Empires of the North FAQ

Empires of the North - 6 clans and their tokens

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources: Food, Sheep, Fish, Wood, Stone

You can easily memorize Resources as their tokens are all made of wood (except for Meeples who of course are your people, not Resources).

Note that Raze tokens and Gold are NOT Resources (and their tokens are not made of wood).

ERRATA: Harvest Action tile should state “Gain Goods from 1 Field” instead of “Gain Resources from 1 Field”

Goods: Gold, Raze tokens, all Resources (Food, Sheep, Fish, Wood, Stone)

ERRATA: Harvest Action tile should state “Gain Goods from 1 Field” instead of “Gain Resources from 1 Field”

Note that Workers, Cards, and Victory Points are NOT Goods.

Black meeple is a Ninja Worker. It’s an Easter egg and doesn’t have any use in the game.

Errata

Raze tokens are included when gaining Victory Points at the end of the game – they are worth 1 Victory Point for each Raze token in your supply.

Harvest Action tile should state “Gain Goods from 1 Field” instead of “Gain Resources from 1 Field”.

Often forgotten rules

CLAN ACTION PAWN – As an action you may spend 1 Food to use an unexhausted pawn on an Action tile to move it to adjacent tile and activate that tile. The pawn becomes exhausted (flip it to the side with an “X”).

PLAYING BOOST / BUILDING FIELD CARD – When you perform an action from an Action tile or from various action card effects (written in capitals) you may play a SINGLE Boost card OR build a SINGLE Field card. These cards must explicitly state the name of the action in the top left corner as the requirement/cost. Whenever one of the actions is declared, but before resolving its effect, a player may play a SINGLE Boost card or build a SINGLE Field Location.
This means that:
1. You declare the action,
2. (optional) Play a single Boost card OR build a single Field card.
3. Perform the action you’ve declared (even if the boost card moved the Clan action pawn to a different Action tile).

MOVE A PAWN – Means that you may ONLY change the position of a Clan action pawn, without activating the Action tile it’s moved onto. Also note that these cards do not mention adjacent – you can move your pawn to any Action tile. 

It is different than the action “Spend 1 Food to move a Clan action pawn to adjacent Action tile and activate that tile”, which is a stand-alone Action you can take.

Note that even if you move a pawn by effect of cards like #22 Drinking Competition, you still perform action you’ve declared (which means you perform action of the Action tile on which your pawn was before moving).

BUILDING FIELD CARDS – When you build a Field card due to performing the action stated in its top left corner, you place it in your Empire and gain Goods presented on it.
Note 1: You can’t build them by effect of “Construct to build” action. If you have a Field that requires you to “Construct to build” you first build that Field, and then activate the tile’s effect to build any non-Field Location from your hand.

DISCARDING FIELD CARDS – If any game effect will discard a Field with an Upgrade(s), they have to be discarded as well, as they no longer have a field they can attach to.

BUILDING UPGRADE FIELD CARDS – You can play them only by activating the Action shown on their left top corner. You have to put them under a Field with the same Good type shown (example: You may add a Food upgrade Field only to a Food Field). You then gain the Good(s) ONLY from the upgrade Field that you just built. Upgrade Fields count as Field Cards so you can choose them for effects like #77 New Outpost or #12 Homestead.
Note: You can’t build them by the effect of “Construct to build” action. If you have an upgrade of a Field that requires you to “Construct to build” you must first build that upgrade (and put it under a Field with the same Good type shown) and then activate the tile’s effect to build any non-Field Location from your hand.

UNEXHAUST CARD – If an effect doesn’t specifically let you choose an enemy’s card, you have to unexhaust a card in your Empire.

CONQUERED ISLAND CARDS – they count as any other locations in your Empire. Note: you may unexhaust them by effects like “unexhaust any Card in your Empire”.

TYPE OF CARDS – when you resolve a card that states certain type of locations in your Empire and this card itself has a matching type, it resolves for itself (for example #25 Brewery).

SHIPS LIMIT – In the general supply, ships are meant to be unlimited – if you gain a Ship by any game effect, but there is no longer any Ship token use a replacement. To gain additional Ships you might use cards like #65 Floki’s Workshop or #207 Flying Dutchman. However your personal supply is limited – after you place all of your Ships on the Expedition board you can’t perform other Sail actions (unless you take them back by abilities like #57 Valkyrie). (more on 3rd Ulaf Ship in section “Ulaf Clan”) (more on Common Ships in section “Island cards”)

RESOLVING FACE DOWN ISLAND – When you draw a face down Island card you may decide either to Pillage or Conquer it (of course you have to have a Raze token to choose the 2nd option) after reading its text. 

GOLD is not a Resource itself but it can be used as:

  • Resource to activate Actions.
  • Resource when building Locations (building the usual way).
  • Fish when you Sail.
  • Food to move a Clan action pawn to adjacent tile and activate that tile.
  • Cannot be used as an assigned Resource of specific kind.

