Alchemists: The King's Golem Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Palace Library
  • New Deduction Grid
  • Book Tokens
• Startup Funding
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Replicator Artifact Card
• Busy Days
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Choosing Play Order
  • End of the Round
• The Royal Encyclopedia
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Publish Theory
  • Hedging on an Article
  • The Encyclopedia Grant
  • Limitations
  • Debunk Theory
  • Apprentice Examples
  • Master Examples
  • Debunking Multiple Theories
  • Demonstrating a Conflict
  • Immediate Publication
• The Golem Project
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Action Cubes
  • New Deduction Grid
  • Declaring Actions
  • Resolving Action Spaces
  • Research Golem
    • Test Golem
    • Result
    • Neutralizing Pairs
    • Golem Progress Markers
    • Animate Golem
• Fine Alchemists' Queries (about the base game)

The Palace Library

If you want to discover the wisdom of the ancients, you must labor for many long weeks over a boiling cauldron. Or you could just get a library card.

New Deduction Grid

The ancients classified alchemicals into two classes symbolized by the sun and the moon. To use the palace library, you need to know which is which. Each alchemical is labeled in the new deduction grid.

Secret symbolism: Solar alchemicals have 0 negative aspects or exactly 2. (Think of it as two negatives canceling each other.) Lunar alchemicals have 1 or 3 negative aspects.

The bottom part of the grid is used only for The Golem Project.

Book Tokens

Three of the expansions give you ways to gain a book token:

• Startup Funding can give you a book token at the beginning of the game.
• Busy Days offers book tokens on some order spaces.
• The Golem Project has a Visit Library action space.

Whenever you gain a book token, use it immediately. Hold the card reader so only you can see it and tap "Visit Library". The card reader will display 4 randomly chosen ingredients. Select one and tap "Confirm". The card reader will say if the ingredient's alchemical is lunar or solar.

Example: You select a tome that inquires into the nature of mushroom. The card reader says mushroom is lunar. You can eliminate all alchemicals marked with a sun symbol.

Keep the book token on your player board. This reminds the other players that you have some extra information. It also keeps track of the number of books you have read, which is relevant if you acquire the Mahogany Bookcase artifact.

Startup Funding

Congratulations! Your applications for startup funding have been approved. Your new alchemy lab will be customized for your research interests.

Components

• All 20 startup cards
• The Replicator artifact card
• Some book tokens
• The new deduction grid

Setup

Shuffle the Replicator into artifact deck I so it has a chance of being one of the artifacts available at the beginning of the game. Set up the game boards – including all initial cards and tiles – and choose the starting player. Players should know the initial state of the game before choosing their startup funding.

Players do not start with the usual 2 gold pieces, 1 favor card, and 2 ingredients. Instead, shuffle the deck of startup cards and deal 4 to each player. Each player chooses 2 startup cards and discards the other 2. Players reveal their chosen cards simultaneously before the start of the first round.

You begin the game with the resources depicted on your startup cards:

• Gold Pieces: Take the indicated number of gold pieces.
• Ingredients: Draw the indicated number of ingredients randomly from the top of the deck.
• Favor Cards: Draw all the favor cards provided by both startup cards. Then draw one more. Decide which ones you will keep and discard the extra one.
• Book Token: Take a book token and use it immediately, as described under The Palace Library, above. (You can look at your ingredients first.)
• Reputation Points: Some sources of funding are prestigious. Others are disreputable, but they give you more stuff. Count the points gained and lost from both cards, then adjust your reputation marker according to the total.
• Delayed Reputation Points: Some cards specify that the reputation gain does not occur until after the end of the first round. In this case only, you do not gain the card's benefit until round 1 is done.

Two startup cards allow you to begin the game with an artifact:

• Secret Artifact: Look through all the artifacts from deck III that were not selected to be in the game. Keep one and return the rest to the box. Your choice remains secret from the other players during the game. Reveal your secret artifact at the end of the last round before final scoring. (If you chose Altar of Gold, reveal it and use its effect just before reputation points are converted to victory points. Feather in Cap can be revealed during the exhibition.) If your secret artifact costs less than 5 gold pieces, subtract its cost from 5 and score that many additional victory points. (For example, an artifact that costs 3 would give you 2 extra points.)
• Starting Artifact: Choose one of the artifacts from deck I that was not selected to be in the game. Place it face up on the table in front of you where everyone can see it. This artifact is already yours at the beginning of the game!

