2nd Edition
Solitaire
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"Each time I end a
session, I can't wait
to play again. On
top of that, I am
also nervous over
playing it again.
Terrific game!"
- Everett Hathaway
(Board Game Geek)
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Mound Builder Rules v1.0
MOUND BUILDERS
culture, trade and warfare
in ancient North America
Table of Contents
[0.0] USING THESE RULES ............. 1
[1.0] INTRODUCTION ...................... 1
[2.0] GAME EQUIPMENT ................ 2
[3.0] HISTORY: CARDS & ERAS ..... 2
[4.0] SET UP .................................... 4
[5.0] SEQUENCE OF PLAY ............... 4
[6.0] ECONOMIC PHASE ................. 5
[7.0] HOSTILES PHASE ................... 6
[8.0] REVOLT PHASE ...................... 9
[9.0] ACTION PHASE ..................... 10
[10.0] END OF TURN PHASE ......... 13
[11.0] DISCOVERING CHIEFDOMS . 14
[12.0] PEACE PIPES ...................... 15
[13.0] THE GREAT SUN ................ 16
[14.0] END OF AN ERA .................. 17
[15.0] COLONIZATION (A)............ 23
[16.0] THE BLACK TORTOISE (A)... 23
[17.0] SOCIAL ACTIVITIES (A) ..... 25
[18.0] VARIATIONS (O)................. 26
[19.0] GAME BALANCE (O) .......... 28
[20.0] DESIGNERS’ NOTES ........... 29
[0.0] USING THESE RULES
New gaming terms, when initially defined,
appear in dark red lettering for quick
referencing.
The instructions for this game are organized
into major “Rules” sections as shown in large
green CAPS font, and represented by the
number to the left of the decimal point (e.g.,
Rule 4.0 is the fourth Rule). These Rules
generally explain the game’s subject matter,
its components, the procedures for play, the
game’s core systems, how to set it up, and
how to win.
With each Rule, there can be “Cases” that
further explain a Rule’s general concept or
basic procedure. Cases might also restrict the
application of a Rule by denoting exceptions
to it. Cases (and Subcases) are an extension
1
of a Rule shown in the way that they are
numbered. For example, Rule 4.1 is the first
Case of the fourth Rule; and Rule 4.1.2 is the
second Subcase of the first Case of the fourth
Rule.
Important information is in red text.
References to examples of a Rule or Case are in
blue text and this font.
Text in shaded boxes, like this, provides the
voice of the game’s designer, who is
addressing you to explain an idea or concept
that is not, itself, a Rule or a Case.
[1.0] INTRODUCTION
MOUND BUILDERS is a solitaire States of
SiegeTM game where you represent the two
largest pre-Columbian Indian “mound
builder” cultures that dominated eastern
North America from before the time of Christ
until the coming of the European colonists in
the 17th century. Your empire represents the
earlier Hopewell culture and the later
Mississippian culture that derived from it.
Until the arrival of the Spanish late in the
game, you will expand your control across
the map of North America, extending it over
the various chiefdoms encountered and
incorporating them into your economic and
religious sphere (“empire”). Your domain
will grow and shrink, but be aware that rather
than a military advance and retreat, this
process represents the rise and decline of
culture, religious ideology, and an economic
way of life, threatened from outside by
competing ideologies and lifestyles as much
as by hostile armies.
Your goal is to extend Mound Builder
culture and amass as many chiefdoms as
possible before rival native powers (and the
smallpox-ridden Spanish!) rise up to drive
you back to your Mississippi River heartland
and extinguish your vast capital city at
Cahokia, Illinois – near modern St. Louis.
In this game, we have generally replaced the
term “Native American” with the more
colloquial and mercifully shorter (if less
Politically Correct) word “Indian.”
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
2
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
[2.0] GAME EQUIPMENT
Parts Inventory
● One 11” x 17” map
● One sheet of 49, two-sided pieces
● One Rules booklet (you’re reading it)
● Fifty History cards
● One 6-sided die (not in the bagged
version of the game).
● One opaque container to randomize
certain markers (not provided)
[2.1] Map: The map depicts eastern North
America between the
Great Plains and the
Appalachian Mountains,
known as The Great
American Woodland
area. This was the home
of all the continent’s
Mound Builder cultures.
Cahokia is the hexagonshaped hub of the
spaces on the map and your capital.
Warpaths are the five different tracks
emanating from Cahokia as spokes
from a hub, each named for a historic
Indian nation which threatened the
Cahokians: Ho-Chunk, Shawnee,
Cherokee, Natchez, and Caddo.
Land is another term for the various
spaces on the different Warpaths.
Tribal Homeland spaces are the last,
rectangular-shaped ones on each
Warpath with a tribal symbol of that
Warpath’s Hostile Tribe.
Wilderness Lands are the round spaces
found along each Warpath.
Lands where a Chiefdom marker does not
reside are Unorganized spaces.
Lands where a Chiefdom marker resides
are Organized spaces.
[2.2] The Playing Pieces: The
playing pieces come in two basic
types: Armies (the “standee”
pieces where you assemble the
stand into its base) and markers.
The number on an Army is its Battle
Value (lower is easier for you to defeat).
Armies represent hostile forces and mark
the control of territories by your enemies
(i.e., the solitaire game system).
Conceptual Note: MOUND BUILDERS spans
three Eras. During the first, the Hopewell
Era, the on-map Peace Pipe markers
denote the boundaries of your empire.
At the end of this Era, the Armies arrive
(marked with distinct colors and Indian
symbols). They depict hostile tribes
envious of your power and wealth, which
oppose you for the rest of the game (the
Mississippian and Spanish Eras). At the
end, the unpredictable Spanish appear,
potentially devastating the entire region.
The 25 Chiefdom markers can be in one of
two states: a Plain side and a Mounded
side (with a brown Indian Mound).
Chiefdoms Front (Plain)
Battle Value
Will Revolt
Trade Good Type (underlined = unique)
Chiefdoms Back (Mounded)
Will not
Revolt
Mounded
symbol
Special Ability available for
unique, Mounded Chiefdom
[2.3] History Cards: A deck of 50 cards
regulates the game’s activities (each card’s
play is a single game turn), provides
historical context, and lists the Warpath(s)
that see activity this turn.
[3.0] HISTORY: CARDS & ERAS
The use of the History cards is largely
self-evident. The notations on each card
are presented in the order that they are
applied during a given Phase of the
Sequence of Play (except that Revolts
occur after Hostiles), being performed
from top to bottom and left to right.
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Card Number
Card Title
Era Color
Action Points
this turn (3)
Revolt this turn
Warpath in
Ascension ()
or Decline ()
Advancing
Armies
Graphic
Historical
flavor text
[3.1] Card Information: Each card has
the following information:
1) Action Points ( ; see 6.0)
2) Special Events: Assorted, below:
A) Modifiers (; see 7.2)
B) Resource Bonus (; see 6.5)
C) Spanish Avaricia (; see 14.2)
D) Spanish Entry (; see 14.3)
E) Black Tortoise ( ; see 16.0)
; see
3) Hostile Advances (
7.1)
4) Revolts (______ REVOLT; see 8.0)
In addition, each card has a fascinating and
well-researched historical note about some
aspect of Mound Builder history and
culture, which you are encouraged to read!
[3.2] Three Historical Eras: You reveal
the full deck of cards in MOUND BUILDERS
over three distinct Eras of ancient history:
Hopewell (green background color): This
initial Era sees your expansion across
the map absorbing neighboring
Chiefdoms into your empire. During the
Hopewell Era, you control the Peace
Pipe markers, using them to assimilate
neighboring independent Chiefdoms,
who resist you, into your empire (11.0).
During the Hopewell Era (250 AD-750
AD), each turn represents about 50 years.
Historically, the congenial Hopewell Era
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ended around 500 AD, but things didn’t
turn nasty for some time afterward.
Mississippian (yellow background color):
This Era sees the placement of hostile
regional armies on the board. Their
invasions seek to seize your territory and
overthrow your rule by attacking the
Chiefdoms that you annexed during the
Hopewell Era.
During the Mississippian and Spanish
Eras, the Chiefdoms are friendly to you.
During the Mississippian Era (750 AD-c.
1500 AD), each turn hastens to represent
about 25 years. Now the Chiefdoms who
resisted you during the Hopewell Era
become your defensive bulwarks against
the rising tide of hostile invaders!
Spanish (black background color). This
final Era sees the Spanish trying to take
your empire completely apart and
potentially devastate the entire region.
Finally, during the turbulent Spanish Era
(ca. 1500-1600 AD), should Cahokia
survive the Mississippian Era (historically,
it didn’t quite make it, collapsing circa
1400 AD), each turn spans approximately 5
years of time!
Generic (silver background color): These
cards appear in the Mississippian and
Spanish Eras only.
See Rule 14.0 for the ending of one Era
and the beginning of the next.
[3.3] Two Games in One: During the
Hopewell Era of MOUND BUILDERS you’re
playing a game of exploration and
expansion; when that Era ends, there are
no more discoveries to make and
expansion of your valuable empire ceases.
Beginning with the Mississippian Era you
are playing a whole different game, this
one a true States of SiegeTM game where
you are constantly under attack from all
sides and trying to hang on!
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
4
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
[4.0] SET UP
[5.0] SEQUENCE OF PLAY
1. Place the hexagonal Cahokia marker
showing its unbreached “Palisades” side
in the 4F (i.e., two o’clock) position.
2. Place the rectangular Era marker in the
Historical Era
box reading
“Hopewell.”
3. Place the square Action Points marker
showing its “Save 1 AP” side in the 0
box on the Storage Pits track.
4. Place the triangular Value Modifier
() marker in the Conquered
Chiefdoms box.
5. Take the five Peace Pipe markers and
place them in the Conquered Chiefdoms
box, showing their “Peace Pipe” side.
6. Place all 25 Chiefdom markers inside a
Draw Cup, shaking it to randomize
them. Pull 5 markers out and
randomly place them, showing
their Plain side, in the #1
Lands on each Warpath (i.e.,
Dickson, Angel, Pinson, Kincaid, and
Toltec).
7. Set aside the 6 Army standees, the
round Great Sun, the square Trade
Goods, and the octagonal Smallpox
markers. They do not appear in the
Hopewell Era.
8. Prepare the Hopewell Era deck as
follows:
A. Separate the cards into four groups
based on their title color backgrounds:
12 green Hopewell Era; 12 yellow
Mississippian Era; 2 black Spanish
Era; and 24 silver Generic cards.
B. Randomly select 2 of the 12 green
Hopewell Era cards and set them
aside. Shuffle the remainder and place
them face down to form the Draw
Pile.
Play commences with the first turn.
Each turn consists of the following Phases
that must be conducted in order:
1. History Phase: Reveal the top card in
the Draw Pile and place it, face up, in
the Event Pile (a.k.a. the Discard Pile).
That card becomes the new current
History card that you must resolve.
2. Economic Phase: Calculate your
Action Points (“APs”) for this turn:
 If there is a white circle (), see 6.1.
 If a black circle (), see 6.2.
 If applicable, gain Economic Bonus
APs (; 6.5).
3. Hostiles Phase: Resolve all Warpath
Status (; 7.2), Advances
(
; 7.1), Spanish ( or ;
14.2 or 14.3) and Black Tortoise ( ;
16.0) Events, moving all active Armies
as indicated on the card and possibly
exercising your Defense Roll (7.3)
option. If an Army Advances into a
“Breached” Cahokia, (7.5) you
immediately lose.
