This rulebook is not final and does not include the most recent

gameplay changes, a new 4-fold game board and revamped

visual design by Ian OToole.

Additional changes are as follows:

1) The action spaces on the game board now offer first move
bonuses, incentiviing players to diversify as well as compete
in valuable spaces.

2) The crews cost when a forge is complete have been reduced

to 1 gold per crew.

3) Bank loans now give reputation points when they are paid
back before the end of the game. This incentivises players for
paying loans back early.

4) Several other quality-of-life improvements not mentioned

in this rulebook.

1
The cavernous halls of Winterforge echo once more with the
roar of fire and the ring of steel. The six legendary guilds of
Winterforge compete for the favour of the royal family, a favour
that brings with it a contract of unrivaled value, the Royal
Centenary Contract, guaranteed work for 100 years. Only one
thing stands in your way... everyone else.
1 2
ROYAL CONTRACT
1 - Contract title
2 - Skill types
3 3 - Required Components
4 - Forge number
A Royal Contract is worth 5 REP points
when completed. The first player to
complete a Royal Contract, earns an
extra 3 REP points.
A Royal Contract has two skill types,
4 meaning both skills provide a bonus
when forging it.
1 2
1
Throughout the game, you will compete against your fellow
players to earn Reputation Points (REP). You gain these points by
completing contracts, having a full crew, improving your skills
and being debt-free at the end of the game. Be the first player to
finish their Royal Contract and a nice bonus will come your way.
The player with the most Reputation Points at the end wins!
CONTRACT
1 2
1 - Contract title
3
2 - Skill type
4 3 - REP value
4 - Required Components
5 - Coin earned when completed
6 - Component bonus (if applicable)
7 - Forge number
Completing contracts throughout the
game gains you forging experience.
5 6 Contracts are also worth REP points
7
at the end of the game.
LOAN
1 - Coin gained when the loan is taken
from the bank
2 - Coin that must be repaid to remove
the loan
Each unpaid Loan is worth -2 REP at
the end of the game.
 COMPONENT CREW
3 1 2 1 - Component title 1 - Crew title
2 - Component level 2 - Hire cost
4 3 - Component cost 3 - Crew ability/effect
4 - Component type
5 - Dice used when forging You must pay the hire cost when
you first hire crew from the Tavern
There is no limit to the number Precinct. When you finish a contract,
of components you store in your you must pay their hire cost again if
stockpile. you wish to keep them. Otherwise,
The three levels of components are: return them to the bottom of the Crew
deck.
5

1. Each player chooses a guild board, taking the matching

coloured guild agent (meeple), the three matching coloured skill
cubes and three coin.
2. Randomly determine a first player, then place your guilds
agent on the board in the guildhall precinct.
3. Place one skill cube on each skill track at the highest mark
indicated (no marks = no skill points, leave the unused cubes to
the side of your guild board.)
4. Shuffle and deal two Royal Contracts to each player. Players
secretly choose one to keep and place the other contract back
into the game box.
5. Remove the nine 1 REP value Contracts from the Contract
deck, shuffle them and then deal one of these contracts to each
player. Shuffle the remaining 1 REP value contracts back into the
Contract deck.
6. Place a number of face-up contracts from the contract deck
equal to the number of players +1 above the game board to create
the job track.
7. Separate the three Component decks into their levels. Shuffle
and place three Component cards from each deck to form the
market place as shown.
8. Shuffle and place the Crew and Loan decks as shown (three
face-up Crew in the Tavern, two face-up Loans in the Bank)

