Age of Renaissance Rulebook

Table of Contents

Note on This Version of the Game
1. Introduction
- 1.1 Historical Background
- 1.2 The Players' Task
2. The Game Turn
3. Game Components
4. The Board
5. Using the Components
6. Cultural Development
7. History Cards
8. Preparing to Play
9. Sequence of a Game Turn
10. Diplomacy
11. End of the Game
A. List of the History Cards
B. Numbers
- B.1 Probabilities in Battle
- B.2 Values of the Regions on the Board
C. Overview of the Advances
Table for Determining Surplus / Shortage

Note on This Version of the Game

This edition differs in some details from the original American edition. Besides the official errata, a number of improvements have been incorporated that make play easier and shorten the playing time. Substantial changes were made in the following areas:

Reduction of the Misery Index
The rule for Patronage
The properties of some Advances
The initial distribution of the cards

The altered and improved version was created in cooperation between Jared Scarborough and the team of translators. For technical reasons a common key for rendering the province names was sought for the French and the German versions, in order to find designations understandable in both.

Where the rules text shows the token symbols in relation to History cards, the coloured side and not the white side is meant.

1. Introduction

1.1 Historical Background

RENAISSANCE is a strategy game for 3-6 players that reflects the development of the Western world from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the end of the Renaissance (approx. 750 A.D. to 1750 A.D.) — an epoch in which the West crystallised as the world-dominating culture.

The dominance of Western culture has numerous causes. The game concentrates on the most significant trading cities of this period: Venice (Venezia), Genoa (Genoa), Barcelona, Paris, London, Hamburg. With their financial resources these cities decisively shaped the development of the West, up to the Age of Renaissance and the wave of uprisings and revolutions that followed it throughout Europe.

1.2 The Players' Task

Each player takes the role of one of these six trading centres and tries to make it the most powerful in Europe by conquering provinces and dominating their markets. Presence in a province is shown on the board by one or more expansion tokens. Expansion tokens of other players may also be in that province. If a domination marker is in the province, that means the province is controlled by the corresponding player and he receives regular income from it (see 9.6). To take control of a province it is enough to place as many expansion tokens in it as its market size. Should an opposing player have expansion tokens or even a domination marker in that province, control of the market must be fought for (see 9.5.2).
Income allows players to acquire Advances in six different fields: Science, Religion, Commerce, Communication, Exploration and Civics. Each Advance gives the player an advantage for the rest of the game.
The course of history is simulated by drawing and playing History cards (these comprise commodities, events and leaders).
The Misery Index records the level of dissatisfaction of a player's population. When a player's marker reaches space 1000 on the Index, that player is eliminated (see 9.4.3).

2. The Game Turn

Every game turn has seven phases. The Order of Play for the current turn is determined in the preceding turn and must be followed when carrying out the individual phases.

The first player may remove the effects of a surplus/shortage by paying the base value of the corresponding commodity to the bank. The first player in the Order of Play who owns the Advance "Wind/Watermill" [J] may shift the surplus/shortage level of one of the following commodities by one space: Grain, Cloth, Wine or Metal. Then, in Order of Play, each player draws one History card (9.1).
Players may now discard a card and/or buy an additional History card (9.2).
Each player may now play one or more History cards (9.3).
Each player may carry out one of the following actions, in which the prescribed sequence must be followed:
- Building the fleet
- Acquiring an Advance
- Stabilization
- Reducing the Misery Index
In Order of Play the players now place their expansion tokens, white side up, in provinces they can reach from provinces they already control (9.5). Leftover expansion tokens may be used to buy an additional History card (9.5.1). If disputes over the control of a province arise during the Expansion Phase, that conflict is fought out immediately (9.5.2). After all players have placed their tokens, the player who was able to place the most expansion tokens may draw a free History card (9.5.3). All expansion tokens are now turned to their coloured side (9.5.4).
The players now receive their income (9.6). Players who own the Advance "Enlightenment" [D] reduce their misery on the Misery Index by one step. Afterwards it is determined for which commodities shortage or surplus will apply in the next turn (9.6.1).
Each player now records secretly on his log sheet how many expansion tokens he wants to acquire for the next game turn. The players simultaneously announce how many expansion tokens they wish to buy and pay 1 ducat to the bank for each token. The number of expansion tokens bought determines the Order of Play for the next turn (9.7).

If fewer than six players are taking part in a game, certain spaces on the "Order of Play" table are not used. If, for example, only three players are playing, only spaces 2, 4 and 6 of this table are used. This point is very important for the resolution of conflicts.

3. Game Components

One board with a simplified representation of Europe and the overseas territories, plus some necessary tables.
For six players, token sheets with 36 expansion tokens each (printed on both sides), 25 domination markers (printed on both sides), 1 fleet marker, 1 marker for the Misery Index and 1 Order of Play marker.
64 History cards, among them 27 Commodity cards, 18 Events and 19 Leaders.
80 commodity control cards.
6 cardboard player mats, which contain various information and on which a player's own tokens are stacked.
1 pad of log sheets.
3 shortage/surplus tokens (printed on both sides).
3 six-sided dice (green, black and white).
Play money in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 ducats (36 of each), totalling 4896.

4. The Board

4.1 Provinces on the Mainland

The mainland parts of the board are divided into provinces, separated from one another by a thin black border.

Coastal provinces: Provinces that contain a piece of mainland and a light blue sea zone are coastal provinces (this includes the Far East (East Indies), the New World (New World), West Africa (Mauritanie) and Iceland (Iceland)). Venice (Venezia), for example, is a coastal province; Dijon is not.

Impassable zone: Areas that have no name may not be entered.

Overseas province: Access to West Africa (Mauritanie) and Iceland (Iceland) is only possible if the player has the galley ship type and "The Heavens" [A] or "Seaworthy Vessels" [S]. China, the Far East (East Indies) and India (India) can only be reached with "Ocean Navigation" [T]. In order to reach North and South America (North- and Southamerica), the Advance "New World" [U] must also be held.

4.2 Sea Zones

Blue spaces that contain no mainland can only be crossed with ships. To get from Copenhagen to Malmö, for example, at least the galley ship type is needed.

Sea: Blue spaces without mainland, such as the Adriatic. They can only be crossed if galleys and "The Heavens" [A] or "Seaworthy Vessels" [S] are held. No tokens may be placed on sea spaces.
Ocean: The ocean is the dark blue area that separates the overseas provinces from the rest of the board.

4.3 Market Size

The number on each province represents the maximum number of expansion tokens that can be placed in that province. As soon as expansion tokens of another player are placed in that province, a conflict breaks out over supremacy in that market (9.5.2). In a province whose market size is printed in a circle (example: 3 in a circle), at most one domination marker, or as many expansion tokens as the market size number, may be placed. A province with its market size in a square is a so-called satellite. No domination marker may be placed in a satellite province, but at most one expansion token.

4.4 Capitals

If the market size of a province is printed in a coloured circle, the province is a capital. The capital is the geographical starting point and the economic base of the player who chose that capital at the beginning of the game.

4.5 Commodities

Provinces that produce a commodity, or that are an important trans-shipment point for a commodity, are shown with a coloured background so the province can be categorised more quickly. Example: all provinces that have Gold as their commodity (India, Southamerica, Suez, Saransk, Praha) are yellow. The five overseas provinces are multi-coloured because they have several commodities. They can hold only one domination marker, but the controlling player receives several commodity control cards.

4.6 Regions

Thick coloured lines divide the board into eight large regions, numbered with Roman numerals. Region I, for example, contains Hamburg. If fewer than 6 players take part in a game, not all regions are used (8.2). The significance of the division into regions becomes clear, for example, for the Advance Nationalism [W] (9.5.2) and for certain Event cards (see A.2, player-aid appendix). A detailed description of every province is in the player aid.

4.7 Tables

Several tables on the board record important elements of the game. One player should take over the administration of the markers on the tables and the distribution of the commodity control cards, and another player the role of banker; he pays out income to the players and takes in money for acquisitions and penalty payments.

