a Captured monarch (only possible in the case of non-player monarchs, and only if the captor has no castle in which to imprison him) gains no additional victory points. The points for capture are retained, however. If a non-player monarch is captured and then freed by their allies, or released by the captor, the victory points are still awarded to the captor.

If a player monarch is killed or captured, the player is eliminated, but retains any victory points he may have attained. See Fate of

Player Kingdoms, below. The player might still win the game,

despite being eliminated, if he has the most victory points out of all the players at the end of turn 20. An optional rule allows for a player to forfeit the victory points he has earned so far and re-enter the game. See the Optional Rules section at the end of this book.

Kingdoms

There are 13 kingdoms on the game board. The hexes that comprise each kingdom can be distinguished by being of the same color. Following is a complete roster of the kingdoms:

1. Ghem (The Dwarves) 2. Hothior

3. Immer 4. Mivior 5. Muetar

6. Neuth (The Elves) 7. Pon

8. Rombune 9. Shuccasam 10. The Trolls

11. Zorn (The Goblins) 12. Eaters of Wisdom

13. Black Hand

All land hexes outside of the kingdoms are considered unclaimed spaces. Note that the Eaters of Wisdom and the Black Hand are not used in the basic game; the hexes of these kingdoms are considered unclaimed territory in the basic game.

Each player is allocated one kingdom at the start of the game. These are ‘player kingdoms’. All the others are non-player kingdoms. A non-player kingdom is always either active (allied to a player kingdom) or inactive (neutral). Active kingdoms can be referred to as ‘allied’ kingdoms, the kingdom of the player who activated them is referred to as the non-player kingdom’s ‘player ally’.

Allied and Enemy Kingdoms

It is important to note that all of the player kingdoms in the game are mutually hostile. They are never considered “allied” for purposes of the rules, even if the players controlling the kingdoms are temporarily cooperating for some reason. An alliance consists of a player kingdom and all non-player kingdoms that the player has activated. Likewise, all kingdoms that are members of one player’s alliance are hostile to all kingdoms that are members of other players’ alliances.

A player’s forces include the units of his own (player) kingdom, any mercenaries he has on the board, and the forces of any allied non-player kingdoms.

A player’s forces may freely enter all hexes of all kingdoms in the player’s alliance. Additionally, large portions of Minaria, such as the Banished Lands and the Blasted Heath are outside established kingdoms. No penalty is incurred for entering these ‘unclaimed’ areas. All unclaimed hexes are tinted a light brown color. A player’s forces may even enter hexes of enemy kingdoms with no

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special prohibitions or penalties (i.e., no “declarations of war” or the like are required.)

Changing a Kingdom’s Status

Random events and the diplomacy of players can activate a kingdom. A kingdom can be deactivated through random events, diplomacy, the death of its own monarch, the death of its player ally’s monarch, and forced peace attempts. A non-player kingdom’s status can change any number of times.

The details of attempting to change a non-player kingdom’s status are described in the Random Events and Diplomacy rules sections. But whenever such an attempt succeeds, the procedures below are followed:

Activation of Kingdoms

When a kingdom is activated, the kingom’s monarch unit and all of its available combat units are set up on the playing map immediately. The kingdom’s monarch is placed in the kingdom’s royal castle, and each available combat unit is placed in the location specified on its counter. Available combat units consist of the kingdom’s entire force pool if this is the first time the kingdom has been activated. If the kingdom is being re-activated, its available combat units are all of its units that were on the board at the time the kingdom was deactivated.

On the turn of deployment, units of a newly activated ally are limited in their actions. They may only move within their own kingdom, sea hexes, and into unclaimed “wasteland” hexes. They may only attack enemy units within their own kingdom. In subsequent game turns they may move and fight normally.

Deactivation of Kingdoms

When a kingdom is deactivated it leaves its current alliance and becomes inactive. The forces of a deactivated kingdom are removed from the map. The Identity card and the Personality card of the deactivated monarch remain together, and are returned to the pool of inactive non-player monarchs. Any of the kingdom’s regular units eliminated while their monarch was active remain eliminated. Regulars may be replaced (via Random Events) only while a kingdom is active. Should the kingdom be re-activated later, only those regular units who were alive at the time of deactivation will be deployed on the board. The previously-eliminated units may be brought back as replacements once the kingdom is reactivated.

ONGOING SIEGES

A kingdom cannot be deactivated if one of its castles is currently besieged by another player who refuses to give up the siege. The decision to continue the siege or not is made the instant the possible deactivation comes about. If the siege is abandoned, the besieging units are displaced from the castle hex.

MERCENARIES AND DEACTIVATION

Common mercenaries within a deactivating kingdom are removed from the board unless stacked with a non-deactivating hero or combat unit. A common mercenary (regardless of location) is also removed from the board if all the regular combat units stacked with it deactivate. As always, common mercenaries removed from the board are returned to the mercenary force pool.

CONFUSION

Confusion is a special type of deactivation. If a monarch is killed, his kingdom deactivates and goes into a temporary state called Confusion while a new monarch is selected. Discard the deceased

monarch’s personality card and shuffle it into the deck of unused ones.

Confusion lasts for a number of turns equal to the result of a single die roll. The unit counter for the monarch is placed on the Turn Indicator Track according to the roll of the die. This represents the turn that the new monarch is crowned.

No ambassadors may work diplomacy with a kingdom during the period of Confusion. When a new monarch is crowned, draw a new Personality card and place it, face down, under the monarch's Identity card. He is now available for diplomacy.