4. Revolts Phase: If the current History
card lists a Revolt, determine its effect
(see 8.0).
5. Action Phase: You may now spend
your APs to perform as few or as many
Actions as you can afford. APs are used
to: Move (9.1), Incorporate / Attack
Chiefdoms (9.2/9.6), Mounding (9.3),
Fortify/Repair (9.4/9.7), Improve
Storage Pits (Advanced Game, 9.5),
Powwow (9.8), Colonize (Advanced
Game, 9.9), and Go Buzzard (Advanced
Game 9.10).
6. End of Turn Phase (skip in the Hopewell Era: Perform these Housekeeping
Steps in order (10.0):
 Remove the triangular Status marker
and any Overextended Peace Pipe
markers (12.3) from the map.
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
 Remove enemy-controlled Plain
Chiefdom markers unless there is a
Peace Pipe marker on that Warpath.
These removed Chiefdom markers
are placed in the Conquered
Chiefdoms box.
 Degrade (flip) enemy-controlled
Mounded Chiefdom markers unless
there is a Peace Pipe marker on that
Warpath.
 If necessary, adjust the Trade Goods
marker to reflect the current economic
state of your Empire (6.2).
 If in play, place the Great Sun marker
in either its Available box or on any
controlled Land.
 Set the Smallpox level (at the
conclusion of the first Spanish turn
only, see 14.5).
If The Spanish card () was just played
for the second time, the game is over (see
14.7). Otherwise, continue play with the
next card (or next Era, when it begins).
[6.0] ECONOMIC PHASE
During the Economic Phase, calculate
how many Action Points
(“APs”) you receive. You will
have an opportunity to spend
them during your Action Phase.
Your AP income depends on whether you
drew a card with a white AP number (e.g.,
) or a black AP number (e.g., ).
[6.1] White AP Numbers: If the current
History card has a white AP number, you
simply gain that many APs. Adjust your
Action Point marker accordingly.
You do not count Trade Goods (6.2) if
you draw a white AP number card!
[6.2] Black AP Numbers and Trade
Goods: If your card has a black circle with
a number in it, then your AP total depends
on your current economic situation –
which in turn depends on Trade Goods.
Each Chiefdom on the map has its own
Trade Good, and every Trade Good on the
5
map counts toward your economy, even if
you do not control it!
That’s right. You don’t have to control
Chiefdoms to enjoy their Trade Goods;
they just have to exist on the map
somewhere. These people are happy to
trade with you.
But do not be lulled into a false sense of
security! Starting in the Mississippian
Era, Chiefdoms outside your control
begin to “degrade” and vanish from the
map as they are overrun by barbarians.
Thus it is in your interest to annex them as
quickly as possible (for their own benefit –
to “protect” them, of course).
Trade Goods
There are nine Trade Goods: Hides, Mica,
Obsidian, Chalcedony, Copper,
Feathers, Seashells, Pipestone, and
Chert.
They are randomly and – this is key –
unequally distributed among the
Chiefdoms. Obsidian, for instance, is
much rarer than Hides. Amassing as high a
Trade Goods Total as possible is how your
economy succeeds in the game.
The Size of Your Economy
You only count a particular Trade Good
toward your total if either (or both) of the
following conditions applies:
1) Two or more Plain Chiefdoms
producing the identical Trade Good are
on the map, OR
+
= Feathers
2) At least one Mounded Chiefdom
producing that particular Trade Good is
on the map.
= Feathers
Important: Count each type of Trade
Good only once: e.g., if you have two
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
6
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Mounded Hides Chiefdoms, you would
only count “Hides” once.
Economy Example: It’s late in the game and
you are down to only a few surviving
Chiefdoms, all on the Shawnee Warpath:
Angel – Plain Feathers
Fort Ancient – Mounded Chert
Portsmouth – Plain Feathers
Serpent Mound – Mounded Chert
Newark – Plain Copper
There are two Plain Feathers, so you count
Feathers (once, because it requires a pair of
them if neither is Mounded).
There are also two Mounded Cherts, but you
only count Chert once (you never count a
single Trade Good twice).
Finally, there is one Plain Copper. Since it is
not Mounded, you don’t count it because you
have only one of them.
Your Trade Goods Total is two (Feathers and
Chert). Good luck!
[6.3] Calculating Action Points (APs):
The first step in the Economic Phase, if
you have drawn a Black Actions card, is
to determine how many APs you have.
Procedure
Subtract the Black Actions number on the
card from your Trade Goods Total (above)
to determine your APs for this turn.
Example: You have 6 Trade Goods (Mica,
Chert, Obsidian, Feathers, Hides, and Copper).
The current History card has a  on it, so you
subtract 4 from your Trade Goods Total of 6.
Since 6 – 4 = 2, you have 2 APs this turn.
[6.4] AP Limits: The maximum number
of APs you can have is 9 or whichever box
the Smallpox marker (14.5) is located in
on the Storage Pits track (whichever is
lower). The minimum number you
receive each turn is 1 AP, even if you
would otherwise receive 0; think of this as
an emergency award of 1 AP.
[6.5] Resource Bonus: The diamond
symbol on a card () indicates that you
receive one additional (+1) AP for every
Chiefdom possessing the Trade Good(s) in
the card title that you control (mounded or
not; 9.0), not merely have access to. Add
this bonus after calculating your APs (6.3
and 6.4).
Example: You reveal History card #27, which
highlights Chalcedony and Obsidian. You will
receive +1 AP for each of the two Chiefdoms
you control that produces Chalcedony, and
another +1 AP if you control the sole Chiefdom
that produces Obsidian.
[7.0] HOSTILES PHASE
Conflict with “outsiders” was a constant
feature of Native American life. In MOUND
BUILDERS you represent the forces of
Hopewell and Mississippian civilization
against five generalized, hostile tribes,
each identified with a particular Warpath.
The Ho-Chunk ( ), formerly the
Winnebago, are Siouan-speaking
migrants from the northwest. In
prehistoric times they created the Effigy
Mound and Oneota Cultures of
Wisconsin.
The Shawnee ( ) represent Algonquian
tribes from New York and New
England. These include the historic
Shawnee, who shared in Mound Builder
culture to some degree. These tribes may
have actually put an end to Cahokia by
1400 AD.
The Cherokee ( ) represent several
hostile southeastern tribes on the fringe
of mound building culture, who may
have participated in the mound building
phenomenon. The Cherokee are the
largest Indian Tribe in the U.S. today.
The Natchez ( ) actually were mound
builders, but seem to have been in
conflict with other Mississippians to
their north. French explorers observed
the last remnants of Natchez culture
around 1700, and these accounts teach
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
us a great deal about pre-Columbian
Indian life in the shadow of the
Mississippian culture.
The Caddo ( ), like the Natchez, were
rival Mississippians on the western
fringes of Mound Builder culture in
what is now Oklahoma, east Texas,
Arkansas, and Louisiana. Their
Caddoan languages may be distantly
related to Iroquois.
[7.1] Reading the Symbols: During the
Hostiles Phase, pay attention to the
Hostiles symbols on the cards:
Move Status
Ho-Chunk
Shawnee
Cherokee
Natchez
Caddo
All

n/a
The appearance of a symbol indicates the
Warpath where hostile action by rival
Indians takes place. If two such symbols
appear on the card, two such events occur!
Example: In the Mississippian Era you reveal
.” This means
a History card reading: “
that the Cherokee Army ( ) advances twice,
and the Ho-Chunk Army ( ) advances once.
[7.2] Warpath Scouting: Cards showing
colored triangles offer you Warpath
Scouting (“Intelligence”) Reports, which
indicate the current state of the Chiefdoms
and Armies along those Warpaths.
A down arrow ()
shows them in decline;
this is good for you as you
receive several favorable 1 Value Modifiers along
that Warpath that turn.
Conversely, an up arrow
() shows their
ascension; this is bad for
you and inflicts several
harmful +1 Value
Modifiers.
7
The color of the triangle indicates which
Warpath was scouted: green for HoChunk, blue for Shawnee, orange for
Cherokee, gray for Natchez, brown for
Caddo and white for All. Place the Value
Modifier marker in that Homeland (or the
All Warpaths area) as a reminder.
Warpath Scouting Modifiers
What Scouting Report triangles modify:
1. The Battle Value of an Independent
Chiefdom (during the Hopewell Era;
9.2) or an enemy Army (during the
Mississippian or Spanish Eras; 9.6)
when you engage them.
2. The Battle Value of a Mounded
Chiefdom when you conduct its
Defense Roll (7.3).
3. “Mounding” costs for Chiefdoms (9.3).
4. Your cost to Colonize (15.0).
A down triangle () indicates a -1
Modifier along that entire Warpath, which
is good for you in each of these areas.
An up triangle () indicates a +1
Modifier along that entire Warpath, which
is bad for you in each of these areas.
Think of modifiers as if they were prices.
When they go up, it’s bad for you; when
they go down it’s good for you.
Remember, these modifiers affect the cost
or Value of things; die rolls are never
modified in Mound Builders.
[7.3] Hostile Advances: The Move
symbols on a History card indicate
advancing enemy Armies from the Lands
beyond your control along that Warpath.
The terms “Move” and “Advance” are
used synonymously.
If the Hostile’s Move carries its Army into
an Unorganized Land, or into a Plain
Chiefdom that you control, its entry there
is unopposed and automatic. During your
Action Phase you can spend APs to try to
take back these Lands (see 9.6).
If the Hostile’s Move carries its Army into
a Mounded Chiefdom that you control,
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
8
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
you may make a Defense Roll (see below)
and, if the Great Sun is in this Land, you
may Ambush (see 9.6).
A Mounded Chiefdom “works for you”
by defending itself against invaders. There
are military as well as economic benefits to
Mounding a Chiefdom.
Peace Pipe Protection
If you have a Peace Pipe
marker in a Land when a
Hostile attempts to move into that space
(i.e., this occurs before any Defense Roll,
see below), remove the Peace Pipe marker
and set it aside instead; the Hostile remains
in place and does not enter that space. The
Peace Pipe marker wastes that Hostile’s
move, but is “burned up” doing so. If the
card has that Hostile move twice, a Peace
Pipe marker wastes only one Advance: the
other takes place normally.
Defense Rolls
If you wish to “defend,” militarily, your
Mounded Chiefdoms when they are
invaded, you must opt to make a Defense
Roll. To do this, roll one die:
 If the result is greater than the (
modified; 7.2) Value of that Chiefdom,
the encroaching enemy Army retreats
back one space to the Land it attacked
from. Its attack against that Chiefdom
failed.
 If the result is less than or equal to the
(modified; 7.2) Value of that
Chiefdom, the hostile Army occupies
that space. Its attack against the
Chiefdom succeeded.
 Destruction: If your Defense Roll is a
1, you must also flip that Mounded
Chiefdom to show its Plain side. Ignore
this effect if you are in Buzzard Cult
mode (see 17.3).
You don’t have to roll to defend the Land,
especially if you do not want to risk a
Destruction result.
Ambush Defense: Having the Great Sun
marker at the Defending Mounded
Chiefdom (13.3) allows you to conduct an
Ambush Defense. With an
Ambush, you roll two
Defense dice (z z) and
choose one of their results.
[7.4] Cahokia’s Palisades: Cahokia is the
capital city of your empire. If it falls, you
instantly lose the game (see 7.5).
Strength Levels
You can raise your
Cahokia Palisades up
to six levels in strength.
Letters in the Cahokia
hex indicate the
Palisades’ level, from
A (the strongest) to F
(the weakest). These
Palisades’ levels have a Strength Value
associated with them located next to the
letters, from 4 (the weakest, e.g., 4F) to 2
(the strongest, e.g., 2A).