Misery Index: Here is recorded what privations a player is imposing on his population. If a player passes level 1000, he is eliminated immediately.
Card deck: The History cards are sorted into three decks by their Epochs (1, 2 or 3). As soon as the Epoch 1 cards are shuffled, they form the card deck (face down) with which the players begin the game. There is a space on the board for the deck. When the deck is used up, the cards of the next Epoch, together with cards from the preceding Epoch that are reused, form the new deck.
Discard space: Cards with their Epoch number in a circle are placed face up on the discard space. Only the top card of this pile may be looked at by the players. In contrast, cards with their Epoch number in a square are removed from the game immediately after being played, such as "Mongol Armies" or "Gunpowder".
Order of Play: By acquiring expansion tokens at the end of the preceding game turn the players determine the Order of Play (9.7) and place their marker on the corresponding space of the table. The Order of Play may also be important for resolving conflicts over market control (9.5.2).
Fleet table: The capacity of the players' fleets is recorded here. Players place their fleet marker in the space corresponding to their current fleet capacity (9.4.1). When a player acquires "Seaworthy Vessels" [S], the fleet marker is turned to the side showing a seaworthy vessel and the player places the marker in space 10 of the seaworthy-vessel row of the fleet table.
Commodity table: The first space of each row contains the name of the commodity in the corresponding colour and its base value. Also given are the number that may lead to shortage or surplus when the corresponding result is rolled (9.6.1), and the number of History cards with this commodity in each Epoch. If there is an asterisk in the space, that means the corresponding card can be used for two different commodities. The following spaces of the row indicate what returns a player receives when he holds the corresponding number of commodity control cards of that commodity (9.3.1).
Several commodities: The overseas provinces in the New World (New World) and in the Orient (East Indies) have several commodities, and control over such provinces brings the player several commodity control cards. A single token in China gives the player possession of the corresponding commodity control cards for Silk and Spice. Control of a province in South or North America (South-/Northamerica) even gives the player 3 commodity control cards. All other provinces on the board have only one commodity.

5. Using the Components

5.1 Player Mat

Each player receives a cardboard player mat printed on both sides. Which side is used depends on how many players take part in the game (3-4 or 5-6 players). The expansion tokens bought for the coming turn are placed on the corresponding space at the right, white side up. The remaining ones stay on the spaces in the middle of the mat in stacks of six (this simplifies handling).

The round domination markers are placed on the round spaces on the left side of the player mat. During the game these domination markers are moved back and forth between the player mat and the board. When you remove a domination marker from the player mat, it must always be the marker highest and furthest to the left on the strip. In this way the last space not covered by a domination marker shows at a glance how many provinces the player controls and what income he receives in the Income Phase (9.6).

5.2 Tokens

Each player has 36 expansion tokens (printed on both sides) and 25 domination markers (printed on both sides). Players move these tokens as needed between the board and their own player mat, which must always be visible to all the other players.

5.3 Commodity Control Cards

On each of these cards are the name of a province, the number of the region it belongs to (in the case of overseas provinces, a symbol), the commodity of the province and the base value of that commodity for calculating income. Every commodity has its commodity control cards in its own colour.

Players should sort their commodity control cards by commodity. The cards give players a quick overview of the type and number of provinces they own on the board. The cards also make phases 3 (playing a Commodity card, 7.1) and 6 (determining shortage and surplus, and any penalty payments, 9.6.1) easier. When a player takes control of a province (or loses control of it), he receives the corresponding commodity control card (or hands it over). As a rule it is enough to update the ownership of the commodity control cards during the consolidation phase after expansion (9.5.4). Some events (Civil War, Rebellion, Pirates/Vikings, Black Death and The Crusades), however, require an immediate update of the commodity control cards.

For overseas provinces there are several commodity control cards (because they have several commodities), and losing or taking control of an overseas province means handing over or receiving several commodity control cards.

The commodity control cards must be visible to all players.

5.4 Game Markers

Each player has one square marker for the Misery Index and one for the Order of Play table, as well as a fleet marker for the fleet table.

5.5 Finances

A player's cash must always be visible to the other players; however, the bills may be stacked on top of one another to conceal the total amount of cash. Players always have the right, though, to be told the last cash amount their fellow players recorded.

6. Cultural Development

Among the many achievements the Western world realised in the period covered by RENAISSANCE, 26 have been selected and summarised on the log sheets. When a player acquires an Advance, he should tick the corresponding box on the log sheet. It is advisable to note the Advances acquired by the other players. At the end of the game turn the boxes of the newly acquired Advances should be filled in, so that they can be distinguished from the Advances newly acquired in the next turn. This distinction is very important, because only discounts from Advances already acquired can be used in the current turn (9.4.2).

7. History Cards

On each card is a number (1, 2 or 3) symbolising the corresponding Epoch. They cover roughly the periods 750-1250, 1250-1500 and 1500-1750. The History cards must be sorted by Epoch so that events occur roughly within their historical frame. There are three different kinds of History card.

7.1 Commodity Cards

There are 27 Commodity cards and these represent common trade goods. A complete list of these cards is in the player-aid section under A.1. The commodity table shows you the distribution of the cards among the Epochs and the increase in value of the various commodities. On each card is a miniature illustration of the board with all provinces that have this commodity highlighted. Playing a Commodity card leads to the immediate payment of income to every player who holds one or more commodity control cards of that commodity. In the lower half of each card is a small summary of the income increase according to the number of controlled provinces with that commodity (see also A.1). The played Commodity card goes onto the discard pile of cards that will be used again in the next Epoch. In Epoch 3, for example, there are three "Spice" Commodity cards. There are two Commodity cards with 2 commodities each (Wine/Cloth and Ivory/Gold). The player who plays these Commodity cards determines for which of the two commodities income is paid out.

7.2 Event Cards

There are 18 Event cards, the list of which is found in paragraph A.2 of the player aid. Event cards with their Epoch number in a circle are placed, when played, on the discard space for cards that will be used again in the next Epoch. Event cards with their Epoch number in a square are removed from the game after being played.

Stability burden: Playing some cards becomes impossible because of the playing of other events or because of the acquisition of a particular Advance. Players must keep such cards in hand, which has the effect of increasing the cost of Stabilization (9.4.3). Only with the Advance "Master Art" [P] can such cards be discarded (9.2). With "Written Record" [N] such cards can also be traded away (9.5.2).

Example: By playing the card "Gunpowder" the card "Stirrups" can no longer be played. Stabilization costs therefore increase.

7.3 Leader Cards

Each of the 19 Leader cards reduces the cost of acquiring certain Advances if it is played in the "Play Cards" phase before the current Acquisition Phase. They are removed from the game after the turn is finished. The list and the properties of the Leaders are in the player aid under A.3.

8. Preparing to Play

8.1 Cards and Money

The History cards are separated by Epoch. From the deck of Epoch 1 cards the following cards are first set aside: "The Crusades", "Walter the Penniless", "Rashid ad Din", "Spice" and "Silk". Shuffle the Epoch 1 cards and deal three cards to each player. The players must choose and keep two of them; the third card goes to the undealt cards of Epoch 1. These remaining Epoch 1 cards now form the History card deck. With 3 or 4 players the five cards set aside at the start are shuffled in as well. With 5 or 6 players these cards are only integrated into the deck at the beginning of the 2nd turn. Shuffle the cards again. The cards of Epochs 2 and 3 are set aside for now. Each player starts with 40 ducats. Each player receives a log sheet and a cardboard player mat.

8.2 Regions in Play

The number of regions that can be played in depends on how many players (N) take part in the game (see table). It is possible to carry out a sea movement through unused regions, but no token may be placed there.

