1347: De Nigrae Pestis Ludo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Preparation
  • Goal of Play
  • Setting Up the Game
  • Component Notes
• Game Stages
  • 3.1 Investments Stage
  • 3.2 Action Stage
  • 3.3 Upkeep Stage
  • 3.4 Event Stage
• End of Game
• Appendix: Examples of Play
• Quite Frequent Questions

Preparation

Goal of Play

The goal of the game is to become the greatest plague doctor of the town. To do this, by the end of the game you have to accumulate more wealth points than your adversaries, by curing the infected, gaining influence in the six city areas, and earning money through your works and subjects.

Setting Up the Game

The game box includes:

• 1 game board in sections (6 "town areas")
• 108 Influence tokens
• 60 Coins
• 90 Grave-digger tokens
• 43 Subject cards
• 20 Resource cards
• 30 Event cards (10 per period)
• 1 First Player token

Setup steps

1. Board. Open the board and place it at the centre of the table as indicated on pages 6-7. The area around the board, where each player keeps his holdings, is called the "Reserve".

2. First Player. Give the First Player token to the person who was the last to suffer from any kind of illness (not the plague).

3. Influence tokens. Each player then chooses a color and takes five Influence tokens: one of 4 points, one of 3, one of 2, one of 1, and one of zero influence points. The remaining Influence tokens are placed alongside the game board.

4. Grave-diggers. Each player takes 3 Grave-digger tokens in their color and adds them to their Reserve. The remaining Grave-diggers are placed in the Portus area, near the docks.

5. Subject cards. Shuffle the Subject cards. Note that each card has an "infected" and "healed" side - at this stage the infected side is kept face up. Place the deck beside the game board, near the Burgus area. Then take the top 3 cards and place them in the spaces indicated (the order doesn't matter).

6. Event cards. The game is organised in three periods, each divided in a different number of game rounds depending on the number of players. At the end of every round an Event card is revealed, which will influence the next round.

   Separate and shuffle the Event cards in their three decks: one for each period (I, II, III). Next, draw Event cards from each of these decks, composing three "mini-decks" placed next to the game board, one for each period, as described below (keep the Event cards face down for now - they will be shown later):

   • 2 to 5 players: 9 Event cards (3 period I, 3 period II, 3 period III)

NB: All discarded cards are placed face-up alongside their respective decks, gradually forming new decks as the game progresses.

Board setup (continued)

• Place the Subject deck next to the board, near the Burgus area. At the beginning of each round, take the top three cards and place them face up in the spaces indicated.
• From the deck of Event cards, draw 3 for each period. Place them next to the board, in mini-decks from Period I to III. Then reveal the first card from Period I.
• Place all unassigned Grave-digger tokens here.
• After each player has taken 6 coins, place the remaining money in the bank.
• Place the Resource deck here, top card face up.
• During the Investments stage, each player must invest their Influence tokens in whatever area of the board they want (face down), on the spaces corresponding to their own color.

Component Notes

Subjects. Each Subject card has an "infected" side and a "healed" side. The infected side shows:

1. Influence Points necessary to purchase the card, when operating in the Burgus.
2. To heal this subject, discard one of your Resource cards during the Upkeep stage.
3. Obtain this Influence token for investment in the coming rounds, by placing the Subject in "healed" condition.
4. Pay this amount of money to heal the subject during each Upkeep stage. If you don't have the required amount the subject is again infected.
5. Subject's ability. You can use it only when the Subject is "healed".

Resources.

A. Resource effect (the stage in which the powers can be used differ from card to card).

Events.

B. Period for the Event.

C. Event effect (active for all stages of the round).

Game Stages

Each round is divided in 4 stages:

• Investments stage
• Actions stage
• Upkeep stage
• Event stage

3.1 Investments Stage

In this stage each player draws on their Influence tokens, marked according their specific doctoring specialty and in their own color. The players invest their Influence tokens in the different board areas, placing them on the hexagons in their own colors in the selected areas. There is no limit on the number of areas for investment, and no limit on the number of Influence tokens per hexagon.

Beginning from the First Player and then proceeding clockwise, each player can invest one of their Influence token in one of the six available areas (only one Influence token can be played per turn). In alternative, the player can play one of their Resource cards, activating the effect and so saving an Influence token for a later turn in the Investments stage.

NB: each Resource card played (not discarded) will give 1 Wealth point at the end of the game.

