Ethnos

Objective and edition: Players compete for control of six kingdoms and earn Glory by playing bands. CMON’s 2017 original supports two to six players and lists about 60 minutes; its rules do not include official solo or cooperative play. Each game uses a selection of the twelve base tribes, and the highest Glory total wins. Do not import the second edition’s solo rules or Merchant Clan into the original box.

Tribes and Ages: Select the tribes for the game: six in the usual larger-player setup, or five for two- and three-player games. Shuffle their cards into the Ally deck and prepare control and Glory markers for the six kingdoms. Standard games use three Ages; two- and three-player games follow a special setup for two Ages and adjust Glory markers. At each Age start, prepare the starting hands, face-up display, and three Dragon cards as the rules specify.

Two choices on a turn: Recruit one Ally from the face-up cards or the top of the deck, or play a band. A face-up card taken is not automatically replaced. With ten cards in hand, you cannot recruit and must play a band. A band contains one to ten cards of the same tribe or kingdom color; choose one card as its leader.

Playing a band and kingdom control: Normally the leader’s color identifies the kingdom. With three to six players, the band must contain more cards than your own existing markers there to add one. In a two-player game it must exceed both players’ combined markers in that kingdom: with two yours and one opposing, a band of at least four is needed. You may play a smaller band for end-of-Age band Glory without adding a marker. Then you may use the leader ability and normally discard remaining hand cards face up; tribe powers can alter these steps.

Leader abilities and tribes: Tribe powers may change marker placement, hand retention, or scoring. An Elf leader may keep up to the band’s size in remaining cards; a Minotaur needs one fewer card for a marker; a Wingfolk may choose another kingdom. Skeletons can join any band but cannot lead, and are discarded before band Glory is scored. A Dwarf leader makes a band count as one card larger for scoring. Apply the original rules for the tribes selected this game.

Drawing and Dragons: The face-up supply consists of the opening display and cards discarded by players; taking one does not automatically refill it. You can instead recruit the deck’s top card, up to a ten-card hand. Reveal the first or second Dragon and draw again from the deck; the third ends the Age immediately. At each Age start, everyone draws one card, twice the player count is revealed, then three Dragons are shuffled into the lower half of the remaining deck.

Band scoring at an Age end: Players discard their hands and score the bands in front of them. Unless a tribe ability changes it, a one-card band scores zero Glory; two cards score one; three score three; four score six; five score ten; and six or more score fifteen. This is added to the player’s Glory total. Larger bands score more, but require more cards and create a greater risk of waiting too long to play them.

Kingdom control rankings: For each kingdom, compare the players’ control markers and award the Age’s Glory markers to the leading ranks. Marker values change across the first, second, and third Ages, so gaining control early can secure a different pattern of later rewards. Tied players combine the Glory available for their tied ranks and divide it evenly, rounding down. Two-player Age-two scoring has an additional rule: a sole controller receives both Glory markers; when both players have control, first place takes the higher marker and second receives none. If Trolls are in play, their tokens can break a kingdom-control tie according to that tribe’s rules before sharing.

End of the Ages and winner: In a standard three-Age game, total kingdom Glory and band Glory after the third Age; most Glory wins. On a tie, compare control markers on the board, then the largest band played in the last Age, then the next-largest bands. Two- and three-player games end after two Ages and use their special markers and scoring; they do not add a third Age.

Mode and edition boundary: The original 2017 rules are a competitive game and do not provide a team objective or automated opponent. CMON’s Ethnos 2nd Edition is a separate entry with solo rules, a Merchant Clan, and revised rules. The original contains twelve tribes as variable setup choices, but only a subset is used in one game.