Components

• 24 heavy clouds
• 24 magic wands
• 1 game summary
• 15 amulets
• 17 landscape tiles
• 8 storm clouds
• 1 game board (double-sided)
• 60 potions
• 10 pawns
• 5 victory point markers
• 60 playing cards:

Object of the Game

Players become witches, druids and gatherers, producing powerful potions and delivering them by Broom Service throughout the magi- cal realm. Round after round, enchanted rivals choose four of ten role cards. Each card has a brave and cowardly action.

The brave actions are most rewarding, but carry grave risk of being lost to opposing players. The cowardly actions are less profitable, but safer.

Which role cards will you secretly chose? Which have your rivals chosen? Who will be brave, and who will be cowardly?

The winner is the player with the most victory points after seven rounds.

Setup

The board is placed in the middle of the table face-up, i.e. with the two castles showing reddish banners (note: the castles on the back side of the board show purple banners).

Each player receives:

• 10 role cards of one color,
• 2 pawns of the same color, placed in the two regions with the castles,
• 1 victory point (VP) marker of the same color, placed on space 10 of the VP track,
• 1 potion of each color, and
• 1 or 2 wands: The oldest player is the starting player.

The starting player and the player to the right (who will be the last player of the first turn) each receive one magic wand; all other players receive two wands. (In a two-player game, each player receives 1 wand).

The remaining potions and wands (from now on referred to as "resources") are placed in a general supply next to the game board.

The game summary is displayed between the players.

The front shows an overview of each round and turn, and the back summarizes the victory points received at the end of the game.

The 24 heavy clouds (with white stars on the front) are shuffled and placed randomly, face-up, one cloud on each corresponding space on the board (18 spaces on the front side of the board, 19 spaces on the back side of the board).

The 10 event cards are shuffled. 7 cards are placed in a stack next to the board and the remaining 3 cards are returned to the box without looking at them.

The top event card in the pile is turned over. The event displayed applies to the first of the seven rounds.

If there are fewer than 5 players: Shuffle the 10 role cards of an unused color and place them in a draw pile next to the event cards. Depending on the number of players, reveal the following number of "bewitched" role cards: 2 players 3 cards / 3 players 2 cards / 4 players 1 card

(Note: The number of players + the number of "bewitched" role cards always = 5!)

The remaining materials (landscape tiles, amulets, storm clouds) are required only for the game variations for advanced play.

Game Play

The game is played over seven rounds. At the beginning of each round, each player chooses 4 of their 10 role cards.

Then the players compete for tricks, turn by turn, vying for the actions on the selected role cards. After at least 4 and no more than 10 turns, all chosen roles are played, the round ends, and the next round begins ...

Choosing Role Cards

At the beginning of each round, all players simultaneously choose 4 of their 10 role cards to use in this round (exception: event "More or Less"). Each player holds their 4 selected cards and keeps them hidden from the other players.

The remaining 6 role cards are placed face-down and are not used this round. When all players have chosen their cards ...

Let the magical competition begin

The starting player for the turn begins by playing one of the four role cards, i.e. by placing it on the table and reading aloud either the upper text or the lower text on the card: "I am the brave forest witch and would like to fly to a neighboring forest ... (etc)." or "I am a cowardly forest witch and ... (etc).".

If the player read the top, "brave" text (good, but risky!), the player claims the action.

Since the action might still be "stolen" by a subsequent player, the player does not yet perform the action, but instead waits for the remaining players to take their turns.

If the player read the lower, "cowardly" text (less good, but safe!), the player immediately performs the action

When the first player has finished, then the next player in clockwise order must "follow" the role card that was just played:

1. If the next player is not holding that role card, the player cannot "follow" it, and so simply says, "next!" Turn continues to the next player in clockwise order.

2. If the next player is holding that role card, the player must place it on the table and execute either a) or b):

   1. The player reads aloud the upper text ("I am the brave forest witch.."). and takes the brave action from the earlier brave player (if there was such a player). The earlier brave player is now "out", and gains nothing from that role in this round - neither the brave nor the cowardly action.