N	Capitals	Regions played in
3	Venice, Genoa, Barcelona (Venezia, Genoa)	IV to VIII
4	and Paris	III to VIII
5	and London	II to VIII
6	and Hamburg	I to VIII

8.3 Choice of Capital

Players choose their capital by bidding a certain sum of money. This sum is recorded secretly in the "Capital Bid" space on the log sheet. The bids are announced simultaneously and the player who bid the most may choose his capital first. The other players follow according to the size of their bid. In case of a tie, a die roll decides; the player with the higher result chooses first. When the capitals have been allotted, the players take the tokens of the corresponding colour and place them on their player mat. Each player places a domination marker on the province with his capital and receives the corresponding commodity control card. On the log sheet the players' choices of capital are entered in the table provided for it. If, during the game, two players ever buy the same number of expansion tokens when the Order of Play is determined, the player who chose his capital later goes earlier in turn.

8.4 Misery Index

Each player places his "Misery" marker on space "0" of the Misery Index.

8.5 Order of Play

The game now begins with determining the Order of Play for the first turn (normally the last action of a normal game turn, see 9.7). The players divide their 40 ducats, less the bid for the choice of capital, between expansion tokens and remaining cash, and enter this on the first line of their log sheet.

9. Sequence of a Game Turn

Every game turn consists of seven phases. In the first five phases the players carry out their actions in the order determined for that turn. The last two phases are carried out by all players simultaneously.

9.1 Removing Surplus/Shortage and Drawing Cards

The first player may, if he wishes, remove an existing surplus or shortage (9.6.1) by paying the base value of the corresponding commodity to the bank. If two surplus or shortage markers lie on one commodity, the player must pay double the base value to the bank. The starting player may also remove only one of the two markers by a penalty payment to the bank.

The first player in the Order of Play who owns the Advance "Wind/Watermill" [J] may shift the surplus/shortage level of one of the following commodities by one space: Grain, Cloth, Wine or Metal. With this Advance he may remove a surplus/shortage or, on the contrary, cause a surplus/shortage.

Afterwards each player, in Order of Play, draws one card from the History card deck.

9.2 Buying Cards

In this phase only players who own "Master Art" and/or "Urban Ascendancy" can act.

Urban Ascendancy [V]: A player who owns this Advance may buy one additional card for 10 ducats.

Master Art [P]: A player who owns this Advance may discard any one of his hand cards, and he need not necessarily have bought a card in the previous phase. If the discarded card is a card with its Epoch number in a circle, it is placed face up on the pile with the other reusable cards; otherwise he shows it to the other players and the card is removed from the game.

9.3 Playing Cards

In this phase the players, in turn, play one or more cards or pass.

9.3.1 Commodity Card

When a Commodity card is played, every player who controls at least one province with the commodity played is paid income by the bank corresponding to his number of controlled provinces. The amount of the payment can be read from the commodity table on the board (on the row for the corresponding commodity, move as many spaces to the right as you hold commodity control cards of that commodity). The mathematical formula is: multiply the base value of the commodity by the square of the number of controlled provinces with that commodity. Note that shortage or surplus changes the amount of a payment.

Industry: A player who owns the Advance "Industry" [M] receives a larger sum when a commodity is paid out, as though he owned one additional province of the corresponding commodity. If he owns no province with the corresponding commodity, he receives no money either. The property of the Advance "Industry" [M] can of course apply to every Commodity card played.

Example: Barcelona has a domination marker in three provinces with Wine: Barcelona, Lisbon (Lisboa) and Marseille. Paris controls one province with Wine: Strasbourg (Strasbourg). The base value of Wine is 5 ducats. When a "Wine" card is played, Barcelona receives 45 ducats and Paris 5 ducats. If Paris owns the Advance Industry [M], 20 ducats are paid.

9.3.2 Event Card

By playing such a card a historical event is simulated. Often several players are affected by such a card. If the card leaves the player the choice, the player picks an opponent whom the card is to affect.

Because of some events, domination markers must be replaced by expansion tokens. If the affected player does not have enough tokens in reserve, he must fall back on the tokens acquired for expansion purposes this turn, or leave the province unoccupied. Because of other events the marker on the Misery Index must be moved.

Note that "Laws of Matter" [C] cancels the effect of "Alchemist's Gold", "Improved Agriculture" [K] reduces the effect of "Famine", and that Advances of the "Science" group change the effect of "Mysticism Abounds".

9.3.3 Leaders

By playing such a card a famous personality steps onto the world stage and allows players to profit from discounts on the acquisition of certain Advances in the current turn. The first three Leader cards played are placed face up on the discard space on the board, in the order in which they were played by the players. If players play further Leaders, they place these cards face up in front of themselves. At the end of the Acquisition Phase, played Leaders are removed from the game.

Patronage: The discounts of all played Leaders may be used by players who own the Advance "Patronage" [E]. To do so one simply announces which discounts one wishes to claim. Leaders whose cards lie on the board are wholly or partly protected. The Leader played first is completely protected; the second and third cards can be the object of Patronage only once and twice respectively. Leaders that do not lie on the board can be the object of Patronage without limit.

In a game with 3 or 4 players, at most two Leaders per turn can be protected.

Printed Word: A player who owns the Advance "Printed Word" [O] can have discounts paid out to him after the fact by the bank. If he plays a Leader that grants discounts on an Advance he has already acquired in an earlier turn, he receives those discounts from the bank in cash.

If a Leader grants discounts for the acquisition of several Advances, all of them can be used in the current turn; or, through "Printed Word" [O], a cash payment can be made for several Advances.

Players do not have to acquire the Advances for which a Leader grants discounts. "Patronage" [E] cannot be combined with "Printed Word" [O].

9.4 Acquisition Phase

In this turn the players may, in turn, either pass or make one or more acquisitions in the following order:

9.4.1 Building the Fleet

At the beginning of the game no player has a fleet and so cannot carry out any sea movement. There are three different stages of fleet development: galleys, seaworthy vessels and ocean-going ships. For each fleet stage there are in turn four different capacity sizes. Players can increase the capacity of their fleets within the various stages by two at a time (for example from galley with capacity 2 to galley 4, then to capacity 6 and finally 8). A player can enlarge the capacity of his fleet by only 1 box on the fleet table per turn; each upgrade costs him 10 ducats.

A player can transport as many expansion tokens with his fleet as he likes, but in one turn he can transport by ship into the same province at most as many tokens as his capacity. So a player with a galley of capacity 2 can transport at most 2 expansion tokens into a coastal province that is at most 2 provinces away from his own tokens or markers. If the galley fleet is upgraded to capacity 4, the player can place up to 4 expansion tokens into the same coastal province across a distance of up to 4 coastal provinces, and so on until galley capacity 8 is reached.

Example: Paris cannot place expansion tokens in London if the player does not have a galley fleet of capacity 2 or the Advance "Seaworthy Vessels" [S]. London could, in the first turn with a galley fleet of capacity 2, place 2 expansion tokens in each of the following provinces: Edinburg, York, Portsmouth, Cornwall, Saint-Malo, Paris, Bruge and Amsterdam.

The Heavens: If a player owns the Advance "The Heavens" [A], the ships of his fleet may cross one sea space as though it were a coastal province. A player can, for example, from Stockholm — if he has a token there — transport two expansion tokens with a galley 2 to Danzig and Riga, crossing the Baltic. Without "The Heavens" [A] he could only transport his expansion tokens along the coast as far as Stettin.

Sea movement takes place only along the coasts until the player acquires either "Seaworthy Vessels" [S] or "The Heavens" [A]. The open sea and the overseas provinces can only be travelled to by ship if the player owns the Advance "Ocean Navigation" [T].

Seaworthy Vessels: When a player acquires "Seaworthy Vessels" [S], the fleet marker is turned to the side showing a seaworthy vessel and the player places the marker in space 10 of the seaworthy-vessel row of the fleet table. It is not possible to make the jump from galley 8 to the space seaworthy vessel 10 by paying 10 ducats. The player can now transport up to 10 expansion tokens into any coastal province on the board, except into the overseas provinces and Region V if he does not own "Overland East" [R]. The capacity seaworthy vessel 12 allows the transport of 12 expansion tokens into the same province, etc.

