ISAAC SHALEV & JASON SLINGERLAND

10+

1-5

30-45’

PREVIEW RULEBOOK (NOT FINAL VERSION)

The golden path to Tír na nÓg is open once more, and the greatest Celtic Storytellers have gathered for a once-in-a-
lifetime journey into the Otherworld. When they return, they’ll bring with them tales of the creatures they met and the
adventures they lived. Over time those stories will become a saga — and the most epic saga will live on forever.

OVERVIEW
Journey to the Otherworld by placing Storytellers next to the Encounter cards in the Otherworld, then select
from the cards next to your Storytellers and add them to your Saga, which is the grid of cards in front of you. At
the end of 5 rounds, score each row according to the rules on its corresponding Geas card, and earn points for
having the most connected Encounter cards of each color. The highest score wins.

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 COMPONENTS SETUP 3 PLAYER SETUP
1 Give each player 3 storytellers in their chosen player color.
2 Flip the “Regions of Tir Na Nog” card to the appropriate
player count and place the card where players can see it.

3 Select one Top, Middle, and Bottom Geas card to use

for the game. Give each player a copy of each selected
96 Encounter cards 30 Double-sided Geas cards
Geas card in their color. Place your Geas cards to the
6 each in 5 colors left of your personal play area, leaving space for rows
of Encounter cards to be placed to their right. If this
is your first game, use the cards marked with “1st
Game”.

4 Shuffle the Encounter card deck and deal 5 cards to

each player.

1 Solo Card ‘Regions of Tír na 5 In the center of all players, create the Otherworld by
nÓg’ Geas card placing a face-up grid of Encounter cards according to
the chart below. 6
PLAYERS SETUP
3x3 grid, but do not place the
2
central card.
3 3x4 grid
15 Storytellers 4 3x5 grid
3 each in 5 player colors
5 3x6 grid
2
5
6 Place the remaining Encounter cards in a face-down
1 3 stack near the play area while allowing enough room for
a discard pile beside it.

7 The player who most recently told a story takes the 1st
1
7 10 player token. Alternatively, randomly choose a starting
player.
24 Color Change 25 Value tokens
Tokens

3
SCORE EACH ROW BASED ON THE GEAS CARDS FOR THIS GAME

4
TOP
MIDDLE

BOTTOM
AREA SCORING: LARGEST=13, 2ND LARGEST=6, TIES SPLIT (ROUNDED DOWN)

2 PLAYER
SETUP
7
MISC.

TOTAL

1st Player Token 1 Score Pad

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 HOW TO PLAY 2. SAGA PHASE
Having tasted the Land of Eternal Youth, your Storytellers return home to sing songs and spin tales of their adventures,
YOUR SAGA: GEAS AND ENCOUNTER CARDS recording them in a great Saga.
Geas is an Old Gaelic word for a vow or a curse, common in Irish mythology, that either requires you to do something,
or to avoid doing something. Violating your Geas leads to punishment, but fulfilling it leads to great rewards! Over 5 The Saga phase has two steps:
rounds, you will place Encounter cards in 3 rows in front of you to create your Saga of 15 cards. Each row has a Geas
card, with rules for placing and scoring Encounter cards in that row. Encounter cards come in four colors, and you will 1. SELECT AN ENCOUNTER CARD
also score points for creating large connected regions of the same color, across all the rows of your Saga.
2. PLAY AN ENCOUNTER CARD TO YOUR SAGA
GAME ROUND SELECT AN ENCOUNTER CARD
The game plays over 5 rounds. Each round has 3 phases:
Starting with the player to the right of the 1st Player token
and proceeding counterclockwise, select an Encounter
1. JOURNEY PHASE: Place Storytellers card and place an Encounter card into your Saga. After you
have completed both steps, the player to your right takes
their turn.
2. SAGA PHASE: Select & place Encounter cards
If none of your Storytellers are next to any cards, play
passes to the next player. These Lost Storytellers will take
3. CLEANUP: Prepare for the next round their turns later, as described below in Lost Storytellers and
the Echtra Quest.

PLAY AN ENCOUNTER CARD TO

1. JOURNEY PHASE YOUR SAGA
Choose any card from your hand - even the one you just
In the Journey Phase, your Storytellers depart on a great voyage to reach the realm of Tír na nÓg, adventuring through fog
took - and add it to a row in your Saga.
and mist to a land of youth and promise.
Place your card in the first open slot in a row, from left to
Starting with the player with the 1st Player Token, place a right. Usually, this will be to the right of the last card in the
Storyteller in a space between any two Encounter cards in row. However, a gap can sometimes appear in the middle of a
the Otherworld. row, and the next card played into the row will fill that gap.

