Age of Rome
Age of Rome Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1x Main Board
- 1x Provinces Board
- 1x Axle
- 4x Population Discs
- 4x Spinning Axis
- 45x Building Tiles
- 6x Player Boards
- 4x Pantheon Boards
- 5x Reference Sheets
- 1x Scoring Pad
- 8x Diplomacy Tokens
- 12x Achievement Tokens
- 3x Milestone Markers
- 1x Round Marker
- 1x First Player Marker
- 11x Feud Markers
- 12x Bonus Markers
- 30x 1 Denarius
- 20x 5 Denarii
- 10x 10 Denarii
- 5x Medals
- 4x Player Markers
- 18x Event Cards
- 28x Quest Cards
- 38x Trade Cards
- 3x Anchor Cards
- 12x Battle Cards
- 15x Cassius Cards
- 28x Legion Figures
- 20x Follower Figures
- 20x Votes
- 28x Pantheon Pieces
- 12x Scheme Markers
- 4x Glory Markers
Setup
Place the Main board on the table with the Axle in its center. Then place the Provinces board through the Axle and on top of the Main board. Orient the Provinces board in such a way that all players have a Province right in front of them or use the Player markers to mark their places on the table.
For a 2-player game, players must have non-adjacent Provinces in front of them.
Place the Round marker on space 1 on the Round track.
Set the Population disk to 1 Population on each Province.
Place the Building tiles beside the Main board in three rows of five, according to their level and type (Military, Politics, Trade, Religion and Farming). Four of level I, three of level II and two of level III buildings.
For a 2-player game, remove five level II and five level III building tiles, one of each type.
Place the corresponding Medal on top of every level III building pile.
Place the gold, silver, and bronze Pantheon pieces in two different piles, one for the base and one for the top.
For a 3-player game, remove one silver base Pantheon piece and one bronze top piece. For a 2-player game, remove one silver and one bronze base Pantheon pieces and two bronze top pieces.
Place the Denarii tokens in a pile next to the Main board to create the Denarii supply.
All players take one Reference sheet, one random Player board, one Pantheon board, three Bonus markers (one of each type) and all components in their player colors. Players place their components on their Player boards as follows:
- 1 Follower on its supply space.
- 3 Scheme markers face down on their supply spaces.
- Legion figures (according to their character) on their supply spaces.
- Votes (according to their character) on their supply spaces.
Each Bonus marker on its corresponding space. Feud markers according to their character on the rightmost spaces of the Feud track on top of the Bonus markers, if any.
Players should place any remaining components in their player colors next to their Player board.
Players with the anchor card icon on their player board, take an anchor card in their hand.
Players take a number of Denarii, according to their character.
Players place their Glory marker, with the side showing +30 face down, on the Glory track, according to their character.
Place any remaining Feud markers next to the Main board.
Place the three Milestone markers on the three top milestones on the Glory track: spaces 12, 21, 30.
Shuffle the Event cards and place them on the Main board face down.
Shuffle the Trade cards and place them beside the Main board face down.
For a 2-player game, remove Trade cards that have the asterisk symbol, before you shuffle.
Decide who will play first by whatever means are necessary and put the First Player marker on an open space on the Province that is in front of that player.
Shuffle the Quest cards and deal three cards face down to each player. Place the rest of the Quest cards on the Main board face down. Players decide which two cards to keep and return the other one to the bottom of the pile, face down. During the game, players should keep their Quest cards secret from each other until Final Scoring.
In a 2-player game, remove Quest cards that have the asterisk symbol.
Installing the Population Disk
Gently remove all 4 population disks from the punchboards, so only the disk with a hole in the middle remains. Population Disks are the same front and back, so sides do not matter.
Put the Population Disk under the provinces board, so that holes are aligned and then push the two parts of the spinning axis so they fit together inside the hole.
Acrylic Tiles
Remove the acrylic tiles gently by pushing softly on one of their sides, so that the small part that holds them together should safely break off. Don't forget to remove the protective plastic film on both their sides.
Player Boards
Every player starts the game with different numbers of recruited Legions and Votes, Glory points and Denarii, while some also carry an Anchor Card.
All players start with 1 out of 5 Followers (1 position is marked as active). The rest are marked as inactive.
Every space on the Player board is filled from right to left. Place the corresponding unit when the underline icon is opaque, and leave the space empty when it is transparent. For example: Marcus Antonius starts with all of his 7 Legions recruited (Legions 7/7) and 4 out of his 5 Votes (Votes 4/5). He also starts with 7 Denarii, 1 Glory point, 2 Feuds and he carries an Anchor card in his hand.
Quest Cards
Some Quest cards score specific Glory points if accomplished, while others score Glory points proportional to the level of accomplishment.
A Quest card shows:
- The name of the card.
- End game Glory points that the card scores.
- Quest conditions and/or the proportional End game Glory points that can be scored.
- The asterisk symbol indicates that the card should be removed during a 2-player game.
Overview
The game is played over nine rounds. Each round is divided into four phases:
- Scheme phase: An Event card is flipped, and turn order is determined. In turn order, players may activate Schemes. The Board does not rotate according to the arrows at this time, it will do so at the END of the round!