Ocean Navigation: On acquiring "Ocean Navigation" [T] the fleet marker is placed in the space "ocean-going ships 1". With this a player can transport any number of expansion tokens into any coastal province, with the exception of the New World (New World), since the Advance "New World" [U] is also needed for that. At first, however, only one overseas province can be maintained. By paying 10 ducats and increasing to capacity "ocean-going ships 2", a further overseas province can be maintained, and so on, up to the capacity "ocean-going ships 4".

9.4.2 Cultural Development

As soon as it is his turn, a player may acquire one or more Advances. In doing so, any discounts from Leaders played this turn and from Advances already acquired must be taken into account.

Discounts: Discounts from Leaders can only be used in the turn in which the Leaders are played — both for acquisition and for the after-the-fact payment of discounts. A discount from an Advance cannot be used in the turn in which the Advance is acquired, but at the earliest in the turn following its acquisition. From that point on, a discount can be used for the acquisition of several Advances — even in the same turn. Through "Institutional Research" [X] further discounts are granted.

Prerequisite: Certain Advances can only be acquired if certain other Advances have already been acquired beforehand. An Advance and its prerequisite can be acquired in the same turn; condition: the prerequisite is acquired first.

Properties: The properties of the Advances can be used immediately. For example, with "Patronage" [E] one can still, in the same turn, try to use the discounts of Leaders played; with the acquisition of "Institutional Research" [X] one can make acquisitions more cheaply in the same turn; and as soon as a player acquires "Master Art" [P] he may discard a card.

9.4.3 Reducing the Misery Index

At the end of the Acquisition Phase a player has several ways of improving the Misery Index. The purchase of the Advances "Human Body" [B] and "Improved Agriculture" [K] reduces the Misery Index immediately by one step. As soon as a player owns the first two Advances of the fields "Science", "Commerce" and "Communication", he reduces the Index by one step. He can even improve the Index by two (or three) steps if he owns the first three (or all) Advances of those fields. Once the marker on the Misery Index has reached space "0", the Index cannot be improved further.

Stabilization: At the end of the Acquisition Phase a player's marker on the Misery Index may have to be moved by one or more steps if the players do not pay the necessary Stabilization costs. The amount of the costs depends on the number of cards a player holds in hand. For the first card he must pay one ducat, the second card costs him 2 ducats, etc. If he has n cards, this costs him 1+2+...+n = n(n+1)/2 ducats. Players may hold as many cards in hand as they like, as long as the Stabilization costs are accounted for.

If the costs are not settled, the marker on the Index is moved by as many steps as correspond to the total of the Stabilization costs. It is thus not possible to settle only part of the Stabilization costs.

Example: Paris has his marker on space 90 of the Misery Index and decides not to pay the 15 ducats of Stabilization costs (he has 5 cards in hand). He must move his marker two spaces, to space 125. The first space of the move is space 100. The difference between 90 and 100 is smaller than 15, so he must accept a second space. Genoa (Genoa) has his marker on space 100 and does not want to settle the 21 ducats of Stabilization costs (he has 6 cards in hand). He only has to move his marker 1 space, to 125.

A player who passes space 1000 is eliminated from the game immediately. His tokens remain on the board and only the effects of "Nationalism" [W] remain valid. The cards the player still has in hand are either removed from the game or placed on the pile containing the reusable cards. The income of the remaining players continues to be determined using the initial number of players.

9.5 Expansion

The players now place the expansion tokens they acquired on the board, in Order of Play. The expansion tokens may be placed on the board within reach of their own tokens and markers or of their capital (even if it should be controlled by an opponent). Two provinces are within reach of each other if they have a common border, whereby impassable zones must be taken into account. Reach is extended by building the fleet and by certain Advances.

Caravan: With the Advance "Caravan" [I] the reach for expansion tokens increases to two provinces, whereby the first province skipped over may not be controlled by an opponent. A province counts as controlled if it contains expansion tokens or a domination marker equal to its market size. This Advance cannot be combined with a sea movement, but can only be used on the mainland.

Overland East: As soon as a player has acquired the Advance "Overland East" [R], he may occupy provinces of Region V during the Expansion Phase.

Tokens placed in the current turn do not serve as a base for placing further expansion tokens. That is why newly placed tokens are put on the board white side up and only turned over at the end of the game turn. Once the tokens are on the board they are no longer moved — in the strict sense. They remain on the board until they are either eliminated or replaced by a domination marker. Tokens not placed are put back into stock; they cannot be saved until a later turn.

Once players have a little practice, domination markers can be placed on the board immediately instead of expansion tokens, and the expansion tokens can be put back into stock.

Holy Indulgence: At the beginning of the Expansion Phase, players who own the Advance "Holy Indulgence" [F] take two additional expansion tokens for each player who does not own this Advance. If the player does not have enough tokens in his stock, he may have one ducat paid to him from the bank for each token he cannot take. A player who does not own this Advance puts back 2 of the expansion tokens he acquired for this Expansion Phase into his stock for each player who does own this Advance. If he has not acquired enough, he pays 1 ducat to the bank for each token he does not put back into stock, or raises his Misery Index by one step.

9.5.1 Buying a Card

A player may, at any point in the Expansion Phase, buy one (1) card with expansion tokens. The tokens are put back into stock. The first player ("first" not in the sense of the Order of Play) who wants to buy a card pays 3 tokens for the card, the second player pays 6 tokens, then 9, 12, 15 and finally 18.

9.5.2 Fighting for a Province

There is always the possibility of putting additional expansion tokens of one's own into a province, even if it is already occupied by an opponent. One may never place more of one's own tokens than the market size of the province. As soon as the total number of tokens present exceeds the market size, the province is fought over. For this the attacker needs at least as many tokens as the defender, and in addition the attacker must place tokens equal to the market size of the province.

The strength of attacker and defender is calculated as follows:

Attack	Defence
Number of tokens committed	Number of tokens present
Market size of the province	—
—	1 for each satellite
1 for each military advantage played	1 for each military advantage played
Effects of "Nationalism" [W] and "Cosmopolitan" [Y]	Effects of "Nationalism" [W] and "Cosmopolitan" [Y]

Please note that a domination marker counts as as many expansion tokens as the market size of the corresponding province. If the province concerned is even a capital, the owner's markers present are doubled in attack and defence. If markers of more than two players are in a province, an attacker must attack all the markers of the other players present, and take into account all possible military advantages and Advances.

Satellite province: Provinces that have a market size of "1" are satellites. After a conflict there can be only 1 token in a satellite province. A satellite occupied by one's own token increases the strength of one's own province, to which an arrow points from the satellite province and in which one has a domination marker, by 1.

Nationalism: A player who owns the Advance "Nationalism" [W] increases the strength of a province located in his home region by "1" in attack and defence. This also applies to the resolution of a conflict by the card "War".

Cosmopolitan: By owning the Advance "Cosmopolitan" [Y] the support of satellite provinces increases by "1" in defence AND in attack. Note: this means that a satellite now strengthens the player by "2" in defence. In attack the player has to commit one token fewer for each supporting satellite.

To resolve a conflict, all three dice must be rolled simultaneously. The attacker wins the battle if the result of the green die is greater than his rank in the Order of Play, or the result of the black die is greater than that of the white. If, however, the attacker has played a military advantage, he also wins the battle if the result of the black die is greater than or equal to the result of the white die. "Proselytism" [G] and "Cathedral" [H] also influence the resolution of a battle (see below). Section B.1 of the player aid contains an overview of the chances of winning a battle.

Proselytism: A player who owns the Advance "Proselytism" [G] also wins an attack if the result of the green die is greater than or equal to the result of his rank in the Order of Play.

Cathedral: A player who owns the Advance "Cathedral" [H] can automatically win one battle per turn against each fellow player, as defender or attacker, if the opponent does not own the Advance "Cathedral". He must declare before the dice roll whether he wants to use this advantage. This Advance has no effect on the resolution of a War. On the log sheet it should be ticked off against which player the Advance was used.