      However, the action is not yet safe for the new brave player either, since there are still players remaining ...

   2. The player reads aloud the lower text ("I am a cowardly forest witch .."). and executes that action right away.

      The cowardly action is always weaker than the brave action, but it cannot be stolen. Thus, the cowardly action can be taken by any number of players, sequentially.

After all players in clockwise order have had a turn, the player who last chose the brave action now performs it.

This player becomes the new starting player and chooses a remaining role card, places it face-up on the table, and reads either the upper or the lower text aloud (for example: "I am a cowardly weather fairy ..").. And so on ...

Example: Albert begins the round and plays the forest witch saying the words "I am a cowardly forest witch ..". and places the card in front of him.

Then he moves one of his pawns to an adjacent forest.

Bonnie follows. Since she has also the forest witch in her hand, she must also place it in front of her. She says, "I am the brave forest witch .."., and must now wait and see what the next three players are doing.

Carla also has this role card in her hand and places it. She, too, is confident and proclaims: "I am the brave forest witch ..". With that, Bonnie is "out"; the forest witch is lost to her for this round.

Daniel and Emily follow. Neither of them have the forest witch, and each in turn says, "next!"

The turn is over. Carla is the (last) brave forest witch, so she puts one of her pawns in an adjacent forest, where it delivers a purple potion to a purple tower, and she receives the victory points shown.

Carla begins the next turn by playing a new role card and proclaiming: "I am a cowardly valley druid ..".. She immediately delivers a potion to a free tower in the forest. Daniel then says, "next!" because he does not have the valley druid ... etc.

Other Important Rules

• You may select an action even if you cannot or do not want to perform it. Similarly, you can decide not to perform an action, even though you had the opportunity to do so (e.g. to retain resources for a different role or event).

  For the witches, the following applies: A brave witch may move to an adjacent territory without delivering a potion there. However, no witch may deliver a potion without moving. A witch may stay and do nothing.

• The last brave player must start a new turn by playing a new role card, even if the prior action was not fully (or partially) executed.

• If all participating players play a role "cowardly", the starting player of the prior turn also starts the next.

• If the starting player does not have any more role cards, the next player in clockwise rotation who still has cards becomes the next starting player.

• "Duty to follow!" Players must follow if they can; if a player plays a role card that has already been played in an earlier turn of the current round, the player must place the card without performing an action.

• 

  The played role cards should be placed offset like a fan in front of each player so that everyone can see which role cards have already been played and how many cards each player has left.

• The most important rule when placing role cards: Before it is your turn to place a card, it is forbidden to indicate whether or not you have the current role card. Always wait until it´s your turn before saying "next!" or "I am .."..

• "Bewitched" roles are used in 2-4 player games. It is important to consider carefully these bewitched roles before selecting your role cards since anyone who places a bewitched role immediately loses three victory points (whether choosing the brave or the cowardly action, and whether or not the action is performed)!

Notes:

• Losing victory points (due to bewitched roles and/or certain event cards) may force players to move their victory point marker below 0.

• When the draw pile of bewitched role cards runs out, shuffle all 10 role cards to create the new draw pile.

End of the Round

A round ends when all players are out of cards. If only one player has cards left, this player plays alone until all cards have been played. Finally, complete the current event if it is an end-of-round event card (see page 8 onwards: "The Events").

Then, the next round begins:

• Place the next event card face-up over the previous one.

• For 2, 3 or 4 player games, place the next 3, 2 or 1 "bewitched" role(s) face-up over the previous one(s).

• Players again choose any 4 of their 10 role cards, setting aside the remaining 6 for the rest of this round.

• The starting player for the new role card is the last brave player from the previous round (or the last starting player if all were cowards in the last turn).

End of the Game

After seven rounds the game ends. Each player receives victory points for collected lightning (see back of summary) and remaining resources: Score 4 VP for each set of four different resources; score 2 VP for each set of three different resources.

Whoever has the most victory points is the winner.

If tied, the tied player with the most resources wins. It there is still a tie, there are multiple winners.

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