- Building phase: In turn order, players may take Building actions.
- Action phase: Players in turn order, take actions by placing Followers until every available Follower is placed.
- Income phase: Players receive Income, rotate the board as shown on the face up event card.
At the end of the 9th round, the game proceeds to Final Scoring.
The player with the most Glory points (immediate + end game) wins the game.
General Rules
Glory Track
At any point in the game when a player gains Glory points, they immediately move their Glory marker one space on the Glory track for each Glory point gained. This doesn't apply when players gain End game Glory points, because they are scored in Final Scoring.
If your Glory marker advances beyond the end of the Glory track, flip it over so that the +30 side is face-up, then place it back on the number 1 space to continue tracking your score. The total of your Glory points is now 30, plus the number on the Glory track that your marker occupies.
The Glory track begins at 1 and a Glory marker cannot go below that under any circumstances. Following this rule, if a player's Glory marker is at space 1 then the Scheme effect "-1 Glory point" cannot be activated against them. Likewise, players cannot receive "double Income" (x2) if they cannot move their Glory marker back as many spaces as the Glory penalty indicates.
Milestones
As players advance their Glory markers on the Glory track, they will encounter four Milestones. The first time they encounter each Milestone, they get to place one extra Follower in their Follower supply on their Player board. Milestones are on spaces 5, 12, 21, and 30 on the Glory track. Everyone encounters their first Milestone on space 5. The next Milestones start on spaces 12, 21, and 30 and move one space down as players reach them. Each milestone grants the players an extra Follower only the first time they encounter it.
For example, Jack reaches the Milestone on space 12 first. That Milestone marker immediately moves down to space 11; Mary's Glory marker is on space 11 so she also gains one extra Follower and again causes the Milestone marker to move down to space 10.
If Henry was also on space 11 along with Mary, they would simultaneously gain one extra Follower and the Milestone marker would move down two spaces (one space for each of the players) to space 9.
Throughout the game, players will move up and down the Glory track, gaining and losing Glory points. As stated, players gain more Followers by crossing Milestones on the Glory track. Once a new Follower is recruited (gained) by crossing a milestone, it remains recruited for the rest of the game.
For example, if Mary gains a Follower by crossing the 5-space milestone to reach seven Glory points, and later in the game, perhaps by receiving double income, moves her Glory marker down by four, to space 3 on the Glory track, she keeps the recruited Follower on her Player board.
Ties
When an Event card rewards the player with the most or least of something and multiple players tie, all tied players win that reward. When a Quest card awards Glory points to the player who has the most or least of something and multiple players tie, the tied player who holds that Quest card wins the reward.
Playing the Game
Scheme Phase
Event Cards (Step 1)
Reveal an Event card and read the reward that it provides.
Give the reward to the player or players who win it and place the Event card face up on the Main board.
Orientate the First Player marker as the arrow depicted on the face-up Event card indicates. The players will take turns during this round in this direction.
Remember that the First Player marker indicates who plays first and stays on its starting place for the whole game.
An Event card shows:
- The name of the card.
- The benefit and the requirements.
- Lore.
- The direction and number of times the Provinces board will turn 90 degrees at the end of the round. A blue arrow is for clockwise, orange for counterclockwise. The number of arrows indicates how many times the Provinces board will rotate. But the Board will not make these rotations until the end of the round.
Scheme Activation (Step 2)
(If this is the first round of the game, skip this step)
Starting with the first player and continuing in the direction indicated by the First Player marker, all players take a turn to activate Schemes. Players may activate multiple schemes during their Scheme Activation turn, but any Scheme they choose not to activate, may not be activated later during the current round.
You may activate any Schemes you placed in previous rounds on any Province except yours. A Scheme can only target the player in front of the Province where the Scheme marker is.
When you activate a Scheme, you must remove one Feud marker from the leftmost space of your Feud track and place it to the rightmost open space of the targeted player's Feud track.
If you do not have a Feud marker or if the targeted player doesn't have at least one open space in their Feud track, the Scheme remains placed but cannot be activated.
If a space with a +1 bonus is revealed on your Feud track, then that bonus is now active; likewise, if a space with a +1 bonus is covered by a Feud marker, that bonus becomes inactive.
For every Scheme you successfully activate, you can perform one of the three actions depicted on your Player board.
When a Scheme is activated, flip over the Scheme marker to reveal the painted side. That marker returns to the player's Player board at the end of the Action phase.
REMINDER: The board will rotate at the end of the round as the Event card indicates.
Before Current Round
During the Action phase of a previous round Jack placed a Scheme on the Province that was in front of him by placing the Scheme marker on the appropriate position and his Follower on top of it. After the end of the Action phase, he returns the Follower on his player board, leaving the Scheme on the placed position. So did Mary on another round of the game.
Current Round
At the start of this round Jack could use only his Military bonus on the Action phase because all other positions on his Feud track had a Feud marker on top. Henry could only use his Politics bonus for the same reason. Jack plays before Mary on this round.
The Province where Jack placed a Scheme on a previous round is now in front of Henry. Jack has the option to activate his Scheme to affect Henry.