EXAMPLE: A monarch is killed during game turn 7, and 4 is rolled on the die. In this case, place the monarch on the Turn Indicator Track with four blank spaces ahead. The kingdom will be in Confusion for the rest of turn 7, and for turns 8, 9, 10, and 11. On turn 12 a new monarch becomes available to ambassadors. The restrictions given under ONGOING SIEGES, above, apply to the imposition of confusion. If any besieger refuses to give up his siege(s), confusion does not occur, a new monarch is crowned immediately, (a new Personality card is drawn after the old one is shuffled into the deck) and the kingdom does not deactivate. FORCED PEACE

During his diplomacy phase, a player who meets certain conditions may attempt to impose a forced peace on a non-player kingdom. If successful, the kingdom deactivates immediately and the monarch's Identity and Personality cards are returned to the pool of non-allied non-player monarchs. Roll one die to determine the number of turns the forced peace will last. Place the kingdom’s monarch counter on the Turn Indicator Track the indicated number of turns in the future. During a Forced Peace ambassadors cannot perform any diplomatic actions upon a kingdom. In this respect it is similar to Confusion.

As with all deactivations, any enemy units that are in a kingdom that goes into forced peace have one Movement Phase in which to exit the kingdom (or be voluntarily eliminated) without Diplomatic Penalty.

The restrictions given under ONGOING SIEGES, above, apply to the imposition of forced peace. If the besiegers will not quit their siege(s), the forced peace does not go into effect.

Inactive Kingdoms

While a player’s forces may freely enter hexes of friendly and enemy kingdoms, if combat units or heroes of any type cross a border and enter the territory of an inactive (non-allied) kingdom, the violating player incurs a Diplomatic Penalty with that neutral kingdom.

A player attempting a Diplomacy Roll against a kingdom with which he has a Diplomatic Penalty receives a -1 penalty to his die roll. (See Diplomacy Phase, below). This penalty is imposed for the rest of the game. Once a non-allied kingdom has been violated, any subsequent violations of its territory by the same player do not result in further penalty. Active combat units within a kingdom that has been deactivated have their next Movement Phase to leave the kingdom or else incur the Diplomatic Penalty. Units that are unable to leave in time may be voluntarily eliminated to avoid the penalty. ACTIVATION OF INVADED INACTIVE KINGDOMS

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forces through hexes of an inactive kingdom, they may not enter non-plundered castle spaces of such a kingdom except to initiate a siege (see Siege Phase). If a player initiates a siege of an inactive kingdom’s castle, the violated kingdom immediately activates and joins the alliance of another player monarch–randomly determine which one. Even a kingdom in Confusion or under a Forced Peace will activate under these circumstances. In the case of a kingdom in Confusion, a new monarch is immediately selected. Draw a personality card for him as usual.

Units of the kingdom that are to be deployed in the castle being besieged are deployed regardless of the siege. If any non-castle deployment space (including a plundered castle deployment space) is enemy occupied, the units scheduled to enter there may be placed in any space of the kingdom.

After the units of the violated kingdom are set up, the odds of the siege, or sieges, must be re-figured to determine if a state of siege still exists (see Sieges).

Fate of Player Kingdoms

A player is eliminated from the game if his player monarch is killed or captured. When this happens his player kingdom immediately becomes an inactive non-player kingdom in Confusion. All of the player’s units are removed from play, including mercenaries. All kingdoms allied to the eliminated player are deactivated. The player’s kingdom is thereafter treated in all ways as any other non-player kingdom.

An optional rule allows for the player to forfeit any victory points and re-enter the game as the head of a new kingdom. See the Optional Rules section at the end of these rules.

The Game Turn

Each game turn of Divine Right consists of player-order determination followed by one player turn for each player. Each player turn consists of five phases:

PHASE 1: Random Events

The player rolls two dice, consults the Random Events Table and performs the actions indicated by the dice roll.

PHASE 2: Diplomacy

A) Draw a Diplomacy card - the card may be used or saved for later

B) Pass or select one of the following actions: 1. Attempt to activate any non-allied kingdom

2. Attempt to deactivate any enemy-allied non-player monarch

3. Attempt to assassinate any enemy-allied non-player monarch

4. Duel an enemy ambassador

C) Resolve any attempts by the player to Force Peace on enemy-allied kingdoms.

PHASE 3: Resolve Ongoing Sieges

A) If the player has any previously declared sieges, he resolves them in any order desired according to the rules for siege combat.

B) If the player has any castles under siege by enemy units, and has combat units in those castles, they may make Breakout Attacks to escape from the siege.

PHASE 4: Movement

The player may move as many of his units as he wishes including his own kingdom’s units, units of allied kingdoms, and friendly mercenaries. Units are moved over the spaces expending one or more movement points per space. Units may be moved in any direction or combination of directions, up to their full printed movement allowance.

PHASE 5: Combat

The player declares which of his units will be initiating combat and what they will be attacking. All declared attacks are carried out in any order that the player chooses, although attacks entirely by or against units of a suddenly deactivated kingdom are cancelled.

After the first player has completed all phases, the next player begins his turn with Phase 1. This continues until all players have completed all five phases. At that time, the Turn Indicator is moved forward and the new game turn begins by the players drawing a new Player-Order Determination

Player-Order Determination

For each game turn, the players randomly determine who is to have the first player turn, the second, the third, and so on. This draw holds only for the present game turn; the order will be changing from game turn to game turn. It is possible, therefore, for one player to be last player in one game turn and the first player in the next, in effect having two player turns in a row.