Ah, but jealousy is an ugly thing. Rumors start to fly about how you might have acquired something so valuable. If the artifact normally costs 3 gold pieces, you must pay by losing 5 points of reputation. If it costs 4, you lose 7 points of reputation. This reputation loss is added to any gain or loss you have from your other startup card, and your reputation marker is moved only once.

Keep the two startup cards you decided to use. If you get the Replicator, you will be able to use both cards one more time.

Startup resources are balanced for master alchemists. If you are playing the apprentice variant, each player draws 1 bonus ingredient when receiving startup funding.

Replicator Artifact Card

At the end of this round, use one of your startup cards again. Discard it. At the end of the following round, use and discard your other startup card.

Busy Days

An ambitious alchemist can get more done before breakfast than most people accomplish all day.

Components

• Some book tokens
• The new deduction grid
• 6 of the 18 order space boards

Setup

When setting up the game board, create a stack of order space boards:

1. If you are not using The Golem Project, remove all order space boards marked with the golem symbol in the upper left corner.
2. Sort the boards into groups 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6.
3. Randomly select 2 from each group. Do not look at them.
4. Stack the 6 chosen boards with the lowest numbered boards on top and the highest numbered on the bottom.
5. Place the stack next to the order spaces on the game board. Turn the top board of the stack face up and cover the base game's order spaces with it. These will be the order spaces for the first round.
6. Turn the new top board of the stack face up and leave it on the stack. These will be the order spaces for the following round. Rounds 1 and 2 will use boards labeled 1-2, and so on.

Choosing Play Order

The order space board determines which order spaces are available at the beginning of the round. The rules for choosing play order are the same as in the base game.

The space marked with the 3-player symbol can be used only if you have at least 3 players. The space marked with the 4-player symbol is only for a 4-player game. (To help players remember, you can mark any unavailable spaces with flasks in one of the unused colors.)

The new order spaces offer more opportunities, but many of these come with costs. As in the base game, the costs are on the left and the benefits are on the right. If you cannot pay the cost, you cannot choose that order space.

• Paying Reputation: Lose the indicated number of reputation points. This will be affected by the usual penalty or compensation for being in the blue, green, or red zone of the theory board.
• Spending an Action: Place one of your action cubes on the unused cubes space. It will not be available this round.
• Spending an Approval Token: It's good to know the king. To use this order space, return one of your approval tokens to the bank. If you are not using The Golem Project expansion, you will have no approval tokens and this board should be removed during setup.
• Gaining Reputation: Gain the indicated number of reputation points.
• Gaining Gold: Gain the indicated number of gold pieces.
• Reading a Book: Take a book token and use it immediately, as described under The Palace Library, above.

End of the Round

The order space board changes at the end of every round. When you turn up the new adventurer, do exactly the same with the order space boards:

1. Remove the old order space board from the game board.
2. Set the top order space board on the game board.
3. Turn up the new top board in the stack.

The Royal Encyclopedia

If your student balks at drinking your potion, show him the appropriate page of the royal encyclopedia. "See? These ingredients are not poisonous. It says so in the encyclopedia." Do not mention that you wrote that article yourself.

Components

• Two-sided encyclopedia board
• 1 encyclopedia grant tile
• 16 ingredient tokens
• 1 white unstarred seal per player
• 1 additional silver-starred seal per player

Setup

If you are using The Golem Project, use the side of the encyclopedia board marked with the golem. Otherwise use the other side. Place the encyclopedia board near the theory board. Set the ingredient tokens nearby.

The encyclopedia grant tile goes in the middle of the encyclopedia board. Give each player the 2 seals in his or her color.

Publish Theory

The Royal Encyclopedia offers a new venue for publishing your alchemical insights. When it is your turn to use the Publish Theory action space, you may use that action to publish or endorse an article in the royal encyclopedia instead of a regular theory.

The costs depend on whether you are using The Golem Project. Without The Golem Project, the costs are the same as usual: 1 gold piece to the bank and 1 gold piece to each player who already has a seal on that article. If you use The Golem Project, you pay 1 approval token instead of 1 gold piece to the bank, but you still pay other players gold as usual.