Jack decides to activate the Scheme. To do that, he must pay for the activation with Feud, by moving one of his Feud markers (if Jack has any available in his Feud track - he currently has) to Henry's Feud track (if Henry has any available space in his track - he had one before the exchange).
The Feud track is where the Player board holds the bonuses with the Feuds and an available space is considered a bonus or an empty space without a Feud marker on top.
Jack activated the Scheme to Henry by turning the meeple upside down to reveal the Scheme icon so it is marked as active. He can now activate one of the 3 Scheme Actions of his character to affect Henry. He chooses to remove one piece of Henry's Pantheon from a non-completed level.
Mary, now that she plays after Jack, cannot activate her Scheme on Henry because Henry has his Feud track full.
Finally, Ross could never activate a Scheme on this round even if he had placed any because he had no Feud marker on his track to pay.
From now on Jack can use his Politics bonus and Henry cannot use any of his.
Scheme Effects
Schemes are a way of sabotaging your opponents and winning extra bonuses, but come with consequences in the form of losing Feud tokens.
All Emperors can activate two common Schemes and a unique one according to their abilities and role. All three are depicted on their matching Player board on the left. All Schemes can target only one player and are explained below.
If a player cannot activate any of their three Scheme effects against their opponent, then the Scheme cannot be activated and Feud is not paid.
Mudslinging: Immediately move an opponent's Glory marker one space down the Glory track. This Scheme cannot be activated if the opponent's Glory marker is on space 1.
Degradation: Remove one Pantheon piece from an opponent's Pantheon (it must be in the player's color and part of an unfinished Pantheon level).
Apostasy: Select one of an opponent's Legion figures in any Battle Region and remove it or replace it with one of your own. The opponent's Legion figure returns to its Player board.
Deception: Select two of an opponent's Legion figures and relocate them to any Region.
Revote: Remove one opponent's Vote from the Senate's Column and place one of your own on the top of the Senate's Column. The opponent's Vote returns to their Player board.
Void Vote: Remove one opponent's Vote from the Senate's Column and return it to their Player board. Immediately gain one Glory point.
Sold: Randomly select one Trade card from an opponent's hand and discard it to immediately win two Denarii.
Custom Fees: Randomly select one Trade card from an opponent's hand and take it in your hand, if your hand is not full.
Building Phase
Buildings gain the player Glory Points and Medals.
Starting with the first player and continuing as the First player marker indicates, all players take a turn to take Building tiles from the Building tile piles and place them on the Provinces board.
The Provinces board is divided into four Provinces: Africa, Gaule, Hispania, Italia.
A player may only place Building tiles in the Province in front of them during that round. They can place a Level I Building tile if the space for that building type is free. If a Level I Building tile is already placed in that round or an earlier one, they can place a Level II Building tile of the same type above it. Likewise, a Level III Building tile can only be placed above the same type of a Level II Building tile.
In their turn, players can take as many Building tiles out of the Building tile piles as they want as long as they can pay for the cost in Denarii. For every Building tile they place, players immediately gain Glory points and add one (+1) to the Population disk of the Province in front of them by rotating the disk by one to reveal the next number.
On the group of numbers depicted on the Population disk, the first one is the current population of that Province and the second (the red one) is the Glory points penalty. This is the number of Glory points the player moves down the Glory track if they receive double Income (x2) on the Income Phase.
Building Tiles
There are five types of building tiles: Military, Politics, Trade, Religion, Farming.
Each type has three levels. Level I Building tiles can be upgraded to Level II, and Level II can be upgraded to Level III. Level III Building tiles cannot be upgraded.
Each tile depicts (in red) the amount of Denarii you have to pay to upgrade it and the Glory points (in black) you gain immediately. Buildings are placed at the corresponding space on the Provinces board or on top of the lower level buildings of the same type.
An empty tile position on the Province board. The icon on the left indicates that it is the position for a Religion building while the icon at the bottom right shows that the player needs 3 Denarii to place the tile. If the upgrade is made, the player immediately gains 2 Glory points as the icon at the top right shows.
Level I Religion Building: This building needs 8 Denarii to be upgraded to a level II and grants the player 4 Glory points immediately if the upgrade is made, moving the player's Glory marker 4 places up the Glory track.
Level II Religion Building: This building needs 13 Denarii to be upgraded to a level III and grants the player 6 Glory points immediately if the upgrade is made, moving the player's Glory marker 6 places up the Glory track.
Level III Religion Building: This building is the last of its type and cannot be further upgraded. The first player that places a level III building of a type gains the Medal of that type.
Medals
The first player to build a Level III Building wins the Medal of that building type. Every Medal grants a unique ability to the player that acquires it:
- Military: You win ties in Battle Regions. The player or players who tie with you take the next available place (if any).
- Politics: When you achieve a Majority, you gain 3 Glory points instead of the normal benefit.
- Trade: You can use Jewel cards as wild cards in order to complete sets of three.
- Religion: You can pay 3 Denarii to gain 1 Glory point at any time in the game, even if it is not your turn.
- Farming: When you place a Follower on a farming building, you win 2 Denarii in addition to the normal benefit of the round.
Action Phase
In this phase players do actions trying to gain Glory points.