Mississippian cities were often defended
by enormous walls, made of felled trees
interwoven with wattle and daub (see card
#46). The greatest of these cities was
Cahokia: unsurpassed in all the lands
destined to be the United States prior to the
growth of 18th century Philadelphia.
Defending the Palisades
Battering the Walls: An Army Advancing
into the Cahokia space reduces the
Palisades marker by one
“click” counter-clockwise
(i.e., to the next-lowest
letter). It doesn’t actually
enter Cahokia as long as the
Palisades remain unbreached.
Palisades Example: The Palisades marker
shows the 3C position as its current level. The
hostile Cherokee are at Pinson and move
forward. Instead of advancing the Cherokees
into Cahokia, you “click” the Palisades marker
counterclockwise from 3C to 4D to show the
effects of the Cherokees battering the walls!
Palisades Defense Rolls: You may opt to
conduct a Defense Roll (7.3) as you would
for a Mounded Chiefdom (including
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
performing an Ambush if the Great Sun is
present) using the Palisades’ current
Strength Value (which is never modified):
 If the result is greater than the
Palisades’ current Strength Value, the
encroaching enemy Army has stopped
and there is no effect. Its attack fails and
the Palisades are not damaged.
 If the result is less than or equal to the
Palisades’ current Strength Value,
reduce the Palisades marker by the one
“click” counter-clockwise described
above in “Battering the Walls” (to the
next-lowest letter). The attack succeeds.
 Breach: If your Defense
Roll is a 1, do not lower
the Palisades marker’s
Value; instead, leave it at its
current Value and flip it to show its
“Breached” side. This Breach “flip”
result is reduced to a simple “click”
result (above) if you are in Buzzard
Cult mode (see 17.3).
You can Repair a Breached Palisades
marker during your Action Phase (9.7).
Last-Ditch Defense: If your Palisades
marker is in its lowest (4F) position and
must be reduced, it is instead flipped to
show its “Breached” side (and remains in
the 4F position).
The thing to remember is the Palisades
marker either clicks or flips, never both.
[7.5] Sudden Death: If, after the Hopewell Era, any enemy Army unit or a Coup
(16.5) attacks your Breached Cahokia
Palisades, the game ends immediately and
you lose (14.7). Mississippian Mound
Builder culture has suffered a mortal blow.
[8.0] REVOLT PHASE
During any Era, a History card with the
colored words “[Tribe Name] Revolt”
indicates a Revolt on the Warpath of the
corresponding Tribe.
9
Procedure
Roll a separate, unmodified die. Match the
result with the Revolting Warpath’s Land
numbers to determine in exactly which
Land the Revolt occurs.
Revolt Example: The current History card
shows a Revolt on the Shawnee Warpath,
whose Land numbers are 1: Angel; 2: Fort
Ancient; 3: Portsmouth; 4: Serpent Mound;
5: Newark; and 6: Homeland. You roll a 3, so
the Revolt occurs in Portsmouth.
Revolt Results
There is no effect if the result is a round
Wilderness OR rectangular Tribal
Homeland space. These Lands never
Revolt under any circumstances.
Wilderness Lands begin sparsely settled
and, if you colonize them (15.0), the
people are too dependent on Cahokia to
Revolt. Tribal Homelands are staunchly
loyal to your enemies’ cause, at least
while Cahokia still exists to unite them.
If the result is any other Land that you do
not control:
 During the Hopewell Era, there is no
effect. There is no authority to Revolt
against!
 During the Post-Hopewell Eras, the
Hostile Army on that Warpath (or the
one closest to Cahokia if the Spanish
Army is also on that Warpath; or both
if they’re on the same Land) Retreats
back one Land closer to that
Warpath’s Homeland space.
There will be no way to maintain your
Peace Pipe marker on that Warpath,
should you have one (see 12.3); it is
Overextended and will be removed.
If the result is any other Land that you do
control:
 If there is a Green Birdman on that
Land’s Chiefdom marker, there is no
effect. Green Birdman people love
you and do not Revolt.
 If the Land is Unorganized or there is
a Red Crossed-Arrow
on that
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Land’s Chiefdom marker, they Revolt
and:
o During the Hopewell Era, Retreat
your Peace Pipe marker one space
closer toward to Cahokia (or
remove the Peace Pipe if you must
retreat it into Cahokia).
o During the Post-Hopewell Eras,
Advance the Hostile Army on that
Warpath to the next Land closer to
Cahokia. No Defense Roll is
permitted (7.3) and no Peace Pipe
marker is removed.
A Hostile Army that Advances onto
a Peace Pipe marker does not affect
its use for Ambush Attacks.
A Revolt cannot become an Attack against
Cahokia itself. If the Hostile Army is in
the #1 space on its Warpath (i.e., adjacent
to Cahokia), a Revolt cannot cause it to
Advance.
Revolt Example: It is the Mississippian Era
and the current History card indicates a Revolt
on the Shawnee Warpath. Its current Land
numbers, and markers are as follows:
1 Angel has a Red Crossed-Arrow
Chiefdom.
2 Fort Ancient is Unorganized and empty.
3 Portsmouth has a Mounded Green
Birdman Chiefdom and a Peace Pipe
marker.
4 Serpent Mound is an Unorganized Wilderness with the Shawnee Army marker.
5 Newark is Unorganized and empty.
6 Shawnee Homeland is terra non grata.
On a Revolt Location die roll of 1 ( ) or
2, a Revolt against Cahokia occurs, and the
Shawnee Army will Advance into Land 3
Portsmouth; you can make no Defense Roll
to hinder this Advance, nor is the Peace Pipe
marker removed.
On Revolt Location die rolls of 3 ( ),
4 (Wilderness), or 6 (Tribal Homeland)
there is no effect.
On a Revolt Location die roll of 5, a Revolt
against the Shawnee occurs and the Shawnee
Army marker Retreats into Land 5 Newark.
[9.0] ACTION PHASE
During the Action Phase, you can conduct
Actions by spending APs (like spending
money). Each Action costs one or more
APs. When you spend APs, reduce your
AP total on the Storage Pits track.
The only limit to the number of Actions
that you can perform is whether you can
afford them. You can’t spend your APs
below 0.
Definitions
Advance: Your Peace Pipe markers
Advance away from Cahokia and
toward the Tribal Homeland at the end
of the Warpath. Hostile Armies
Advance toward Cahokia and away
from their Tribal Homeland at the end of
the Warpath.
Retreat: Your Peace Pipe markers Retreat
toward Cahokia and away from the
Tribal Homeland at the end of the
Warpath. Hostile Armies Retreat away
from Cahokia and toward their Tribal
Homeland at the end of the Warpath.
Control: During the Hopewell Era, you
control all of the spaces that your Peace
Pipe markers have advanced to (9.1),
and all the lower-numbered spaces
behind them back to Cahokia.
After the Hopewell Era, Hostile Armies
appear and they denote the limit of your
controlled spaces thus: everything on a
lower-numbered space you control (this
would be the closest Hostile Army
marker along that Warpath if the
Spanish Army is present on it), and
everything on that Hostile Army’s or a
higher-numbered space (back to their
Homeland) they control (not you!).
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Hopewell Era Only Actions
These Actions are only available during the
Hopewell Era.
The Hopewell Era is a happy time for you
of peaceful expansion and economic
development. You want to do well during
this Era because you will need as big and
economically diverse an empire as you can
build before the Hostile Armies show up in
the next Era and start taking you down!
[9.1] Unopposed Peace Pipe Advance:
During the Hopewell Era (only), there
will be times you can
Advance your Peace
Pipe marker unopposed
up its Warpath.
If you are trying to Advance it into a
Wilderness Land, or where there is
currently a Mounded Chiefdom (the
people there already love you), simply
spend one AP and Advance your Peace
Pipe marker; no die roll is necessary.
 You cannot Advance thus into a Tribal
Homeland space at the end of a
Warpath, however. They are too remote.
 Advancing into a Wilderness during the
Hopewell Era will trigger the Discovery
of a new Chiefdom in the next-higher
numbered space.
 This Discovery ability is not available
after the Hopewell Era ends.
[9.2] Incorporating an Independent
Chiefdom: During the Hopewell Era
(only), you will discover independent,
uncontrolled Chiefdoms adjacent to your
controlled territory (defined by the furthest
advance of your Peace Pipe marker down
a given Warpath) and can try to
Incorporate these Plain Chiefdoms into
your Cahokian empire thus:
It costs one AP to attempt to Incorporate a
Plain Chiefdom into your empire and
requires a Diplomacy die roll versus that
Chiefdom’s Value (modified; 7.2).
 If the result is greater than that Plain
Chiefdom’s (modified) Value, you now
11
control that Chiefdom. Advance your
Peace Pipe marker into that Land (or
place a Peace Pipe marker there if it is
the #1 Land on that Warpath) and
Discover the Chiefdom in the next
higher-numbered Land along that
Warpath (if applicable). Your diplomacy
succeeds!
 If the result is less than or equal to that
Plain Chiefdom’s (modified) Value
there is no effect. They are unpersuaded
of the virtues in joining your empire.
Busks: Once you have Incorporated the
first Chiefdom and established your Peace
Pipe marker along a given Warpath, all of
your subsequent Diplomacy rolls along
that Warpath are called Busks. With a
Busk, you roll two Diplomacy dice (z
z) and choose one of their results.
A “Busk” is a Mound Builder festival, also
called the Green Corn Ceremony. The
Chiefdoms can now clearly see that it is
only thanks to your Leader that the sun
rises every morning and the crops grow.
It’s in their self-interest to align themselves
with Cahokia’s vast supernatural power!
Every Era Actions
These Actions are available during all
Eras.
[9.3] Building a Mound (“Mounding”):
To build a mound (i.e.,
improve) for any Chiefdom
you control, you must expend
APs equal to its Value
(modified; 7.2). Flip that Chiefdom
over from its Plain side to show its
Mounded side.
Mounding Example: There is a 4 Value
Obsidian Plain Chiefdom in Etowah. Since it is
your only source of Obsidian, you need to
invest in its development. You spend 4 APs
(ouch!), and flip it to show its Mound side,
visibly indicating that the Chiefdom in Etowah
is Mounded. You also note that this changes
its Value to 2 and that has several implications!
If the current History card showed the
Cherokee Warpath with a Declining modifier
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(), their misfortune along that Warpath would
be good news to you as your cost for
Mounding would have been reduced by 1 AP
to only 3.
Building Mounds is, literally, the name of
the game in MOUND BUILDERS. A
Mounded Chiefdom is no longer an
exploited dependency; it is a full-fledged
part of your empire. Its noble families have
married into yours; its people accept your
religion and the legitimacy of your rule.
They have tied their economy to yours;
you share their resources, and their trade
networks benefit the common good (i.e.,
yours in this game).
Typically, they will go from irascible red
arrow ( ) Plain Chiefdoms to friendlier
green birdman ( ) Mounded Chiefdoms,
but not always!
[9.4] Fortify Cahokia: If your Palisades
are not Breached (7.4), you can spend two
APs to improve them by one “click”
clockwise. Cahokia’s maximum Palisades
strength is its 2A position.
You can improve the
Palisades as many times as
you can afford during a turn,
but a Breach must be
repaired first (9.7).
Post-Hopewell Era Actions
These Actions are only available during the
Mississippian and Spanish Eras.
