Anno Domini: Frauen
Anno Domini: Frauen Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Deal
Now deal 9 cards to each player. At random, of course; choosing is strictly forbidden. And one more thing is strictly forbidden: looking at the back sides.
Everybody lays their cards out in front of them, face up, with the black-printed event side showing. The rest of the cards is placed as a stack in the middle. Here too: events facing up, the colored solution year (back side) not visible.
Important: leave the cards on the table during the game! When you move the cards, slide them; do not wave them around in the air. Otherwise your fellow players will unintentionally learn solution years that you had better keep secret.
A Chain of Unfortunate Events
The chain begins with the top card of the stack. Event 1 is read aloud and the card is laid on the table, visible to all; the back side stays secret from everyone.
The owner of the game begins. He selects one of his cards, reads it aloud, and places it above the first card if he believes his event 2 occurred before event 1; he places it below the first card if he believes his event 2 occurred after event 1.
In turn, the players each add one of their cards to the chain of events in this way. They may insert their card anywhere in the chain, including between cards already laid out, if they believe their event fits there in time.
Doubt
is often better than blind trust. Whoever is on turn and believes he has spotted mistakes in the existing chain of events may correct them before inserting his new card and passing the chain on.
He may also decide not to add another card and instead publicly doubt the chronological order of the events. In this case a round of play comes to an end. All cards of the chain are turned over from top to bottom.
If the chronological order is correct, the doubter is punished by having to take four new cards from the stack (as always: without looking at the back sides).
If the chain of events contains any error, then the predecessor of the doubter, who was the last to lay down an event, takes two new cards from the stack. Even if it is a single little year, and entirely regardless of who laid the chronologically faulty card: the last one gets bitten by the dogs.
Whoever therefore voices no doubt and lays a card in the row thereby accepts the whole chain of events, and may under certain circumstances have to take responsibility for it toward the distrustful next player.
After the round, the cards of the chain are put aside. They have done their duty for today; they can go (after Schiller, 1783).
A New Round
begins with a new starting card from the stack. The first player is now the doubter. Then it goes nicely around the table again.
Special case: a player who has only a single card left has a somewhat harder time with the new beginning. Instead of one, he must take two cards from the stack, arrange them, and insert his last card.
The reversal of the direction of play happens immediately and once, as soon as a player has only two cards left.
Winner
is whoever first gets rid of his last card, in a correct chain, of course. Without a doubt the successor will express doubt once more. If a mistake comes to light, there are two new cards, and the game goes into overtime.
Explanations and Examples
The decisive year is printed clearly and in bold on the back side of the card.
Additional comments, including month and day details, have no influence on the game.
Some cards offer time spans as the solution, such as '1903 - 1907' or '5th century BC'.
Explanations:
- Jh. (Jahrhundert) means century. A century lasts from year 01 to year 00. Example: the 20th century began in 1901 and ends with the year 2000.
- "um" (around, circa) means that the event cannot be fixed precisely in time. For the purposes of the game, 5 years before and after are accepted as correct. Example: in the case of 'um 1900', the years 1895 to 1905 count as correct.
The first appearance of a thing, the beginning of an event, is what counts, unless a time span is clearly asked for.
Examples:
A) 'Humans on the moon' asks for the first moon landing of Apollo 11. An answer such as '2025' is wrong, even if it cannot be ruled out that humans will be on the moon again by then.
B) 'Sweetened condensed milk on the market' asks for its market introduction. That it is still available today is great, but beside the point.
Simultaneous and chronologically overlapping events
are handled by the principle 'In dubio pro reo'. The chain counts as correct.
Examples:
A) One event took place in the 8th century BC, a second in 805 BC, the third in the 1st millennium BC. No. 2 took place before No. 1, because the 8th century BC lasted from 800 to 701 BC, while No. 3 overlaps in time with the two other events and may be placed anywhere among them.
B) Two events took place in 1987, the third 'um 1990', a fourth in 1991. If No. 4 was placed behind No. 1 and No. 2, the order is correct. No. 3 means 'between 1985 and 1995', so it overlaps with the other three events and may be placed anywhere among them, even between the two 1987 cards. Month and day details within the year 1987 are irrelevant; the two cards are of equal rank.
Place names
without a direct connection to the event are simply place names and not cryptic hints to the year sought.
Example: 'Neanderthals live in the Neandertal near Düsseldorf' does not mean that in the epoch in question the fashion center Düsseldorf already existed.
Tactical Hints
Well, self-confidence is a virtue, especially when you know nothing. Your successor will think twice about whether he wants to doubt your chain if you declare your event a sure thing and, quickly resolved, insert it somewhat sensibly. As a devious variant you can also play the unsure one for once, while placing a rock-solid event in a correct chain...
Psychology and a certain feeling for sequences are much more important in ANNO DOMINI than historical expertise. Do not let your ignorance discourage you! You can safely assume that your fellow players do not have all the dates of these strange events stored in their little gray cells either and, just like you, often have to guess.
Use your common sense, estimate, sell your solutions well. Never forget: what you lay down does not necessarily have to be right; above all it must seem credible to the player at the table who plays after you.
If you have completely lost the overview in the face of a long chain, then just go ahead and doubt. Usually there is a nasty surprise hidden somewhere.
If possible, keep back an event that you can place well in time as a safe closing card. Conversely, place cards that cause you great worry, to the best of your knowledge and conscience, in short chains, which are surely doubted less often than the tapeworms.
Who Plays Along?
In principle the game is suitable for 2 to 10 players; the ideal number is 3 to 6. With large groups we recommend dealing fewer than 9 cards at first.
Children can join in as soon as they can read fluently. Experience shows that they soon make up for their lesser historical knowledge by clever tactics, and they learn quickly. Once the used cards are mixed back into the game, the ability to learn pays off. The playing group may also decide to deal fewer cards at first to children who are playing.
Corrections
We are aware of one thing: even normally reliable sources can be mistaken. Facts can change; research brings new findings to light. Corrections, where necessary, will be made in future editions. A list of corrections for ANNO DOMINI can be found at urs.fatamorgana.ch/adpleite.html; we always keep it at our latest state of knowledge.