Placing Followers
Starting with the First Player and continuing in the direction the First player marker indicates, players will take turns placing one Follower to perform an action. Players can place Followers on Building tiles and Scheme spaces only on the Province in front of them or on the Colosseum. Immediately after placing a Follower, they can take the action or benefit that this location provides as explained on the following pages.
There is a maximum number of Followers that can be placed on Building tiles, according to their level. Level I buildings can hold up to 3 Followers, Level II up to 2 and Level III just 1 Follower.
A Level I building holding 2 Followers, one placed using a Military bonus, is valid because a building of this level can hold 3 or less Followers, even if one is played with a bonus. A Level I building holding up to 3 Followers (three or less), as it is supposed to, is valid. A Level II building can never hold more than 2 Followers, so 3 Followers on it is not valid. A Level II building holding up to 2 Followers (two or less) is valid. A Level III building holding only 1 Follower, as it is supposed to, is valid. Followers can only be placed on buildings or schemes so this can never happen otherwise.
Military
Player places a Legion on a Battle Region without using the Military bonus (they place only one Legion). Player places two Legions on a Battle Region using the Military bonus (they place one Legion and then, one extra from the bonus).
By investing in Military you will gain End-game Glory points for having the most Legions in a Region.
Move one Legion figure in the Battle Regions (two when using the Military bonus).
Players can move Legion figures either from their Player board to a Battle Region on the Main board or from one Battle Region to another Battle Region.
Each Battle Region may contain any number of Legion figures from any number of players. For a Battle Region to be defeated (or conquered), it must contain a total number of Legion figures equal to the number printed on the shield of that Battle Region.
The player with the most Legion figures on a defeated Battle Region wins first place and the End game Glory points shown on the corresponding banner of the Battle Region. The player who is second in number of Legion figures wins second place and the corresponding End game Glory points and so on.
If there is a tie between players, tied players keep their place but do not score Glory points in Final Scoring.
For example, Jack and Mary have both placed three Legion figures in a Battle Region and the Region is defeated. Neither of them scores points for the first place because they tied. Henry has one Legion figure in the same Battle Region. Because of Jack and Mary's tie, he finishes second (instead of third) and scores points for second place.
BUT: If Jack had the Military Medal, which breaks ties, he would have won first place, Mary would have taken second, and Henry would be third.
On a 2-player game asterisks (*) underneath Regions' banners indicate that these banners do not count on Final Scoring. For example, when Thrace (blue) Region is conquered 1st place scores 5 End game Glory points and the 2nd scores 3 instead of 10 and 5 as they would normally score.
The Battle Regions are: Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace.
Politics
Player places a Vote on the Senate's Column without using the Politics bonus (they place only one Vote). Player places two Votes on the Senate's Column using the Politics bonus (they place one Vote and then, one extra from the bonus).
By investing in Politics you may gain in-game Glory points and also End-game points according to the positions of your Votes.
Place one Vote on the Senate's Column (the Axle) (two when using the Politics bonus).
Votes can be placed on the Axle and create the Senate's Column. The first Vote placed on the Axle creates a Column of one Vote. Any Vote after that is placed on top of it, expanding the Column to a maximum height of five Votes.
When a sixth Vote is placed, the Vote at the bottom is removed from the Column and returned to its player's Player board. All five Votes on the Senate's Column score Glory points in Final Scoring.
During the Action or Scheme phase, players can achieve a Majority by forming a set of three consecutive Votes on the Senate's Column only by placing and never by removing Votes from the Column.
The player must have the top two Votes on the Column and then place a third one on top to form three Votes in a row. If a player succeeds in achieving a Majority, they immediately gain two Glory points.
Ross activates a Scheme against Mary and he removes her Vote from the column. Now Ross has three of his Votes on top, without achieving Majority though. He didn't place any Vote on the Column. But, his Scheme action allows him to additionally cast one of his Votes on top, after removing the opponent's Vote. Ross now achieves a Majority by placing a Vote on top of two other Votes of his, and he gains two Glory points from the Majority.
Henry has two consecutive Votes on the Senate's Column on top of Jack's. During Action Phase Henry chooses to place Follower on a Politics Building giving him the ability to place a Vote on the top of the Senate's Column. Henry also has available his Politics Bonus on his Player Board, so he chooses to place the Follower using his bonus. He places the bonus with the Follower on top of it, on a Politics Building. That gives him the ability to place two Votes instead of one. Placing his first Vote, Henry achieves a Majority by having three Votes in a row on the Column. Immediately after that, Henry places his second Vote that the bonus granted him. He again gains two Glory Points from the second Majority.
Mary plays a Politics action with Bonus (she can cast two Votes on this round). Mary has only one Vote left in her Player board to play. Mary casts the first Vote, three of her Votes are now on top of the column so she achieves Majority. All five of her Votes have been played now. The column now has 6 Votes which exceeds its max capacity of five. As a result, her bottom Vote is thrown out of the column and back to her Player board. Mary now has 4 Votes on the column and one on her Player board. Mary can now cast her second Vote. Again three of her Votes are on top of the column, so she achieves a second Majority. She now takes her other bottom Vote back to her Player board.
Trade
Draw one Trade card from the Trade card pile (two when using the Trade bonus).