The major difference between regular theories and encyclopedia articles is that encyclopedia articles are about a certain aspect. To write a new article:

1. Choose an aspect (red, green, or blue) that does not yet have an article.
2. Take 2 result tokens in that color and place them on the corresponding circles of the encyclopedia board. Flip them to show the signs you want to write about (one of the four combinations of plus and minus signs).
3. Below each result token, place 2 ingredient tokens. The article must be about 4 different ingredients.

What does the article say? It says that each pair of ingredients has the indicated sign in that aspect.

Red example: This article says toad and mandrake root contain a red plus sign, while scorpion and fern contain a red minus sign. Note: This does not necessarily mean that toad and mandrake root combine to make a red potion.

Blue example: This article claims these are the four ingredients that contain a blue plus sign.

When you publish or endorse an article, place one of your seals on it. As with regular theories, when you publish a new article you gain 1 point of reputation.

Hedging on an Article

If you use a starred seal on an article, you are placing your reputation on the line. You will face a penalty if the article is proven incorrect, either during play or at the end of the game. The starred seals are the ones that give you points during the big revelation.

As with regular theories, you can use an unstarred seal to hedge, but the meaning of the seal is different. You hedge against an ingredient, not an aspect.

To hedge against one of the 4 ingredients, use the unstarred seal with the color that corresponds to the ingredient token's space in the article. For example, to hedge against scorpion in the red article shown on this page, use your unstarred seal that hedges against blue, because scorpion is on the blue space. This indicates you are certain that toad and mandrake root have a red plus sign and fern has a red minus sign.

To hedge against fern in the red article, you would use the seal that hedges against white. The white unstarred seal is only useful on the encyclopedia board. On the regular theory board, it doesn't hedge against anything.

The Encyclopedia Grant

The encyclopedia grant is just another grant. If you have no grants yet, you can take it when you have seals on 2 encyclopedia articles. If it is not your first grant, you cannot take it until you have seals on all 3 articles.

Limitations

If an aspect has an article, you obviously cannot write a second article for that aspect because that space on the board is already taken. You are also limited by the available ingredient tokens. There are only 2 of each, so the same ingredient will not appear in 3 articles. You cannot publish an article that has exactly the same four ingredients as another article currently on the board. The royal encyclopedia wants a little more variety. (If only 3 of the 4 ingredients are the same, that's okay.)

The theory board and the encyclopedia board do not limit each other. In particular, you can publish an article that conflicts with a published theory.

Debunk Theory

You can use a Debunk Theory action to debunk an encyclopedia article. You must prove that one of the ingredients in the article has been listed with the wrong sign. This uses the same debunking procedure (apprentice or master) that you learned in the base game.

The consequences are the same as in the base game: You lose 1 point of reputation for an unsuccessful attempt and gain 2 if you are successful. If an article is debunked, remove its tokens from the board and reveal the seals. Any player with a seal on the article loses 5 points, unless the seal was properly hedged.

To determine if a seal is properly hedged, remember what an unstarred seal means: "Every other ingredient in this article is correct." If your successful debunking does not disprove this statement, then the seal is properly hedged and its owner loses no points, but if your debunking proves that another ingredient must be incorrect, the player with that seal loses 5 points.

If you're not sure, the examples on this page will help.

Apprentice Examples

Most Likely Example: Your ignorant colleague has written the above article about the blue aspect. You demonstrate that mushroom has a blue minus sign. This debunks the article. You gain 2 points of reputation. Any player with a seal on the article loses 5 points of reputation unless his or her seal hedges against mushroom. (Mushroom is on the green space, so the green seal is the one that hedges against mushroom.)

Master Examples

Master debunking can be esoteric. There is no shame in using the apprentice debunking rules, especially if you are playing with The Royal Encyclopedia for the first time.

Most Likely Example: You demonstrate that flower and mushroom make a blue potion. This is just like apprentice debunking. A seal hedging against mushroom will not lose points. All others lose points.

Double Trouble: If you demonstrate that toad and mushroom make a blue potion, then every seal loses points. An unstarred seal claims that 3 ingredients are right, and you have proven that 2 of the 4 must be wrong.

Unsuccessful Attempt: You demonstrate that toad and mushroom make a red potion. This does not debunk the blue article. It is possible to mix 2 alchemicals with a blue plus sign and get a red potion. Note: When determining whether an article is debunked, consider only the current demonstration. Ignore previous demonstrations, other articles, and published theories.