Cards clarification

You can only assign workers to a card that states “assign”. You assign them by placing them on that card. They are not returned during the Cleanup phase. Instead, they need to be released using the Release action described below. 

When you release, you may take workers from any number of cards in your Empire and put them back to your own supply of Workers.
Example: Using #21 Drinking competition you may release 2 workers that you have already assigned to #10 Homestead and 1 worker that you have already assigned to #29 Afterparty.

Gaining Resources from them is not the same as harvesting them – you have to choose 2 Field cards (you may also choose upgrade Field cards) and gain 1 Resource that is presented on each of them (regardless of the number of Resources that is shown on the card). If you choose a Field with upgrades, they don’t grant you any additional Goods.
Example: In your Empire you have #3 Grassland with #28 New Pasture Upgrade. You use Homestead to choose #3 Grassland and #1 Forest to gain 1 Sheep and 1 Wood. Instead you could use Homestead to choose #3 Grassland and #28 New Pasture in order to gain 2 Sheep.

You may ONLY change the position of a Clan action pawn, but not activate the Action tile it’s moved onto (see the Move a pawn section). You may release workers from any number of cards in your Empire, as described in Assigning Workers section above. 

If you choose to gain Fruit, count in Brewery Location type as well.

You may unexhaust Conquered Islands instead of the Action cards.

When you setup your game, take only two Ships – the 3rd one is gained through Floki’s Workshop (card #65, described below).

You gain your 3rd Ship. After reshuffling the deck you may use Floki’s Workshop again to gain your 4th ship (in that case take a Common Ship or any other replacement for it).

You may spend 1 Worker to gain either   ( 1 Raze token )   OR   ( 1 Fish + 1 Victory Point ).

To resolve the action you have to have a Ship already on the Expedition board (with assigned Fish or/and Raze token when needed). After resolving, the Ship is returned to your supply and you may use it again this round.

You can resolve an Action Location two times and it has to be done immediately one after another. 

Resolving twice means, that you resolve the whole Action two times – if it has a cost, you have to pay it for second resolving as well. 

Example: You want to use #204 Occult Grounds twice. To do so you’ll have to spend 2 Workers to gain 2 Gold .

When you put them back into your hand, there is no way to build them again.

You may choose upgrade Field cards for the abilities of these locations, but note that if you choose a Field with
an Upgrade(s) card without choosing the Upgrade(s), they have to be discarded, as they don’t have a Field to attach to anymore.

If you build this card by using the Construct Action, you may play a single Boost/ build a Field with that construct action. After building Extra effort you may play single Boost/ build a Field with the chosen capital letter action.

You don’t need to spend Goods in order to build the drawn card.

 You can’t unexhaust Conquered Islands (as they don’t have any type).

You may immediately assign gained Fish and/or Axe while resolving this Sail action (more on order of playing Boosts in “Playing Boost / Building Field card” FAQ section).

You may ONLY change the position of a Clan action pawn, without activating the Action tile it’s moved onto (as described in Move a pawn section of FAQ).

Even if a Location has more Wood in its cost, you gain only 1 Victory Point for using this feature, not for each Stone you’re spending.

Example: You want to build #125 Ice walls – you may spend either 2 / 1 Wood and 1 / 2 Stone. Regardless of the number of Stone you decide to spend instead of Wood, you only gain 1 Victory Point.

You may unexhaust Conquered Island or Location card.

Gold is a Good, not a Resource itself. Therefore it cannot be used as assigned Resource of a certain type in order to activate the STORAGE effect of the cards.

You will gain Goods at the end of the Lookout phase for having a certain number of required Goods Assigned to the card. 

Some cards will give you a choice of Goods to gain. If you can gain 2 or more Goods, take them in any combination.

For example, if the text on the card says: “STORAGE: 2 Food : 1 Food / 1 Victory Point ”. That means that for every 2 Food Assigned to this card you gain either 1 Food or 1 Victory Point. If you have 5 Food Assigned, you can gain any of the following at the end of the Lookout phase: 2 Food OR 2 Victory Points OR (1 Food + 1 Victory Point).

As Workers are not considered Goods, #158 Jailhouse cannot be used with this Action. 

When using this Action you gain 2 Goods (one from the chosen Card, another from General Supply) and 1 Victory Point. You can only choose an unexhausted card to take a Good from.

Example: You have 2 Gold assigned to #135 Royal Bank and it is unexhausted. Using Prospectors you release 1 Gold from the Royal Bank and gain 1 Gold from the General Supply – so you end up having 2 Gold in your supply (one released and one gained). You also gain 1 Victory Point and exhaust #135 Royal Bank.

As Workers are not considered Goods, you cannot release them from #158 Jailhouse using this Action.