[9.5] Improve Storage Pits (Advanced):
If you are playing the Advanced
Game and you control a
Mounded Chiefdom that
produces Seashells, you can
spend APs equal to the number
of Wilderness Lands that you
currently control (minimum of
1) to flip over the APs marker
(17.2), improving your ability to save APs
at the end of a turn from one to two (9.11).
[9.6] Attack a Hostile Army: In
the Post-Hopewell Eras, there
will always be a Hostile Army
adjacent to (i.e., “just beyond”)
the most distant Land you
control on each Warpath.
To Attack an Army costs one AP
and requires an Attack die roll.
 If the result is greater than the
designated defending Army’s Value
(modified; 7.2), it is defeated and
you Retreat it back one Land closer to
its Homeland. You now control that
Chiefdom, Wilderness, or
Unorganized Land from which it
retreated. Any Peace Pipe you had on
that Warpath remains in place (note
Rule 10.0 #1).
 If the result is less than or equal to the
designated defending Army’s Value
(modified; 7.2) it is victorious and
remains in place.
 Rout: When a “1” is rolled, you are
Routed and must lose (i.e., spend) one
additional (+1) AP to represent your
military losses. (There is no penalty if
your Storage Pit is currently at 0). Ignore
this effect if you are in Buzzard Cult
mode (see 17.3).
You can attack Hostile Armies and drive
them back beyond the limits of your
empire (i.e., into however many Unorganized or Wilderness Lands lie beyond
the limit of your Chiefdoms along that
Warpath), but never beyond their Tribal
Homeland space at the end of their
Warpath.
Pushing Hostile Armies back beyond the
limits of your empire does not “grow”
your empire in any way. The Lands
beyond your empire are all useless in the
Post-Hopewell Eras.
Ambushes: By having a Peace Pipe
marker anywhere on that Warpath, your
Attack rolls against the Army on that
Warpath are called Ambush Attacks. You
can also Use the Great Sun (13.2, 13.3) to
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
initiate Ambush Attacks. With an
Ambush, you roll two Attack dice (z z)
and choose one of their results.
Ambush Attack Example: You’re Ambushing
the 4 Value Ho-Chunk Army. You roll a 2 and
a 5. You pick the 5, since that is the only roll
that would defeat the 4 Value Ho-Chunk Army.
An enduring and well-known mystery of
Indian warfare is how skilled tribes were in
orchestrating these surprise attacks – yet
how incompetent they often were in
preparing in case some other tribe
conducted a sneak attack on them!
[9.7] Breach Repair: If Cahokia’s
Palisades are Breached (7.4), you can
repair the Breach.
Spend APs equal to the current Value of
the Palisades and flip the Palisades
Breached marker back to
show its (unbreached)
Palisades side, retaining its
current clock position.
Cahokia’s “shields” are back up, and the
Palisades can be improved again (9.4).
Breach Repair Example: Cahokia’s Palisades
are Breached and showing strength 3C. You
pay 3 APs and flip the Palisades Breached
marker to its Palisades side, retaining its notch
at the 3C position.
[9.8] Powwow: In the
Mississippian Era only, you
may Use the Great Sun
(13.1) and spend two APs to
Powwow. In the Advanced
Game, you may Powwow with the Black
Tortoise on its Warpath (16.4, when the
Leader marker is flipped to its “darker
side”).
Either way, a Powwow requires a Leader.
This creates a Peace Pipe
marker on the Warpath of
your choice that does not
currently have a Peace Pipe. Place it in
your controlled Land immediately adjacent
to the Hostile Army on that Warpath (even
if there is not a Chiefdom there). Peace
Pipe markers are never placed in Cahokia!
13
Therefore, you cannot do a Powwow when
the Hostile Army is in its #1 space. You
can’t buy off an enemy army that thinks
it’s about to conquer you!
Late Game Limits: After the Coosa card
(#25) is revealed, you are limited to only
two Peace Pipe markers in play (14.2).
Powwow Example: During the Mississippian
Era, the hostile Shawnee Army is in Serpent
Mound (Land #4). Using your Great Sun
marker (moving it to the Leader Unavailable
box) and spending 2 APs, you place a Peace
Pipe marker in Portsmouth (Land #3), the
farthest extent of your empire along the
Shawnee Warpath.
[9.9] Colonize (Advanced): In the
Advanced Game, you can spend its Plain
side Value ( modified) in APs to
return a previously removed Chiefdom
marker (10.0, Step 2) from the Conquered
Chiefdoms box to the map with its Plain
side showing (15.0).
[9.10] Go Buzzard (Advanced): If you
are playing the Advanced Game
and you control the Mounded
Chiefdom that produces
Obsidian, you can spend APs
equal to the current position of
the Trade Goods marker with a
minimum of 5 APs (i.e., from 5
to 9 APs) to flip your Trade
Goods marker over to show its “Buzzard
Cult” side and fully adopt the Buzzard
Cult religion.
This serves to militarize Cahokian society
and improve its warriors’ fighting prowess.
See 17.3 for all the details.
[9.11] Storing APs in Storage Pits: In any
Era, once you are done conducting
Actions, you may save one unspent AP for
the next turn (or up to two APs if you have
Improved your Storage Pits; see 17.2).
All remaining unspent APs are lost!
[10.0] END OF TURN PHASE
During the Hopewell Era, you only need
to perform Step 1. During the later Eras,
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you must perform other important
Housekeeping Steps during this Phase, and
in this order:
Step 1: Remove Markers:
Remove the triangular
Value Modifier marker and
any Overextended Peace
Pipe markers (see 12.3)
from the map to the
Conquered Chiefdoms box.
Step 2: Remove Enemy-Held Plain
Chiefdoms. Remove from the map and
place in the Conquered Chiefdoms box
all Plain Chiefdom markers in enemycontrolled Lands.
Exception: If there is a Peace Pipe
marker on that Warpath, do not Remove
any enemy-held Plain Chiefdoms.
Step 3: Degrade Enemy-Held Mounded
Chiefdoms. Degrade (flip in place to
show its Plain side) all Mounded
Chiefdoms in enemy-controlled Lands.
Exception: If there is a Peace Pipe
marker on that Warpath, do not Degrade
any enemy-held Mounded Chiefdoms.
Degrading shows how things deteriorate
when Chiefdoms become separated
from your beneficent and enlightened
rule. Feeling abandoned, these outlying
Chiefdoms adopt different beliefs, lose
touch with their trade networks, and
their villages disperse.
Step 4: Reset the Trade Goods Marker.
If circumstances (i.e., the
current History card or this
turn’s activities) result in
change to the number of
Trade Goods available, set
the Trade Goods marker back to its new
correct space on the Trade Goods track
(as per 6.2).
Step 5: Deploy the Great Sun. If the
Great Sun marker shows
its “Great Sun” side,
deploy or keep it in the
Available box, or place it in
any controlled Land (13.0).
Step 6: Set the Smallpox Level. At the
conclusion of the first
Spanish turn (i.e., the first
time card #26 is revealed),
place the Smallpox marker
on the Storage Pits track in
the same numbered box as the Land the
Spanish Army currently resides in
(14.5). That is your new AP limit!
[11.0] DISCOVERING
CHIEFDOMS
Chiefdoms are at the very heart of MOUND
BUILDERS. They represent towns of up to a
thousand or more people, with powerful
rulers and an economic base. This game is
all about discovering them, incorporating
them, integrating them into your empire by
“Mounding” them, and then defending
them from Hostile Armies.
The Hopewell Era
Discovering new Chiefdoms occurs only
during the Hopewell Era; once that Era
ends, set the Draw Cup aside for now.
Your rivals occupy all of the undiscovered
Lands because you did not establish trade
relations with them during this time.
In game terms, the Hopewell Era gives
you great freedom to shape your empire,
but the choices between continued
expansion and consolidation are always
present. However, you get no second
chance to expand your empire after the end
of this “happy time.”
What You Know
When the game begins, you control only
Cahokia (the central, hexagonal Land),
and know (from set up) who your
immediate neighboring Chiefdoms are
along each Warpath in the Dickson, Angel,
Pinson, Kincaid, and Toltec Lands.
What You Discover
During the Hopewell Era (only), you
Discover the Lands without Chiefdom
markers adjacent to your controlled
territory. When you Discover a new nonWilderness Land, immediately draw one
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Chiefdom marker at random from the
Draw Cup and place it, Plain
side up, in that Land.
Chiefdoms are not
Discovered in Wilderness
Lands. Discovery is not an
Action nor does it cost APs.
Discovery Example 1: On the first turn, the
Discoveries of your neighbors take place during
set up: Dickson, Angel, Kincaid, Toltec, and
Pinson, each with their Plain sides up.
But you cannot Discover any other Chiefdom
markers along a Warpath until you control the
first Land on along it. For instance, you can’t
Discover Chucalissa until you control Kincaid.
Note that simply attempting to incorporate
a Chiefdom does not allow you to
Discover the next Chiefdom along that
Warpath. You must successfully incorporate that Chiefdom (i.e., place your
Peace Pipe marker on it) to Discover the
next Chiefdom out along its Warpath.
Discovery Example 2: Early in the game, you
try to incorporate Angel repeatedly, but until
you actually roll higher than their Chiefdom’s
Value, you cannot enter Angel with your Peace
Pipe marker and thence Discover Fort Ancient.
The instant you succeed in incorporating Angel,
you may place a randomly drawn Plain
Chiefdom marker in Fort Ancient.
Once a Chiefdom is Discovered, it
remains so for the rest of the game. Even if
you are no longer adjacent to it, your
people will remember that it’s still there.
[12.0] PEACE PIPES
A Peace Pipe marker means different
things during different Eras.
The Hopewell Era
[12.1] Hopewell Era Peace Pipes: In the
Hopewell Era, once you
get a foothold on a
Warpath (i.e., control that
Warpath’s Land #1), you gain a Peace
Pipe marker on that Land. It marks the
outer limits of your controlled territory
15
(i.e., Lands beyond a Peace Pipe are
beyond your control).
Each time you Incorporate a neighboring
Chiefdom (9.2) or lose one through a
Revolt (8.0), the Peace Pipe marker
dynamically Advances or Retreats.
A Peace Pipe marker in this Era also
allows you to expand your empire more
easily by permitting you to conduct Busks
(9.2).
The Peace Pipe was the universal Indian
symbol of fellowship. In MOUND BUILDERS,
Peace Pipe markers represent peace
between Cahokia and the other Indian
polities along a particular Warpath.
In the Hopewell Era, Incorporation of
Chiefdoms represents cultural and
economic assimilation, rather than military
conquest. Thus, the Peace Pipe marker is a
symbol of your message of peaceful trade
and cultural identity. Each “Warpath” is, in
fact, one big happy family.
The Post-Hopewell Eras
At the end of the Hopewell Era, the
advance of your Peace Pipe markers
shows the outer limits of your empire
where Hostile Armies appear in the Lands
just beyond. Your Peace Pipe marker
immediately disappears if you have no
Mounded Chiefdoms on that Warpath
(14.1).
After the Hopewell Era, the very nature of
the game changes from a story of your
peaceful expansion to one of military
survival. Rules 12.2 to 12.4 reflect this.
[12.2] Later Era Peace Pipes: The nature
of a Peace Pipe marker now symbolizes
the existence of a “truce” on that Warpath.
They become static and no longer move
along a Warpath as they did before.
A Peace Pipe marker is removed from the
map in defense of its Warpath (see 7.3)
and, while present on a Warpath, prevents
Hostile Armies from harming the
Chiefdoms that they conquer there (10.0,
#2 and #3); maintaining them so you can
plan to take them back!