The Two-Color Rule: You demonstrate that raven's feather and mushroom make a green potion. This debunks the blue article, and you gain 2 points. What?! Didn't we just say – ?

Yes, well, it turns out that alchemicals obey a two-color rule. If they have the same sign in one aspect, the potion they make must be one of two colors:

• If this sign matches red, the potion must be red or green.
• If this sign matches green, the potion must be green or blue.
• If this sign matches blue, the potion must be blue or red.

You can check this for yourself.

To finish the example, which unstarred seals are properly hedged? One of the two ingredients is wrong, but you have not demonstrated which one. So anyone hedging against raven's feather or mushroom will not lose points. However, someone who hedged against toad would lose points: Their seal claims everything is correct except possibly toad, and you have proven that something besides toad must be wrong.

Fifth Ingredient Reconsidered: This is like the apprentice example. You demonstrate that toad and scorpion make a potion. You have proven that fern, mushroom, or raven's feather should be replaced by scorpion. A seal hedging against toad claims that all 3 of these are correct. That seal is not properly hedged and that player loses points. Unstarred seals that hedge against fern, mushroom, or raven's feather are properly hedged and will not lose points.

Double Trouble Too: If you demonstrate that scorpion and mandrake root make a potion, then every seal loses points. Only 4 ingredients have a blue sign, so you have proven that 2 of those in the article must be wrong.

Debunking Multiple Theories

Even in the apprentice variant, it is possible to debunk a theory and an encyclopedia article at the same time. The consequences are the same as in the original rules (under Master Debunking): You gain 2 points for successfully debunking, not 2 points for each theory or article debunked. Players who lose points lose them on each debunked theory and article. As usual, losses (and the 2-point gain, if applicable) are all added together and the additional penalty (or compensation) for losing reputation is applied only once.

In the master variant, of course, it is now possible to debunk 2 theories and 1 article in the same debunking attempt. This is still worth only 2 points, but you are permitted to gloat with a supercilious smirk.

Demonstrating a Conflict

Conflict tokens (from master debunking) do not apply to encyclopedia articles. Players are allowed to publish articles that conflict with published theories, and demonstrating a conflict with an encyclopedia article does not count as a successful debunking attempt.

If a prestigious journal contradicts the royal encyclopedia, it makes them feel avant-garde. And if the encyclopedia contradicts established theory, well, they're the royal encyclopedia – they don't have to worry about what commoners think.

Immediate Publication

Immediate publication is not just for the standard theories. If you debunk an encyclopedia article you can use your immediate publication option to publish a different article about that same aspect. The new article may use different signs and/or different ingredients.

End of the Round and Final Scoring

Encyclopedia articles count as theories any time anything is counting or scoring theories. At the end of a round, they count toward the top alchemist award and conferences. At the end of the game, they are scored after the regular theories according to the same system. If one ingredient is wrong, then players who hedged against that ingredient will not lose points. If multiple ingredients are wrong, then all players with seals on the article will lose 4 points.

The Golem Project

Silent and shapeless, the mound of clay squats in your laboratory. It is the focus of your research, though it will yield no publications. Your theories on this subject must remain secret, for this is a special project undertaken by order of the king.

Components

• Golem research board
• The Golem Project extension board
• Under-the-counter artifact board
• Scoring reminder board
• Royal Signet and Mahogany Bookcase artifact cards
• 3 conference tiles
• 4 Courtier favor cards
• All 16 approval tokens
• 6 of the 8 king's mood tiles (not used in a 2-player game)
• 6 report tokens for each player
• 1 additional flask for each player, for use as a golem progress marker
• All 12 book tokens
• 1 new deduction grid for each player
• 1 progress report tile

Setup

The extension board sits next to the main game board and adds two new action spaces. The under-the-counter artifact board covers the Buy Artifact space on the original board.

The golem research board can go wherever you have room. Each player should put one of his or her flasks on the lowest progress space.

The Royal Encyclopedia: Set up The Royal Encyclopedia as explained on page 4. It is required for The Golem Project. Don't forget to use the side of the encyclopedia board marked with the golem.

