Game Length: 1 to 2 hours

Requirements: Settlers of Catan and additional components listed below. If playing with the Seafarers variant, a copy of Seafarers of Catan will also be needed.

Object: Brave the hazards of the Volcano's fury to fill your coffers with gold!

Shuffle the land tiles and create the game board in the same manner as a normal game of Settlers of Catan. Then, place the harbor tiles and sea tiles normally. After the board has been set up, replace the Desert tile with the special Volcano tile (see Additional Components).

Select a number token (in addition to the number tokens already placed on the island) whose value can be any number except "7". All players must agree on which number to use. Place this number token on the Volcano hex. The number chosen will determine how active the Volcano is.

The Robber begins the game on the Volcano hex.

Setup

During the initial construction turns, no player may place either of his two starting settlements on an intersection that borders the Volcano.

The Volcano

During the game, the volcano may erupt! When it does, settlers who are unfortunate enough to be in the path of the lava will be swept away! When the number on the token that was placed on the Volcano is rolled, the Volcano erupts!

When the Volcano erupts, roll a die to determine the direction the lava will flow. One of the six intersections on the Volcano tile will be affected. If there is a settlement on the selected intersection, it is destroyed! Remove it from the board (its owner may rebuild it later). If a city is located there, it is reduced to a settlement! Replace the city with a settlement of its owner's color. If he has no settlements remaining, it is destroyed instead.

The presence of the Robber on the Volcano hex does not prevent the Volcano from erupting!

Gold Variant

Important: This is an optional rule. All players must agree to this rule if it is to be used!

Volcanoes tend to be rich in valuable minerals such as gold or gems. If the players desire, the Volcano can produce resources when its number is rolled. This "gold" is distributed in the same manner as the Gold River hex in the Seafarers expansion: Each settlement that is adjacent to the Volcano when it erupts may produce any one of the five resources it's owner desires. Each city adjacent to the Volcano may produce any two resources. This resource production is taken before the results of the volcano eruption are resolved. Note that while the Robber can not prevent the Volcano from erupting, he does prevent any player from producing resources from the Volcano hex if he has been placed there.

In addition to all of the normal components of the Settlers game, you will need two additional components:

1 Volcano Hexagon (more if playing with the Krakatoa Variant)

1 additional resource number token (3 if playing the Krakatoa Variant)

Here is an image of the Volcano Tile. Feel free to copy this image and attach it to cardboard to create your own Volcano Tile! click on image to view enlarged tile image

When playing the Volcano scenario with the seafarers expansion, the Volcano tile can replace any desert or sea tile that all players agree on. The only restriction is that whichever tile is replaced by the Volcano must be adjacent to at least two other resource-producing land tiles.

Krakatoa Variant

This variant is for use only with the Seafarers expansion. For this variant, form an island from three Volcano tiles. Place resource number tokens 4, 5, and 6 one on each Volcano. This variant should only be used with the Gold Variant described above.