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A Peace Pipe marker in this Era also
allows you to extend the Lands you control
more easily by permitting you to conduct
Ambushes (9.6). You surprise your enemy
when you “break the truce” and stab them
in the back.
After the Hopewell Era, the invention of
the bow and arrow changes everything.
Powerful groups rise up to challenge your
wealth and power causing your vast trade
connections to wither. Now, the limits of
your empire are defined by Hostile Army
markers and a Peace Pipe represents
temporary truces on your frontiers where
you hold a “Powwow” (a giant party with
dancing and food) to “buy off” a Hostile
Army or lull them into complacency while
you plan a surprise attack against them.
[12.3] Overextended Peace Pipes: You
pay a price for successful Ambushes (9.6)
and suffering Revolts (8.0).
During the Housekeeping Phase (10.1 #1),
Peace Pipe markers not in your farthest
controlled Lands (i.e., in the Land in the
next lower-numbered Land adjacent to a
Hostile Army) are removed from the map.
Overextended Peace Pipe Removal
Example: You take advantage of your Peace
Pipe marker in Etowah (Land #3) during the
Action Phase and Ambush the Cherokee
Army in Ocmulgee (Land #4). Your success
using two dice (9.6) drives it back to Anhaica
(Land #5) – or even if you kept driving it all the
way back to its Homeland (Land #6) – your
Peace Pipe marker will be removed during the
Housekeeping Phase because it is no longer
adjacent to an Army marker. That is the price
of making aggressive war on your neighbors.
If a Revolt occurs on a Warpath containing
a Peace Pipe marker, some interesting
dynamics arise.
If the Hostile Army Retreats, your Peace
Pipe marker will be removed at the end of
the turn; the locals blame you for the
Revolt, which can worsen your position.
Of course, you could “back-up” the Revolt
with your own Attacks along that Warpath,
making “lemonade” out of the situation.
If the Hostile Army Advances, your Peace
Pipe marker should make it relatively easy
to recover the lost space via an Ambush
and still maintain the Peace Pipe marker in
the now-adjacent Land. If you fail to do so,
the Peace Pipe marker disappears at the
turn’s end as well, and this “sign of
weakness” will be a disaster.
[12.4] Late Game Limits: After the
Coosa card (#25) is
revealed, your
Peace Pipe markers
are limited to two
(14.2), and too soon
they disappear forever (14.2 #2).
[13.0] THE GREAT SUN
Dominating the Mississippian Era was
Cahokia’s greatness, as embodied by the
city’s hereditary ruler, the Great Sun. This
title, recorded by French explorers,
symbolized Cahokia’s military prowess
and its claim to universal moral authority.
You can use the Great Sun
marker to Powwow (9.8) or to
conduct an Ambush (13.2 and
13.3).
General Rule
At the beginning of the Mississippian
Era, you will set up the Great Sun marker
either in the Leader Available box OR in a
controlled Land of your choice on the map.
Similarly, during the End of Turn Phase
(10.0 #5), you can place (or keep) the
Great Sun marker in the Leader Available
box OR in a specific controlled Land on
the map.
[13.1] “Using” the Great
Sun: If the Great Sun is in
the Leader Available box, it
“can be Used” to perform its
special function once during
that game turn. When used,
slide it down to the Leader
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Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Unavailable box as a reminder that it has
already performed its once-per-turn feat.
When a Rule says that the Great Sun “can
be Used,” it means moving it thus from the
Available box to the Unavailable box.
Important: The Great Sun cannot “be
Used” if it is in a Land on the map (instead
of the Available box), but see 13.3, below.
[13.2] Ambush Attack: If the Great Sun
is in the Leader Available box, it can be
Used (once per turn) in one Attack
anywhere on the map to conduct an
Ambush (9.6).
[13.3] Location Ambush: If the Great
Sun is placed on a Land (including
Cahokia), and that Land is involved in any
kind of combat (an Attack or Defense
Roll), then the Great Sun can Ambush
(9.6) multiple times there that turn.
During the Hostiles Phase, the Great Sun
conducts an Ambush Defense (7.3)
against each Advance made upon the
Mounded Chiefdom where the Great
Sun is located. The Great Sun remains in
that Land even if the Hostile Army should
Advance into (or even past) it.
During the Action Phase, the Great Sun
can Ambush Attack (9.6) a Hostile Army
occupying its Land (only, and for the usual
Action cost of one AP). The Great Sun
can do this as long as you have APs to pay
for it to keep Attacking its Land.
Note that while the Great Sun is in a
Land, if the Hostiles lack the courage to
Advance on him, there is nothing he can
do that turn. He will not be able to conduct
Ambushes in either Attack or Defense.
Location Ambush Example: During the
Mississippian Era, the Caddo Army in Spiro
makes a Double Advance against your
Mounded Chiefdom in Marksville where your
Great Sun also resides this turn.
On its first Move, the Caddo Army Advances
into Marksville, and you opt to have that
Chiefdom Defend itself with an Ambush from
the Great Sun (rolling two dice), but the results
of 1 and 2 yield failure and Marksville falls.
17
With its second (and last) Move this turn, the
Caddo Army Advance unopposed into your
Plain Chiefdom at Poverty Point (Unmounded,
it can offer no Defense).
The Great Sun is “behind enemy lines,” so any
Attacks against the Caddo in Poverty Point roll
only one die during your Action Phase. If you
successfully drive them back, you can Ambush
(roll two dice) with your subsequent Attacks
made from Marksville (where the Great Sun is).
If also successful there, your further Attacks
against the Caddo Army at Spiro will only roll
one die again.
[14.0] END OF AN ERA
When one Era ends and another begins,
certain transitional housekeeping must be
performed to set up the new Era dawning.
[14.1] Ending the Hopewell Era: When
the last card in the Hopewell Era deck has
been played, that Era ends. When this
occurs, follow these steps in order:
Setting Up the Mississippian Era
1. Place each Warpath’s corresponding
Hostile Army in the Land
that is one number higher
than your Peace Pipe marker
on that Warpath. If there is
no Peace Pipe marker on that
Warpath, place that Hostile
Army in its Land #1. Ouch!
2. Remove Peace Pipe markers on
Warpaths that do not
have at least one
Mounded Chiefdom
(whether or not you control it). This
Warpath begins this Era “at war” right
from the outset.
Hostile Army Placement Example: On the
Cherokee Warpath, your Peace Pipe marker is
in Etowah. None of the Chiefdoms there (in
Pinson, Etowah, or Ocmulgee – Anhaica having
never been Discovered) is Mounded, so you
place the Cherokee Army standee on top of
the Ocmulgee Chiefdom and remove your
Peace Pipe marker from this Warpath.
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
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You control Etowah and all the lower-numbered
Lands back to Cahokia along the Cherokee
Warpath. Your new enemies, the Cherokee,
control Ocmulgee, Anhaica and the Cherokee
Warpath Tribal Homeland itself.
3. Remove the Hopewell Era marker from
the Historical
Era box,
revealing that
it is now the Mississippian Era.
4. Calculate the number of Trade Goods in
your economy (6.2 and 6.3)
and place the Trade Goods
marker in that number space
of the Trade Goods track.
5. Place the Great Sun
marker, either in its Leader
Available box or in a
specific Land (as per 13.0).
6. Remove all Chiefdom markers from the
Draw Cup and set them aside; they are
no longer in play. Do not put them in the
Conquered Chiefdoms box!
7. Prepare the Mississippian Era and
Spanish Era deck for play as follows:
A. Take the unused cards, separated into
four groups. You should have: 2 green
Hopewell Era cards remaining;
12 yellow Mississippian Era; 2 black
Spanish Era; and 24 silver Generic
cards.
B. Shuffle the 24 silver Generic cards
together and deal out, face down, a
stack of 6 cards to form the bottom of
the new Draw Pile. These “end game”
cards are the seeds of the Spanish
Era deck (14.4).
C. You now build the yellow
Mississippian Era cards on top of the
cards from Step B. Build the end of
the Mississippian Era by dealing out,
face down, 4 (of the remaining 18)
silver Generic cards and to them add
the black card #26 (“The Spanish”
). Shuffle those 5 cards together and
place them on top of the Draw Pile
(which will now be 11 cards high).
D. Deal out, face-down, 4 more (of the
remaining 14) silver Generic cards
and to them add the black card #25
(“Coosa” ). Shuffle those 5 cards
together and place them on top of the
Draw Pile (which will now be 16
cards high).
E. Finally, take all of the remaining
cards (the 12 yellow Mississippian,
the 10 silver Generic, and the 2
unused green Hopewell). Shuffle
them thoroughly together, face down,
and place them on top of the Draw
Pile (which is now 40 cards high).
Play continues with the first turn of the
Mississippian Era. The “happy times” are
over and you are now in a state of siege!
When the Coosa (#25) card is drawn, the
Black Banner () Event on it serves as a
warning to you: it heralds the approaching
end of the Mississippian Era. The Spanish
have discovered the New World!
The Spanish Are Coming
Perform the following administrative task
when the Coosa (#25 ) card is revealed:
[14.2] Spanish Avaricia: On the turn that
the Coosa card (#25) is revealed, as the
last Event of the Hostiles Phase, the Black
Banner () Event means you establish
the pool of Spanish Leaders by noting
where your Trade Goods marker is on the
Trade Goods track and reading the three
names in that box.
Locate these three Spanish Leaders (they
are on the backs of the Peace Pipe
markers, substitute ones out of play for
ones still in play until you have the right
three Spanish Leaders out and the right
two Peace Pipe markers in) and place
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
them in the Draw Cup (which had its
Chiefdom markers kicked out at the end of
the Hopewell Era).
Since you can only have two Peace Pipes
starting at this juncture (9.8), this all works
out very neatly.
Spanish Leader Placement Example: When
the Coosa card (#25) is revealed and the
Black Banner () Event occurs (i.e., after
enduring your enemy’s slings and arrows of the
other Events listed before it during the Hostiles
Phase), you note that your Trade Goods
marker is in the 6 box on the Trade Goods
track. That 6 box contains the names Heredia,
Coronado, and De Soto respectively. Find
those three Spanish Leaders, place them in
the Draw Cup, and wait for the next shoe to
drop (i.e., The Spanish card to be drawn).
The richer you are, the stronger the
Spaniards who come looking for you!
They have heard rumors of your riches at
Cahokia…
If they hear stories of your unbelievable
wealth and opulence, then the fiercest
Conquistadors – men like Pizarro and
Coronado – will hunt you down.
If the reports in Madrid say that you’re
subsisting in a bunch of mud huts with
only pottery and baskets to plunder, then
His Most Catholic Majesty will dispatch
historical Leaders like Vaca and De Soto.
Times change (in this case, for the worse),
and you must change with them. The first
time you reveal “The Spanish” card (#26
), it marks the arrival of the Spanish
explorers from Europe on the map and this
final Era of the game begins. When this
occurs, follow these steps in order:
Setting Up the Spanish Era
1. Place the Spanish Era marker in the
Historical Era box and then roll a die to
determine where to place the Spanish
Army unit:
19
Roll Location
1 to 3 Cherokee Homeland
4 or 5 Natchez Homeland
6
Caddo Homeland
Place the Spanish Army unit
in the Tribal Homeland space
of that Warpath. It doesn’t
have a Leader yet, but it will.
If there is a Peace Pipe on the
Spanish Warpath, remove it
from play. These Spaniards do
not Powwow; instead, they go to mass.
Important: The Spanish and Indian
Armies simply coexist on their Warpath.