King's Mood Tiles: You need to leave two of the king's mood tiles in the box. With 3 players, remove the two tiles marked 3. With 4 players, remove the two tiles marked 4. You will end up with a stack of six tiles. Shuffle them and place them face down next to the Research Golem action space. Turn up the top tile and place the indicated number of approval tokens on the Research Golem action space. Discard that tile. The number of tokens available will change from round to round. In a 2-player game, only one approval token is available each round. Leave the tiles in the box and place one approval token on the Research Golem action space.

Report Tokens: These are used to report your progress to the king. Keep them secret with your seals.

Artifacts: Shuffle the Royal Signet and the Mahogany Bookcase into the appropriate decks (and the Replicator, too, if you are using the Startup Funding expansion).

When preparing artifacts for the game, draw 1 extra from each deck to be the under-the-counter artifact. The one from deck I goes on the under-the-counter artifact board. The other two should be set aside face up nearby. They will come into play at the same time as the other artifacts chosen from their decks.

Conference Tiles: Each conference will use a pair of tiles. From the original game, you use only the first conference tile. Pair it with the tile shown below. Flip both tiles to the appropriate side, apprentice or master.

For the first conference, use this pair of tiles.

For the second conference, use the pair of tiles shown below. The one that looks like a standard conference has two sides for apprentice or master.

This pair of tiles is for the second conference.

Stack the conference tile pairs with the adventurers as usual.

Favor Cards: Shuffle the 4 Courtier cards into the deck.

Tokens: Approval tokens should be near the Research Golem action space. Book tokens should be near the Visit Library action space.

Action Cubes

The number of action cubes depends on the number of players and on the round:

	Round 1	Rounds 2 and 3	Rounds 4, 5, and 6
Two players	3	6	6
Three players	3	5	6
Four players	3	5	5

In other words:

• Two Players: As usual, start with 3 cubes in the first round, and use 6 cubes for all subsequent rounds.
• Three Players: As usual, start with 3 cubes in the first round, and use 5 cubes for the next two rounds. After the first conference, use 6 cubes for the rest of the game.
• Four Players: As usual, start with 3 cubes in the first round. Then use 5 cubes for all subsequent rounds.

New Deduction Grid

The new deduction grid is designed to replace the deduction grid from the original game. It includes spaces for recording your research in The Golem Project.

Declaring Actions

The Golem Project offers 2 new actions you can choose when declaring actions – Research Golem and Visit Library. The new actions are available even in the first round. There is also a chance to give progress reports at the end of every round, but this is not declared and does not require any cubes.

Resolving Action Spaces

Once actions are declared, they are resolved in this order:

1. Forage for Ingredient
2. Transmute Ingredient
3. Sell Potion*
4. Research Golem
5. Buy Artifact
6. Visit Library
7. Debunk Theory*
8. Publish Theory*
9. Test on Student
10. Drink Potion

Then players can give progress reports.

* As usual, these three actions are not available in the first round.

Research Golem

The king has taken a special interest in golem research. He looks kindly on those who work in this field – as long as they get their work done before he gets bored.

This action space allows you to either test an ingredient on the golem or attempt to animate it. Either action can give you an approval token. The king's approval is limited, so there may be an advantage in going first. (See King's Mood Tiles on page 7.)

The first two times you use this action space, your only option is to test the golem. If you have already performed at least two such tests, you may either test the golem again or attempt to animate it.

Test Golem

This action helps you discover information you will need for animating the golem. To test the golem:

1. Place one ingredient card in your cauldron.
2. On the card reader, choose "Research Golem".
3. Next tap "Test Golem".
4. Scan the ingredient.
5. Record the result.
6. Discard the ingredient.
7. Move your flask up one space on the golem research board, unless you are already on one of the top two spaces.
8. If any approval tokens are left on the action space, take 1 and keep it on your player board.

Result

The golem might react to your ingredient. Its chest might glow. Or steam might come out of its ears. It is also possible to get both reactions or no reaction at all.

But what do these strange reactions mean? According to the ancient lore, the chest reacts to one aspect of a certain size, and the ears react to a different aspect of a certain size. The two aspects are always different colors, but the two sizes may be the same or different. Note that the golem reacts to the aspect's size, not its sign.

Example: If the ears steam when presented with a small green aspect, only these four alchemicals will make the ears steam. The aspect that makes the chest glow must be either red or blue. It can be either big or small.