To perform Player-Order Determination, take the 10 counters numbered 1-10; these are the "randomizer chits." Count out one chit per player. At the beginning of each game turn, each player draws one randomizer chit. The player with the lowest number goes first, the one with the second lowest goes second, and so on. Players should keep their chits face up in front of them on the table.

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Random Events Phase

Random events can bring additional troops to the field, raise storms to damage fleets, enter new allies into the fray, or even cause the untimely demise of an important ally. Two dice are rolled by the player and their total is referenced on the Random Events Table. The indicated event occurs immediately.

Roll Event Result

2 Untimely Death One of your allied non-player monarchs dies. Determine randomly who dies. 3 Storms Lose one of your fleets that is not in a port.

All heroes aboard an eliminated fleet are Shipwrecked (see Heroes, Shipwrecked

Heroes).

4 Mutiny Lose one friendly regular or mercenary unit. 5 Bad Omens The regulars of one friendly kingdom, chosen at random, will not attack in regular or siege combat, or initiate a siege this game turn. They will move, defend, and maintain existing sieges normally.

6 Replacements Bring two eliminated regular units back into play in their deployment spaces.

7 No Event —

8 Reinforcements Bring 2 common mercenary units into play in any friendly Castle hex (port hex if a fleet).

9 Epidemic Eliminate half of the combat units in each friendly stack containing 10 or more. If no stack contains 10 or more units, the player loses one combat unit from his largest stack.

10 Replacements / Bring into play one common mercenary unit Reinforcements or one previously eliminated regular combat unit (player's choice). Place a regular unit in its space of deployment; place a mercenary in any friendly Castle (or Port if it is a fleet).

11 Desertion Lose one common mercenary unit.

12 Help from Afar One randomly chosen non-allied non-player monarch becomes your ally immediately. The kingom activates normally. (see

Kingdoms, above).

If it is impossible to comply with the instructions as given (e.g., one does not have the type of unit one is required to lose), treat the result as "no event."

All gains and losses of units as a result of Random Events apply only to the player rolling the dice. Replacements and reinforcements may not be given to, nor losses taken from, another player or his allies.

When selecting a random kingdom of a certain sort for events 2 or 12, a fast method to select a kingdom is to place the ambassadors of all of the possible kingdoms in a cup and draw one blindly. Note that kingdoms in Confusion or Forced Peace can be selected for event 12.

The player always chooses which unit(s) to lose in the case of storms, mutiny, epidemic, or desertion. However, in the case of an epidemic, if a player's largest stack must be selected (i.e., none of his stacks contain 10 or more combat units) and the player does not have one stack larger than any other, the player randomly determines which stack will be reduced.

Replacements/Reinforcements

Reinforcements are common mercenaries (that is, not the Special Mercenaries of the intermediate game) which are added to the player’s forces on the board. Reinforcements can only enter in an unbesieged friendly castle or, if a fleet, in an unbeseiged friendly port (including castle-ports). Castles that have been plundered may be used by the occupying force (or the original owner, if currently unoccupied) for the deployment of mercenary reinforcements.

Replacements are previously eliminated regular units of a friendly active Kingdom that are returning to the map. A replacement must enter at the deployment site named on the counter. If that space is occupied by enemy units, or is under siege, that particular unit may not be chosen to re-enter the game at that time. (Note that this differs from the procedure for deploying a newly-activated kingdom’s forces.) Castle spaces that have been plundered, but which are now free of enemy forces, may be used for deployment of replacement units.

All replacements and reinforcements may move and fight normally in the same player turn that they appear. The regular forces of a kingdom cannot exceed the total number given for them on the monarch's identity card, although mercenary units may supplement this total.

A player with no friendly ports may not bring in a fleet replacement or reinforcement.

DEPLOYMENT OF COMMON MERCENARY REINFORCEMENTS As long as both mercenary fleets and land armies remain undeployed, the player may choose either type to deploy as reinforcements–although if he has no ports he may not receive mercenary fleets.

If all mercenary units of one type are on the board, the player must enter a unit of the undeployed type. If he cannot deploy a unit of the type that remains (for instance, only fleets remain undeployed and he has no ports), he may instead ‘steal’ common mercenary units of the other type from another player’s forces. If a player is due to receive a common mercenary unit and ALL common mercenaries are on the board, the player may ‘steal’ units of either type.

Players cannot ‘steal’ units currently under siege or fleets that are transporting enemy troops or heroes. In effect, having land units in transport protects the mercenary fleet unit from seizure.

Not all the units need to be deployed in the same space, but if the player has no available space for immediate deployment, no reinforcements are gained.

Diplomacy Phase

More than any other aspect of play good diplomacy will prove the key to victory. Diplomacy is defined as actions taking place between a player’s ambassador and non-player monarchs (ambassadors of non-player monarchs are not used). Alliances are defined as existing between a player and any number of non-player

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monarchs. Temporary agreements between players are not alliances and have no enforcement rules.

Each player has one ambassador, which is kept off the board until the Diplomacy Phase. An ambassador represents not merely an individual, but the entire diplomatic apparatus of the player monarch.