2
On each turn players may take 3 actions. Each of the available
actions can be performed more than once in a turn.
As an action, you may:
Move your agent to a connected Precinct
OR
Perform a Precinct Action
THE CONNECTED PRECINCTS OF WINTERFORGE
TAKE CONTRACTS
As an action, you may take up to 2 face-up contracts from the job
track. If you are holding more than 3 contracts (not including
your Royal Contract), you must return any extra contracts to
the job track. This can be a Contract that you have acquired in
a previous action. Once you have finished this action, replenish
any open Contract spaces on the job track with contracts from
the top of the deck.
REQUEST FUNDS
As an action, if you have less than 3 coin, you may receive 1 coin
from your guild (take from the bank).
3
TAKE LOAN
As an action, you may take 1 of the face-up loans from the bank,
placing it in front of you and taking the lower coin value shown
on the card. You can never have more than 2 unpaid loans at a
time. Each unpaid loan is worth -2 REP at the end of the game. At
the end of your action, replenish any open loan spaces.
PAY LOAN
As an action, you may pay back any amount of coin left owing
on your loan or loans. Place this amount of coin on the relevant
Loan card to indicate how much of the loan has been paid back.
If the coin on the card is equal to the higher value shown, the
Loan card is returned to the bottom of the Loan deck and the coin
on the card is returned to the bank.
PURCHASE COMPONENTS
As an action, you may purchase up to 2 separate components from
any of the 9 available components in the market. To purchase a
component, pay the value on the top left corner of the card to the
bank, then place the component face up in front of you, forming
your stockpile. There is no limit to the number of components
you can have in your stockpile. Once you have finished your
action, replenish any open Component spaces with cards from
the relevant Component deck (for example, if there is a space on
the top row of components, then replenish that space with a level
1 Component, a second row space is replenished with a level 2
Component and a third row space is replenished with a level 3
Component).
REFRESHING THE COMPONENT ROW
At the end of an action, if there are 3 components of the same
type (Raw, Refined, or Gem) along a market row, the entire row is
shuffled into the relevant Component deck and 3 new components
are placed along the row. Repeat this process as needed to ensure
that no 3 components along a single row are of the same type.

FORGE A CONTRACT
As an action, you may attempt to forge a contract from your hand.
First, announce what contract you intend to forge, and place
it face up on the table next to your guild board. Next, commit
the required components from your stockpile to the contract by
placing them under the Contract card, with their type and dice
showing.
You cannot commit more or fewer components than the
contract requires. Finally, assemble the dice pool provided by
the committed components and roll. The result of your forge is
calculated as follows:
Sum of the dice + Component Bonus (if applicable)
+ Crew Bonuses (if applicable) + Guild Skill Level +
Any Work Tokens
If you roll lower than the Contracts forge number
You have failed to complete the contract. Place 1 Work Token on
the contract as a +1 bonus towards this contracts completion on
future forge actions. Until it is completed, this contract remains
face up in front of you and any components originally committed
to it, cannot be removed or replaced. This contract still counts
towards your total contract limit and cannot move from the table
in front of you until it is completed. You can continue to forge
other contracts while this contract is incomplete.
4
If you roll equal to or greater than the Contracts
forge number
The forge action has succeeded and you have forged the contract.
Perform the following actions:
1. Return the committed components face-down to the bottom of
their relevant Component deck.
2. Return any work tokens placed on the contract back into the
communal pile.
3. Move your guilds skill cube one space higher on the skill track
that matches the contracts skill type.
4. Take coin from the bank equal to the value indicated on the
contract in the bottom-left corner.
5. Pay coin to the bank equal to the hire cost of all crew that are
in your guild (NOTE: this cost may be more than the coin you
receive from the contract, so a contract may have a negative effect
on your existing coin). If crew are not paid (either by choice or
lack of coin), they are returned to the bottom of the Crew deck.
(NOTE: When completing your Royal Contract, you do not need
to pay your crew)
6. Place your completed contract face-down under your guild
board.
TRAINING
As an action, you may pay to increase a skill by one point. To
train, pay the coin indicated on the guild board for the skill you
are buying and move the skill cube up 1 space. (for example, if
you were to purchase the fourth skill point in weapons, it would
cost 3 coin but if you were to purchase the fifth skill point in
weapons, it would cost 5 coin).
HIRE CREW
As an action, you may hire 1 of the face-up Crew cards for your
guild. To hire, pay the crews hire cost indicated in the upper-left
of the card, and move the crew card from the Tavern to a space in
front of you near your guild board. Do not replenish the Tavern
until the end of your turn (see below). You can never have more
than 2 Crew in your guild at a time. You can fire crew, and return
them to the bottom of the Crew deck, as part of your Hire Crew
Action.

REPLENISHING THE TAVERN

Instead of replenishing the Tavern at the end of an action, you
must wait until the end of your turn to refresh the crew. Any
remaining Crew cards are placed face-down on the bottom of the
Crew deck and three new Crew cards are placed in the Tavern.