The loser's tokens are put back into stock. If the defender has won the battle, his tokens remain on the board. If he loses, his tokens are replaced by one of the attacker's — unless it is a satellite province, in which case the attacker places one expansion token in the province. Since the number of domination markers is limited, a player may voluntarily exchange a domination marker for an expansion token when all of his markers are on the board. An attack can, if it fails, be repeated as often as possible.

Written Record: A player who owns the Advance "Written Record" [N] can force a player who does not own the Advance to trade a card if he takes a province with a domination marker away from him in the Expansion Phase. He may choose one of his own cards for this, but draws the opponent's card randomly from his hand. Such a trade is possible only once per player per turn, and players may not trade their cards voluntarily.

The following examples illustrate the rules just read:

Example 1: An attack on Tunis, market size 4, in whose province there is a domination marker, must be carried out with 5 tokens. If the attacker already placed two tokens last turn, he must place another three in the turn of the attack (2 old plus 3 new). If the attacker loses the battle, he loses all 5 tokens.

Example 2: Paris has a domination marker in Fez. London cannot attack Fez if his fleet is at the level "galley 2", because he must attack Fez with 4 tokens (the domination marker counts as 2 tokens, since the market size of Fez is 2; so market size 2 + 2 = 4). He could, however, attack Fez with a "seaworthy vessel 10" fleet. If Paris had a token in Oran, London would have to attack with 5 tokens, since Oran is a satellite province and supports Fez.

Example 3: Venice (Venezia) controls Belgrade with a domination marker, owns the Advance "Nationalism" [W] and has played "Stirrups" this turn. If, for example, London wants to attack Belgrade, 6 tokens must be made ready for the attack: the marker represents 2 + market size 2 + 1 for "Nationalism", since Belgrade is in the same region as Venice (Venezia), and +1 for the card "Stirrups".

Suppose Venice (Venezia) has only one expansion token in Belgrade. Since Belgrade has a market size of 2, any number of tokens may pass through the province with "Caravan" [I], but only one token may be placed without a battle occurring. If London wants to place more than one token, at least 5 tokens must be invested in the attack: 2 + market size 2 + 1 "Nationalism" + 1 "Stirrups".

If Genoa (Genoa), who likewise owns the Advance "Nationalism", wants to attack Belgrade, only 4 tokens need be available, since the two "Nationalism" [W] Advances cancel each other out.

Example 4: Venice (Venezia) controls Bari with an expansion token and owns "Nationalism" [W]. In order to be able to attack Bari, London must provide 3 tokens (1 + market size 1 + 1 "Nationalism"). If London were to play the card "Gunpowder", his force would always be stronger by "1" and he can attack Bari with 2 tokens. If, instead of London, Genoa were to attack Bari with "Nationalism" and "Gunpowder", even 1 token would suffice.

Example 5: Paris has a token in Oran. London holds the 3rd rank in the Order of Play, owns a "galley 2" fleet and can reach Oran with 2 tokens. London attacks Oran with 2 tokens. The result of the green die is "4" and London therefore wins the battle, since he occupies the 3rd rank in the Order of Play. Paris's token and one of London's two expansion tokens are put back into stock, since Oran has a market size of only "1". Had London additionally played a card with a military advantage, the attack could also have been carried out with 1 token. Had Paris played such a card, 3 tokens would have been necessary for the attack. For that, however, London's "galley 2" would not have been sufficient and the attack would not have taken place.

Suppose the result of the green die is "3", which is not greater than the 3rd rank on the Order of Play table. If in addition the result of the black die is smaller than that of the white, London has lost the battle and his 2 tokens are put back into stock. London can only repeat the attack if he has a fleet transport capacity of "4" or controls a province adjacent to Oran.

9.5.3 Bonus Card Through Expansion

At the end of the Expansion Phase the player with the most expansion tokens on the board gets a free card from the History deck. In case of a tie, the card goes to the player who was earlier in turn in this Expansion Phase. A domination marker placed by "The Crusades" is not taken into account in the calculation, because it is not an expansion token.

9.5.4 End of the Expansion Phase

All expansion tokens are turned over to their coloured side and the distribution of the commodity control cards is updated.

9.6 Income

The players now all receive income simultaneously. The amount of the income is given in the last space on the player mat not occupied by a domination marker. Two numbers are there: the upper is used when the number of players is odd, the lower when the number of players is even. The sum of ducats paid out is 15 + (number of controlled provinces x number of players). If a player is eliminated, the basis of calculation stays the same.

Interest & Profit: A player who owns the Advance Interest & Profit [L] doubles the cash remaining to him at the end of the Expansion Phase (that is, before income is paid out). He receives the money from the bank, but at most as much as corresponds to his income.

Example: London has 17 domination markers on the board in a game with 5 players and therefore an income of 100 ducats. If London owns the Advance "Interest & Profit" and has 108 ducats at the end of the Expansion Phase, he is paid an additional 100 ducats by the bank.

Middle Class: A player who owns the Advance "Middle Class" [Z] is paid an additional 10 ducats in every Income Phase and Stabilization costs are halved (rounding up where necessary). This Advance also increases the base of the cash to be doubled by Interest & Profit.

Enlightenment: A player who owns the Advance "Enlightenment" [D] moves the marker on his Misery Index one step in his favour at the end of the Income Phase, automatically and independently of other factors.

9.6.1 Shortage and Surplus

At the end of the Income Phase all three dice are rolled twice to determine for which commodities shortage or surplus applies in the coming turn. The results of the white and the black die are added together, and this total determines the commodity (see the commodity table on the board; a "12" affects Gold and Ivory at the same time). If the result of the green die is 1, 2 or 3, this means shortage. On a 4, 5 or 6 there is a surplus for that commodity. Shortage has the effect that payments for the commodity are increased; with surplus the payment is reduced.

The player who controls the most provinces of a commodity for which a shortage is determined immediately receives a free History card. If, however, a surplus is determined for such a commodity, he must pay 1 ducat to the bank for each province he controls with that commodity. If two or more players control an equal number of provinces with such a commodity, nothing happens (i.e. no payment to the bank and no free History card).

If a surplus and a shortage are determined for the same commodity, the two cancel each other out.

The effects of shortage or surplus last until a card with the corresponding commodity is played, or until the end of the game turn is reached. If shortage or surplus was determined twice for the same commodity in the same turn, two cards of the corresponding commodity must be played for the effects to cancel out. If surplus/shortage is determined twice for the same commodity, the effects are not doubled. The player who plays first in the next turn (before the cards are drawn) may remove one or both surpluses/shortages by paying the base price of the commodity for each marker.

Example: The result of the black die is 4, that of the white 3 and that of the green 4. This gives a surplus of Wine. Barcelona controls three provinces with Wine and Paris one province. Barcelona must pay 3 ducats to the bank. If a "Wine" card is subsequently played, Barcelona receives 20 ducats (instead of 40) and Paris receives nothing (instead of 5 ducats). If, however, a shortage had been determined, Barcelona would have been allowed to draw a card free and, when a Wine card was played, would have received 80 ducats and Paris 20 ducats. If two "Wine" cards had been played, only the first would have been affected by the effects of the shortage or surplus.

Suppose Barcelona had been the starting player and had decided, before drawing a card, to pay 5 ducats to remove the surplus of Wine. On payment for Wine, Barcelona would then have received 45 and Paris 5 ducats. Removing a shortage or surplus does not cancel the penalty payment or the possibility of drawing a card.

9.7 Determining the Order of Play

Each player records secretly on his log sheet the total of his cash, the number of expansion tokens he wants to buy and the cash thus remaining to him for the coming turn. The number of expansion tokens bought is announced and each player pays the bank 1 ducat per expansion token. The player who bought the fewest is the first player in the coming turn, and his marker is placed on the corresponding space of the "Order of Play" table. He is followed by the player who bought the second fewest, and so on. If two players have bought the same number of tokens, the player who chose his starting city later goes first.