Ambassadors do not move across the map; they are markers that are simply picked up and put down in the space where the diplomacy is to occur. The ambassador is removed from the map at the end of the Diplomacy Phase. The movement of ambassadors is in no way hindered by sieges or other activities engaged in by other units. Ambassadors are not heroes and never need to make a Hero Fate roll.

Diplomacy Cards

The Diplomacy cards list the maneuvers and tricks of the diplomatic art in Minaria. These are called diplomatic ploys and they grant bonuses to the diplomatic roll. The Special Mercenary Diplomacy cards are not used in the Basic Game.

Before conducting Diplomacy, the player draws one Diplomacy card, even if that player's ambassador is dead. Diplomacy cards may be accumulated, but not be traded or transferred between players. A player may retain no more than four Diplomacy cards at the end of a Diplomacy Phase. The player must discard any excess cards at that time. If all Diplomacy cards have been drawn, the discard pile is reshuffled and the deck turned face down for reuse.

Resolving Diplomacy

In a diplomacy phase an ambassador may perform any one of the following four diplomatic tasks:

1. Attempt to Activate any one non-allied non-player monarch. 2. Attempt to Deactivate an Enemy-allied non-player monarch. 3. Attempt to Assassinate an Enemy-allied non-player monarch. 4. Duel any one Enemy Ambassador

In addition to normal diplomacy, the player may attempt to send enemy-allied kingdoms into a state of Forced Peace. See Forced

Peace at the end of this section.

ACTIVATION ATTEMPTS

To activate a non-allied, non-player kingdom, the ambassador is placed in the Royal Castle of that non-allied non-player monarch. If the kingdom’s Royal Castle is occupied by enemy combat units, the ambassador may be placed anywhere in that kingdom. The Personality card of the Kingdom’s monarch is then read out loud. Certain personality cards give bonuses or penalties to various diplomatic ploys. The player then chooses whether or not to use a Diplomacy card to aid his efforts. If he uses one, it is shown to all the players. (In the Basic Game no more than one Diplomacy card may be played per Diplomacy Phase.) The player then rolls one die and adds any modifiers appropriate to the Monarch and/or the Diplomacy card used. This is the Diplomacy Roll. If the result is a 6 or greater after all bonuses have been added and penalties subtracted, the non-player monarch becomes an ally of the rolling player. This is called Activation–see Kingdoms, above. If a Diplomacy card was played, it is discarded. There is no restriction on the number of times a kingdom may be activated and deactivated.

DEACTIVATING A NON-PLAYER KINGDOM

Enemy-allied non-player monarchs may be persuaded to neutralize their current alliance (deactivate) in a manner similar to activation. To deactivate a non-player kingdom, the player announces his intention and indicates which kingdom is the target of the deactivation diplomacy. The player with the ambassador may play one Diplomacy card. Finally, one die is rolled. If the modified result is a 7 or more, the monarch is deactivated and drops out of the enemy alliance. See the rules for Kingdoms, above, for the deactivation procedure. If a Diplomacy card was played, it is then discarded.

Note that a kingdom that currently has any castles under siege may not be deactivated unless all besiegers gives up their sieges (see

Kingdoms). Also, a player may not attempt to deactivate a

kingdom whose monarch is held captive by another player’s forces (see Prisoners).

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

Only once during the entire game can each player attempt to assassinate an enemy-allied non-player monarch. The player’s ambassador is placed on the intended victim. Diplomacy cards cannot be played.

One die is rolled for the ambassador and one for the victim. If the monarch rolls higher, the ambassador is killed. If the ambassador rolls higher, the monarch is assassinated. If the result is a tie, neither is killed.

A successful assassination deactivates the monarch and their forces (See Death of a Non-Player Monarch). However, no victory points are scored. After any unsuccessful assassination attempt, the ambassador (or his successors, if killed) is banished from the kingdom until the offended monarch dies.

DUELING AN ENEMY AMBASSADOR

Once per game a player can have his ambassador duel with each of the other players' ambassadors. Regardless of who makes the challenge, ambassadors may duel each other only once. The ambassador counter is placed with the intended opponent. No Diplomacy cards may be played. Both players roll a die. The player with the lower roll loses and his ambassador is killed. If the result is a tie, both ambassadors are killed. An ambassador cannot refuse a challenge.

Death of an Ambassador

Even though ambassadors represent many individuals serving in distant capitals, the "death of an ambassador" signifies a diplomatic catastrophe that throws the whole service into temporary disarray. Two game turns must pass before diplomatic activity may resume normally. Place the dead ambassador on the Turn Indicator three game turns ahead to represent the two turns of inactivity (e.g., an ambassador killed in turn five cannot work diplomacy again until turn eight). Any banishments incurred by one ambassador are passed on to all successors, although the inactive turns are counted against the duration of these banishments.

Banishing Ambassadors

The play of certain Diplomacy cards (Black Magic, Threats, Blackmail, and Crass Bribes) causes the banishment of the ambassador if the Diplomacy Roll fails. While banished, the ambassador may not attempt any of the diplomatic functions upon the offended monarch or kingdom. The length of banishment is the number of turns equal to the modifying number on the Diplomacy

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card, plus one. Thus, if a player is unsuccessful with a +1 Threat, the ambassador would be banished from that kingdom for two full game turns. A side record of banishments should be kept. Certain Personality cards may require the banishment of an ambassador for other reasons. If a player manages to incur both types of banishment at once, the terms of banishment are added together.