The six town areas available for investment are as follows:

1. Schola Medica: Winning the investments stage in this area gains you entry to School of Medical Arts, where you can learn the profession of Plague doctor and can then carry out different actions;
2. Burgus: Winning the investments stage here, in the high town, means you can gather Subjects: characters who gain you further Influence tokens for still more investments;
3. Mercatus: Winning the investments stage in this area means you will be the only one allowed to trade in commerce during the remainder of the round;
4. Agrus: Whichever Plague doctor has invested most influence points in this area has the right to send their Grave-diggers to work on their lands, draining swamps, gathering leeches, extending crops: countering the forces of the Plague, while also earning some coin;
5. Portus: The Plague doctor winning the investments stage here can set their Grave-diggers to work on new tasks: buildings Developments in the different parts of the town, and so increasing their powers in the chosen areas;
6. Suburbium: Winning the investments stage in this area means you can set traps for the other Plague doctors, in the back alleys and Tabernae infesting the town's lower outskirts. By robbing your opponents of their riches, particularly in moments of weakness, you can increase your own resources.

The investments (or use of the players' Resource cards) continue clockwise from player to player, using one Investment token or Resource card per turn, until all the players have invested all their available tokens. When a player invests one of their Influence tokens, they can also Reinforce the investment by investing one or more of their still unused Grave-diggers. Players (Plague doctors) can't invest Grave-diggers already set to work in the Agrus area, or assigned to the different Developments. Each Grave-digger invested is worth one additional Influence point over and above the total of the player's investments in that area.

At the end of the Actions stage, all Grave-diggers invested in each area are discarded, meaning returned to the Portus docks. Also, all Influence tokens invested are repossessed by their respective owners, as described in detail below. Resource cards can be drawn on in this game stage, activating their different effects, however these effects are then valid only for this round. Once their effects are used they must be placed apart: they will give 1 Wealth point at the end of the game. But they can't later be used to build Developments or cure the owner's Subjects (see Upkeep stage).

3.2 Action Stage

In this stage all of the areas are activated one by one, from area 1 (Schola Medica) to 6 (Suburbium), following the numbering indicated on the game board. When an area becomes active, all the Influence tokens invested in that area are revealed. The player with the highest amount of Influence points invested in that area becomes the active player for the area, meaning they have gained the right to carry out their actions. There can only be ONE active player per area, per round. If two or more players have invested the same number of Influence points in a given area, the one that is the First Player of that round, or next one to the First Player's left, becomes the active player. However in games with 6 players, in cases of tied Influence during Period III (i.e. only during the last Period), whoever has the highest total value of Subject cards and Developments becomes the active player.

The influence points invested by the "non-active" opponents in the various areas transform into "Unused Points", which can provide their owners with Coins or Grave-Diggers at the end of the actions in each area. The players can choose whether to convert each Unused Point in that area into 1 coin, or they can obtain a number of Grave-diggers equal to the number of their unused Influence tokens invested in the area. (The exception to this is the Reinforcements, who are completely lost and returned to the Portus docks area.) The Grave-diggers obtained by discarding unused influence tokens must be hired from the docks and put in the player's Reserve. Players cannot hire additional Grave-diggers if all those of their own color have already been taken from the docks.

Example: Lothar invests 3-point and 1-point Influence tokens, but this investment remains unused. Lothar can therefore choose between converting the Unused Points as: 4 coins; 2 Grave-diggers; 3 coins and one Grave-digger; or 1 coin and 1 Grave-digger.

When the active player has finished their actions in an area, all the players recover their invested Influence tokens, and the next area becomes active.

This stage ends when all the areas containing Influence tokens have been activated, and all the actions have been carried out. The Plague doctor winning the Investment stage can carry out the following actions, in the relative areas:

1. Schola Medica: The player with the most Influence points invested in this area gains the right to choose one of the following actions:
   • Build one Development (Apotheca, Emporium, Lazaretum or Taberna), following the instructions indicated in the Portus area;
   • Acquire a Resource card for the price of 6 Coins;
   • Assign 1 Grave-digger from their Reserve to works in the Agrus area.

The wise Plague doctor will note that whoever acts in Schola Medica can choose from among three actions that would otherwise only possible by winning in three separate areas.