We must draw attention to two special cases:

It is possible to buy more tokens than are present in stock. The player takes all the tokens from stock and pays the recorded sum to the bank. This procedure can be sensible if one absolutely wants to play last.
Likewise one can buy a "negative" number of tokens if one absolutely wants to be first in the coming turn. If a player records "-5", he pays 5 ducats to the bank but receives no tokens.

Renaissance: A player who owns the Advance "Renaissance" [Q] may, at the beginning of any phase, exchange his rank with a player immediately in front of or behind him in the order, if that player does not own this Advance. This exchange can be carried out only once per game turn. If several players want to carry out this exchange, the current order must be observed.

Example: Paris and London are the only ones who own "Renaissance". Paris plays first, London third, Barcelona second. At the beginning of the Expansion Phase London would like to play second; however, Paris may use "Renaissance" first. If Paris wishes this, Barcelona plays first. London can no longer use "Renaissance", because there is no player in front of him who does not own "Renaissance".

10. Diplomacy

Players may promise each other whatever they like, only they do not necessarily have to keep to it. A player who does not keep his promises will certainly earn the mistrust of the other players. Two rules should, however, be observed:

All agreements must be conducted publicly.
A player may never show another player his cards before he plays them, discards them or loses them through a forced trade. If a player plays a card by accident — by playing it incorrectly, dropping it, or because he has changed his mind — he must play that card at the first opportunity.

11. End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the turn in which one player has acquired all 26 Advances. Players can also control the length of the game by playing only the cards of Epoch 1, or of Epochs 1 and 2, and ending the game when all the cards have been drawn.

11.1 Final Card Play Phase

After the Income Phase of the last game turn (there is no new determination of the Order of Play), all the players' remaining hand cards are played in Order of Play. The first player cannot remove shortage/surplus. For playing a Commodity card the players receive the normal payment. Cards discarded through "Master Art" [P], cards belonging to a player who has been eliminated, and cards not yet drawn have no effect. Leaders grant discounts only to players who own "Printed Word" [O] and the corresponding Advances.

The events played are applied according to the rules, except that in the case of a tie in the resolution of a War there is no following turn, and the War ends in a draw if no winner has been determined in a further resolution. In this last turn, determination of the winner of the War is attempted as many more times as there are players still due to play their hand cards. On every result that is a tie, both players raise their Misery Index by one step. Effects from military advantages and "Nationalism" [W] are taken into account.

Example: In a game with 6 players, the 4th player plays a "War" card. Two players still follow him, i.e. the dice will be rolled a maximum of 3 times to produce a result.

11.2 Victory Conditions

Each player adds the value of his Advances and his cash. From this total the level of the Misery Index is subtracted. The player with the largest total wins the game.

11.3 A Player Resigning

A player who resigns is treated like a player who has been forced to drop out.

A. List of the History Cards

A.1 Commodity Cards

In the following table, for each commodity, the corresponding number of cards for each Epoch (1, 2 or 3) is given, together with the income progression for the corresponding number of controlled provinces with that commodity.

Commodity	Epoch 1	Epoch 2	Epoch 3	Income progression (1 province, 2 provinces, 3 …)
Stone	2	0	0	1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100
Wool	2	0	0	2, 8, 18, 32, 50, 72, 98, 128, 162, 200, 242
Timber	1	2	0	3, 12, 27, 48, 75, 108, 147, 192, 243
Grain	0	2	0	4, 16, 36, 64, 100, 144, 196, 256, 324, 400
Cloth	0	1	1	5, 20, 45, 80, 125, 180, 245, 320, 405, 500
Wine	0	1	1	5, 20, 45, 80, 125, 180, 245, 320
Wine / Cloth	1	0	0	(as for the commodity chosen)
Metal	1	1	1	6, 24, 54, 96, 150, 216, 294, 384, 486
Fur	1	0	1	7, 28, 63, 112, 175, 252, 343
Silk	1	1	1	8, 32, 72, 128, 200, 288, 392, 512
Spice	1	1	1	9, 36, 81, 144, 225, 324, 441, 576, 729
Gold	0	0	1	10, 40, 90, 160, 250, 360, 490
Ivory / Gold	1	0	0	10, 40, 90, 160, 250, 360

The payment is the base value of the commodity multiplied by the square of the number of controlled provinces with that commodity (see 9.3.1).

A.2 Event Cards

The Epoch number of cards that come back into play is in a circle; cards that are removed from the game after being played have their Epoch number in a square. Below, a circled Epoch number is written as "(1)" and a squared one as "[2]".

Enlightened Ruler, Epoch (1): This card is played to protect oneself for the rest of the game turn from the effects of Mysticism Abounds, Religious Strife, Civil War, Revolutionary Uprisings, Rebellion and Alchemist's Gold. This card does not prevent the effects of the above calamities if they have already occurred.

Alchemist's Gold, Epoch (1): A player of your choice pays half of the cash recorded on his log sheet (rounding up) to the bank. The penalty payment may not exceed his current cash. This event can be prevented by Laws of Matter [C]. If all players own Laws of Matter, this card becomes an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Civil War, Epoch (1): A player of your choice is affected by a civil war. He advances one space on the Misery Index. A domination marker in his capital becomes an expansion token. He loses, at his choice, half of his recorded cash or half of his expansion tokens. At the beginning of the Expansion Phase he becomes the "last" player.

The Crusades, Epoch (1): Place one of your domination markers in a province of your choice in Region VI and remove all other tokens in that province. You receive one additional misery step. Additional credit from Walter the Penniless is increased if he is played this turn. By the card "Mongol Armies" this event is cancelled and becomes an unplayable misery increase (7.2).

Rebellion, Epoch (1): Local conflicts break out and in a province of your choice (not in the New World or a capital) a domination marker becomes an expansion token.

Papal Decree, Epoch (1): In the coming Acquisition Phase you may forbid every player to buy Advances in the fields of Science, Religion or Exploration. If Religious Strife is played in the same turn, the effects of this card are cancelled. If Religious Strife is played in Epoch 3, this card becomes an unplayable misery increase (7.2).

Pirates / Vikings, Epoch (1): In a coastal province of your choice a domination marker becomes an expansion token. If this card is played in Epoch 2, two domination markers are reduced. In Epoch 3, three are reduced.

Revolutionary Uprisings, Epoch (1): Misery increases by one step for every player for each Advance he owns in the field of Commerce.

Famine, Epoch (1): Every player receives four additional steps on the Misery Index. For each Grain province he controls, he moves the marker one space less. Ownership of the Advance "Improved Agriculture" [K] reduces the penalty by an additional space.

Mysticism Abounds, Epoch (1): Every player receives four additional steps on the Misery Index. For each Advance in the field of Science he moves the marker one space less. If all players own all four Advances in the field of Science, the card becomes an unplayable misery increase (7.2).

War, Epoch (1): You declare war on any player. Each player rolls once. The die result is modified by +1 for Nationalism and for each card played with a military advantage. The Misery Index of the player with the higher result increases by one step; the loser raises his Index by two steps. The loser must cede to the winner as many supportable provinces of his choice as correspond to the difference between the two modified results. In case of a tie, the Misery Index of both players increases by one step and the War is continued in the following Play Cards phases until a winner is determined.

The loser of a War must cede to the winner provinces that the winner can actually support. One cannot cede a province in Region V to a player if that player does not own "Overland East" [R]. The same applies to overseas provinces if the player does not own "Ocean Navigation" [T], or in America if the player does not own "New World" [U]. A province outside the reach of the player's fleet can, however, be ceded. Example: London, with galley level 2 and otherwise no presence at all on the board, can be ceded a province in Region VI. If the loser cannot cede the required number of provinces to the winner, his Misery Index increases by 1 step for each province he cannot cede.