Forced Peace Attempts

During the Diplomacy Phase a player may use political coercion to Force a Peace on any enemy-allied kingdoms whose Royal Castle he has plundered and occupied or whose Monarch he holds prisoner (see Prisoners). A player who both occupies a kingdom’s royal castle and holds its monarch prisoner is not entitled to two attempts per turn, however. Attempting to impose a forced peace does not require the player’s ambassador, and is conducted after his ambassador’s diplomatic activity for the turn is resolved. Player-kingdoms are not subject to Forced Peace attempts. Roll one die for each kingdom on which the player is attempting to impose a Forced Peace. Diplomacy cards may not be used and Diplomatic Penalties do not modify a Forced Peace Roll.

If the result is 1-4, nothing happens.

If the result is a 5 or 6, the attempt was successful and the kingdom goes into a Forced Peace. Roll another die. The resulting roll is the number of game turns the Forced Peace will last. (see

Kingdoms, above, for the effects of a forced peace.)

If an occupying player so chooses, he may instead make a normal deactivation attempt on the kingdom with his ambassador. If this succeeds, the resultant deactivation is not considered Forced Peace. A player may not attempt to force peace on a monarch and attempt to deactivate him through normal diplomacy in the same turn. (Although the ambassador is free to perform other functions.) PREVENTING A FORCED PEACE

As specified in the rules for Kingdoms, a kingdom with one or more castles currently under siege will not go into a forced peace unless the besiegers agree to immediately terminate their sieges. Also, a player may not attempt to Force Peace on a kingdom whose monarch is currently a captive of another player unless that player agrees to release the monarch.

Siege Phase

[Designer's Note: The siege rules in the 3rd Edition of DIVINE RIGHT differ in two major ways from earlier editions. First, it is no longer necessary to have a besieging fleet to lay siege to a castle-port. Second, the manner of conducting sieges has been altered in a major way. Each castle space is now considered two-spaces-in-one (i.e., a space "inside" the castle, and a space "outside" the castle). During sieges it is permissible for stacks which are enemy to one another to occupy the "inside" and "outside" of the castle spaces.

For players familiar with the earlier editions of DIVINE RIGHT, it is important to remember that the "zone of siege" procedure previously used has been replaced by the new system given below. Read the following rules carefully. Although the official rules mention a "zone of siege" and even show diagrams, they were included in error. Ignore them.]

The Siege Phase is the time to resolve siege situations that already exist. No new siege situations can be created in the Siege Phase.

New sieges are created in the Movement Phase or in the Combat Phase (by means of advance after combat).

Enemy combat units cannot enter (inside) a castle/castle-port until after it has been besieged and plundered.

Declaring a Siege

To declare a siege of a castle, a player must occupy the space of an enemy castle. For him to be able to this,

A) No defending units inside the castle space may be "outside" the castle. (See "Inside" and "Outside" Castles, below.)

B) The attacker must have a number of besieging combat units at least equal to the intrinsic defense strength of the castle plus the total number of combat units inside the castle.

The instant that the conditions above are met and a player moves his stack into the enemy castle space (either by movement or advance after combat), he must declare that the castle is "under siege." Enemy combat units cannot enter an unplundered castle space (whether it contains enemy combat units or not) unless they are able to declare a valid siege.

It is not possible for a stack to Retreat into an enemy castle space and then declare a siege.

Heroes may always enter an enemy castle, even if it is currently occupied by enemy units (but see Hero Fate Roll).

"Inside and "Outside" of Castles

Only one player can besiege a castle at a time. To besiege a castle, the castle space must be occupied by besieging units. It is possible that enemy combat units may be already within the enemy castle space; these units must be eliminated, driven "inside" the castle, or driven out of the castle space entirely before the friendly units may advance after combat to begin a siege. But remember, advance in this case is possible only if the advancing stack still has strength (after engaging in combat) great enough to meet the requirements necessary to declare a siege.

Enemy units defending the castle from "outside" are treated as ordinary land units (i.e., the presence of the castle has no effect). If the defending units are declared to be "inside" a castle's walls, they do not prevent enemy entry into the space. Such defending units should be inverted to show they're "inside the castle's walls." Units can be inverted only during the owning player's movement phase. All units which are uninverted are considered to be outside the castle.

There is no additional movement cost for moving into or out of a siege situation, but such a status change can only be made during the owning player's Movement Phase, or through a Retreat, Advance After Combat, or Displacement.

Intrinsic Defense Strength

All castles have a number printed on the space (e.g., 2, 3, 5) called the Intrinsic Defense. The intrinsic defense strength of a castle is only useful in defense against sieges. It may not be used to make an attack nor added to the strength of friendly units defending the space "outside" the castle.

CORRECTION: Some of the Castles on the map do not show an intrinsic defense strength. Their defense strengths are given in the map errata at the beginning of this booklet.

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Effects of a Siege

Replacements and reinforcements may not enter or re-enter the game in a castle deployment space under siege. Combat units under siege may not move from the space unless they have made a breakout attack.

The siege continues until the besieging force successfully plunders the castle, becomes too weak to maintain a valid siege, or leaves the castle space through movement, displacement, or retreat. A besieging force that becomes too weak to maintain a siege is displaced at the end of the game turn. See below.

Resolving a Siege (Siege Attack)

Prior to resolving any siege attacks, the besieging player must point out all the Castles which will be attacked. If the player has any units (or heroes) stacked with besiegers that the player does not want to be part of the attack, they must be immediately displaced from the space before the Siege Roll is made. (CAUTION: the player must take care not to remove so many units that he no longer has sufficient strength to maintain the siege.) It is also possible to end the siege at this point by displacing one's entire besieging force from the castle space.