With Trade you may gain End-game Glory points for collecting Trade cards OR benefits when playing them.
Trade cards can be used in three different ways: played to activate effects written on the card, used for creating sets of three, or sold for one Denarius.
At any point in the game, you may hold up to five Trade cards in your hand, including the Anchor card. If your hand is full, you must play, sell or discard a Trade card before drawing a new one.
The Anchor card cannot be sold and is just occupying a place in your hand. It can be removed from play by activating another card's effect.
A Trade card can be played immediately when its draw is triggered by another card's effect, only if the cards are of the same condition type. Likewise, Trade card effects can be chained only if the chained cards are of the same condition type.
Play Trade Card
Players can play Trade cards to activate the specific effect on the card. They discard the Trade cards from their hand and activate the effects of these cards immediately.
After all cards are discarded, the action is resolved.
Create Trade Set
Players can form a set of three Trade cards of the same type. There are four types of Trade cards: Tools, Weapons, Clothes, and Jewelry. Wild cards can form a set with any type of card.
When a player decides to form a set, they place it face up in front of their Player board. From that point on, those cards can no longer be played or sold; they will score End game Glory points in Final Scoring. Each player can have a maximum of three Trade Sets, unless stated otherwise.
Forming a Trade set is a free action and players can do it at any time in their turn.
Sell Trade Card
At any point of the game on their turn, players may discard a Trade card from their hand to win one Denarius (singular of Denarii) per Trade card immediately.
A Trade card shows:
- The name of the card.
- Effect condition type:
- When you activate a Scheme
- When a Scheme is activated on your Province
- When you build
- When you place a Follower - Anywhere / On the Colosseum / On a Farming building
- When you receive double Income
- The effect a player activates when playing that card.
- The Lore.
- The End game glory points that a Trade Set of this type grants, if it is accomplished. Wild cards grant no extra Glory points.
- The asterisk symbol indicates that the card should be removed during a 2-player game.
- The card type
Mary has four Trade cards in her hand plus the Anchor card. She wants to play the Trade action with a bonus, but her hand is full. She places her Follower to the Lighthouse building and before resolve, chooses to play the Trade card "Sundial" and places it in the discard pile. She draws a new Trade card because of the "Sundial" card effect and that card is "Circinus", which she immediately chooses to play. She removes from play the Anchor card in her hand because of the "Circinus" card effect and has now a total of three cards in her hand. She can draw two cards with her bonus Trade action. Mary cannot immediately play these two new cards because her "place a Follower" action has been resolved.
Jack has four Trade cards in his hand and wants to play the Trade action with a bonus but he can only draw one card in his hand. He places his Follower on the Lighthouse building and before the resolve, chooses to play the Trade card "Bulla" and places it in the discard pile. He has now three cards in his hand and draws two more because of the "Bulla" card effect. With two cards left in his hand, he can now draw two cards with his bonus Trade action. Jack cannot immediately play these two new cards because his "place a Follower" action has been resolved.
Ross has placed five of his Legions and has one Legion available on his Player board. His seventh Legion has not yet been recruited, but he also has the Trade card "Snake Bracelets" in his hand. He places his Follower on the Castle building with bonus and before the resolve, chooses to play the Trade card "Snake Bracelets". The "Snake Bracelets" effect allows him to take the top card from the Trade discard pile in his hand, which is "Bulla". He takes Bulla in his hand and places "Snake Bracelets" card in the discard pile. Immediately, he chooses to play the Trade card "Bulla" and draws two more Trade cards because of the "Bulla" card effect. One of the cards he drew is "Spatha" and he chooses to play it immediately so he recruits his 7th Legion and places it on his Player board. He chooses now to resolve his action placing one of his two Legions in Epirus and one in Macedonia.
Religion
By investing in Religion you will gain End-game Glory points for every Pantheon piece you built.
Place one Pantheon piece on the Pantheon board.
Using the five Pantheon pieces in their player colors and two from the common piles, each player can build a Pantheon.
The Pantheon consists of two levels. The Base (three rectangular pieces) and the Top (four polygon pieces on top).
Players will start a level by using Pantheon pieces in their player color, then finish the level by taking one piece from the common pile (Gold, Silver, Bronze).
The first player to take a base or top piece from the common pile will take the Gold piece in that size, the second will take the Silver, and subsequent players will take Bronze. The base uses two pieces that match the player's colors plus one from the common pile; the top uses three pieces that match the player's colors plus one from the common pile.
A non completed level is considered a level where not all pieces have been placed (as depicted above, the Base level is finished, while after the new piece placement, the Top Pantheon level will be considered unfinished).
During the Scheme phase, players' Pantheon pieces may be targeted to be removed (eg. Degradation - see Scheme Effects). In that case, only Pantheon pieces in player colors belonging to an unfinished level can be removed.
Farming
With Farming you will win extra Denarii so you can build more expensive buildings.
Player wins Denarii immediately according to the round count.
- Rounds 1, 2: Farming grants 1 Denarius.
- Rounds 3, 4: Farming grants 2 Denarii.
- Rounds 5, 6: Farming grants 3 Denarii.
- Rounds 7, 8: Farming grants 4 Denarii.