They do not fight each other, and you
can only Attack the one that is closest to
Cahokia; if both Armies are in the same
Land, you must designate which one you
are Attacking first.
2. You can no longer perform a Powwow
Action. If you have any
remaining Peace Pipe
markers on the map, once
they’re gone, they’re gone!
3. Remove the Great Sun marker from
play. In the Advanced Game,
you would flip this marker to
show its Black Tortoise side
and place it with the Spanish
Army at this time (16.0).
After the Spanish arrived, American Indian
rulers were too preoccupied with managing
diseases and internal social strife to
effectively manage their empires or
provide much inspirational leadership.
[14.3] The End of the Spanish Era: After
conducting The Spanish card (#26 ) the
first time, it is not left in the current
History (i.e., “discard”) pile. Instead…
Spanish Era Deck Procedure
…at the end of the turn (before revealing
the next card), reshuffle The Spanish card
() back into the remainder of the deck to
form The Spanish deck. When this card is
revealed the second time, at the end of that
turn, the game is over (14.8).
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
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That is, The Spanish () card is played
twice: once to begin the Spanish Era, and
a second time to end the game.
[14.4] The Spanish Turn Rules: On both
Spanish card turns, perform the HoChunk and Shawnee as usual (as shown
on the card), and then perform the Black
Cross () Event as follows and in order:
1. Randomly draw one Spanish Leader
from the Draw Cup,
placing it next to (and
keeping it with) the
Spanish Army on the map (there should
be room). This Leader’s Value serves as
the Spanish Army’s Value.
This Leader in play is also a reminder that
you are now in the Spanish Era.
2. Advance the Spanish Army one Land
toward Cahokia. If it attacks a
Mounded Chiefdom that you Control,
you may make a Defense Roll (7.3).
3. After each Spanish Advance from Step
2 (above), whether successful or not,
you receive one free AP which you
must spend conducting an Attack. It
doesn’t have to be used to attack the
Spanish Army, but it must be used to
Attack somewhere.
You will not be able to Ambush them in
return as the Great Sun is removed
from play during the Spanish Era (14.2,
#3).
The Relentless Spaniards
If you Attacked the Spanish Army and
lost, or if you Attacked a different Army
with your free AP, go back to Step 2 and
repeat Steps 2 and 3. The Spanish are
relentless: they will not quit until Cahokia
falls, or you stop them!
If the Spanish Army is defeated (by any
means), its Relentless Advance ceases and
you continue the turn normally, spending
any APs that you might have available
(i.e., saved in your Storage Pits or, in the
Advanced Game, garnered through
Looting; see 17.1).
Spanish Era Example: The Spanish card ()
is revealed for the first time. You roll for the
Spanish Army placement location and the
result is a 2, so you place the Spanish Army
unit in the Cherokee Tribal Homeland (#6).
Note: Because you received this free
AP, you are not eligible to receive the
“emergency” free AP from Rule 6.4.
When attacking the Spanish, if the
Spanish Leader has the two or three
dice icons on it (e.g., z z: Heredia,
Pizarro, and De Soto), they automatically Ambush you. You must roll two (or
three) dice against them and then use the
lowest result!
Taking stock of your situation prior to the great
incursion, your Trade Goods are at 7, there is 1
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
AP in your Storage Pits, and Cahokia’s
Palisades are set to 4E, and the Great Sun is
now removed for good! This situation is
illustrated below.
Now you perform the “Hostiles” activities in
order as listed on the card…
First: the Ho-Chunk Advance; the only effect is
to remove the Peace Pipe marker on their
Warpath. It is permanently removed (14.2 #2).
Second: the
Shawnee Army
Advances. The
Mounded
Seashells
Chiefdom fails its
Defense Roll,
leaving you a
huge problem to
deal with right on
your doorstep!
Third: the Spanish Army is ready to Advance,
but first they need a Leader.
From the Draw Cup you pull
Coronado (Value 4) and place
him on the map adjacent to the Spanish Army.
Here they come!
The Spanish Army Advances into Anhaica
(Land #5), which is useless real estate and
there’s nothing you can do about it since there
is no friendly Chiefdom there to resist.
This Advance (successful or not) gives you one
free Attack AP automatically, and you must
use it immediately. For this free Attack, you opt
to confront the Shawnee Army, hoping to
preserve your only source of Seashells and
push them back from the gates of Cahokia.
(You’re counting on your Mounded Obsidian
Chiefdom at Ocmulgee to handle these
Spanish interlopers). Rolling a 6, you drive the
Shawnee back one Land to Fort Ancient.
Since the Spanish Army has not yet been
thwarted this turn, it now Advances relentlessly
on Ocmulgee. Your Defense Roll is a 1, which
not only sees Ocmulgee occupied by the
Spaniards, but their Destruction (caused by our
roll of 1, see 7.3) causes this Mounded
Chiefdom to flip to its Plain side!
21
Seething, you reflect that the 6 you rolled
previously against the Shawnee would have
sent the Spanish scurrying for their Carracks
and put a stop to their invasion!
With that Spanish Advance all too secure after
your hapless Defense Roll, you are gifted with
another free Attack AP, and so you hurl the die
in revenge upon the Spanish. Your roll of 4,
barely fails, but it’s still a failure!
5
1
The Spanish are relentless, Advancing boldly
into Etowah (which, being Unmounded, offers
no resistance).
But this affords you another free Attack AP,
and by the Great Spirits, you must have a
victory over these Spanish and their God! You
Attack the Spanish again, rolling a miserable
2, and your tribe weeps at their prospects.
Time to round up some maidens for a sacrifice!
Undaunted, the Spanish proceed to the Wilderness of Coosa with style and bravado.
The Spanish Advance grants you yet another
free Attack AP, and your settlement with the
Spanish Army goes badly again as you roll a
3. Coosa well and truly falls.
Once again, the Spanish Army Advances, this
time they press on to Pinson. This Mounded
Chiefdom discovers that these Spanish must
be allergic to Feathers, as your Defense Roll of
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
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5 halts their Advance. The Spanish are, at
last, stopped cold (this time, at least) and settle
back into Coosa until The Spanish card () is
revealed again (and for the last time) or you go
on the Warpath and try to push them back in
the few turns remaining.
Although stopped, the attempted Spanish
Advance still grants you one more free Attack
AP, which you direct once more against these
evil Spanish foreigners. You hope to reclaim
some Cahokian honor, but your die roll of 3
fails once more and begs the question, “Hey,
does anybody here know how to use a bow?”
With no Revolts this turn, your Action Phase is
a desperate affair. You want to push the
Spanish back and to mitigate the horror of
Smallpox that awaits you at the end of the turn
(14.5, below), you empty your Storage Pits for
one final Attack against the White Man! But you
are mocked with a roll of 1, and fail once
more. (At least you do not suffer the normal
Rout penalty, as you have no APs left to lose).
Assessing the damage during the End of Turn
Phase, the grim results include the loss of the
Obsidian and Hides Chiefdoms (both
Degraded), and the Smallpox marker is placed
in the 2 space (see below). Next turn the Trade
Goods marker will drop to 6, but with the
Smallpox so devastating, you will only have at
most 2 APs to spend in any case!
[14.5] Smallpox: During the End of Turn
Phase of the first visit of The
Spanish () card, note the
Land the Spanish Army
ended in. Place the octagonal
Smallpox marker in that
numbered space of the Storage Pits track.
You can no longer have more than that
smallpox-capped number of APs available
at any time, for any reason, for the rest of
the game!
Smallpox Example: If the Spanish Army
blazes a trail down the Warpath all the way to
Pinson (Land #1), you can never have any
more than one AP (so don’t plan on conducting
any Actions that cost two or more APs, like
improving the defenses of Cahokia).
In the above example, smallpox, brought
unwittingly from Europe by the Spanish
adventurers, has devastated your nation!
[14.6] Effect of Revolts: If a Revolt (8.0)
strikes a Warpath while the Spanish are
present there and both these Armies share
the same Land, then you must Advance or
Retreat them both. If they are in separate
Lands, Advance or Retreat only the Army
closest to Cahokia.
[14.7] End of the Game: Play continues
normally (often with great limitations on
you), until the Spanish card () is redrawn;
complete this second “Spanish turn” as
described below and note that it is the last
turn of the game.
The Return of The Spanish ()
Repeat the steps of the first Spanish turn
(14.4) with the following changes:
 Draw a new Leader at random from
among the two remaining in the Draw
Cup; it replaces the existing Spanish
Leader on the map.
 The Spanish Army begins its Advance
from its current Land.
 Ignore the End of Turn Phase.
After spending your last Action of this
second Spanish () turn, the game is over
and you have won! (Typically, several
White cards will remain unplayed).
Of course, if you had lost Cahokia earlier,
the game would have ended then and you
would have never made it this far!
[14.8] Your Victory Level: If you
survived to the end, congratulations! You
are a winner and your score equals:
 the Smallpox number, plus
 the Land numbers of all six Armies.
So, the less you were affected by smallpox
and the farther away you kept your
enemies, the higher your score.
If Cahokia fell, you lost! You still receive
a score, but it equals:
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
 the Smallpox number (0, if you did
not survive the first Spanish turn),
minus
 the number of remaining cards in the
Draw Pile.
You get to add the Smallpox level to your
score, even if you are defeated, as long as
you survived the first Spanish turn.
If you didn’t survive the first Spanish turn
(or were defeated long before), you don’t
score any points for Smallpox.
Score
Level of Victory or Defeat
35 or more Overwhelming Victory
28 to 34
Decisive Victory
21 to 27
Major Victory
16 to 20
Moderate Victory
7 to 15
Minor Victory
0 to 6
Draw
-1 to -5
Minor Defeat
-6 to -12
Moderate Defeat
-13 to -22 Major Defeat
-23 to -34 Decisive Defeat
-35 or less Overwhelming Defeat
If Cahokia is still standing, you will have
won the game! And if Cahokia falls, it is
impossible to gain a victory; but you can
still pull out a draw.
Victory Example: Cahokia never fell and the
game ends with the Smallpox marker in the 3
box, the Spanish and Ho-Chunk Armies in
their respective 1 Lands, the Natchez in Land
6, the Cherokee in Land 5, the Caddo in Land
2, and the Shawnee in Land 3. When you add
all those number up, you get a score of 21,
enough to scrape out a Major Victory.
Defeat Example: The Smallpox marker is in
the 3 box, and you have 9 cards remaining in
the Draw Pile when the powerful Ho-Chunk
crash through your Palisades and sack
Cahokia, thus ending the game. Your score is
3 – 9 = -6, which is a Moderate Defeat.
THE ADVANCED GAME
You must play Rules 15.0, 16.0, and 17.0
as a “set” (i.e., using them all together).
When doing so, you are playing the
Advanced Game of MOUND BUILDERS.
23
[15.0] COLONIZATION
Chiefdoms removed by the Hostile Armies
(10.0, #2) are not out of the game; they are
placed in the Conquered Chiefdoms box
and, in the Advanced Game (using this
Rule) they are available for Colonization.
This allows you to repopulate Unorganized
Lands for the glory of the Great Sun.
Colonization Procedure
To Colonize, select any Chiefdom marker
from the Conquered Chiefdoms box (your
choice), pay its Plain side Value in APs
( modified; 7.2), and place it in any
Land you control that does not have a
Chiefdom in it (even a Wilderness Land).
This need not be the Land that Chiefdom
was previously removed from. From then
on it functions as a normal Plain
Chiefdom and can be Mounded (9.3)
when you can afford it (including
immediately after placement).