Displaced units are regarded as unused units and are able to be moved in the Movement Phase of the same turn. Any combat units that take part in siege attacks may not be moved in the Movement Phase.

Once any desired displacements are done, the player resolves siege combat for each besieged castle that he wishes to attack. All combat units that remain in a besieging stack must join in the attack. Roll one die:

Roll Result

1 The attack has failed. One besieging combat unit is eliminated. Further, besieging heroes must take a Hero Fate Roll. Captured besieging heroes are placed inside the castle's walls with the defenders.

2-5 Nothing happens. The siege may continue as long as the besieging forces are able to maintain the conditions of a siege. 6 The castle is taken and plundered. All combat units within the plundered castle are eliminated. All heroes in the castle must take a Hero Fate Roll. A Plundered marker is placed on the castle and the plunderer scores victory points. (This process represents taking a castle by its craven surrender, a clever stratagem, or through treachery from within. Taking a castle by storm is detailed in the Advanced game.)

Units that have made a siege attack (successful or not) cannot move or attack during the same game turn.

The Siege Roll is NOT required. It is sometimes strategically wise for a besieger not to make such a roll, thus preserving the stack's options to engage in movement and/or combat in later phases. If no siege attack is made, the siege condition simply continues as before, except that the besieger has given up the possibility of plundering the castle in that particular Siege Phase.

Modifying the Siege Roll

The greater the attacking force, the better the attacker's chance of success. Divide the total number of attacking combat units inside the castle space by the total strength of all defending units plus the intrinsic defense strength of the castle. Drop any fractions and

subtract one. The number remaining is added to the attacker's roll.

However, a Natural Roll of 1 Is Always a Failed Attack.

EXAMPLE 1: 15 combat units besiege a castle with intrinsic defense strength of 4. The castle has 3 combat units inside, giving it a total strength of 7. Dividing 15 by 7 equals 2.14. Rounding 2.14 down and subtracting 1, leaves 1. Therefore, 1 is added to the attacker's Siege Roll. Hence, a roll of 5 or 6 would plunder the castle.

EXAMPLE 2: This time, the castle with an intrinsic defense of 4 has 4 combat units inside, giving it a total strength of 8, while the besieger again attacks with 15. (15/8 = 1.88). Dropping the fraction to 1 and subtracting 1 leaves zero. There is no addition to the roll.

EXAMPLE 3: If only 1 combat unit was inside the castle (with an intrinsic defense strength of 4) defending against 15, 2 would be added to the attacker's Siege Roll (15/5 = 3; 3- 1 = 2).

Ending a Siege

Siege continues until the besieging force:

A) Becomes too weak to maintain a valid siege situation B) Voluntarily moves (or displaces) away from the space C) Retreats from combat from the space

D) Is eliminated E) Plunders the castle

Once a castle is plundered, it remains plundered for the rest of the game. It cannot be besieged again, and units can no longer be considered “inside” of it. The hex can still serve as an entry point for replacements and reinforcements, however. Occupying a plundered castle hex with a combat unit makes the hex friendly for purposes of entering replacements and reinforcements. If unoccupied, the hex is considered friendly to its original owner.

Breakouts

Combat units attempting to leave a besieged castle must first make a breakout attempt by attacking all of the besieging enemy combat units in the castle space. The only exception to this is that besieged land units may freely come and go if the besieging force has no land units (i.e., is comprised entirely of fleets), and fleets may likewise enter and leave if the besieging force has no fleets. Breakout combat is resolved in the besieged player’s siege phase. The combat is otherwise resolved in the normal manner, except that all units, both land units and fleets, of the besieged and besieging forces are totaled into a single attacking strength and a single defending strength. (Normally fleets and armies do not fight one another–breakout combat is an exception.)

Win or lose, any surviving besieged units can then move out of the castle in the subsequent Movement Phase. It is not required for the player to move all his units from the besieged castle.

However, if enemy combat units and/or impassable terrain occupy all the spaces around the castle, the besieged units cannot exit the castle space. If they are unwilling or unable to exit the castle, they lose the right to do so until they have made another breakout attempt in a later turn.

Besieged units that attack their besiegers in the Siege Phase cannot attack during the Combat Phase of the same player turn.

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Besieger Displacement

Before any siege attacks are resolved, the player may voluntarily displace units from his besieging stacks to adjacent hexes, thereby freeing those units for movement later in the player turn. He may also displace an entire besieging stack, thereby ending that siege. The displacement move itself is “free”; the displaced units have their entire movement allowance available to them during the subsequent movement phase.

The displaced units can attack normally in the combat phase, and may even enter a castle space and begin another siege. Note: besieging units that do not displace, but also do not make a siege attack are eligible to instead attack adjacent enemy units in the combat phase; they simply cannot move.

Should losses or the entry of a relieving force into a castle reduce the ratio of besiegers to besieged combat units (plus intrinsic defense strength) to less than 1 to 1, the besieger must displace his forces from the space at the end of the current game turn. Despite the reduction of forces, the siege condition continues to persist until the end of the game turn, except that a Siege Roll may not be taken.