2. Burgus: The player investing the most influence points in this area has the right to select one or more Subject cards of their choice. However, the player's invested Influence points must amount to at least as much as the total of the Influence points on the selected Subject cards (as seen on the "infected" side, to the right). The subjects acquired arrive in "infected" state and remain that way for the current stage, meaning that the player places them in their Reserve area, outside the game board, with the "infected" side face up. Each player can hold only one Subject card of each type: for example, a player can have only 1 Town Crier.

3. Mercatus: The player who has invested the most in this area has the right to take 1 Resource card (from the top of the deck), at the price of 4 coins.

4. Agrus: Whoever has invested the most in the Agrus lands gains the right to add a further Grave-digger from their Reserve (meaning one already hired) to duties in this area. Every Grave-digger assigned to works in the Agrus earns 2 coins for their master, during each Upkeep stage.

5. Portus: Whoever invests the most points in this area has the right to build one or more Developments of their choice. Building a Development means assigning a Grave-digger from the player's Reserve to the appropriate space within the different areas. There are four possible kinds of developments: Apothecae (in the Burgus area), Emporia (in the Mercatus), "Lazareti", or Plague hospitals (in the Agrus area), Tabernae (in the Suburbium area). However besides placing a Grave-digger, construction of a Development has a cost: the active player must pay (i.e. discard) 1 Resource card of any kind in their holdings, or give up 3 Grave-diggers from their Reserves (who return to the Docks).

   The benefits gained from your Developments are as follows:

   • Apothecae: Each Apotheca owned by a player is worth 1 Influence point in every round, as their personal base investment in the Burgus area. Owning an Apotheca also reduces the cost of acquiring Subject cards, by 1 Influence point per acquisition. However, influence points provided by Apothecae do not become Unused Points;

NB: the Burgus and Suburbium will in any case have to be activated if any Apothecae or Tabernae have been developed, since these yield their owners influence points.

3.3 Upkeep Stage

When all the areas with invested Influence tokens have been activated, and all of the players involved have carried out their actions, the round progresses to the Upkeep stage. In this stage all the Subject cards left in the Burgus area must be discarded, filling the empty spaces with three new cards taken from the bottom of the deck. Then, in clockwise turns starting with the First Player, the following actions are completed:

• Whoever holds Grave-diggers to the Agrus receives 2 Coins for every one employed, taking them from the Banca [sic; the Bank];
• The players who hold pestilent Subject cards (meaning obtained directly from the Burgus with the image of the "infected" side up) can heal one or more Subjects by paying (discarding) a Resource card of any kind for each infected Subject. When your Subject is cured, you turn the person's card to the "healed" side and receive an Influence token of the value indicated on the Card, plus any abilities identified on the card for use in the following rounds;
• Players that hold healed Subjects must pay their upkeep in the amounts of Coin indicated alongside each personage, otherwise they have to return the card to "infected" side up, losing the relative Influence token and any of the personage's abilities, until they have once again cured the Subject.

3.4 Event Stage

At the end of the Upkeep stage the players reveal the top Event card from the Period deck currently in play (proceeding from Period I to III). Each Event indicates the specific conditions that have to be respected (or dealt with) in the play, from that moment until the next Event card is revealed.

The powers of the Event card in play take precedence over any conflicting ones seen on the Resource and Subject cards (for example, the Event card "Trading ships from the East" takes precedence over the "Minstrel" Subject card).

At the end of the Event stage the round is finished and the First Player token is passed to the next player, in clockwise order. The players then start the Investment stage of the next round, and so on until the last round. When the last Event card is revealed and so the last round is finished, the game comes to an end and the players count their Wealth points, as gained during all the play (see End of Game).

End of Game

At the end of the game, the players obtain 1 Wealth point for:

• Each influence point (the value shown on each Influence token held);
• Every 10 Coins;
• Each Subject card;
• Each Resource card played (not discarded);
• Each Development held;
• Every 3 Grave-diggers held (including the player's Reserve and those assigned to the Agrus).

The player with the most Wealth points wins. In case of a tie, the top Wealth holders are both winners.

