A Tabletop Game of Fantastical Mischief
By Sean Patten

 GobbledyGook! is a game where fantastical, whimsical, maniacal creatures lurk in the dark corners of the world, waiting for a chance to cause mischief and mayhem!
These creatures prey on unsuspecting, pompous humans while avoiding the predations of  hunters and their unsavory hounds.  Will your creatures grow and prosper?

COMPONENTS
To play gobbledyGook!, you will need:

• 6-sided dice.  It's handy to have at least three per player.
• Cards and Markers.   Print 3 pages of Encounter Blips.  Print one page of Markers.  Mount these on cardboard and cut them out!
• Record Sheets.  Print as many Record Sheets as you need.  Use these sheets to keep track of your Brood, Upgrades, and points earned.
• Sticks.  Each player will need a 6" long MEASURING STICK.    They are used for measuring movement and attack ranges.  Make sure they are all the same size,  6 inches long.
• A table.  You'll need a round table to play on, decorated with terrain.  Fantasy, Harvest, Halloween, or Christmas Village terrain works well, or you can print your own terrain from companies like this.
• Models.  Fantasy miniatures such as Goblins are ideal, but you can also use dollhouse figurines, Christmas ornaments, charms and pendants, or any other source of small, free-spirited critters!
• Pumpkins. Miniature pumpkins, or even just pumpkin markers, help decorate the board and come in handy when attempting revives.
  

GETTING STARTED
Start a game by setting up your village to terrorize, or labyrinth for strangers to get lost in- whatever strikes your fancy!  Note that some scenarios have special rules for setup.  Then randomly put out the encounter blips, sprinkle some Pumpkins around the board, and have each player pick a starting spot evenly around the board.  If you can't find a round table to play on, have everyone start in a corner, or all in the middle!

TAKING TURNS
When you're ready to start, have each player roll two dice- whoever has the highest roll goes first, and turns continue around the table in a clockwise order.  Each Brood may perform two actions with each of their creatures, in any order.  After the last Brood has taken their turn, the HUMANS get a turn of their own!  See the Ambush and Hunter encounter blips for details of what they do on the Humans turn.  After the Humans turn is complete, it's back to the first brood's turn, and so on.

BREEDS
Creatures in the world of gobbledyGook! come in all shapes, colors, and temperaments.  These are called BREEDS, and each breed has a unique TALENT.   Each player should choose a BREED to play that best matches their available models.
A TALENT is an upgrade that applies to ALL members of the band, for free!  It does not count towards your upgrade totals.
 

	BREED	TALENT	DESCRIPTION
	GOBLINS	Rediculous	Noxious, horrible creatures.
	FAERIES	Flighty	Bittersweet, territorial spirits.
	DWARFS	Armored	Grumpy, sturdy, vengeful folk.
	LEPRAUCHANS	Greedy	Quaint, tricky  shysters.
	VERMIN	Sneaky	Clever, relentless  pests.
	REVELERS	Noisy	Japing, gaudy  performers.
	GHOULS	Voodoo	Morbid, wicked  trick-or-treaters.
	IMPS	Tricky	Gleeful, pesky devils.

CREATURES

Type	Dice	Notes	Upgrades
Minion	1	Gang Up- if your attack fails, your next attack may reroll 1 die.	1
Beast	2	Limit 3 per brood.  May not Loot, Shoot,  or Carry.	1
Leader	2	Limit 1 per brood.	3
Heavy	3	Limit 1 per brood.  May not Hide.  (So no Looting or Pranks).	2

DICE: this is the number of dice you roll for everything, and the number of hits you have.   It is also the COST for the unit (in CHARM).
It is also the COST of any UPGRADE you buy for the unit (in TIN).  So minions pay 1 Tin per upgrade, Leaders pay 2 Tin, etc.

UPGRADES

Upgrade	Limit	Special Abilities
Armored	3	You may roll +1 die when Defending (passive).
Bomber	1	2 die ranged attack- high die hits anyone adjacent to the target.  If you roll any sixes, you also blow yourself up in the process!
Choppy	3	+1 die when Meleeing.
Clever	3	+1 die when rolling for Escape or Rescue, or when Defending from ambushes (passive).
Flighty	1	May move in any direction including up (must end move on a level surface).
Greedy	1	+1 die when Looting.
Grippy	3	You may move on any surface, such as walls (must end move on a level surface).
Noisy	3	If hidden, may reroll any 1 die, friendly or enemy, within 2 sticks.  This reveals you!
Rediculous	3	Earn 1 BRAG if you are KOed!
Shooty	3	You may make ranged attacks!
Sneaky	3	You may hide for free at the end of your turn.
Scry	1	As an action, may examine 1 blip within 1 stick without revealing it.
Steed	3	Your move is doubled!  You may not scrabble though.
Tricky	3	You may prank for free, once per turn.
Voodoo	1	+1 die when rolling for Revive.

