18CTN Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• 1. Setup
  • 1.1 Player Setup
  • 1.2 Popular Game Setup
  • 1.3 Shared Board Setup
  • 1.4 Company Setup
  • 1.5 Private Company Auction
• 2. Stock Rounds
  • 2.1 Selling Stock
  • 2.2 Buying Stock
  • 2.3 Certificate Limit
  • 2.4 Ending a Stock Round
• 3. Operating Rounds
  • 3.1 Major Company Operating Rounds
  • Victory Point Dividends
  • 3.2 Commodities
  • 3.3 Cornelius Banks
• 4. Game End
• 5. Etiquette

Components

Included components:

• 1 Shared Board
• 4 Cardinal Direction Markers (North, East, South, West)
• 1 Round Tracker
• 1 Turn Tracker
• 5 double-sided Commodity Value Markers (Wheat, Ore, Sheep, Wood, Brick)
• 8 Private Companies
• 1 Priority Deal Marker
• 5 Stock Value Markers, 1 for each Major Company
• 4 Major Company Turn Order Cards
• 45 Stock Certificates, 9 each for 5 Major Companies
• 5 Charters, 1 for each Major Company

Non-included components: you will need to supply these components to play:

• Currency (paper, poker chips, etc.) totaling around $1500
• One copy of Popular Game

1. Setup

1.1 Player Setup

Randomly determine a Starting Player and give them the Priority Deal marker.

Give each player $70 in cash.

1.2 Popular Game Setup

Set up the Popular Game board, resource cards, and development cards as normal.

Assign the Cardinal Direction Markers to the Generic Ports. Select a Port to be North and place the North Cardinal Direction Marker near it to indicate this. Place the other 3 markers (East, South, West) accordingly.

1.3 Shared Board Setup

Place all Commodity Value Markers on the Commodity Value track at 1.

Establish Major Company Turn Order: Shuffle the 4 Major Company Turn Order Cards and place them in a random order along the Turn Order track. This sets the turn order during Operating Rounds throughout the game; it will not change.

Place the Turn Tracker on the first space in the Turn Order track.

Place the Round Tracker on the SR (Stock Round) space.

1.4 Company Setup

Shuffle the 8 Private Companies together and randomly deal 4 lots of 2 cards each alongside the Turn Order track. These will be auctioned after Major Company setup, in order first to fourth.

The Starting Player must place one settlement and one road of the Major Company first in turn order on the Popular Game board, following normal Popular Game rules. Continuing clockwise around the table, players take turns placing one settlement and one road for the Major Companies, following the Turn Order track in this sequence: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1. (The Major Company in the fourth position will have two sequential placements, but the player order doesn't change and continues clockwise around the table.)

Place each Major Company's starting resources on its Charter, face-up.

Give Priority Deal to the player to the left of the player who placed the last starting settlement and road.

1.5 Private Company Auction

Auction the four lots of 2 Private Companies in order.

In each auction, the opening bid is placed by the player with Priority Deal.

Once a player passes, they cannot reenter bidding for that lot. The first player to pass from an auction gains Priority Deal (and thus starts the next auction).

When all players but one have passed, the winning player pays their bid to the bank and receives the 2 Private Companies.

After all four lots have been auctioned, begin the first Stock Round.

Play proceeds by alternating each Stock Round with multiple Operating Rounds and one Cornelius Banks Dividends Payout.

At the start of the game, there will be two Operating Rounds between each Stock Round. After the first City has been built, increase to three Operating Rounds between each Stock Round, starting with the next set of Operating Rounds.

Use the Turn Tracker and Round Tracker to help keep track of the current phase.

2. Stock Rounds

Each player, in turn, starting with the Priority Deal player and proceeding clockwise:

• May sell one or more Shares
• Then, may buy one Stock Certificate
• Or take neither action and pass their turn

A player who has passed may take actions later in the Stock Round.

Each stock certificate represents a 10% share, except for President Certificates, which are 2 shares or 20%. Stock shares are bought and sold at the current stock price. President's Certificates are bought and sold for twice this amount.

2.1 Selling Stock

A player may sell any number of stock shares on their turn, subject to these limits: A sale may not result in more than 50% of a Company's shares being in the Bank Pool. A President's Certificate may not be sold into the Bank Pool.

For each Company, the player receives the current stock price for each share sold and places the stock certificates in the Bank Pool. Then adjust the Company's stock price: move it down to the left once.

Diagram in the source booklet (stock price track movements, with "Stock Sold" circled): Development Card (up), Bubble (up-right), Score Point / Pay Dividend (right), Robbed (down-right), Stock Sold (down-left), No Build / Withhold (left).

After selling, if a Major Company's President has fewer shares in the Company than another player, there is a Presidency Change. The player who now holds the highest percentage of that stock (resolve ties clockwise from the former President) becomes President of that Company. The new President exchanges two of their 10% shares for the President's Certificate.

2.2 Buying Stock

After selling, a player may buy one stock certificate on their turn, subject to these limits: No player may ever purchase or own more than 60% of a Major Company's stock. After selling shares in a Company, that player may not buy shares in the same Company until the next Stock Round.

To buy a share from the Bank Pool or Company Treasury, pay its current stock price to the bank and take the share into your play area.

Presidency Change: After purchasing stock, a player who owns more stock shares in a Major Company than its current President becomes President of that Company. The new President exchanges two of their 10% shares for the President's Certificate.