Colonization Example: Those nice Feather
folk had their Chiefdom marker (2/2) removed
from the map by vengeful Ho-Chunks, and are
languishing in your Conquered Chiefdoms box.
You draw the Angel card (#21), showing the
Shawnee Warpath in decline () and thus
providing you a handy -1 Value modifier there.
After a quick campaign to seize Newark (Land
5), you spend 1 AP to Colonize the Feathers
Chiefdom there in an Unorganized Land, and
another 1 AP to “Mound” them right away,
creating an instant military and economic
strongpoint along the Shawnee Warpath.
The only Chiefdoms you can colonize with
are ones you've already seen but were
removed from the map. If you failed to
“discover” a great economic value like
Chalcedony during the Hopewell, that’s
too bad; you'll never see it in the game.
[16.0] THE BLACK TORTOISE
In the Advanced Game, pay
attention to the six cards that
have the Black Tortoise
symbol ( ). They indicate the
rise of a powerful rival Indian
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
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Confederacy that threatens your borders. If
this rival Leader goes unchallenged, it
diminishes the Great Sun’s moral
authority.
The Black Tortoise is intentionally on the
reverse side of the Great Sun; only one or
the other can be in play at the same time.
[16.1] Appearance: During the Hopewell
Era, the Black Tortoise can never appear
as no Hopewell Era cards have its symbol.
When you reveal a Black Tortoise symbol
( ) card during the Mississippian Era,
roll an unmodified die:
Roll
1
2
3
4
5
6
Location
Ho-Chunk Homeland
Shawnee Homeland
Cherokee Homeland
Natchez Homeland
Caddo Homeland
Coup? (see 16.5)
On a 1 through 5, place the Black
Tortoise marker in the Tribal Homeland
of the designated Warpath (indicating that
the powerful Black Tortoise is backing
that Warpath’s Army).
On a 6, if the Black Tortoise is already in
play, face-up, supporting a Warpath, it
remains in its current location. If the Great
Sun is face-up, flip it to its Black Tortoise
side and place this marker inside Cahokia.
A Coup has taken place, see 16.5.
When you reveal a Black Tortoise symbol
( ) card during the Spanish Era, place (or
keep) the Black Tortoise marker on the
Spanish Warpath. The Black Tortoise
only affects the Spanish Army during the
Spanish Era (and not any Indian Army).
With the introduction of alien weapons
(muskets), exotic animals (horses), and
diseases, only the Spanish star shines in
the Spanish Era.
[16.2] Initial Sudden Move: When a
Black Tortoise ( ) Event occurs, the
Hostile Army on its Warpath (Spanish
only, once that Army is in play) Advances
one Land; this is in addition to any
indicated Advances that occur afterward
during the Hostiles Phase.
If The Buzzard Cult card (#45) is drawn,
the Black Tortoise’s Army Advances
three Lands (even if the Black Tortoise
itself is removed; see 16.3).
Important: When the Spanish Army
receives the above free Black Tortoise
Advances you do not receive any free
Attack APs for any of them (as per 14.4)!
[16.3] Battle Effect: All Attack and
Defense Rolls against an Army supported
by the Black Tortoise marker always fail
on a 5 result. However, that roll of 5
removes the Black Tortoise! Immediately
place the Great Sun in the Leader
Unavailable box (during the Mississippian
Era) OR the Black Tortoise in the Leader
Unavailable box (during the Spanish Era).
The Black Tortoise’s Homeland: During
the Mississippian Era, you can Attack the
Black Tortoise’s Indian Army in its Tribal
Homeland (#6 Land). Defeating that Army
(or, of course, rolling a 5) removes the
Black Tortoise marker (place the Great
Sun marker in the Leader Unavailable
box). This is the only effect.
The only other way to remove the Black
Tortoise marker from a Warpath is to wait
for a new Black Tortoise Event card ( )
to move it OR the arrival of the Spanish.
[16.4] Powwows: You can Powwow on
the Black Tortoise’s Warpath for 2 APs
(9.8). This creates a Peace Pipe marker on
the Black Tortoise’s Warpath.
You cannot Powwow with the Black
Tortoise if it is in Cahokia. “We don’t
negotiate with terrorists!” (see 16.5).
If the Black Tortoise is on the map then,
by definition, the Great Sun cannot be, so
the Black Tortoise is the only Warpath
Army you can Powwow with.
[16.5] Coup: When a Coup occurs (see
16.1, 6), a violent uprising strikes
Cahokia and its Palisades are Attacked
from within! Unlike other Attacks, those
from a Coup do not involve a Hostile
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
Army moving up and knocking at the door;
they simply represent Attacks on the
Cahokia Palisades from the “inside.”
Coup Procedure
The Black Tortoise makes an immediate
Attack on Cahokia (as per 7.4), which you
can Defend against. If The Buzzard Cult
card (#45) is the current History card, the
Black Tortoise makes three such Attacks!
This may result in the game ending should
Cahokia collapse “from within.”
If you make a successful Coup Defense
Roll (or roll a 5), immediately remove
the Black Tortoise marker, flip it, and
place the Great Sun marker in its
Unavailable box.
If the Coup Attack(s) succeed in damaging
Cahokia’s Palisades (and no 5 was
rolled), the Black Tortoise marker stays in
Cahokia. Its only effect there being that
all attacks on Cahokia receive the power
of the Black Tortoise ( ; i.e., any
Defense Roll of 5 fails to protect
Cahokia, but the Black Tortoise is
removed, see 16.3).
Note that if the Black Tortoise is still on
Cahokia and the next Black Tortoise
Location Roll is a 6, another Coup strikes
Cahokia! Maybe you should invest in a
Secret Police Force.
[17.0] SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
[17.1] Looting: At any time during your
Action Phase, if you control a Mounded
Chiefdom, you may Loot it by flipping it
to its Plain side and gaining one (+1) AP
on the Storage Pits track.
“Looting” might seem to be a little harsh.
You can instead think of it as a forced
“loan” to you during a time of need. We’re
sure you intend to pay it back…
Given the cost to Mound a Chiefdom in
the first place, Looting usually makes poor
economic sense – but you might find it
necessary for short-term gain when you are
desperately short of one AP.
25
And with a useful modifier (), “nonessential” and weak Chiefdoms can be
Mounded purely to Loot later on (they
work as a sort of “bank” in that regard).
During the Spanish Era, you often Loot
on a large scale as the “old ways” are
breaking down and you find yourself
desperately seeking APs just to survive!
[17.2] Improved Storage Pits: During the
post-Hopewell Eras, you may conduct an
Improve Storage Action to increase your
Storage Pit capacity from 1 AP, to 2 APs
(9.5 and 9.11). Flip the AP marker to its
“Improved” side.
This requires two things:
1. You must control and have
Mounded the Chiefdom that
produces Seashells.
2. You must spend APs equal to
the number of Wilderness
Lands that you currently
control (minimum of 1).
IF you later lose access to the Seashells
Chiefdom (i.e., it is removed from play –
not merely flipped to its Plain side or is
currently enemy-controlled), THEN your
Improved Storage Pits are lost. Flip the
APs marker back to its original side. You
can later improve your Storage Pits again
if the right conditions arise once more.
Adding crushed seashells to clay proved to
be a technological breakthrough. Clay that
was “tempered” with shell grit was easier
to shape and fire; it was also tougher and
lasted much longer. This, in turn, made
long-term storage easier.
The reason it costs more to improve your
storage if you control more Wilderness
Lands is due to the logistical strain of
ruling over vast, unpopulated spaces.
[17.3] Embrace the Buzzard Cult: After
the end of the Hopewell Era, you may
“Go Buzzard” (9.10) and so greatly
increase the fighting efficiency of your
empire. If you choose to go Buzzard:
1. You must control and have Mounded
the Chiefdom that produces Obsidian.
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
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Mound Builder Rules v1.0
2. You must spend APs equal to
the level of Trade Goods that
you currently control, with a
minimum of 5 APs (see 6.2,
for a total of 5-9 APs).
3. Flip your Trade Goods
marker to its “Buzzard Cult”
side to indicate this.
If you later lose access to the Obsidian
Chiefdom, your Buzzard Cult advantage
is lost (flip the Trade Goods marker back
to its original side; at least this allows your
economy to grow again). You may later reembrace the Buzzard Cult if the right
conditions should arise once more.
Buzzard Cult Effects
The Good News: You can ignore these
bad results when you roll a 1:
 Destruction (flipping your Mounded
Chiefdoms to Plain in Defense; 7.3);
 Breach (flipping your Palisades marker
from a failed Defense Roll; “click” it
instead; 7.4 – when you’re “out of
clicks,” it remains a Breach); and
 Rout (losing +1 AP when you Attack a
Hostile Army, 9.6).
Note that these rolls of 1 still fail, but in
the Buzzard Cult you suffer no injury in
addition to that insult.
The Bad News: After joining the Buzzard
Cult, you cannot ever increase your Trade
Goods marker on the Trade Goods Track
for the remainder of the game (regardless
of how many Trade Goods you can later
access). It can, of course, go down!
There are some icky historical data on the
Buzzard Cult, the Mississippians’ violent
and bloody religion, on card #45. Fully
embracing all of this ghoulish religious
excess is an “all-in” position for you. It can
lead to some spectacular victories and
equally spectacular defeats.
OPTIONAL RULES
[18.0] VARIATIONS
[18.1] Black Tortoise Revolt Volatility:
If a Revolt (8.0) occurs on a Warpath
containing the Black Tortoise, roll a die
for its location as normal:
If that Warpath’s Army controls that
Location, remove the Black Tortoise
(even if the Revolt occurred in
a Wilderness or Tribal
Homeland space). Place the
Black Tortoise marker in the
Leader Unavailable box –
Great Sun side showing in the Mississippi
Era, or Black Tortoise side showing in
the Spanish Era.
Regardless of ownership, any Chiefdom in
the Revolt location is immediately
Removed (if Plain), or Degraded (if
Mounded), even if the Revolt occurred in
a Wilderness, or Land occupied by a
Birdman Chiefdom.
No Army movement of any kind occurs.
Any Revolt involving the Black Tortoise
could fundamentally disrupt that region.
[18.2] Scrambled game: During Set Up
(4.0), add this step:
9. Shuffle together all of the remaining
cards.
When the first Black card appears (Coosa
 or The Spanish , it doesn’t matter
which), set it aside and draw the next card.
When the second Black card is drawn,
immediately play the Coosa (#25 ) card
(normally, see 14.2). At the conclusion of
the Coosa  card, shuffle The Spanish
(#26 ) card, with half (rounded down) of
the remaining cards and place this stack on
top of the other half of the remaining card
to recreate the Draw Pile (“The Spanish
are coming!”).
After drawing The Spanish  card from
that deck and playing it, shuffle it in again
with all of the remaining cards to form the
Spanish Era deck.
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
All the remaining rules concerning the
Black cards and the Spanish Era remain.
The average results are similar to the
original game, but this Rule offers a lot of
scope for variation, particularly in the
timing of the Spanish Era.
[18.3] Variable Hopewell Era: Adding an
interesting
twist to the
game would be
having a variable-length Hopewell Era.
This is achieved when creating the decks.
Hopewell Era Deck Set Up
Modify the game’s Set Up (4.0, #8) thus:
8. Prepare the Hopewell Era deck as
follows:
A. Separate the cards into four groups
based on their title color backgrounds:
12 green Hopewell Era; 12 yellow
Mississippian Era; 2 black Spanish
Era; and 24 silver Generic cards.
B. Randomly select 2 of the 12 green
Hopewell Era cards and shuffle them
together with 1 randomly-selected
silver Generic card. Place these three
cards face-down to form the bottom of
the Hopewell Era Draw Pile.