LIMIT: Maximum number of times you can take that upgrade in your Brood.
WYSIWYG: Try to make your models display their Upgrades.  For example, models with Shooty should have a gun, or sling, or bow.  Models with Noisy should have some kind of musical instrument.  Use your imagination, and see what kind of crazy models you can come up with!

• FOOD.  Spend an action to pick it up.  At any time, anyone in your brood can use it to recover 1 HIT, automatically HIDE,  OR  add +1 die to any roll.
  
• POTS.  Finding these REVEALS you!  May pick up and carry.  If you drop it off any board edge (or are carrying when the game ends),  earn 1 TIN.
• SHRINE.  Rolls 2 dice in defense (passive).  You may attempt to DESTROY it with melee or ranged attacks (see MAYHEM below).
• FURNITURE.  Rolls 2 dice in defense (passive).  You may attempt to DESTROY it with melee or ranged attacks (see MAYHEM below), OR you may pick up and carry it (but you are REVEALED while carrying).  If you drop it off any board edge (or are carrying when the game ends), earn 1 TIN.
• WANDERER.  You have snuck up on a lost, unwary human.  Get him!  Rolls 1 die.  May Loot, Prank, or Mayhem.
• HOLE. Anyone who reveals or moves into a HOLE will be transported to any board edge or any other revealed hole of their choice, as part of their move!  This also removes any revealed markers they had.
  
• TRAP!  AGH!  You have been caught in a hunter's trap.  This reveals your model!  You may do nothing else until you escape or are rescued from the TRAP.  You must make an ESCAPE roll, or be RESCUED by an adjacent creature.  Whoever succeeds earns 1 point of BRAG.
• AMBUSH!  You are immediately attacked by a HOUND!  If you were hidden, you may reroll one of your defense dice.  Hounds roll 2 dice.   May Prank or Mayhem.   On the Humans turn, Hounds will move towards and melee the nearest revealed creature.  If no revealed creature is in range, Hounds will move towards the nearest HIDDEN creature as it tries to sniff them out.
• HUNTER!  You are immediately attacked by a hunter!  If you were hidden, you may reroll one of your defense dice.  Hunters roll 3 dice.  May Loot, Prank or Mayhem.   On the humans turn, Hunters will move towards and melee or shoot the nearest revealed creature.  If no revealed creatures are in range, the Hunter will move towards the nearest unrevealed blip.

• MOVE. Move 1 STICK in any direction.  You may not move over terrain that is taller than your model.  You may make a free MELEE attack on any model at the end of a move, as long as the target was not hidden prior to your move.
• SCRABBLE.  You may climb up any surface up to 1 stick high, such as a wall.  Roll your dice- if you get any 1s, you slide back down- sorry!
• LOOT, PRANK, OR MAYHEM.  See below for details as you attempt any of these.
• AIM. If you can make ranged attacks, you may increase your range by 1 stick.
• PICK UP.  You may pick up an item by spending 1 action.
• CARRY.  Some items require you to CARRY them- you must spend 1 action per turn just to carry them.  If you are stunned or take damage while carrying, you must drop the carried item!
• HIDE. You may remove any REVEAL markers on your model.
• RESCUE. Roll your dice- if you get a 5 or a 6, you may rescue an adjacent trapped creature!  Earn 1 brag.
• ESCAPE.  Roll your dice- if you get a 6, you may escape a trap!  Earn 1 brag.
• REVIVE.  Roll your dice- if you get a 6, you may remove 1 hit on an adjacent creature (even a KOed one).  Earn 1 brag if you revive another brood's creature!

You are REVEALED if:

• You move adjacent to an ENEMY, or an ENEMY moves adjacent to you or attacks you.
• During the enemy turn, an enemy within 1 stick has a clear view of you  (you have no cover).
• Attempting a noisy action such as a Ranged or Melee attack.
• Revealing a noisy encounter such as POTS.
• Using certain Upgrades, such as Noisy or Shouty.

• A model in cover gets +1 die when defending against ranged attacks.
• A model in cover cannot be spotted by an enemy and will remain hidden.

• QUIET activities mean you won't be revealed by attempting it.  You MUST be hidden to attempt a Quiet activity!    NOISY activities mean you WILL be revealed by attempting it.