Of course, until you get some information, you have no idea what the golem is reacting to, but consider the following example:

Example: Suppose you already know that toad is in the lunar class of alchemicals and that it contains a small red aspect. It must be one of these two alchemicals. You feed the golem a toad and steam comes out of its ears.

What does this tell us? Well, we know toad has a small red aspect. So we can say for certain that the ears do not react to a big red aspect. All other sizes and colors are possible for toad, so any of them could be what makes the ears react. We can also say something about the other reaction: A small red aspect is not what makes the chest glow.

We record both pieces of information in the deduction grid.

Example: Now suppose we discover the true identity of mushroom. We use a later action to test the golem's reaction to mushroom and discover that mushroom makes the ears steam and the chest glow.

This allows us to eliminate the small red aspect and the big blue and green aspects for both chest and ears.

Neutralizing Pairs

If you are experienced enough to be playing with The Golem Project, you already know about neutralizing pairs – two alchemicals which combine to make the neutral potion. Take a look at your deduction grid where these pairs are printed one atop the other. Note that they have the same size in each aspect.

So if you know that two ingredients make the neutral potion, you know they have the same effect on the golem's chest and ears. The converse is also true: Two ingredients that have the same effect must be neutralizing pairs.

Golem Progress Markers

You need to test the golem at least twice before you can send progress reports or attempt to animate it. The additional flask in The Golem Project helps you track your progress. Each of your first two tests moves your flask up one space. If you successfully animate the golem, your flask is moved to the top space.

Even if you have already tested the golem twice, you can still perform more tests and gain approval tokens (if any are available). It just doesn't move your flask any higher.

Animate Golem

You don't need to know how to animate the golem yet. Because you must do at least two tests before attempting to animate the golem, we have put the explanation on page 11. You can skip ahead and read it now, if you want, but when you explain the expansion to new players, we recommend that you wait to explain animation until someone has actually done 2 tests.

Buy Artifact

A wide selection is available from your friendly neighborhood artifact dealer. If you are friends with the king, the selection is even wider and the dealer is even friendlier.

The Buy Artifact action works as usual. But if you have an approval token, it can work even better.

Instead of buying one of the cards in the artifact row, you can buy the card on the under-the-counter artifact space. It costs 1 gold piece less than usual, but you must pay 1 approval token to the bank.

The under-the-counter artifact will be replaced when the other artifact cards are replaced.

Visit Library

Sometimes I think my colleagues agreed to work on the golem project just so they could gain access to the palace library.

When you play this action, give one approval token to the bank and take one book token. You read the book immediately, as explained under The Palace Library on page 2.

Note: If you run out of book tokens, you can still perform this action. Represent the tokens with any suitable substitute.

Publish Theory

It's frustrating to know so much about golems and be forbidden to publish any of it. But at least your work on this project gives you enough prestige to write for the royal encyclopedia.

Publishing on the usual theory board works in the usual way. However, to publish or endorse an article in the royal encyclopedia, you pay one approval token instead of one gold piece to the bank. When endorsing an article, you also pay one gold piece to every player who already has a seal on the article, as usual.

End of the Round

The end of the round is essentially the same as in the base game. The major differences are listed here.

Golem Progress Reports

Each round, after resolving the Drink Potion action, each player has a chance to file a progress report. This does not require an action cube.

You can submit a progress report only if you have already tested the golem twice. You can submit a report even if you have already successfully animated the golem. All players who wish to submit a progress report can do so simultaneously. (However, if someone's decision depends on what others do, players should submit – or choose not to submit – beginning with the player lowest on the order spaces and continuing in reverse order.)

Reports are represented by these tokens. You place them face down on the board to indicate what aspect color and size the golem reacts to. (The golem's reactions are explained on page 8.)

Each pair of spaces can hold one player's report. It does not matter which pair of spaces you use. A report is represented by 1 or 2 report tokens. Each player is allowed exactly one report on the glowing chest and one on the steaming ears.

You can submit only 1 report per turn. There are 3 ways to do so:

• (a) Place 2 report tokens on your 2 empty spaces below the glowing chest or the steaming ears. This means you think the size-and-color combination which produces that reaction is one of the two possibilities specified by your report tokens.
• (b) Place only 1 report token on your 2 empty spaces. This means you are certain that this size and color is what produces that reaction.
• (c) Remove 1 report token from one of your reports that currently has 2. This means you are now certain that the remaining token depicts the correct size and color.