If either of the following conditions are met, the game is over at
the end of the current round, so that everyone has completed the
same number of turns throughout the game:
A player completes their Royal Contract
OR
There are no contracts left in the contract deck
Once everyone has finished their final turn, each player follows
the guide to the right to calculate their final reputation score.
NOTE: If a player is able to, they may pay back any outstanding
loans to the bank now, without needing to be in the Bank Precinct.
To calculate your final score, count the Reputation points you have
earned from your completed contracts and add the following:
+5 Reputation if you have completed your Royal
Contract
+3 Reputation if you were the first to complete
your Royal Contract
+2 Reputation if you have 2 crew members in
your guild
+0/2/3 Reputation for each skill with a skill point
in the relevant band on the guild board
-2 Reputation for each unpaid loan

The player with most Reputation Points wins and their guild is awarded the Royal Centenary Contract!

5
Michael begins his turn with his agent in the Bank Prencinct.
As his first action, he takes one of the available loans, gaining
10 coin for his guild. At the end of this action, he places the top
card of the loan deck face up in the space left behind by the loan
he took. As a second action, he moves his agent one space to
the Market Precinct. For his third action, he purchases two
components - an Oak for 2 coin and a Sapphire for 3 coin, both
from the second row. He then draws the top 2 components from
the level 2 component deck and places them in the spaces left
behind by the components he purchased. When he ends his
action, he finds that there are now 3 refined components (two
Silk and a Silver) on the second row, so he shuffles the row
into the level 2 component deck and draws 3 new components
to replenish the row. Now there are 2 raw components and 1
refined component on the second row. Michael has completed
his 3 actions and ends his turn.
Next is Sarahs turn. Her agent is on the Guildhall Precinct and
she has enough components to forge one of the contracts in her
hand but is not confident enough in her guilds skill yet. As her
first action, she moves her agent to the Tavern Precinct. As a
second action, she hires the Layoff with her last 2 coin. Sarah
moves her agent to the Forge Precinct as her third and final
action this turn, so that she is ready to forge on her next one. At
the end of her turn, because she hired a crewmember from the
Tavern Precinct, she places the 2 remaining Crew cards on the
bottom of the Crew deck and draws 3 new ones, placing them in
the Tavern.
Christophers starts his turn with his agent in the Forge Precinct.
He has everything he needs for a contract in his stockpile. He
spends his first action forging a contract.
NOW YOURE READY TO PLAY!
6
He starts by announcing his contract - Full Helm. Next, he
attaches Steel, Iron and Leather components to the contract from
his stockpile. This gives him 2 D6 and a D8, which he now rolls,
resulting in a 2, 4 and 2. With a total of 8 from his components,
2 from his guilds skills, 2 from using the Steel Component as a
contract skill bonus and a further 1 from the Retiree he hired, his
total forge result is 13, less than the Full Helms forge requirement
of 14. He places 1 work token on the contract, and decides to
attempt the forge action again with his second action. This
time, he rolls a 1, 3 and 6.
Christophers total, including the 1 from his work token, is
15, more than the Full Helms forge requirement of 14, thus
succeeding the forge. Upon completion, he returns the Steel and
Leather components to the bottom of the Level 2 Component
deck and the Iron to the bottom of the Level 1 Component deck.
The work token he earned on the contract is returned to the
communal pile. Next, he moves the skill cube on his guild board
for Armour one space to the right. He then takes 9 coin from the
bank as payment for the guild but returns 2 coin to pay for his
Retiree crew. Finally, he places the Full Helm contract facedown
under his board. As a final action this turn, he moves his agent
to the Guildhall Precinct.
Finally, it is Amandas turn. She starts her turn on the Guildhall
Precinct. As her first action, she takes 2 Contracts from the job
track, replacing them with 2 new Contracts from the top of the
Contract deck. As she wants to build up a hand of contracts to
forge in quick sucession, she uses her second action to take
another 2 Contracts from the job track. As she is now holding
4 contracts (not including her royal contract) in her hand, she
returns one of them to the job track before filling the last empty
space on the job track with a Contract from the top of the Contract
deck. As her final action, she moves her agent to the Market
Precinct.
 GAME DESIGN BY Aaron Sparke, Dylan Shearer & Jennah Grimsey

ART BY Jamie Noble-Frier

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Adrian Slade, Andrew Betts, Anthony Hansen, Blake Thomas, Cassie Varian, Chris Winning, Christen Hill, Claire
Eckert, Dustin Hulsey, Ellen Blaha, Jason Kotzur-Yang, Jono Chabowski, Josh Sanderson, Justin Ryan, Kirralee
Peterkin, Liam Polkinghorne, Matthew Mulherin, Michael McIntyre, Nadia Chester, Nigel Bell, Paul Ferguson,
Pedro Dodero-Escalante, Stephen Mierendorf, Vanessa Tierney, and You...