(basic) help needed with princess and the dragon.

[sajaanid]

hello, i’m trying to start using princess and the dragon, but i have a few probably very simple questions, that i haven’t found an answer to yet. also, it’s kinda confusing in english and the rules have not been issued in estonian language.


so here we go:
1. how does the dragon come to play exactly? if someone places the dragon tile, from where will the dragon start it’s movement? from any volcano in play? or from that exact tile that was placed?

2. and, how does the dragon finish? does it stay on that 6th tile after it’s been moved or shall it be removed from there and taken off the playing field completely?

on page 38 of the CAR (v. 5.0b4) it is said:
Until a volcano card has been placed, the dragon remains on the edge of the playing field,
and is not moved. If a dragon tile is drawn, it is placed to one side and the player may draw another
tile. As soon as the dragon is in play, any dragon tiles which have been laid to one side are mixed into
the supply and the game continues as before.108

3. so, the dragon comes to play when a volcano tile has been drawn right? but then just stays on that volcano until a tile with a dragon has been pulled?


4.
on page 37 of the CAR (v. 5.0b4) it is said:
A player who places a dragon tile may deploy a follower or move the fairy as
usual.99 Then the game is interrupted100—the dragon is on the move!101

and then in the end (in notes):
107 Question: When a city, cloister or road is completed by placing a dragon tile, is it scored before the
movement of the dragon? Answer: The dragon is moved before scoring and may possibly clear the city, cloister
or road in question before any scoring takes place.

how can that be? when i do not finish a feature with the dragon tile, then i can deploy a follower etc, and when i happen to complete the feature using the dragon tile, then it is not scored and the dragon (possibly) empties the whole finished feature and (possibly) no one gets any points for that finished city/road etc?


please explain to me step-by-step, for some reason i just can’t put my finger on these simple and basic things.

[Joff]

1. how does the dragon come to play exactly? if someone places the dragon tile, from where will the dragon start it’s movement? from any volcano in play? or from that exact tile that was placed?

The Dragon does not come into play UNTIL the FIRST volcano tile is drawn and laid. When the first volcano tile is laid, the Dragon is placed on that volcano. The Dragon is now in play. If you happen to draw a Dragon tile before the first volcano tile is drawn, the Dragon tile is placed to one side and a replacement tile is drawn. When the Dragon is on the first volcano tile, all the Dragon tiles that were set aside are remixed into the tile pool.

2. and, how does the dragon finish? does it stay on that 6th tile after it’s been moved or shall it be removed from there and taken off the playing field completely?

The Dragon remains on the last tile it has been moved to (the 6th tile of his movement). When another Volcano tile is drawn, the player immediately moves the Dragon to this new volcano.

3. so, the dragon comes to play when a volcano tile has been drawn right? but then just stays on that volcano until a tile with a dragon has been pulled?

Yes. See my first answer

4.
on page 37 of the CAR (v. 5.0b4) it is said:
A player who places a dragon tile may deploy a follower or move the fairy as
usual.99 Then the game is interrupted100—the dragon is on the move!101

and then in the end (in notes):
107 Question: When a city, cloister or road is completed by placing a dragon tile, is it scored before the
movement of the dragon? Answer: The dragon is moved before scoring and may possibly clear the city, cloister
or road in question before any scoring takes place.

how can that be? when i do not finish a feature with the dragon tile, then i can deploy a follower etc, and when i happen to complete the feature using the dragon tile, then it is not scored and the dragon (possibly) empties the whole finished feature and (possibly) no one gets any points for that finished city/road etc?

When a player places a Dragon tile he may deploy any followers to the tile, or move the Fairy. After this the players begin Dragon movement (1-6 tiles). Yes, he may very well clear a city that followers have just been deployed in. After Dragon movement, features completed with that Dragon tile are scored.

please explain to me step-by-step, for some reason i just can’t put my finger on these simple and basic things.

I hope this helps. Any more assistance, just post here

[sajaanid]

cheers a 1000, much appreciated. have been playing with all other expansions for a long time now, but always kinda postponed P&G since it's rules seemed the most confusing. i think it's time now 

[frestro]

Hello, I need some help with the basics too! Can you place the fairy with a follower in the city of Carcassonne, even though the follower is not unambiguously on a specific tile?