Of course, you are not required to send accurate reports, but you will be punished at the end of the game if your report was wrong. There is no way to add a second report token to a report that already has one. There is no way to remove the report token from a report that has only one. You can have at most one report on the chest and one on the ears.

Conferences

Rounds 3 and 5 have conferences, as usual. Conferences use 2 tiles, as explained on page 7. When setting out conference tiles for the upcoming round, put the one with the progress report reminder on top of the progress report tile and put the other conference tile beside it (on the insanely tall tower).

This icon reminds you that players have a chance to submit progress reports before the conference tiles are evaluated. One of the conference tiles will evaluate how many progress reports you have sent.

First Conference

In the apprentice variant, each player who has sent at least one report gains 1 point of reputation and draws 1 favor card.

In the master variant, each player who has sent at least one report draws 1 favor card. There is no reputation bonus, but there is a penalty: Anyone who has not sent a report loses 2 points of reputation!

The second half of the first conference uses the tile from the original game.

Second Conference

In the second conference, count up progress reports in a special way: A report with 1 report token counts as 1. For this conference, a report with 2 report tokens counts as ½, because it is less precise. The player with the highest total gains 2 points of reputation. The player with the lowest total loses 2 points of reputation.

If multiple players are tied for the highest total, they all gain 2 points, unless they are tied at zero. If multiple players are tied for the lowest total, they all lose 2 points. (Especially if they are tied at zero. Shame on them!)

Also at this time, any player who has successfully animated the golem gains 3 points of reputation.

The second conference also uses this new tile that requires one more theory than usual if you want to gain reputation.

Net Losses or Gains

Example: Red gains 2 points of reputation because her reports count as 1½. Blue and Yellow are tied at 1. Their reputations don't change. Green loses 2 points because her progress report counts as only ½.

Add up losses and gains from both conference tiles and apply the result as one net loss or gain. If it's a loss, any additional penalty or compensation for losing reputation is applied only once. If it's a gain, any bonus such as that from the Robe of Respect is applied only once.

In general, whenever you have multiple losses or gains at the same time, you add up all losses and gains and apply any penalty, compensation, or bonus only once.

New Artifact Cards

After each conference, remove any remaining artifact cards and deal out the next set. Don't forget to do the same for the under-the-counter artifact.

Setup for Next Round

Remove any remaining approval tokens from the Research Golem action space and turn up a new king's mood tile. Put that many tokens on the space. Approval tokens do not accumulate from round to round.

In a 2-player game, only one approval token is available each round.

Final Scoring

During final scoring, you have these additional ways to score points (or lose them!).

If you have any approval tokens left, exchange each approval token for 2 gold pieces before you count up points for gold pieces.

During the big revelation, the king rewards you (or punishes you) based on the precision and accuracy of your progress reports:

• A correct 1-token report scores 4 victory points.
• A 2-token report with a correct token scores 2 victory points.
• A 2-token report with no correct token loses 6 victory points.
• An incorrect 1-token report loses 8 victory points.

Score reports for the chest and ears separately. Your maximum reward is 8 victory points, but if you are wrong you could lose up to 16!

Regardless of your progress reports, you score 5 victory points if you successfully animated the golem during the game.

How to Animate a Golem

Animating a golem is a complex process during which alchemists observe steam coming not just from the golem's ears but also their own. Don't feel bad if you don't get it on the first try.

There are exactly two ingredients that, when combined, will animate the golem. Which two? To answer that, you need to know what the ears and chest are reacting to:

Example: The ears react to a small green aspect, and the chest reacts to a large red aspect.

Your deduction grid shows how to turn the information about sizes into information about signs. If the golem reacts to a large aspect, then animation requires a positive sign in that aspect. If it reacts to a small aspect, then animation requires a negative sign in that aspect.

Example: If this grid is correct, the golem requires a red plus sign and a green plus sign to animate it.

From here on, we only consider signs of aspects (not sizes). Your tests have shown you which two colors are important. The deduction grid has told you what sign each color should have. Now you need to find the two alchemicals that have those signs in those aspects. There are exactly 2 such alchemicals.

Example: These are the two alchemicals that have a red plus sign and a green plus sign.

Once you have determined the alchemicals, there is still one more step: You need to discover which two ingredients correspond to those two alchemicals!