You may not place a Storyteller: Restrictions on Playing Encounter Cards

• On a space already occupied by a Storyteller You may not play an Encounter card into a row that
• At the corner of cards already has 5 cards, though some game effects may cause
a row to have more than 5 cards. You must observe any
• Along the outside of the Otherworld card grid placement rules and requirements on the Geas card for
• In a 2-player game, along the inside edges of the card that row, if there are any. Very rarely, you may not have
grid any legal plays available. In that case, discard one card to
the discard pile instead, ignoring any effect printed on the
Play passes to the left until all players have placed all of
card. This may result in your Saga having fewer than 15
their Storytellers.
cards at the end of the game.
After you have taken a card and played a card, the player to
your right takes their turn.

Lost Storytellers and the Echtra Quest

Echtra means adventure or journey in Old Irish, and is
related to the modern English word ‘extra.’

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 cards have effects printed on them. Card effects only apply once the Encounter card is played into your Saga, not
If all the Encounter cards next to your Storyteller are taken,
while the card is in your hand. Some cards, typically those that can change their own value, are marked with an Ailm
your Storyteller has become Lost in the Otherworld. Don’t
panic! After all the other Storytellers return home, your
Storyteller will embark on an Echtra Quest. next to their printed value. This icon is referenced by
When the only Storytellers left in the Otherworld are Lost,
some card effects. ENCOUNTER CARD
each player with a Lost Storyteller, in counterclockwise The Encounter cards describe when and how their effects
turn order, selects any card from the remaining cards in operate. Always follow the rules on the card even when
the Otherworld, and proceeds as normal, adding it to their they contradict the rules in this rulebook. Effects are Value number
hand, and playing a card to their Saga. Continue until all mandatory unless the card says otherwise, or the effect is
Storytellers have returned home with an Encounter card, impossible to perform. Effects can increase or decrease a Ailm
and all players have played three cards. card’s value, change its color, move its position, and more.
Initial card values range from 0-8. Effects can increase
When all players have returned all their Storytellers and
values past 8, but cannot decrease values below 0. Cards
played three Encounter cards, the Saga phase is over.
effects trigger at these times:
• When Played: Once, when the card is added to
3. CLEANUP your Saga.
All players discard a card from their hands. The number • Ongoing ( ): When the card is added to your Saga,
of cards left in your hand is equal to the number of rounds and after any other change is made to your Saga
that remain in the game, so if you have no cards to discard,
you have played all 5 rounds and it is time to proceed to • Journey Phase ( ) / Saga Phase ( ): On your turn
in that phase, unless otherwise noted on the card.
These cards often have optional effects, or allow
final scoring. Otherwise, prepare for a new round. you to perform an additional action, or to take an
Discard the current Otherworld cards then create a new Otherworld grid from the draw deck just as you did at the start improved version of a standard action. Effect Type
of the game. If the draw deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw deck. Pass the 1st Player • Scoring: At the end of the game as part of scoring
token to the left and start a new round.
Moving or swapping a card that is already in your Saga is
not the same as playing a card. Effects that move cards,
like Manannan’s Dock, do not have to follow the placement
Effect Description
ENCOUNTER CARDS, CARD EFFECTS, AND TIMING restrictions on Geas cards, or the restriction of playing no
more than 5 cards in each row.
Every Encounter card has a color and a value. The value is the number printed on the top-left corner. Special Encounter Use Value tokens and Color Change tokens to indicate
any changes made to the cards. Place Value tokens on top to adding a card to your Saga, or afterwards. If any timing
of the printed value, to replace it entirely. The tokens have issues arise with regards to the effects of your cards, you
different numbers on each side, so you should usually be may choose how to resolve them as you wish, so long
able to find exactly the number that you need. In the rare as you do not create infinite loops or other impossible
case that you need a different number, use two or more situations.
tokens that sum up to the number you need.
Place Color Change tokens on the top right of the card,
over the old color symbol.
GAME END
Cards that are moved keep any tokens they have on The game ends after 5 rounds. In most cases, you will have
them, but remember to re-check all ‘Ongoing’ cards, as a complete Saga of 15 Encounter cards in 3 rows, with 5
their values may be affected by their own move, or the
movement of other cards.
Cards usually trigger either when they are played, or
during a particular phase. When your card triggers during
a particular phase, but has no other timing instructions,
you may choose when in the phase to trigger it. For
example, you may trigger the ability of the Leipreachán
Cobblers at any time during the Saga Phase, either prior

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 Encounter cards per row. It is possible that you will have fewer cards, or have more than 5 cards in one row and fewer
than 5 cards in another row, or that you will have a blank space in the middle of one of your rows. For the purposes of SCORING EXAMPLE
scoring, blank spaces simply do not count. A blank space in the middle of a row disrupts connections and runs for all
Geas cards, including the Regions of Tír na nÓg Geas card.

