Black Sonata: The Fair Youth Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Fair Youth
• The Rendezvous
• The Rival Poet
  • Rival Poet cards
• The Darker Ladies
• Waypoints and Traces

The Fair Youth

The Fair Youth has passed through the city and is now hiding out somewhere in London. You must deduce his location and catch him there.

Components: 11 miniEuro cards and 22 optional arrow tokens.

Set up: Shuffle the 11 Fair Youth cards and choose one, placing it face down next to the game board. Set the remaining 10 cards aside – they will not be used.

Game play: This expansion uses all the rules of the base game but adds one further option during your turn: you may ask a bystander which direction the Fair Youth went when he passed through your current location. To do so, place the Fair Youth card on top of the current location key, align the cards and flip them over together. In the keyhole you will see an icon which is characteristic of the next location to which the Fair Youth passed from here. You may optionally use the arrow tokens to indicate the possibilities.

• The Fair Youth always travelled the shortest path to his hideout, though in some cases there may be two paths that are equally short.
• If you are currently in the Fair Youth's location then the bystander will mistakenly tell you which direction he went when he left the last time.

You must ask bystanders at several locations to deduce where the Fair Youth is hiding, remembering that the information gained from his current location is misleading. Then you must travel to his location and confront him.

Confronting the Fair Youth: When you believe you are in the right location, simply turn over the Fair Youth card and check the location printed there. If it matches, then you have found him – add 20 points to your score. If not, he has eluded you – subtract 20 points from your score. If you successfully confront both the Fair Youth and the Dark Lady in the same location at the same time then add a further 10 points to your score!

The Rendezvous

One landscape feature had special meaning to Shakespeare and his Dark Lady. Perhaps they would tryst beneath a tree or in the dark corner of a church. Maybe they would visit the theatre together, or shop, or drink. Your task is discover which of the seven map features is the special rendezvous and unmask the Lady at a matching location.

Components: 7 miniEuro cards and 22 optional tokens.

Set up: Shuffle the 7 Rendezvous cards and choose one, placing it face down next to the game board. Set the remaining 6 cards aside – they will not be used.

Game play: This expansion uses all the rules of the base game but adds one further option during your turn: you may seek the rendezvous. To do so, place the Rendezvous card on top of the current location key, hold the cards together and flip them over. In the keyhole you will see a number; the symbol you seek is present in at least one location the indicated number of steps away. Optionally use a token to record the number.

When counting steps from the current location you may go in any direction but must not double back. For example, if you were in Blackfriars and the number was 2 then the rendezvous must be one of the features present in the locations exactly two steps away: Cripplegate (a residence), Cornhill (a commercial area) or Southwark (a church or a tavern). You may optionally keep track of the possibilities using the back of an un-used Rendezvous card and placing tokens to cover eliminated symbols.

You must deduce the symbol on the Rendezvous card before confronting the Dark Lady. When you do confront her, first turn over the Rendezvous card. It's symbol must be present in your location; if not, you lose. Then reveal the Dark Lady and check her symbols as usual. You win only if you correctly identified the Dark Lady in a location with the Rendezvous symbol. If you win, calculate your score as normal and add 15 points.

The Rival Poet

This expansion adds a second pawn, representing the Rival Poet. Two different Poets are available: the Elusive Poet makes the game easier by offering an additional way to gain clues, while the Aggressive Poet makes it harder by hampering your movement.

Components: 1 additional pawn and 1 Rival Poet card.

Set up: After placing the player pawn in its starting location, place the Rival Poet pawn in the location with the matching colour (if green, you may choose either of the two vacant locations).

Game play: Each turn now consists of these steps:

1. Update the Dark Lady's location.
2. Update the Rival Poet's location.
3. Take your turn as normal, but see below for what happens if the player and Poet pawns are in the same location.

Updating the Poet's location: The Elusive Poet will only move when the player pawn is in an adjoining location. Then he will move one step away from the player pawn if there is a valid opportunity for him to do so. If there is more than one way he could go, he takes the right-most option facing away from the player pawn.