- Round 9: Farming grants 5 Denarii.
Colosseum
Immediately gain 1 Glory point when you place a Follower here. Players can place as many Followers here as they want, even more than one of theirs.
When every player has placed all their Followers, the Action phase ends. All the Followers bonus markers and activated Scheme markers return to their positions on the players' Player boards.
Scheme Action
The player takes one Scheme marker from their Player board and places it on an empty Scheme space on the Province in front of them, with the painted side face down.
Then a Follower needs to be placed on top of the Scheme token to indicate the Scheme is placed. If all three spaces already have Scheme tokens on, a player cannot take this action, thus, they cannot place any Schemes.
On Bonuses
If a +1 Military, Trade, or Politics bonus is active on a player's Bonus track (same as feud track), that player can use each bonus once per round.
When players use a bonus, they take their corresponding Bonus marker from their Player board and place it on the Building tile, and on top of the Bonus marker they place their Follower.
A bonus is considered active when no Feud marker is on top of it. That can happen either by not having a Feud in that position from the start of the game (depending on each character's stats) or by exchanging Feuds when activating Schemes.
When players choose to play a bonus action, they actually play a double action in their turn. For example:
- Ross plays the Military action with bonus: Places one of his Legions in Macedonia and relocates a Legion from Thrace to Epirus.
- Mary plays the Trade action with bonus: Draws two Trade cards.
- Jack plays the Politics action with bonus: Places one of his Votes on top of the Senate's column and then places a second one again on top of the previous.
Bonus actions may neither be used to recruit Legions or Votes nor remove the Anchor card from play.
Income Phase
Starting with the First Player and continuing in the direction that the first Player marker indicates, each player chooses how much Income they want to collect from the Province in front of them.
Players can collect one Denarius per Population with no penalties. Or they can choose to collect two Denarii per Population (double Income) and incur the penalty of immediately losing the Glory points depicted on the Population disk.
The number on the left on the Population disk shows the current population of the Province while the (red) number on the right shows the Glory penalty the player must pay to win double the Denarii amount (double Income).
Remember that players cannot receive double Income if they cannot move their Glory marker back on the Glory track as many spaces as the Glory penalty indicates.
NOTICE: You do not lose any Followers if you fall below a milestone.
REMINDER: If you forgot to increase your Population in the Building phase, quickly verify it by adding the level of every building plus one.
Jack could not receive double Income because he could not move his Glory marker down the glory track 2 spaces as the Glory penalty indicates on the Population disk. Henry, regarding his low amount of Denarii decided to receive double Income on this Income phase to win the double amount of Denarii (6 instead of 3), losing though 2 glory points as a penalty. Mary, considering being ahead of other players, and having a small amount of Denarii, decided to also receive double Income, by winning 12 Denarii for the cost of 4 Glory points. Ross, having a satisfying amount of Denarii, thought that a double Income at this point wasn't worth the penalty of losing 4 Glory points.
Board Rotation
After Income is collected by all players, adjust the Provinces board by turning it 90 degrees per arrow on the face-up Event card, in the direction indicated by the First Player marker.
Final Scoring
After 9 rounds have passed, it is time to determine who has proven worthy of leading the Empire to the new Age of Rome. The player with the most Glory points, immediate + end game, wins.
In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Denarii wins. In case of a tie in Denarii as well, all tied players are considered winners and co-Emperors. Players score points from the following fields:
- Glory track
- Military
- Politics
- Trade
- Religion
- Quests
- Denarii
When scoring, make sure you add points based on the order on the Scoring Sheet.
You can find printable Scoring Sheet pages here: https://teetotumgames.com/
Glory Track Scoring
Each player gains Glory points equal to the space number that their Glory marker stands on.
The image in the rulebook shows Mary's Glory marker being on number 3 on the Glory track when the game ended. That would mean that Mary gets only 3 End game Glory Points from her place on the Glory track.
Having reached number 30 and gained another Glory point after that, Jack stands on the 31st place (being on number 1 with his marker turned upside down to show the "+30" print). So Jack gets 31 End game Glory points from his position on the Glory track after the game ends.
Military Scoring
Players gain End game Glory points according to the place they achieved in every defeated Battle Region.
The rulebook's tables indicate how many End game Glory points a player gains by achieving each position on a conquered Region. Regions that have not been conquered, grant no Glory.
For 3-4 Player Games, first place scores 5, 8, or 10 Glory points and second place scores 2, 4, or 5 Glory points depending on the Region, with Quests scoring 3 in one Region. For a 2-Player Game or Solo, first place scores 5, 4, or 5 Glory points and second place scores 2 or 3 depending on the Region.
Mary and Ross tied in this Region. Ross though, has the Military Medal, so he wins the tie by achieving 1st place and gaining 5 End game Glory points. Only Henry gains 4 End game Glory points from this Region by achieving 2nd place.
Jack and Mary gain no Glory points from this Region because they tied. Henry gains 4 from this Region by achieving 2nd place.
Henry gains 10 for 1st place. Jack gains 5 for 2nd place. Ross gains 3 for 3rd place.