SCORING GEAS CARDS = 46 VP

Check your Saga for cards with effects that trigger in the scoring phase, and resolve all of those effects. Usually, player
order will not matter and players can all do this step at the same time. In the rare case where order matters, pass the 1st REGIONS = 11 VP
Player Marker at the start of scoring, as though you were starting a new round, then go clockwise from the 1st Player Marker.
TOTAL SCORE = 57 VP
I. GEAS CARDS
Geas cards will show scoring conditions on the right and an example of the scoring conditions on the left. Check the
Geas cards in your Saga and score each row according to its Geas card. Geas cards score even if the cards in the row look

like they violate the placement rules on the Geas cards. color scores the highest point value on the Regions of Tír
This can happen when players use ‘move’ and ‘swap’ na nÓg card. The player with the 2nd-largest region scores
powers, because those powers do not count as playing a the second highest point value, and so on. Players must
card. have a region of at least 2 cards to score points. Cards are
connected when they are next to each other horizontally or
Unless they explicitly state otherwise, Geas cards apply vertically. Record the totals for each on the score pad.
to the Encounter cards in their corresponding rows, and
use the word “here” to mean “in this row.” When a Geas In case of a tie for region size, give each player half the
points (rounded down) for the position they have tied 2
card says “score a card” it means score points equal to
the value of the card. “Score the total” means sum up the for, and half the points for the next position, if applicable.
values of each card the Geas card refers to, and score that Do not award points to any other players for that next
many points. Record the totals for each on the score pad. position.
Add up all the scores. The player with the highest score
II. REGIONS OF TÍR NA NÓG wins. In case of a tie, the player with the largest single
Score the Regions of Tír na nÓg Geas card. For each of region is the winner.
the 4 Encounter card colors, Yellow, Blue, Green and Red,
the player with the largest connected region of the same 3

The Wanderings of Oisins: 7+5+6+8=26 VP

Fionn and the Salmon of Knowledge: 4+4+2 = 10 VP
Cathbad’s Divination: 3 value 3 cards = 10 VP
Regions of Tir Na Nog: 7 red, 3 green, 2 yellow: 8+3 = 11 VP
For example’s sake: this player’s 7 reds were the largest compared to
the other players’ reds, the 3 green was the 2nd-largest compared to
other player’s green regions, and the 2 yellow were not the largest in
comparison to any other players.

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 SOLO RULES - BALOR’S GAZE CLEANUP PHASE: When you deal out the new Otherworld grid, flip Balor’s reference card.
Balor, the evil-eyed chieftain of the Fomóire, has his own vision of his legacy. He has recruited his own Storytellers to
SCORING: Calculate your score for Geas cards normally. Balor scores the points located in the lower right of each of
the three Geas cards.
retell the stories — with himself as the hero! Build your Saga as best you can and preserve the truth of the Otherworld, or
at least something like it, for all time. Discard a number of random cards from Balor’s scoring pile based on the difficulty setting you want to play from
the table below. When comparing color regions, Balor’s connected region size is the number of all cards of that color
Set up for a 2-player game but with the following changes: Place the Balor reference card on the “Highest” side and do
remaining in his scoring pile after discarding. Points are awarded like normal for a two-player game: 8 points to the
not deal Balor any Encounter cards. Balor does not have a Saga. Instead, he places all of his selected cards into a single
player with the largest region of that color, 3 points to the player with the second largest region, and 0 points to players
scoring pile.
with regions of 0 or 1 cards. Ties split the first and second total 11 points evenly rounded down, so 5 points each. Good
Balor always goes first during the Journey Phase AND the Saga Phase. Place the first player marker in between any luck beating Balor!
two cards in the Otherworld grid. It will remain there the entire game.
Difficulty Easy Normal Hard Impossible