COMPARE THE ROLLS: To see who won, compare the dice rolls.  Don't add your rolls together- instead, notice what number was rolled on EACH of your dice.  Whoever has a die with the HIGHEST number on it wins.  In the case of a tie, compare the NEXT HIGHEST dice, and so on until the winner is determined (or it is a tie).  For example, an attacker that rolls 6 and 1 will beat a target that rolls 5 and 5, because the 6 is the highest roll.  An attacker with three dice that rolls 3, 2, 1 will beat a defender that rolls 3, 2 because the attacker's die that rolled 1 is still more than nothing (so having more dice is a big help).  Remember that Veterans get a reroll in all types of combat- this means they may reroll one die when involved in that type of combat.  

OVERKILL: If the winning roll consists of any dice that rolled HIGHER than the loser's HIGHEST die, then OVERKILL occurs.  You do one point of OVERKILL for each die that rolled higher than the opponent's highest die.

LOOT- quiet.
You may attempt to steal something valuable from a WANDERER or a HUNTER. Roll your dice vs. the target's dice.  If you LOSE, you will be revealed and the target will immediately make a melee attack on you!   The target is then still eligible for looting, mischief or mayhem.  If you WIN with overkill, earn one point of TIN (take the encounter blip).   If you won but got no overkill, earn one point of BRAG.  Once any Tin or Brag has been earned, a WANDERER will flee (remove them from the board), but a HUNTER will stay.  Hunters can only be looted once.

PRANK- quiet.
You're up to no good!  Describe some kind of prank your creature attempts against a WANDERER, HOUND or HUNTER within 1 stick.  Then, roll your dice vs. the target's dice.  If you tie or lose, your prank fails, but you are not revealed.  If you WIN, place a REVEAL marker on the victim.  All further LOOT or MAYHEM attempts on the target will be at +1 DIE!   PRANKS may not be attempted on a target that already has a reveal marker on it.

MAYHEM- noisy!

MELEE.

• Must be adjacent to the target.
• Attacker may reroll 1 die if they were HIDDEN prior to attacking a living target.
• If the ATTACKER wins, the DEFENDER takes one hit per point of overkill, or they take a STUN if there is no overkill.
• If the DEFENDER wins with any OVERKILL and is not passive or stunned, then the attacker is stunned!
• Earn one point of BRAG for each hit you do.

• -1 die for each stick of range over the first.
• If the defender is in COVER, they may add +1 die to their defense roll.
• Attacker may reroll 1 die if they were HIDDEN prior to attacking a living target.
• If the ATTACKER wins, the DEFENDER takes one hit per point of overkill, or they take a STUN if there is no overkill.
• Earn one point of BRAG for each hit you do.

ATTACKING OTHER BROODS.
You may use MAYHEM to attack other broods as described above, with the following restrictions:

• The MAX damage you can do to any other brood model is a STUN.  Remember that STUNNED models must DROP anything they are carrying!
• If the Brood you are attacking has more BRAG than your Brood, you will earn 1 BRAG for stunning them.

• If you earned ANY Brag during the game, you get 1 CHARM.
• If you earned MORE Brag than the number of creatures in your brood, you get +1 CHARM.
• The brood with the MOST Brag gets +1 charm!
• TIN may be used to purchase upgrades for your Brood.
• CHARM earned may be used to purchase additional creatures for your brood!

NIGHT WATCH
SETUP: Place 6 blips per player evenly around the board.  Broods can start at any corner.  Each player rolls 2 dice- highest roll goes first, then turns proceed clockwise around the table.
NIGHT WATCHMEN:  If there are NO hunters or hounds on the board at the start of the Humans turn, have each player roll one die for every 2 models they have active on the board.  If anyone rolled Doubles, they must place a HUNTER at their board edge (in the case of multiple doubles, the highest roll must place)- otherwise, whoever rolled the highest must place a HOUND at their board edge.   Then run any Hunters or Hounds according to their rules.
GAME ENDS: When there are no unresolved blips (that aren't Hunters or Hounds),  or all the broods have been KOed.

HIGHWAYMEN
SETUP:  Clear a road from one board end to the other.  Place a wagon or coach at one end of the road.  Place 3 blips per player evenly around the board, and keep the rest of the blips handy for the wagon.  Broods can start at any corner.
THE WAGON:  Broods may attack the WAGON with ranged or melee.  The wagon defends with one die.  Any HITS on the wagon will earn 1 brag, and cause the wagon to drop a random BLIP, face UP, on the road behind it (this reveals the blip).  If it is a Hunter, place him on TOP of the wagon instead- he'll immediately shoot at whatever model attacked the wagon!
HUMAN TURN:  At the end of each Human turn, the Wagon will move two sticks forward until it moves off the far board edge.  If it collides with any models, treat as a 3 die melee attack against the model, and if it survives, push it to the nearest road edge.  Any HUNTERS on board will stay on board and will fire, once per turn, at the nearest revealed target in line of sight.
ADVANCED GAMES: For a more challenging game, start the wagon with a HUNTER on board at the beginning of the game!
GAME ENDS: When the Wagon is off the board and there are no unresolved blips.