Sometimes enemy units in one or more adjacent spaces will bar the displacement described above. In such cases, the displacing stack would displace the enemy units that are blocking its route. Each player determines the route of his own units' displacement, but the stack of displaced besiegers must lose a number of friendly combat units equal to the number of enemy combat units that it is displacing. (This represents losses taken by fleeing besiegers fighting their way out of encirclement.)

If the enemy units barring the stack's displacement are equal or greater in number than the stack of displaced besiegers, or if the displaced besiegers have no unobstructed route of displacement due to terrain or some other factor, they are not displaced but are instead eliminated. Any hero located in a totally eliminated stack must take a Hero Fate Roll.

A land unit may displace into a sea or lake hex only if an empty friendly fleet is available in the besieging forces to carry it. Displacing fleets may ignore land units in the space it displaces into. It is allowable for enemy land units and friendly fleet units to occupy the same coastal space after displacement. This should be corrected the next time that the player controlling the fleet moves.

Mixed-unit Siege Combat

In the Basic Game, fleets generally do not engage in combat with land units, and vice-versa. Siege situations are an exception to this. When calculating strengths for initiating or maintaining a siege, or for modifying the siege combat die roll, all combat units stacked in a castle space during the Siege Phase are treated as undistinguished strength points.

Fleets at Sieges

Fleets are not required in the besieging of a castle-port, but they may contribute their strength to both the defense of and attack against a castle-port.

Land units aboard fleets that are reinforcing a siege must debark into the besieged castle space to be considered as part of the besieging force. A besieged player's fleets can freely enter and exit besieged castle-ports and transport units into and out of besieged castle-ports, unless the besieger has at least one fleet in the besieging stack.

The freedom of fleets in sieges is only a factor of movement. A fleet cannot be deployed as a replacement or reinforcement in besieged castle-port even if is besieged only by land units. (And likewise in regard to land units when a castle-port is besieged only by fleets.)

Mixed-unit Combat During Relief

Because relief combat is fought in the Combat Phase, army and fleet units may not attack one another in the course of relief combat. Relieving land forces may attack only besieging land units, while relieving fleets may attack only besieging fleet units, unless the attack is amphibious (see Amphibious Attack). EXAMPLE: A castle-port is besieged by two enemy fleets and six land combat units. A relieving force consisting of four fleets and two transported land units attacks. The attacker does not wish to conduct an Amphibious attack, so he fights with only his four fleets vs. the two enemy fleets (both the land units on the fleets and the enemy land unit are discounted). The combat is fought at odds of 2 to 1. After the attack, the two besieging fleets survive, as do three of the relieving fleets, and these three fleets now enter the besieged castle-port (along with the two transported land units). Although the two arriving land units have not yet fought, they may not initiate any further attacks during this game turn because the time for announcing new attacks has passed.

Instead of launching an ordinary combat as given above, it is possible that the relieving player may opt for the riskier Amphibious Attack. The procedure for carrying out both Relief attempts and Amphibious Attacks is given in the Combat Phase rules section.

Besieging Neutral Castles

If a player declares a siege against a neutral non-player castle, the kingdom in which the castle is located immediately becomes the ally of a randomly-determined enemy player. Deploy the kingdom's units immediately. This will usually mean that some units will be deployed in the very castle that is under siege, which is allowable. If this deployment increases the castle’s defense value to the point where it is greater than the strength of the besiegers, the siege is no longer valid and the besieging units are immediately displaced from the castle.

Non-siege Attacks by Besiegers

Besiegers may attack adjacent enemy units outside the castle space without disrupting the siege. However, if the besieging stack has already participated in a siege attack, it may not attack in the Combat Phase. (Remember, a player may deliberately refrain from attacking in the Siege Phase.) If the combat results reduce the besieging force to less than the number of units needed to maintain the siege, they are displaced at the end of the game turn, ending the siege.

Movement Phase

During the Movement Phase, the player may move any (or none) of his units, in any direction or combination of directions. Only the current player may move units.

Units, or stacks of units, are moved together over contiguous spaces on the map. As each unit (or stack) enters a space, it expends points from its movement allowance as determined by the type of terrain in the space.

The movement allowance of a given unit is printed on the upper right corner of the counter. The movement allowance is the number of movement points it may expend in a single game turn.

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Movement points cannot be saved from one turn to the next, nor may they be transferred from one unit to another. Movement allowances can be increased through Hero Movement Bonuses.

Stacking

All friendly combat units and heroes may stack together in the Basic Game. Friendly allied units from non-player kingdoms may stack with those of their allies and enter to defend a friendly castle. At any time, any player can examine the stacks of opposing players to determine their contents.

Movement and Terrain

Each type of space represents a particular terrain type. Each unit entering into a space must expend a certain number of movement points from its allowance. No unit may enter into a space unless it has sufficient movement points to pay all of the movement expenses for that space. All point costs listed below are per space. Terrain effects are cumulative. For example, to enter a forested mountain space, the cost would be six movement points (2 for the Forest + 4 for the Mountain).

Special Terrain Bonuses

The increased cost of certain types of rough terrain may be reduced if the moving unit has the appropriate special terrain bonus. There are three types of bonuses, mountain, forest and swamp. The mountain bonus means the unit treats hills as clear terrain and treats mountains as having a cost of 3 movement points. The forest bonus allows the unit to treat forest hexes as clear terrain. The swamp bonus allows the unit to treat swamp hexes as clear terrain.

There are four ways that a unit may gain a special terrain bonus in the Basic Game:

A It is a unit having one or more bonus symbols (forest, swamp, or a mountain) printed on the counter beneath its movement allowance.