Appendix: Examples of Play

I - Investments stage

• Geoffrey invests a token in the Schola Medica, Lothar in the Mercatus, Rolph in the Agrus, Hugo in the Suburbium.
• Geoffrey invests a token in the Schola Medica, Lothar in the Portus, Rolph in the Burgus, and Hugo in the Burgus.
• Geoffrey invests a token in the Burgus, Lothar in the Portus, Rolph in the Burgus, and Hugo in Suburbium.
• Geoffrey plays the Resource card "Plague spreader for hire" against Hugo, meaning Hugo can't invest Influence points in the Suburbium. Lothar invests a token in Suburbium, Rolph in the Schola Medica.
• Geoffrey invests a token in Suburbium, Lothar in the Mercatus, Rolph in the Mercato [sic], and Hugo in the Mercatus.
• Geoffrey invests his last token (saved by skipping the fourth turn of the Investment stage, when he instead used a Resource card) in the Burgus, and adds a grave-digger to reinforce the investment.

II - Action stage

• All players reveal their tokens in the Schola Medica. Geoffrey has invested tokens of 2 and zero points. Hugo has invested a zero-point token. Geoffrey becomes the active player and chooses to purchase 1 resource card for 6 Coins. Hugo converts his zero-point token into a Grave-digger, drawing it from the Portus and adding it to his Reserve. At this point all the players recover their tokens invested in this area, converting them as Grave-diggers or Coins.
• All players reveal their tokens in the Mercatus. Lothar has invested 3 influence points (tokens of 1 and 2 points), Rolph has invested 1 point and Hugo 1 point. Lothar purchases a resource card with a cost of 4 coins, while Rolph and Hugo each convert their lone token into a Grave-digger. At this point all the players recover their tokens invested in the area.
• All players reveal their tokens in the Agrus. Only Rolph has invested here, but at a level of zero points, so he does not become an active player and no one acts in the area. At this point all the players recover their tokens invested in this area.
• All players reveal their tokens in the Portus. Only Lothar has invested in the area, with tokens of zero and 3 points. He acquires 2 Developments, using the two Resource cards he owns and transforming one of his Grave-diggers as an Apotheca and the other as a Taberna.
• All players reveal their tokens in the Burgus. Geoffrey has invested 5 Influence points (tokens of 1 and 3 points, plus a Grave-digger); Hugo has invested 2 points; Rolph has invested 7 points (tokens of 4 and 3 points). Rolph becomes active and takes the Master builder and Hangman cards, given that these total 7 points, the maximum possible with his investments. Geoffrey converts his 5 unused points into 5 Coins and Hugo converts his token into 1 Grave-digger. At this point all the players recover their tokens invested in the area, while the Reinforcement Grave-digger invested by Geoffrey is discarded.
• All players reveal their tokens in Suburbium. Both Geoffrey and Lothar have invested their last tokens, of 4 points each; Rolph has invested 2 points and Hugo has invested 7. Hugo can steal holdings only from Rolph - the Plague Doctor with the least invested in Suburbium. Given his 7 points, Hugo robs 1 Grave-digger and 1 Resource card from Rolph. At this point all players recover their tokens invested in the area.

III - Upkeep stage

• Rolph is left with one Resource card, so he uses it to retain the Hangman card, changing it to "healed" position. In this way he obtains its ability and an Influence token of 1 points, which he can invest in the next round, together with other tokens. The Subject card remaining on the board is discarded and 3 new Subject cards are drawn from the top of the pack, face up.

IV - Event stage

• A player reveals the first event card from the Period I deck: the card New agrarian law I. This means that for the entire second round of the game, the players can invest their Grave-diggers not only for Reinforcement, but also as the full equivalent of 1-point Influence tokens. Given that the Grave-diggers are now also available for investment, there will be one extra turn in the Investment stage. The plague doctor immediately after the First Player in clockwise sense now takes the First Player token and assumes the corresponding role.
• The second round of play starts, once again from the Investment stage.

Quite Frequent Questions

Q: If I invest a zero-point Influence token in an area and an opponent wins the investment, can I convert my token even though it's for zero points?

A: Yes, but you can only convert it as a Grave-digger.

Q: If I win an investment in an area but don't have the means to act on it, can I reuse my Influence points?

A: No, if you win the investment your Influence points change status, effectively becoming "used". Your opponents' points remain unused and can be converted as Coins or Grave-diggers, but yours can no longer be converted.

Q: If I'm the only player to invest in an area and I've invested a zero-point influence token, do I win investment?

A: No, to become an active player you have to invest tokens of 1 or more Influence points (unless you possess one or more Developments in the area, which increase your points to at least 1).

Q: At the end of the game, what happens to the player who has the least wealth points?

A: Generally the other players strap them in the stocks, then throw large quantities of rotten fruit and dirty rags!