Stirrups, Epoch (1): Temporary military advantage, helpful in conflicts over province control and in the case of War. This turn a tie in the struggle for province control becomes a victory. Your attack or defence strength is increased by 1, unless the opponent owns Armor. By Long Bow and Gunpowder this advantage is cancelled and the card becomes an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Armor, Epoch (1): Temporary military advantage, helpful in conflicts over province control and in the case of War. This turn a tie in the struggle for province control becomes a victory. Your attack or defence strength is increased by 1. By Long Bow and Gunpowder this advantage is cancelled and the card becomes an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Black Death, Epoch (2): A region of your choice is affected by this card. All expansion tokens in that region are put back into stock and all domination markers are reduced to an expansion token.

Religious Strife, Epoch (2): For each Advance a player owns in the field of Religion, he advances one space on the Misery Index. This card prevents the effects of "Papal Decree" if both cards were played in the same turn. If this card is played in Epoch 3, "Papal Decree" becomes an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Mongol Armies, Epoch [2]: You receive 10 ducats from the bank. If Marco Polo is played in the same turn, his additional discount is doubled. The significance of the card "The Crusades" is cancelled and it becomes an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Long Bow, Epoch [2]: Temporary military advantage, helpful in conflicts over province control and in the case of War. This turn a tie in the struggle for province control becomes a victory. Your attack or defence strength is increased by 1, unless the opponent owns Gunpowder. This card cancels the effects of Armor and Stirrups and those cards become an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

Gunpowder, Epoch [2]: Temporary military advantage, helpful in conflicts over province control and in the case of War. This turn a tie in the struggle for province control becomes a victory. Your attack or defence strength is increased by 1. This card cancels the effects of Armor and Stirrups and those cards become an unplayable stability burden (7.2).

A.3 Leader Cards

Leader	Epoch	Discounts
Charlemagne	1	20 ducats on Nationalism [W]
Dionysus Exiguus	1	20 ducats on Written Record [N]
Rashid ad Din	1	10 ducats on Overland East [R] and Written Record [N]
St. Benedict	1	10 ducats on Patronage [E] and Written Record [N]
Walter the Penniless	1	20 ducats on Overland East [R] (30 during The Crusades)
Christopher Columbus	2	30 ducats on New World [U] and Ocean Navigation [T]
Desiderius Erasmus	2	20 ducats on Printed Word [O] and Renaissance [Q]
Ahmed Ibn Majid	2	20 ducats on Ocean Navigation [T] and Cosmopolitan [Y]
Johann Gutenberg	2	30 ducats on Printed Word [O]
Marco Polo	2	20 ducats on Overland East [R] and Cosmopolitan [Y]
Nicolas Copernicus	2	20 ducats on The Heavens [A] and Institutional Research [X]
Prince Henry the Navigator	2	20 ducats on Ocean Navigation [T] and Institutional Research [X]
William Caxton	2	20 ducats on Printed Word [O]
Andreas Vesalius	3	20 ducats on Human Body [B] and Enlightenment [D]
Bartolome de Las Casas	3	30 ducats on Cosmopolitan [Y]
Galileo Galilei	3	20 ducats on The Heavens [A] and Renaissance [Q]
Henry Oldenburg	3	30 ducats on Enlightenment [D]
Leonardo da Vinci	3	20 ducats on Master Art [P], Human Body [B] and Renaissance [Q]
Isaac Newton	3	20 ducats on Laws of Matter [C] and Enlightenment [D]

B. Numbers

B.1 Probabilities in Battle

A battle is won if the result of the green die is higher than the player's current position in the Order of Play, or if the result of the black die is greater than that of the white. This produces four possibilities:

Black > White (abbreviation: B>W).
Black >= White (abbreviation: B>=W), if a military advantage can be used.
Green > Position (abbreviation: G>P)
Green >= Position (abbreviation: G>=P), if the player owns Proselytism [G].

Table B.1 offers an overview of the chances of winning for each position in the Order of Play for each of the four possibilities named.

Position	B>W or G>P	B>W or G>=P	B>=W or G>P	B>=W or G>=P
1	90.28 %	100.0 %	93.06 %	100.0 %
2	80.56 %	90.28 %	86.11 %	93.06 %
3	70.83 %	80.56 %	79.17 %	86.11 %
4	61.11 %	70.83 %	72.22 %	79.17 %
5	51.39 %	61.11 %	65.28 %	72.22 %
6	41.67 %	51.39 %	58.33 %	65.28 %

B.2 Values of the Regions on the Board

Table B.2.1 summarises the following information: the number of provinces, the number of expansion tokens (EM) needed in order to control all commodities, the number of satellite provinces, the total income of the region in ducats, and the number of provinces for each commodity.

	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	Orient	New World
Provinces	6	8	11	5	8	6	13	11	3	2
Expansion tokens (EM)	18	25	35	13	19	24	8	28	15	12
Satellites	5	5	5	2	3	5	3	6	–	–
Income	30	55	86	36	64	69	100	97	123	41
Stone	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Wool	0	4	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	0
Timber	2	1	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	0
Grain	1	1	1	0	1	0	2	1	0	1
Cloth	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	1	0	1
Wine	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	1	0	0
Metal	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	1
Fur	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	1
Silk	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	1	2	0
Spice	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	3	1
Gold	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
Ivory	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0

(The expansion-token figure printed for Region VII is "8"; every other figure is reproduced exactly as printed.)

Table B.2.2 gives an overview of the regions (and the sum of the commodity provinces) depending on the number of players. For every commodity the total number of all provinces with that commodity is also given. The value of all regions, the value of the eight first commodities and of the 4 most expensive commodities are likewise listed.

Number of players	3	4	5	6
Regions	IV - VIII	III - VIII	II - VIII	I - VIII
Number of provinces	48	59	67	73
Stone	4	7	7	8
Wool	5	5	9	9
Timber	4	4	5	7
Grain	5	6	7	8
Cloth	5	8	8	8
Wine	5	6	6	6
Metal	4	5	6	7
Fur	3	4	4	5
Silk	6	6	6	6
Spice	7	7	7	7
Gold	4	5	5	5
Ivory	3	3	4	4
Value of all regions	1602 ducats	2122 ducats	2449 ducats	2737 ducats
Value (Stone - Fur)	623 ducats	1053 ducats	1310 ducats	1598 ducats
Value (Spice - Ivory)	979 ducats	1069 ducats	1139 ducats	1139 ducats

C. Overview of the Advances

How to read the entries. Each Advance is listed with its letter, its name, its cost (plus "& 1 EEI" where acquiring it also raises the Misery Index), the credit it grants ("credit" = Nachlaß, the discount it provides on later purchases), the phase of the turn in which it can be used, its prerequisite Advance(s), and its benefit.

Note: the phase indicates at which moment of the turn the corresponding Advance can be used (see section 2, sequence of the game phases). Credits cannot be granted in the same Acquisition Phase. Prerequisites are Advances whose possession is necessary in order to acquire the corresponding Advance. Acquiring an Advance in the Religion category automatically means an increase of the Misery Index by one space (EEI = Erhöhung Elendsindex, increase of the Misery Index). Leaders make discounts possible when certain Advances are acquired — the Leaders that grant a discount on each Advance are listed in A.3.

Science (300 ducats)

Owning an Advance in this category reduces the increase of the Misery Index caused by the card "Mysticism Abounds" by one space per Advance.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
A	The Heavens	30 ducats	20 ducats	5	–	Allows the crossing of one sea space as though it were a coastal province. Reduces the effect of Mysticism Abounds.
B	Human Body	60 ducats	20 ducats	3	–	Reduces the Misery Index by one step. Reduces the effect of Mysticism Abounds.
C	Laws of Matter	90 ducats	20 ducats	3	–	Cancels the effect of Alchemist's Gold. Reduces the effect of Mysticism Abounds.
D	Enlightenment	120 ducats	20 ducats	6	–	In the Income Phase the Misery Index is improved by one step. Reduces the effect of Mysticism Abounds.