You do not have to choose an already exhausted card. You may choose an unexhausted one.
As Workers are not considered Goods, you cannot release them from #158 Jailhouse using this Action.

As Workers, Cards and Victory Points are not considered Goods, you cannot assign them to the Sea Bank. 

Using the Construct Action effect you may immediately build the card you took to your hand using Planner’s ability (more on order of playing Boosts in “Playing Boost / Building Field card” FAQ section).

Example: In your Empire you have 2 locations with the Pile of Gold type. One of them is #157 Sea Bank with 2 Gold assigned, 2nd is #153 Supplies with 3 Food assigned. When you play Gathering Interest you gain 2 Food OR 2 Fish OR (1 Food + 1 Fish).

As Workers are not considered Goods, you cannot count Workers assigned to the #158 Jailhouse.

 You may immediately assign the gained Raze token while you resolve this Sail action (more on order of playing Boosts in “Playing Boost / Building Field card” FAQ section).

Example: During the Expedition phase you Pillage #200 Shipwreck shore that gives you 2 Wood and 1 Victory Point. You decide to immediately assign 1 Wood to the #159 Lumber Mill you have built in your Empire and the remaining
1 Wood goes to your supply.

Copies are treated almost exactly like the cards they are attached to – they count as having the same name, type, and ability. Effects regarding Copies (such as those on the cards #181 Overtime or #192 Easter Island), still apply to them. During the Clean up phase, they get unexhausted.

Example: When you have #172 Riding the Monster attached to #189 Stuart’s Bay, you basically treat them as if you had two Stuart’s Bay Locations. You can activate Riding the Monster by spending 1 Worker and 1 Fish in order to HARVEST (even if  Stuart’s Bay Location has already been exhausted).  

When you build a Copy of a card and attach it to a Location with a Building bonus, gain that building bonus. However if you only move a Copy with #192 Easter Island effect, you don’t receive the building bonus.

You can attach multiple Copies to a single Location.

If any effect in the game discards a Location that has attached Copies, they remain in your Empire, but no longer Copy any ability – they keep their own name, type and ability. They can later be discarded or moved by #192 Easter  island, and provide Victory Points at the end of the game.

It can be used as a Field card or a Field upgrade card. When you build it, decide if you want to build it as Field or add it as an upgrade to an already existing Fruit Field.

 As #195 Mystic land and #198 Robinson are in fact Locations, you cannot use them with the ability of Crossroads.

Since this is not a CONQUER Action, you don’t receive any “When you Conquer” bonuses.

The card that you discard needs to be already built in your Empire (you cannot use a card from your hand). 

You may discard the Copy card. 

If the discarded card had Copies, they lose the copied effects, but remain in your Empire and you may still use #192 Easter Island to move them.

Example: you want to move #173 Coastal Fortress from #186 Small Market. You may only attach it to a card with a Dolmen icon (which is required by #173 Coastal Fortress), such as #179 Competition.

You can attach it to any card in your Empire including Conquered Islands and Field cards – but note that if you attach it to a Field card, it’s another Field – you gain Resources it provides and is treated as another field – not an Upgrade.
Unless you Copy Upgrade Field card – then you receive the Good(s) shown on that Upgrade and treat it as another Upgrade attached to the Field – so when you Harvest gain also the Good provided by the Copied field Upgrade.

Both cards are treated as Locations (they should have “to build” instead of “to play” in the upper left corner) that cannot be built using the Construct action (similarly like Field cards). 

Island Cards

Gain 1 Common Ship. If Common Ship tokens ever run out, use other replacements (supply of Common Ship tokens is not limited).

You gain 1 Gold for Conquering Haunted Island as well.

You may unexhaust Conquered Islands or Location cards with the Island’s action.

You may ONLY change the position of a Clan action pawn, without activating the Action tile it’s moved onto (more on Move a pawn in section FAQ).

You may unexhaust Conquered Islands or Location cards with the Island’s action.

Gaining Resources with the Island’s Action is not the same as harvesting – you have to choose 3 Field cards (you may also choose upgrade Field cards instead) and gain 1 Resource from each card (regardless of the number of Resources shown on them). Choosing a Field with Upgrades doesn’t grant you any additional Goods.

Example: You have #3 Grassland with #28 New Pasture upgrade in your Empire. You use Abandoned Granary and choose #3 Grassland, #28 New Pasture and #1 Forest to gain 2 Sheep and 1 Wood.

Solo Mode

When performing actions marked with capital letters on the cards (for example on cards #46 Small Port or #111 Nearby Fields), you don’t need to pay extra Resources shown on the yellow side of the Action tiles.

Take a deck of any other clan and put it face up as if it was your opponent’s discard pile.

You can use cards like #29 Afterparty “Action: Assign 1 Worker to unexhaust any Card in your Empire” to unexhaust Fields, exhausted by events #3 and #5.

Do not receive any Building bonuses from Islands added to your Empire during setup.

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