Thanks,
frestro

[hester]

Hello, I need some help with the basics too! Can you place the fairy with a follower in the city of Carcassonne, even though the follower is not unambiguously on a specific tile?

Thanks,
frestro

There is no real need to place the fairy next to a follower in the city of Carcassonne, since the dragon can't enter the city and thus those followers don't need the fairy's protection.

If you want to do it just to receive the "fairy bonus point" at the start of your turn, I don't think there's any actual rule to prevent the move.

[sajaanid]

hi, one more query...

so yes, the dragon comes to play when the first volcano is drawn. also, it stays on that 6th tile but for how long - until a new volcano is drawn and it instantly moves to that volcano (yes i know this is true) AND until a new dragon tile is drawn (and then starts movement from that 6th tile it was left standing after the last movement)? the thing that confuses me is just that there are 12 dragon tiles but only 6 volcanos e.g. so what happens when volcanos run out and there are still dragon tiles in the mix?

[Joff]

the thing that confuses me is just that there are 12 dragon tiles but only 6 volcanos e.g. so what happens when volcanos run out and there are still dragon tiles in the mix?

Then the Dragon remains on the last tile he came to rest upon. When a Dragon tile is drawn and laid, the Dragon moves from the tile he is currently on.

Edit: An example: The Dragon is currently on a volcano. I draw and lay a Dragon tile. Each player (starting with me) moves the Dragon on tile space. This continues 6 times. The Dragon comes to rest upon a cloister tile. He remains on the cloister tile. The next player draws another Dragon tile. The Dragon begins his movement from the cloister (where he is currently on) and each player moves the Dragon a total of 6 tile spaces. The next player draws a volcano and immediately moves the Dragon onto the volcano. The following player draws another volcano and the Dragon moves directly to the new volcano.

The idea of the volcano is to provide a way to rapidly move the Dragon to the other side of the playing area. If all volcano tiles are drawn and only Dragon tiles are left in the mix, the the Dragon will start his Dragon movement (6 spaces) from the tile he last came to rest upon. The Dragon is never removed from play once he is placed on the first volcano tile. Hope this helps

[sajaanid]

hmm ok... but what if there still are some volcanos in the pot and someone draws the dragon tile...? will the dragon then start moving from that 6th tile it was left standing after the last movement or will nothing happen and these tiles be set aside just like in the beginning?

[Joff]

hmm ok... but what if there still are some volcanos in the pot and someone draws the dragon tile...? will the dragon then start moving from that 6th tile it was left standing after the last movement or will nothing happen and these tiles be set aside just like in the beginning?

The Dragon starts moving from the last tile he came to rest upon: see my edit to the above post.

[Novelty]

If the dragon is already in play (i.e. there is already a volcano) then when the dragon tile is drawn, the dragon moves from its last position whether that is a volcano, or someplace else.

[sajaanid]

cheers, seems clear now.

[frestro]

There is no real need to place the fairy next to a follower in the city of Carcassonne, since the dragon can't enter the city and thus those followers don't need the fairy's protection.

If you want to do it just to receive the "fairy bonus point" at the start of your turn, I don't think there's any actual rule to prevent the move.

Yes, the idea was to receive the bonus point. The move hadn't really occurred to me, but it seemed legal at the time. Thanks for the confirmation that there is no actual rule against it.

[sajaanid]

hi, couple of new questions came up... 1st, please clarify, the rules kinda gave it both ways - the dragon eats pigs and builders also, right? i've understood that the dragon eats everything besides the barn...

and 2nd, when a player ends the city using a princess tile, can the player remove someone from that city before the scoring or not?

that's all for now, but i'm sure more q-s arise soon.

[Novelty]

the dragon removes pigs and builders from play (pg 37 CAR)

2) Yes, see page 65 CAR

You might want to refer to the CAR before asking more questions

[sajaanid]

ok, sorry 'bout that, will refer next time. cheers.

but, one more query, couldn't find an answer to this one from the CAR (looked through both, T&B part + P&D part) - when one draws a dragon tile and places it in a city with his/her builder, then does he/she get to take another tile like usual before the dragon starts moving?