This Battle Region needs 4 Legions to be conquered. Players have placed a sum of 6 Legions so the Region is defeated. Henry gains 10 by being the one with the most (3) Legions, Jack gains 5 being 2nd and Ross gains 3 End game Glory points (3).
When there is a tie between players, that place does not score Glory points (unless one has the Military Medal).
Politics Scoring
A player's Vote on the Senate's Column scores Glory points depending on its place: the 1st position scores 1, the 2nd scores 2, the 3rd scores 3, the 5th scores 6.
For example: Jack has a Vote on the 2nd position and scores 2. Mary has Votes on the 3rd and 5th positions and scores 1 + 5. Henry has a Vote on the 3rd position and scores 3. Ross has a Vote on the 5th position and scores 6.
Quests Scoring
Players reveal their Quest cards. If they managed to satisfy the requirements of the card's Quest, they gain the End game Glory points written on the Quest card.
Denarii Scoring
Players gain 1 End game Glory point per 4 Denarii (3 if they have the Religion Medal). All Denarii exchanged for Glory points are returned to the Denarii supply.
Trade Scoring
Trade Sets score Glory points depending on the type of the card:
| Type | Color | Glory Points |
|---|---|---|
| Tools | Blue | 3 |
| Weapons | Red | 4 |
| Clothes | Yellow | 5 |
| Jewels | Green | 6 |
| Chest | Orange | Wild Card |
Religion Scoring
Players gain Glory points for every Pantheon piece placed on their Pantheon depending on the color of the piece:
| Piece | Source | Glory Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Taken from the common pile | 4 |
| Silver | Taken from the common pile | 3 |
| Bronze | Taken from the common pile | 2 |
| Player's | Taken from the player's pile and has the player's color | 1 |
Scoring Example
After counting all Glory points, Henry gathered the most and succeeded in becoming the new Emperor in the Age of Rome.
Jack's hand had no Trade sets. Henry's hand had 2 Trade sets using the Trade Medal, allowing him to use Jewel cards as wild cards. Jewel cards now grant no Glory, so he gains the points from Weapons and Clothes sets. Mary's hand had 1 Weapons Trade set. Ross' hand had 1 Jewel Trade set.
Place on the Track (Glory track final positions): Jack 29, Henry 26, Mary 27, Ross 23. Military: Jack 5, Henry 14, Mary 2, Ross 8. Politics: Jack 2, Henry 3, Mary 6, Ross 6. Trade: Jack 0, Henry 9, Mary 4, Ross 6. Religion: Jack 1, Henry 11, Mary 6, Ross 7. Quests: Jack 0, Henry 3, Mary 0, Ross 6. Glory from Denarii: Jack 3, Henry 0, Mary 2, Ross 2. Totals: Jack 40, Henry 66, Mary 47, Ross 58.
Mary and Ross tied in one Region. Ross having the Military Medal, wins the tie and gains 5 by achieving 1st place. Mary gains 2 by achieving 2nd.
Henry gains 4 from this Region by achieving 2nd place. Jack and Mary gain no Glory points because they tied.
Henry gains 10 for 1st place. Jack gains 5 for 2nd place. Ross gains 3 for 3rd place.
Ross' Quest: gain 3 for every Battle Region you stand first. Henry achieved 1st place only on the blue Region so he fulfilled his Quest and gains 1x3 = 3.
Henry's Quest: gain 3 for every Battle Region that you stand first. Henry achieved 1st place only on the blue Region so he fulfilled his Quest and gains 1x3 = 3.
Jack: 5, Henry: 4 + 10 = 14, Mary: 2, Ross: 5 + 3 = 8. Win the Military Medal: Ross won the Military Medal, so he gains 6.
Variants
After you've played the game, you may want to try one of the variants below. You may even choose to combine the above variants for a completely new game experience.
Spies & Allies
This variation is only available for 2-4 players.
Components: 2 Diplomacy tokens per players' colors (1 spy and 1 alliance on the face up side).
How to play: In the Scheme phase, before any Scheme is activated, players in turn order place a Diplomacy token face down in a building in any Province that an opponent is playing and on top of that token the Denarii that they offer to conceal the deal. Both the player and their opponent are allowed to bargain the amount of Denarii. If the opponent accepts the Diplomacy, they take the Denarii and the token is revealed:
- If it is an Alliance, player and opponent immediately gain Glory points equal to that Building's level.
- If it is a Spy, only the player can choose to gain Glory points equal to that Building's level or immediately take a free action on that Building (without a bonus, even if it is active on their Player board).
If the opponent refuses the Diplomacy, the token is revealed:
- If it is an Alliance, the player takes back their Denarii.
- If it is a Spy, the player's Denarii goes to the supply.
The Diplomacy token is returned to the player's hand and cannot be used again in this round.
Examples: Jack places his Diplomacy token and five Denarii on the Castle in front of Mary and she accepts the Diplomacy. Mary takes the five Denarii and Jack's token is revealed: if an Alliance is depicted, then both Jack and Mary move their Glory markers three spaces up. If a Spy is depicted, Mary keeps the five Denarii and Jack can choose either to gain three Glory points or take a free action on the Castle and therefore place or relocate one of his Legions in the Battle Regions.