C. Shuffle the remaining 10 green cards
together and set 1 of them aside with
all of the other cards. Place the
remaining 9 on top of the 3 cards in
the Draw Pile to complete the
Hopewell Era Draw Pile.
The Hopewell Era ends when the first
silver Generic card is drawn; that card is
the first card of the Mississippian Era.
Post Hopewell Era Deck Set Up
Modify the creation of the Post Hopewell
Era deck (14.1, #7) as follows:
7. Prepare the Mississippian Era and
Spanish Era deck for play as follows:
A. Take the unused cards, separated into
four groups. You should have: 1 to 3
green Hopewell Era cards remaining
(between the one set aside and what
27
was left in the Draw Pile when the
first silver card was drawn); 12 yellow
Mississippian Era; 2 black Spanish
Era; and 23 silver Generic cards.
B. Shuffle the 23 remaining silver
Generic cards together and deal out,
face down, a stack of 6 cards to form
the bottom of the new Draw Pile.
These “end game” cards are the seeds
of the Spanish Era deck (14.4).
C. You now build the yellow Mississippian Era cards on top of the cards
from Step B. Build the end of the
Mississippian Era by dealing out,
face down, 4 (of the remaining 17)
silver Generic cards and to them add
the black card #26 (“The Spanish”
). Shuffle those 5 cards together and
place them on top of the Draw Pile
(which will now be 11 cards high).
D. Deal out, face-down, 4 more (of the
remaining 13) silver Generic cards
and to them add the black card #25
(“Coosa” ). Shuffle those 5 cards
together and place them on top of the
Draw Pile (which will now be 16
cards high).
E. Finally, take all of the remaining
cards (the 12 yellow Mississippian,
the 9 silver Generic, and the 1 to 3
unused green Hopewell). Shuffle
them thoroughly together, face down,
and place them on top of the Draw
Pile (which is now 38 to 40 cards
high).
Play continues with the first turn of the
Mississippian Era (i.e., the silver card just
drawn that launched this Era).
[18.4] Extended Game: If you survive the
second arrival of The Spanish card (#26
), move the Smallpox marker again to
the space number corresponding to the
Land number where the Spanish are
currently located and roll one unmodified
die:
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
28
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
If the result is greater than the Smallpox
number, the game is indeed over: count
your Victory Points.
If the result is less than or equal to the
Smallpox number, the game continues.
Shuffle The Spanish card together with
the remaining cards in the deck and
continue playing the Spanish Era. The
next time The Spanish card is drawn,
the Spanish Leader will automatically be
the last one in the Draw Cup and the
game definitely ends after this third
Spanish turn!
The standard game assumes the Spanish
realize that the fabled wealth of Cahokia
is not, in fact, based on gold, and they
suspend operations in this region in favor
of more lucrative targets.
This variation assumes that the stymied
Spanish simply don’t have a good read on
the source of Cahokia’s surprising power
(and the region is not too disease-ridden),
so they decide to have another “go” at the
legendary Empire of Cahokia.
[19.0] GAME BALANCE
[19.2] Famous Chiefdom “Discovery”:
This variant assists you. During the
Hopewell Era, whenever a Revolt roll
indicates an Unorganized non-Wilderness
Land, place a Discovered Plain Chiefdom
in that Land. There is no other effect.
This variant gives you a chance to “see
over the next hill” and establish trade ties
with remote but “famous” Lands that come
into prominence.
[19.3] Black Tortoise Power Surge: This
variant challenges you. During
the Mississippian Era, after
rolling for the Location of the
Black Tortoise, roll a second die:
 If this second die roll is equal
to or greater than the initial Placement
roll, the Black Tortoise’s Warpath is
automatically in Ascension that turn.
 If the second die roll is less than the
first, there is no effect.
If a Coup took place, and the second die
roll was also a 6, all Warpaths are in
Ascension that turn!
MOUND BUILDERS GAME CREDITS:
These optional Game Balance Rules vary
MOUND BUILDERS’ difficulty level. Use them
together, separately, or not at all, as you
see fit.
[19.1] Variable Hopewell Era:
A. This variant assists you. Use 11 green
cards to form the Hopewell Era deck
(or even all 12). This reduces the
uncertainty factor, giving you a nice
jumpstart to your empire-building.
B. This variant challenges you. Use only 9
green cards to form the “Hopewell”
deck (or even only 8). Shuffle the extra
green cards into the main Mississippian
Era deck. You will face more
uncertainty and have a harder time
building your economy.
The easiest way to adjust the game’s
difficulty is simply to change the length of
your Hopewell Era “happy time.”
Design: R. Ben Madison and Wes Erni
Development: Alan Emrich
Map Art: Tim Allen
Graphics: Michelle Ball
Playtesting: Nathan Hansen, Hermann
Luttmann, Mardi Mattison, Zack Vandekamp
Proofreading: Amy Durnford, Rick Partin,
Leigh Toms, Ian Wakeham, Karen
Wolterman
Developed by Alan Emrich
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
[20.0] DESIGNERS’ NOTES
By R. Ben Madison and Wes Erni
MOUND BUILDERS originated in an
unfinished project for another publisher, on
the topic of the ancient Maya city states.
We created that game as an update of a fun
and clever game system from the 1978
Gametime Games classic, Grand
Imperialism, a game that got Ben and his
buddies through high school. In GI, you
discover and colonize fictitious countries,
drawing a random counter to find out how
many hostile natives were there to greet
you and, after conquering them, another
random counter indicated what that newly
conquered territory was actually worth.
To lessen the number of counters, Ben
suggested in our Maya game that each land
simply have one counter, with both
economic and military values on it. Wes,
whom developer Alan Emrich describes as
a “mathemagician,” came up with that
game’s balanced counter mix and we were
off to the races. Typically, Wes designated
these “building blocks” with unique
characteristics, including commodity
scarcity, military effectiveness, and
degrees of friendliness. This, of course,
became the basis for the Chiefdoms in
MOUND BUILDERS.
After our successful work with Victory
Point Games (2012’s Swing States), Ben
began taking notes on the MOUND
BUILDERS project, an heir to the long and
illustrious States of SiegeTM series
tradition. Ancient American cultures,
especially the Effigy Mounds and Aztalan,
found in his native Wisconsin, have long
intrigued Ben. Therefore, he sketched out
the MOUND BUILDERS map, representing
the growth and decline of Mississippian
culture along the lines of imperial rises and
falls. Key to the new design was the
Chiefdom markers, and their discovery,
annexation, and “mounding.” As with
many of our games, Wes was interested
not so much in the subject matter but in the
game as a mathematical puzzle and as a
29
sort of tabula rasa on which to try out
various new gaming ideas, relying on
Ben’s narrative ability to come up with a
convincing historical rationale for
including Wes’ puzzles in the game.
Adding a third wheel to the random
“tricycle” (cards, dice, and cup draws),
creates great volatility – some games will
simply be harder than others purely by
chance. Mitigating this fact (to some
degree) are the Revolt, and Spanish Rules,
which can act as a leveling force. Still,
Wes notes that sometimes he discovered
what it’s like to be crushed quicker than he
could say “Mississippian” on his first
couple of turns after leaving the Hopewell
Era – while finishing other games
wondering how he could get to Spain to
continue his conquests, thus demonstrating
a wide range of outcomes. Despite this
level of randomness, MOUND BUILDERS is
definitely a game of skill. Wes noted, “I
only play games where skill is the primary
determinant of the result, and I design
games with that same philosophy.”
Ben’s idea of applying individual Trade
Goods to the Chiefdoms (seashells, mica,
etc.) came right out of our unpublished
Maya game design. Wes made it work,
linking Trade Goods to Action Points in
a way that simulates a real economy but,
given the random arrival of fixed () and
variable () AP allotments each turn, it
makes it impossible for you to rely
exclusively on your domestic economy to
fuel your visions of grandeur.
Wes developed the basic game system and
added innovations such as Wilderness
areas, the Great Sun, the Spanish, and
rogue magnate leaders called the Black
Tortoise. (This is actually an inside joke
paying homage to William Pidgeon’s
pseudoscientific mound builder epic,
Traditions of De-Coo-Dah. Astute players
may chuckle that the Tortoise functions
much as the Vice President does in Swing
States!) As with all of Wes’ projects, a
vast amount of thinking and number-
© 2014 Ben Madison, Wes Erni and Victory Point Games
30
Mound Builder Rules v1.0
crunching went into the game system.
Hostile Army strengths, the number of
times each Army Advances against you,
and many more variables were calculated
from a formula based on Ben’s notes about
the historic dates during which native
communities on each Warpath were settled
and destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ben researched the map and
named its Lands, detailing the history of
each real mound builder site on the flavor
text of the History cards. Ben even called
in the aid of a personal acquaintance, Dr.
Robert Birmingham, archaeologist in the
Department of Historic Preservation for
the State of Wisconsin. He is one of
America’s foremost authorities on Indian
mounds. He was key in determining the list
of nine trade goods, as well as in
specifying the identities of the five Hostile
Indian Tribes that threaten your Cahokian
realm, noting that two or three of them
were actually Mound Builders themselves!
The last cherry on top of our growing
Mound came in the form of the Palisades
Rule, shamelessly ripped off from cleverly
inspired by John Welch’s brilliant Cruel
Necessity game and made physically
possible by VPG’s ultra-cool laser cutting
technology.
MOUND BUILDERS offers several new twists
to VPG’s tried and true States of SiegeTM
series. As such, it has many original ideas,
some of which look like they were stolen
(but weren’t; perhaps they will be from this
game by future designers) – and many
other ideas that were indeed lifted from
other games. Wes and I are firm believers
in using any tool that gets the job done.
As a game, MOUND BUILDERS has
enormous replay potential. For a historical
game, it is extremely abstract, thanks both
to the general lack of detailed knowledge
about Mound Builder history combined
with the need to squeeze 1,400 years of
what we do know into a fun and workable
game. In some ways this was an
advantage, given that there is a certain
freedom when tasked to design a game on
a subject you know nothing about and
about which the historical record is utterly
vague. Moving forward on the design with
little deadweight from preconceived
notions or documented history, Wes could
concentrate on a game full of replayability
– one that is rich in tactical and strategic
options. A great example is the Revolt
Rule, which Wes sketched out five years
ago for a proposed game on the rise and
fall of ancient Assyria. The strategy is that
you don't want to move too far on a
Warpath; self-restraint means the Revolts
hurt your enemies on that Warpath more
often, at the risk of an enemy advance on
Cahokia if the Revolt hits you instead.
Both in terms of economics and military
factors, Wes has provided plenty of
dramatic peaks and valleys for players to
experience while encouraging them to
make short-, medium-, and long-term
plans. This all dovetailed nicely with Ben’s
research and game framework, and this
influenced the greater focus on economic
and diplomatic factors (more so than usual
in a States of SiegeTM game).
We hope that you enjoy playing MOUND
BUILDERS and discovering the fascinating
world of pre-Columbian American Indian
societies through the History card notes. If
you live in the eastern United States, you
will find many of the historic sites in this
game within driving distance of your home
– a chestnut not every game can offer to its
American players!
Suggestions for Further Reading:
Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City
on the Mississippi (Timothy R. Pauketat,
2009)
Indian Mounds of Wisconsin (Robert A.
Birmingham and Leslie E. Eisenberg,
2000)
The Moundbuilders: Ancient Peoples of
Eastern North America (George R.
Milner, 2005)
Developed by Alan Emrich