B It is a unit led by a hero with such a symbol.

C It is a unit inside the kingdom of its origin. All units possess ALL terrain bonuses within their home kingdoms.

D It is a unit led by a hero who is traveling through the terrain spaces of his home kingdom.

Hero units may pass their movement bonuses on to land units they are leading, but a combat unit cannot transfer its bonuses to other combat units in their stack. A hero may "ride" a combat unit for the whole length of its unassisted movement, and in doing so benefit from any terrain bonuses the unit might have.

A unit's terrain bonus may negate all or part of the penalties for combined terrain. For example, a hill-forest space would cost a Zorn unit, or a mercenary led by the monarch of Zorn (which has both forest and mountain terrain bonuses), only 1 movement point.

Terrain Effects Chart

Clear

1 movement point

Hills Treated as clear 2 movement points terrain to units with

mountain movement bonus.

Mountain Cost is 3 points for 4 movement points units with mountain

terrain bonus. +1 to the defender’scombat roll if he occupies a mountain hex.

Mountain pass A defender’s combat 2 movement points strength is doubled in a mountain pass.

Forest Treated as clear 2 movement points terrain to units with

a forest movement bonus. Note: There are two different map symbols for forests.

Swamp Treated as clear 2 movement points terrain to units that

possess a swamp movement bonus.

Open Sea or Lake Only fleets may 1 movement point e n t e r . L a n d u n i t s

may be transported through such terrain by fleets.

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Isle of Fright F l e e t s m a y o n l y enter if rescuing a 1 movement point hero. Land combat

units may not enter.

Sea Coast or 1 point for fleets.

Lake Shore Land units pay the cost varies cost of the land

terrain in the hex.

Navigable River Fleets pay 2 points cost varies if moving upriver; 1 if moving down-river. Land units pay 2 MP’s to cross and must stop before doing so. See rules below.

River Land units add 1 point cost varies to cost of other terrain in

hex if entering or exiting the river valley. Fleets may not enter

Castles and Units may be “inside” or

Castle Ports “ o u t s i d e ” t h e c a s t l e itself. “Outside” is 1 point always clear terrain.

See rules below.

Scenic Space Treated as clear terrain 1 point in basic game. See

rules below.

Castles

Castles with asterisks are royal Castles. Hostile units may not enter the space “outside” an unbesieged castle except to initiate a siege. Once a siege is initiated, units friendly to the besieger may enter and exit freely.

A friendly castle is any castle or port inside the boundaries of a kingdom belonging to the player monarch or to that monarch's allies. If plundered, the castle ceases to exist but the space still serves as an entry point for replacements and mercenary reinforcements. A plundered castle is considered friendly to its original owner for this purpose unless actually occupied by at least one enemy combat unit–in which case it is considered friendly to the occupying force. If a castle is plundered, it is considered

simply a clear space for movement purposes. Also see

Castle-Ports, below. Scenic Spaces

Any named hex with a silhouette–other than a mountain pass or castle–is a scenic hex (castles can be distinguished by the defensive value in the hex, and mountain passes by the ×2 notation in the hex). Scenic hexes are treated as clear terrain in the basic game. Some scenic hexes have a dot at the top of the hex. (The picture in the terrain effects chart has such a dot.) When present, the dot indicates that the scenic hex is the entry location for a special mercenary in the intermediate and advanced games.

Rivers

Rivers that travel through the hexes are non-navigable and impassable to fleets. Land units pay an extra movement point to enter or leave such a hex unless moving “along” the river valley. This cost is over and above the cost of any other terrain in the hex.

Navigable Rivers

A navigable river is one that is exceptionally large and deep. They follow a path along the hexsides of the board rather than traveling through a path of single hexes the way most rivers do. Fleet units can move along navigable rivers; when doing so they are positioned in the actual hexes bordering the river. See Fleets and

Navigable Rivers, below.

Land units are limited in their ability to cross navigable river hexsides. They may not attack land units across such a hexside. They may never retreat across such a hexside. They may only cross such a hexside during movement if they begin the movement phase next to the hexside to be crossed (they must stop to prepare a ferrying operation.) Even then, the crossing is accomplished with an extra cost of +2 movement points Fleets may act to ferry land units across a navigable river. See Ferrying, below.

The only navigable river on the board is the River Deep and the first hex of the River Waning, connected to the River Deep. The exact beginning and end of the River Deep are as follows: The hex southeast of Castle Lapspell is a coastal hex, the Deep river commences east of that hex, running to its furthest inland hexes southwest of Pennol.

All other cases where one might question whether water forms a navigable river or a coastal hex are actually coastal hexes. Specifically:

• The hex southeast of Addat is a coastal hex. • The Boom is a coastal hex.

• The hex to the northeast of Adeese is a coastal hex.

• Parros is not surrounded by a navigable river. It is an island surrounded by coastal hexes. See the Rombune section of

Select Rules for Special Kingdoms.

• Lake Carth, to the west of Pennol, is a small sea.

Movement Restrictions

Land units may not cross all-sea hexsides. Fleets may not cross all-land hexsides. All ports are considered to be coastal spaces and may be entered by both fleets and land units. No unit may move or retreat off the map.

Enemy Units and Movement

Combat units cannot enter or stop in spaces already occupied by enemy combat units of their same type (land units / fleets). The only time this does not apply is in regard to sieges.