It is now Mary's turn and she places her Diplomacy token and three Denarii on the Lighthouse in front of Jack, hoping to retaliate. But, Jack is not convinced of her good intentions and he refuses the Diplomacy. Mary's token is revealed: if an Alliance is depicted then Mary gets back her Denarii. If a Spy is revealed, Mary loses her Denarii, which she returns to the supply.
Truce
This is an easier and more gentle version of the game that also makes the game play quicker.
Players neither place nor activate Schemes, but they keep their starting Feud on their Player board. Also, remove the Quest cards: Feud for Fuel and Feud Never Fades.
Clockwork
This version of the game makes it more predictable and allows for more forward planning.
Instead of turning the Provinces board as the Event cards indicate, turn it 90 degrees clockwise every time.
Heroes
In this version of the game building is more strategic because there is no racing for the medals.
Remove all Medals from the game. Also, remove the Quest cards: Offerings, Wild Trade, First to Vote, Hard Work, Most Decorated and Last Brick on the Wall.
Hard Times
This variation will spice up your game and force you to plan your strategy more carefully.
Add the six Event cards with the negative effects to the deck and shuffle. Place the deck face down on the Main board and continue with the standard rules.
Emperor Solo
In this mode you don't compete against others. Instead, you have to fulfill tasks. Remember, this mode is more of a quick guide. For a more competitive solo play, try Cassius' Attack Solo.
Goal
Your goal is to complete as many of the following tasks as possible:
- Reach 51 Glory points on the Glory track.
- Win at least 3 Medals.
- Conquer at least 2 Battle Regions.
- Place at least 4 Votes.
- Collect at least 2 Trade sets.
- Build a Pantheon.
- Complete at least 2 Quests.
Setup
Set everything as if you are playing a 2-player game with the exception that you only take one player board in front of you.
If you want to increase the difficulty level, add the negative Event cards from the variant Hard Times.
Playing
Scheme phase: Open an Event card but do not take any rewards, instead win one Denarius per recruited Follower. If you added the negative Event cards, when a negative card comes face up, do not take any reward. Place the First player marker pointing at the direction the Event card indicates. Schemes cannot be placed in this game mode; you keep, however, any Feud markers on your player board.
Building phase: Follow the standard rules of building.
Action phase: Follow the standard rules to take actions (except Schemes).
Income phase: Follow the standard rules to take income and rotate the board.
Final Scoring
After the 9th round ends, proceed to Final Scoring. If you manage to fulfill:
- 4-5 tasks, consider yourself an Praetor emperor.
- 6 tasks, surely you are an Imperator emperor.
- 7 tasks, with no hesitation we pronounce you a Son of Jupiter.
Iconography
The rulebook includes a full iconography key illustrating every symbol used on components and cards: Province Board, Province, First player marker, Tile, Quest, 90° clockwise turn, 90° counterclockwise turn, 180° clockwise turn, 180° counterclockwise turn, Quest Cards, Event Cards, Anchor Card, Trade Card, Cassius Cards, Battle Cards, Remove during 2p/solo (two variants), Trade Set, Wild Card, Follower, Legion, Vote, Pantheon, Colosseum, Military, Politics, Trade, Religion, Farming, First Level Building, Second Level Building, Third Level Building, Military Medal, Politics Medal, Trade Medal, Religion Medal, Farming Medal, Africa Province, Gaule Province, Hispania Province, Romania Province, Mudslinging, Degradation, Apostacy, Deception, Feud, Revote, Void Vote, Sold, Custom Fees, Player Pantheon Piece, Bronze Pantheon Piece, Silver Pantheon Piece, Gold Pantheon Piece, Chest Trade Card, Clothes Trade Card, Jewel Trade Card, Tool Trade Card, Weapon Trade Card, 2 Legion Defence, 3 Legion Defence, 4 Legion Defence, 1st place in a Region, 2nd place in a Region, 3rd place in a Region, Any Bonus, Military Bonus, Politics Bonus, Trade Bonus, Spy Token, Alliance Token, Immediate Glory Points, End Game Glory Points, Denarii, Income, Population, Scheme.
Achievements
In every game players will have the chance to succeed in some end game goals. Thus, an Achievement token will be granted to them to be held like a Roman "Phalera". Punch out the corresponding Achievement token and grant it to them. This is great for taking photos of the game and your achievements to boast to your friends.
The Achievement tokens are earned for:
- Reach 100+ Glory points.
- Win all five Medals.
- Complete 2 Jewel sets.
- Reach 61+ points in the Glory track.
- Complete 3 Trade sets of the same type.
- Win 1st place in all three Battle Regions.
- Reach 90+ Glory points in Cassius Attack Solo mode.
- Gain 12+ points in the Senate's Column.
- Build a golden Pantheon.
- Complete 4 Quests.
- Finish the game with no Feuds on your Player board.
- Reach creators' best Score (113 Glory points).
Scan the QR code in the rulebook for a 3-minute how-to-play video, or visit: youtube.com/watch?v=649MOFjWwGI
© 2022 Teetotum Game Studios G.P., all rights reserved. Teetotum Game Studios is located at Vrodismeni, Ioannina, GR 44003. No part of this product or its components may be reproduced without specific permission. Actual components may vary from those shown. Made in China.