<p>The English rules are correct; you still must discard half your hand if you are holding too many cards. You can find the latest edition of the rulebook on catan.com <a href="http://www.catan.com/files/downloads/catan_ck_5th_ed_rules_150303.pdf" rel="noreferrer">here</a>. It says;</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The robber cannot be moved until after the barbarians reach the island of Catan for the first time. Until the first barbarian attack, if you roll a "7", each player must check if he is holding too many cards as usual; however, you do not move the robber from the desert and you do not steal a card from another player.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-31T16:15:58.977Z
ooh - when did they change that? I'm sure it always used to be that there was no special "before the first attack" rules.
xorsyst
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-01T05:31:49.507Z
@xorsyst I also don't remember learning that rule back when I learned Cities and Knights, back when the Soldiers were Soldiers and the game was "Settlers of Catan".
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-01T08:25:38.557Z
@Gendolkari - I may have learned it way back when Soldiers where Ritters and the game was "Die Siedler von Catan" :D.
xorsyst
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-14T15:41:46.443Z
2017-08-14T15:41:46.443Z
GendoIkari
<p>Accordingly to <a href="https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/CitiesAndKnights.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">these rules</a>, when you roll a 7 before the first barbarians' arrival, you have to drop half of your deck, if you have more than 7 cards.</p>

<p>The rules in the Italian version of the game say that nothing happens when you roll a 7 before the barbarians arrival.</p>

<p>Which is the correct one?</p>

<catan><catan-cities-and-knights>
What happens if you roll a 7 before the barbarians reach the island?
floatingpurr
# What happens if you roll a 7 before the barbarians reach the island?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-14)

Accordingly to [these rules](https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/CitiesAndKnights.pdf), when you roll a 7 before the first barbarians' arrival, you have to drop half of your deck, if you have more than 7 cards.

The rules in the Italian version of the game say that nothing happens when you roll a 7 before the barbarians arrival.

Which is the correct one?

**Tags:** catan, catan-cities-and-knights


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-08-14. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

The English rules are correct; you still must discard half your hand if you are holding too many cards. You can find the latest edition of the rulebook on catan.com [here](http://www.catan.com/files/downloads/catan_ck_5th_ed_rules_150303.pdf). It says;

> The robber cannot be moved until after the barbarians reach the island of Catan for the first time. Until the first barbarian attack, if you roll a "7", each player must check if he is holding too many cards as usual; however, you do not move the robber from the desert and you do not steal a card from another player.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: ooh - when did they change that? I'm sure it always used to be that there was no special "before the first attack" rules.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 I also don't remember learning that rule back when I learned Cities and Knights, back when the Soldiers were Soldiers and the game was "Settlers of Catan".  
> **username_2**: @Gendolkari - I may have learned it way back when Soldiers where Ritters and the game was "Die Siedler von Catan" :D.  

---