A: This Advance must be acquired before Ocean Navigation is acquired.
B: The reduction of the Misery Index by one step is carried out immediately.
D: In the Income Phase the marker on the Misery Index is moved up one step. This is independent of other factors.

Religion (300 ducats)

Acquiring an Advance of this group automatically brings with it an increase of the Misery Index by one step. When the card "Religious Strife" is played, the Misery Index increases by one step for each Advance of this group.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
E	Patronage	30 ducats & 1 EEI	20 ducats	3	–	Allows the use of discounts from Leaders played by other players.
F	Holy Indulgence	60 ducats & 1 EEI	20 ducats	5	–	Receives 2 expansion tokens at the beginning of the Expansion Phase from every player who does not own this Advance.
G	Proselytism	90 ducats & 1 EEI	20 ducats	5	–	An attack succeeds if the result of the green die is >= the player's current position.
H	Cathedral	120 ducats & 1 EEI	20 ducats	5	F	Automatically wins one battle per turn against each non-owner.

E: The first Leader played in a turn is protected (it is placed on the first "Leader" space on the board). The second and third Leader is partly protected and can be the object of a Patronage claim only once or twice respectively. All other Leaders played are unprotected.
F: Players who do not own this Advance must give up 2 expansion tokens from theirs to each player who owns this Advance. If the affected player has not acquired enough expansion tokens, he must pay 1 ducat to the bank for each missing token. If the player cannot pay the corresponding ducats, his Misery Index increases by one step for each token. The player who does not receive as many tokens as he is actually entitled to (e.g. because he has no more in his own stock) receives 1 ducat per token from the bank. These changes do not alter the Order of Play.
H: The decision whether the property is used against a player must be made before the battle dice are rolled. This Advance cannot be used in the case of War.

Commerce (300 ducats)

Through the card "Revolutionary Uprisings" misery increases by one step for every player for each Advance he owns in the field of Commerce.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
I	Caravan	20 ducats	10 ducats	5	–	Allows the placing of one's own expansion tokens through an adjacent uncontrolled province.
J	Wind/Watermill	40 ducats	10 ducats	5	I	Allows the change of shortage/surplus of some commodities by one step.
K	Improved Agriculture	50 ducats	10 ducats	3	J	Reduces the Misery Index by one step. Reduces the effect of Famine.
L	Interest & Profit	80 ducats	10 ducats	6	K	In the Income Phase the cash on hand is doubled.
M	Industry	110 ducats	–	3	L	Increases the payment for Commodity cards by one step.

I: With this Advance expansion tokens may be placed with a reach of 2 spaces. The province skipped over may not be controlled (by a domination marker or by expansion tokens equal to the market size), but may contain opposing tokens. "Caravan" cannot be combined with a sea movement.
J: After the determination of shortage/surplus (9.6.1) the first player (according to the Order of Play) who owns "Wind/Watermill" may change the level of the shortage/surplus of the commodities Grain, Cloth, Wine or Metal by one step.
K: The reduction of misery by one step takes effect immediately on acquisition. Through Improved Agriculture the effects of a Famine are reduced by one step.
L: The doubling of the cash may not exceed the income from controlled provinces — plus, where applicable, 10 ducats through "Middle Class" [Z].
M: The player must control at least one province with the commodity played. The player then receives income to the amount of one additional province with that commodity. This Advance can be used for every Commodity card played.

Communication (300 ducats)

Advances of this group change the effects of cards.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
N	Written Record	30 ducats	30 ducats	4	–	Allows the attempt, in the Expansion Phase, to trade a card with a player from whom one has taken a province and who does not own "Written Record".
O	Printed Word	60 ducats	20 ducats	3	N	Permits the after-the-fact payment of discounts from Leaders for Advances already acquired.
P	Master Art	90 ducats	10 ducats	2	O	Allows the discarding of one card at the end of the "Play Cards" phase.
Q	Renaissance	120 ducats	–	7	P	The position in the Order of Play may be exchanged with an adjacent non-owner.

N: Once per Expansion Phase one may, after a successful attack (against a province with a domination marker), carry out a card trade with that player, if he does not own the Advance "Written Record". You draw the card randomly from the opponent.
O: With this Advance a player immediately receives an after-the-fact payment of discounts if he plays Leaders that grant a discount on Advances he already acquired in an earlier game turn.
P: One may discard a card immediately after acquiring this Advance. If the Epoch number of the discarded card is in a circle, it is placed visibly on the discard pile with the reusable cards. Cards with a square around their Epoch number are shown to the other players and removed from the game.
Q: With this Advance a player may exchange positions with a player adjacent to him in the Order of Play, that is, one who immediately follows or precedes him. If several players own "Renaissance", the player who is furthest forward in the Order of Play may carry out a position exchange first.

Exploration (400 ducats)

These Advances are necessary in order to be able to travel to the Orient and the New World.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
R	Overland East	40 ducats	20 ducats	5	–	Allows Region V to be entered in the Expansion Phase.
S	Seaworthy Vessels	80 ducats	20 ducats	5	–	Allows all coastal provinces except the Orient and the New World to be entered in the Expansion Phase.
T	Ocean Navigation	120 ducats	20 ducats	5	A, S	Permits expansion to the Far East.
U	New World	160 ducats	–	5	V, T	Permits expansion into the New World.

R: Without this Advance the provinces of Region V cannot be entered, not even by the sea route or by gaining provinces after a War.
S: When this Advance is acquired, the ship marker is placed immediately in the seaworthy-vessel row of the fleet table. Now 10 expansion tokens can be transported into any coastal province in the Expansion Phase (see also Ocean Navigation). In the Acquisition Phase the transport capacity of the fleet can be increased, for 10 ducats each time, first to 12 expansion tokens, then to 14 and 16.
T: The ship marker is placed on space 1 of the ocean-going row of the fleet table. It is now possible to control one overseas province. In the Acquisition Phase the capacity can be increased for 10 ducats and the marker is placed on space 2 of the table. Now 2 overseas provinces can be controlled, and so on, until space 4 is reached. This Advance allows the transport of an unlimited number of expansion tokens.

Civics (500 ducats)

Advances of this group make large discounts possible on future acquisitions in the same group.

	Advance	Cost	Credit	Phase	Prerequisite	Benefit
V	Urban Ascendancy	20 ducats	20 ducats	2	–	Allows the acquisition of one additional card for 10 ducats.
W	Nationalism	60 ducats	30 ducats	5	–	In the home region one's own military force is 1 stronger when the control of a province is fought over.
X	Institutional Research	100 ducats	40 ducats	4	–	Gives an additional discount of 10 ducats on every acquisition of an Advance except in the fields of Religion and Civics.
Y	Cosmopolitan	150 ducats	50 ducats	5	R	A satellite now increases strength in defence AND in attack by "1".
Z	Middle Class	170 ducats	60 ducats	4 & 6	K	Halves the costs of Stabilization and increases income by 10 ducats per turn.

W: The increase of strength by 1 applies both in attack and in defence.
X: For the acquisition of an Advance in the groups Commerce, Communication, Science and Exploration this Advance grants an additional discount of 10 ducats.
Y: The satellite province must contain an arrow that points to the province which is to be supported.
Z: The upper limit of the Advance "Interest & Profit" [L] is likewise increased by 10 ducats.

EEI = increase of the Misery Index. "Kunst & Technik" (Master Art) also appears as "Kunsthandwerk" — compare the card texts as well.

Table for Determining Surplus / Shortage

Dice result (2 x D6)	Commodity
2	Stone
3	Wool
4	Timber
5	Grain
6	Cloth
7	Wine
8	Metal
9	Fur
10	Silk
11	Spice
12	Gold & Ivory

As described in rule 9.6.1, two dice are used to determine which commodity or commodities the shortage/surplus applies to. With the third die it is determined whether shortage or surplus applies: on a result of 1-3 there is a shortage, on 4-6 there is a surplus.