Note: You might think that anything that makes both the chest and the ears react must be one of the ingredients that animates the golem. But this is not the case.

Animate Golem

If you have already tested the golem at least twice, you can attempt to animate it. Animating the golem is one of your two options on the Research Golem action space.

To attempt to animate the golem:

1. Proclaim that you will now animate the golem.
2. On the card reader, choose "Research Golem".
3. Next tap "Animate Golem".
4. Secretly select the 2 ingredients you believe will animate the golem. (The king supplies these. You don't need the cards to be in your hand.)
5. Reveal the result.

If the result is an animated golem, you also:

6. Advance your golem progress marker to the topmost space on the golem research board.
7. If any approval tokens are left on the action space, take 1 and keep it on your player board.

But if the two ingredients do not animate the golem, you lose 2 points of reputation.

Animating the golem is worth 5 victory points at the end of the game. It's also worth 3 points of reputation during the second conference. So this is definitely something you would like to succeed at.

Printing Press and Encyclopedia Articles

In The Golem Project expansion, you cannot use the Printing Press when publishing or endorsing an encyclopedia article, because it requires an approval token. However, if you are not playing with The Golem Project, the Printing Press works on encyclopedia articles as it does on theories. You do not pay 1 gold to the bank when you publish or endorse a theory.

Replicator

When you replicate a startup card that normally gives you reputation after the end of the first round, you gain that reputation without delay. If a startup card lets you start the game with the Replicator, then the Replicator's effect triggers at the end of rounds 1 and 2.

Setup Reminders

With The Golem Project, use this many action cubes:

	Round 1	Rounds 2 and 3	Rounds 4, 5, and 6
Two players	3	6	6
Three players	3	5	6
Four players	3	5	5

With The Golem Project use these conferences:

• Use these two tiles for the first conference (the first-conference pair shown under Conference Tiles above).
• Use these two tiles for the second conference (the second-conference pair shown under Conference Tiles above).

Expansion Cards

New cards are used only if you are playing with the corresponding expansions:

• Startup Funding: Replicator artifact
• The Golem Project: Mahogany Bookcase artifact, Royal Signet artifact, 4 Courtier favor cards

In particular, do not use the Mahogany Bookcase without The Golem Project. It is weak without the Visit Library action space.

Fine Alchemists' Queries (about the base game)

How does the Herbalist work when I'm drawing ingredient cards at the same time? Finish what you are doing before you play the Herbalist. If an order space gives you ingredients and the Herbalist, draw all the ingredients before using the Herbalist. Similarly, at the beginning of the game, you draw all your cards, choose which favor cards to keep, and only then do you use any Herbalists.

About those favor cards discarded at the beginning of the game … are they discarded face up or face down? All cards in the favor card discard pile are face up.

My esteemed colleague and I have seals on a theory with a conflict token. During debunking, this conflict is removed. Now the theory suddenly counts for a grant. Which of us gets the grant? Check to see if you qualify for grants only after you complete a Debunk Theory or Publish Theory action. In this particular case, you get the grant if it was your Debunk Theory action. Your colleague gets the grant if it was his or her action. And if the token was removed during someone else's action, then the grant will go to the first one of you who performs a Publish Theory or Debunk Theory action (even if the debunking attempt is unsuccessful).

I use my Periscope to spy on my colleague's experiment. Does my colleague know which ingredient I saw? Of course not. You are spying. Your colleague should hand you both cards face down. You shuffle them and choose one to look at. Then discard them both.

I have a cube on Publish Theory. But I use it for an immediate publication during Debunk Theory. Can I still use the Boots of Speed to get a second Publish Theory action? Yes. But you have to wait until all cubes are gone from the Publish Theory action space.

I declined my action. Can I still use Boots of Speed to do the action? Yes, after everyone else is done.

How do Boots of Speed work with the Custodian? Treat the Custodian card as an action space. If you have a cube there, you can use the Boots of Speed to perform that action again.

What does "No negative potion can affect you twice in the same round" mean? The blue one cannot affect you twice in one round. The red one cannot affect you twice in one round. The green one cannot affect you twice in one round. But two different negative potions can both affect you. For example, you could be poisoned and paralyzed. On the plus side, your immunity really does apply for the entire round, so if you get poisoned early using the Custodian card, you will be immune to poison from the Drink Potion action later that round.