JOURNEY PHASE: On Balor’s turn, discard the top Discard 6 cards 4 cards 2 cards 0 cards
card of the location deck. If that card has an Ailm flip
Balor’s reference card.
Check Balor’s reference card. If it indicates “Highest,”
place one of Balor’s Storytellers between the two cards that
have the highest sum. If that spot is already occupied by a
CARD GLOSSARY
Storyteller, go to the spot with the next-highest sum, until
Note: There are many dialects of Old Irish, Dobhar-chú Loch Merrow Milliners
you find an open spot. Ignore any effects on cards that
so there are many valid ways to pronounce The Storyteller must be moved to another Only one of your Storytellers may be
would increase or decrease their value when summing the these words. valid space where two cards are still placed at a corner in each Journey Phase.
cards for this purpose. present. If no such place is available, ignore In the 2-player game, you may place
If Balor’s reference card indicates “Lowest,” then place one ENCOUNTER CARDS the effect. the Storyteller along the inside edge of
Aengus’s Brú (AYN-guhs’s BROO) the Otherworld grid. In the Sage phase,
of Balor’s Storytellers between the two cards that have the Far Darrig
You may choose to keep the card you drew, If there is no card to the left of Far Darrig, activate that Storyteller on your turn as
lowest sum, following the same rule as above if that spot is usual, take any of the up to 4 cards that
or resolve your Lost Storyteller normally, it retains its printed value of 2.
occupied, but looking for the lowest sum. by discarding that card and picking a card the Storyteller is next to, and bring the
from the Otherworld. Gancanagh’s Valley (GAN KAH-nah’s) Storyteller home.
If two spots are tied, start at the first player marker and If the space to the right of Gancanagh’s
travel clockwise around the grid in a spiral until you reach Brú na Bóinne (BROO nah BOY-neh) Valley is filled when Gancanagh’s Valley, Water Kelpie
one of the tied locations and place the Storyteller there. You may only place your Storytellers in a ignore the effect of this card. This may If Water Kelpie ever stops being next to a
standard occupied space. You cannot, for occur when Gancanagh’s Valley is played Green card, add 6 back to its value.
example, place a Storyteller in an occupied into a gap in a row.
corner, even if you also have the Merrow
SAGA PHASE: On Balor’s turn, discard the top card of Milliners card in your Saga. Keening Banshee
GEAS CARDS
the location deck. If that card has an Ailm flip Balor’s This card triggers as soon as one of your
Cailleach’s Crag (KAH-lach’s) Storytellers has no cards next to them, and Legend of Knockgrafton (Middle)
reference card. Cailleach’s Crag gets a +3 per color that it interrupts the regular turn order. It may Cards tied for highest in their column
Check Balor’s reference card. Balor takes the highest or is next to, for each of the four colors, Red, trigger multiple times per round. You may do not count as 2nd-highest, and do not
Yellow, Green and Blue. If it is next to all place your Storyteller in a space next to
lowest card he is eligible to take (next to a Storyteller) score. E.g. a column of 8-8-1 will not score
four colors, it gets +12. It does not count as one or two cards. You must still observe all
based on the reference card. Ignore any effects that would next to itself for the +3 from Red.
at all. The 8 in the middle row is tied for
the other placement rules, e.g. no placing highest, and does not also count as 2nd-
increase or decrease the value of the card. If one or more on the outside of the Otherworld grid, etc.
Clúrachán Brewery (KLOO-ri-kahn) highest. The ‘1’ is second-highest, but it is
cards are tied, Balor will take the card closest to the 1st-
If there are no cards next to Clúrachán Leipreachán Cobblers (LEP-ri-kahn) in the wrong row. It would need to be in
Player Token, going clockwise. Brewery when it is played, it stays green. Moving does not count as playing, so you the middle row to score, since Legend of
If Balor’s two Storytellers are both next to the card Balor If there is a green card next to Clúrachán may move Leipreachán Cobblers to a row Knockgrafton scores the middle row.
intends to take, Balor will use the Storyteller closest to the In this example, Balor’s Storyteller went between 7 and 6 Brewery, you may choose for Clúrachán that already has 5 or more cards.
because it was the highest sum. You placed between 6 and 3, Brewery to remain green.
1st-Player Token, going clockwise, to take the card. Mag Mell (mah mal)
and Balor went between 5 and 5 on his second turn. Cú Sidhe (KOO shee)
When Balor chooses a card for a lost Storyteller, he will Cú Sidhe Kennel doesn’t count itself, but Discard Mag Mell from your hand to
still take the highest or lowest card from those remaining, In the Saga Phase, Balor will take the green 7 because it is does count a second copy of Cú Sidhe trigger its ability. If you play Mag Mell into
following the same rule for ties as above. the highest. Since the other pair are the same value, Balor Kennel your Saga instead, its ability is lost forever.
will take the green 5 since it is the closest clockwise from the Manannán’s Dock
Place the card Balor took face up into his scoring pile. first player token. Swapping is not ‘Playing’ and does not re-
trigger ‘When Played’ abilities

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 CREDITS:
GAME DESIGN: Isaac Shalev and Jason Slingerland
SOLO MODE: John Brieger and Joe Hopkins
ILLUSTRATION: Marlies Barends
ART DIRECTION AND GRAPHIC DESIGN: Brigette Indelicato
PRODUCER: Marc Specter
DEVELOPMENT: Joe Hopkins and John Brieger
CULTURAL CONSULTANT: Nick Ferris
SPECIAL THANKS: TBD
PLAYTESTERS: TBD

Copyright © Grand Gamers Guild 2023

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