To start (float) a new Company, choose its initial stock value from the shaded "Par" section on the Stock Track (20, 25, 30), and mark it with the corresponding Stock Value Marker. Pay twice its stock price to the bank and take the President's Certificate into your play area. Take its Charter, resource cards, and pieces into your play area.

2.3 Certificate Limit

When a 7 is rolled during Operating Rounds, any player holding more than 7 stock certificates must discard down to 7. The discarded stock certificates are not sold or compensated in any way; they are simply discarded to the Bank Pool.

A President's Certificate counts as one certificate. Private Companies do not count against the Certificate Limit.

2.4 Ending a Stock Round

The Stock Round ends once all players have passed in sequence. Assign Priority Deal to the player to the left of the player who took the last action.

Bubbling: Adjust each Company's stock price up to the right if all shares are 100% held by players (no shares are in the Company Treasury or Bank Pool).

3. Operating Rounds

There are two or three Operating Rounds after each Stock Round. During these rounds, each Major Company (except Cornelius Banks) operates, with all its decisions being made by its President. Immediately before each Stock Round, there is a Cornelius Banks Dividends Payout.

At the start of the game, there will be two Operating Rounds between each Stock Round. After the first City has been built, increase to three Operating Rounds between each Stock Round, starting with the next set of Operating Rounds.

3.1 Major Company Operating Rounds

In each Operating Round, the Major Companies (except Cornelius Banks) each Operate once, in the order of the Turn Order Track.

To operate, a Major Company takes a Popular Game turn as normal. All decisions are made by its President.

Handwritten margin list in the source booklet, summarising the turn: Roll Dice; Collect Resources; Trade / Build / Settle.

Unfloated Companies: If a Major Company has no shares owned by players, it is considered "unfloated" and operates with a null turn:

• Roll the dice and generate resources.
• On a roll of 7, the unfloated company places the robber in the desert. If the desert is not a legal placement, it should be placed on a space with the fewest adjacent player pieces (zero if possible!).
• If an unfloated company must discard resources for any reason, do so randomly.

At the end of the Company's turn, adjust its value on the Stock Track according to the result:

• If the Company did not build anything on its turn, move its value marker one space to the left.
• If a Company built a Development Card but scored no Victory Points, move its value marker one space up to the left.
• If a Company scored any Victory Points during its turn, move its value marker one space to the right for each VP scored. Pay dividends separately for each VP scored.

Handwritten margin note in the source booklet: "no penalty for losing VP...!"

Victory Point Dividends

• For each Victory Point in the Company's current score, add $10 to the total dividend payout. Then split this total value equally, rounding down, between shares held by players and in the Bank Pool.
• Dividends paid to shares held in the Bank Pool are paid to the bank.
• Shares held in the Company Treasury do not impact dividend payouts.

Worked example handwritten in the source booklet: $30 (3 VP) split between 4 shares = $15 to the President, $7 each to two single-share holders.

If a company scores multiple Victory Points in one turn, each dividend is paid separately (the dividend for the first scored VP is paid, then the dividend for the second scored VP is paid, etc.).

Victory Points on Development Cards are only scored at the end of the game if the holding Company has reached 10 total VP, as normal. These dividends are paid when the VP are scored. Unscored Development Cards do not pay dividends.

3.2 Commodities

Any time a Major Company trades with a port or trading post (not another Major Company), it impacts the Commodity Value and may cause a payout by a Private Company.

When a trade with a port or trading post is made, increase the value of the commodity that was gained by the Major Company by 1. The holder of this Private Company then collects the new Commodity Value in cash from the bank.

Example shown in the source booklet: a Brick Port trade of 2 Brick for 1 Wheat; the Wheat value moves up on the Commodity Value track to 6 and the Private Company holder collects $6 ("gain $6").

3.3 Cornelius Banks

Cornelius Banks is a fifth Major Company that operates uniquely. The Cornelius Banks Major Company operates once at the end of each set of Operating Rounds.

Whenever another Major Company is robbed, move its stock value marker one space down to the right, and add the value of all stolen Commodities in cash to the Cornelius Banks Treasury.

A Major Company is robbed when:

• The robber pawn is placed on an adjacent hex and a resource is taken (either through a rolled 7 or a played Knight).
• The Company must discard resources after a 7 is rolled.
• The robber pawn is positioned on an adjacent hex and the corresponding number is rolled. All resources that are not generated due to the robber pawn position are considered stolen.

Cornelius Banks Dividends Payout: During the Cornelius Banks Dividends Payout phase, the President may pay dividends from the Treasury.

Dividends must be paid equally between all shares held by players and the Bank Pool. Shares in the Company Treasury do not affect dividend payouts.

Dividends are paid in increments of $1 per held share.

• For each $10 paid in Dividends, move the value marker one space to the right on the Stock Track.
• If $0 is paid in Dividends, move the value marker one space to the left on the Stock Track.

4. Game End

Game end is triggered when a Major Company has 10 Victory Points.

Finish that Company's operation, paying dividends as usual. If the Major Company scores points on Development Cards, pay these dividends now.

Then the President of the Cornelius Banks Major Company may pay one final dividend.

Total each player's cash on hand and stock portfolio value, based on the final stock prices.

The player(s) with the highest total wins!

5. Etiquette

• Players may make deals; however, deals are not binding.
• Resources may be traded freely between Major Companies as normal, but assets held by players (cash, stocks, Private Companies) may not be traded.
• Players' cash on hand and stock holdings are open information.
• Major Companies' resources and Development Cards are private to the Company's President. They may tell other players what they hold, but cannot show resources or Development Cards to other players.
• The holdings of unfloated companies and Cornelius Banks are public.