On each turn the Aggressive Poet will try to move one step towards the player pawn, taking the shortest valid route. If there are two valid routes that are equally short then he will take the right-most option facing towards the player pawn.

In both cases:

• the Poet will never move into a location that has the same symbol as that shown on the current stealth card, and
• the Poet will not move if a fog card is showing on the stealth deck.

If the Poet cannot move according to these rules then he will remain in his current location for that turn.

On your turn: If you move into the same location as the Elusive Poet then he gives you a clue about the Dark Lady. Discard one fog card from the fog deck, take a new clue card, and move the Poet pawn to a location with the matching colour.

Conversely, you may never voluntarily move to where the Aggressive Poet is. If he has moved into your location then you must use your turn to move away. You may not search for the Dark Lady, use a fog card, or even pass when in the same location as the Aggressive Poet.

Scoring: Subtract 10 points from your final score if you used the Elusive Poet, or add 10 points if you used the Aggressive Poet.

Rival Poet cards

The printed text on the two Rival Poet cards, reproduced as printed:

The Aggressive Poet

• Every turn moves one step toward the player, except:
• Never moves into a location with the current stealth symbol.
• Never moves in the fog.
• Given a choice, will take the right-most option facing towards the player pawn.

You may not enter his location, but if he catches you, you must use your turn to move away from him.

The Elusive Poet

• Only moves when the player pawn is exactly one step away.
• Never moves into a location with the current stealth symbol.
• Never moves in the fog.
• Given a choice, will take the right-most option facing away from the player pawn.

If you catch him: discard one fog card, gain a clue, and move the Poet pawn to a matching colour location.

The Darker Ladies

This alternative set of Dark Lady cards has four suits, each containing three cards. These cards will be more difficult to deduce and may require more clues than the base game. The difficulty level is lowest for hearts and clubs, and highest for spades.

Components: 12 Darker Lady cards.

Set up: Replace the Dark Lady cards from the base set with these ones. Shuffle them, and tuck the top card face down under the game board as usual. This is the Dark Lady whose characteristics you must deduce.

Locate the two other cards with the same suit as the Dark Lady. Place one of these face down near the board and stack the location keys on top of it. This clue will become available once you have visited every location on the map. Then take three other clue cards and shuffle them together with the last card from the Dark Lady's suit. Place these face down on top of the clue mask card, then place the remaining clue cards on top. Flip the stack over so that the mask card is on top and place this clue deck to one side of the board.

Game play: The rest of the game plays as normal.

Waypoints and Traces

Sometimes as you pursue the Dark Lady you may see her at a distance, prevented by the crowds and tangled streets from reaching her before she melts away again. This expansion provides two tools to help you head her off next time: a waypoint ("!") card and a tracer (footprint) card. Each can mark a particular place on the map and in the stealth deck. You can use them for whatever purpose you like, but the main use would be to mark where the Dark Lady is at a particular point in her flight. This can make it easier to find her next time through the stealth deck, and may help you tackle some of the more challenging variants in the game.

Components: 2 miniEuro cards, 2 tokens.

Game play: During your turn you may use either one of these cards, if available, even if you have already moved or searched in that turn. It may be most helpful to use them immediately before searching, or after a search but before advancing the stealth deck as the Lady flees.

To mark a waypoint: Place the "!" card on the bottom of the stealth deck and put the corresponding token on one of the locations on the board, such as where you know the Dark Lady to be. Remove the card when you encounter it on your next time through the stealth deck, and the next card will correspond to the marked location. Then remove the token from the map. You may then use the waypoint a second time if you wish.

To trace the Lady: Choose whether you want 3 or 5 moves warning of her position and flip the tracer (footprint) card accordingly. Separate the corresponding number of cards from the bottom of the stealth deck (not counting any cards with coloured borders), add the tracer card, and replace the bottom cards in the same order. Then add the footprint token to the map. When the card comes up next time set it aside: you now know how many moves you have left to reach the marked location and intercept the Lady. Once both card and token have been set aside you may re-use them a second time.