On Catan, there are many mysterious and unexplored places. And now there is one such place that, when a player settles there, they may occasionally receive a free Development card.

• Wizardʼs Castle hex
• Magic "7" number chit with the “1” and “6” dice on it

The Sorcerer's Castle is placed instead of the Desert in the Basic Game. The Robber starts on the hex with the number "2". If you play with Seafarer's, use the Sorcerer's Castle instead of a land of your choice.

• The Sorcerer's Castle gets the Chip with the 6 & 1 showing on the dice.
• A Settlement or City is built neighboring this hex as per the normal rules. The Sorcerer's Castle does not pay off in Raw Materials. Should the dice roll be a "6" and "1", however, each player with a Settlement adjacent to the Castle gets a free Development Card (adjacent Cities get 2 Development Cards).
• After that, the actions for rolling a "7" are completed.
• The Robber cannot be placed on the Sorcerer's Castle.
• Should a player receive a Development Card in the manner during his turn, he has to wait until his next turn to play it.
• If there are no development cards in the stack or if there is not enough to distribute among multiple players when the magic 7 produces, no development cards are produced that turn.

Preparation:

The game is set up following normal rules. The Wizardʼs Castle hex replaces the Desert hex. The Desert hex may be returned to the box; it is not used in this variant. Place the number chit with the “1” and “6” dice roll numbers on the Wizardʼs Castle hex.

If playing with “Seafarers”, the Wizardʼs Castle hex may replace any Resource hex.

Rules

The game is played using the normal rules with the following additions:

• A player may build a settlement or city at the Wizardʼs Castle hex at any point in the game following normal placement rules.
• The Wizardʼs Castle hex does not produce Resource cards.
• If the dice roll combination of “1” and “6” is rolled, each player with a settlement built on the Wizardʼs Castle hex receives one Development card. For each city, a player receives two Development cards.
• A player who receives a Development card in this way may not use it during the same turn on which it is drawn.
• After a “1” and “6” are rolled, complete the phase following the normal rules of rolling a “7”. The Robber may never be placed on the Wizardʼs Castle hex.

This variant first appeared in "Das Buch" and was later included in Catan" Atlantis. It based on an idea from Silke Dennenmoser. 

The Das Buch translation is by Jeff Paull and supplied by James Buller. The Atlantis translation is by Derek Whaley from his file on Board Game Geek.