CLANKERS
SETUP:  Place all of the Hole, Food, and and Trap blips randomly around the board.  Place one CLANKER model per player in the middle of the board (see below).  Broods can start at any corner.
CLANKERS:  The humans have made steam powered mechanoid Clankers to try to stop you!  Clankers can be any size, usually between 3 and 6 dice!  Clankers can be pranked, looted, or attacked just like Hunters. 
PRANKING CLANKERS: Regardless of its size, clankers always roll 2 dice when defending against pranks.  You may prank a Clanker multiple times, up to it's remaining number of hits (as it takes damage, remove any excess reveal markers).
LOOTING CLANKERS: Clankers roll their full dice (minus any damage) when defending against looting.  You may loot a Clanker as many times as it has hits!
DAMAGING CLANKERS:  Instead of taking stun, a stunning hit will add 1 reveal marker to the clanker as if it had been successfully
EARNING BRAG:  Because Clankers are so tough, if you damage them at all, you'll earn 1 Brag per remaining hit on the Clanker, instead of 1 brag per point of damage!
HUMAN TURN:  Clankers don't see too well, so on their turn, they will move 1 stick in a RANDOM direction, and then shoot at the nearest revealed target.  If there are more than 1 revealed targets at the same range, it will SPLIT UP the attack dice between them, making multiple attacks that are less powerful.  If there are no revealed targets within maximum range, it will move an additional 1 stick in a random direction.  (To do random move, roll a D6, double it, and use a clock face for direction).
GAME ENDS: When all the clankers have been disabled and all blips resolved.

LEAVES
SETUP:  Place several leaf piles around the board, next to any building or tall scenery.  Rate the leaf piles in size from 2 to 5 dice.  Place two blips per player evenly around the board, and keep the rest handy.
LEAF PILES: Roll from two to five dice, depending on their size.  Anyone may attempt to WRECK a leaf pile by using a MELEE attack or a PRANK attempt.  If they lose, draw a random blip from the remaining pile and reveal it on the spot!.  If they win, they'll earn one brag for every die the leaf pile rolled, and remove the leaf pile.
GAME ENDS: When all the leaf piles have been wrecked and all the blips have been resolved.

SIGNS
SETUP:  Place two signs per player evenly around the board- on the front of buildings or other distinct terrain feature.  Place 2 blips inside each building with a sign on it, plus two more blips out in the street.
SIGNS:  The goal is to steal as many signs as you can.  To steal a sign, make a LOOT roll next to the sign.  The sign rolls 2 dice.  If you fail, an alarm sounds- reveal ALL the blips inside that sign's building!  Signs must be carried like furniture (noisy), and are worth 1 TIN or 3 brag each (player's choice).
BLIPS IN BUILDINGS: entering a building will reveal ALL the blips at once!
GAME ENDS: When all the signs have been stolen and all the blips have been resolved.   

THE HAUNTED FOREST
SETUP:  Place as many spooky trees on the board as you can get together!   Place one blip at the base of each tree.  All trees start out "asleep".    Fill out the rest of the board with scenery as you see fit, but don't place more than 6 blips per player.  When a blip is revealed, consult the chart below instead of using the normal rules for blips.

• HUNTER: The tree awakens and attacks you! The HUNTER blip is just the loot from an unfortunate hunter who was killed- it may not be collected unless the tree is KOed.  Then anyone may pick it up for 1 tin.
• AMBUSH: The tree  awakens and attacks you!
• WANDERER: You have found a wanderer that is trapped inside a sleeping tree.  You may make a LOOT roll against the tree's dice to free the Wanderer.  If you succeed, the wanderer rewards you- take their blip as 1 tin!  But if you fail, the tree awakens and attacks you!
• HOLE: Follows the normal rules for holes.  Also, this tree is weakened by the hole, and rolls 1 less die than normal.
• SHRINE, FURNITURE, POTS, FOOD, TRAP:  Treat the blip as normal, but remember that while adjacent to a tree there's a chance it will awaken on the Tree Turn!

AWAKEN: At the beginning of the TREE TURN, any sleeping trees that have models adjacent, or revealed models within 1 stick, must roll to see if they awaken.  Roll their dice- if any dice roll a 6, the tree awakens and attacks the nearest model!  Place a reveal marker next to the tree to show that it is awake.
SLEEP: At the end of the TREE TURN, any awakened trees that do NOT have models within 1 stick of them must roll their remaining dice, and unless they roll any 6's, they will go back to sleep (remove the reveal marker to show they are asleep).
ADVANCED GAMES: For a more challenging game, give the trees THREE dice!
GAME ENDS: When there are no unresolved blips,  or all the broods have been KOed.

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