Der weiße Lotus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Announce Territorial Claims
  • Phase 2: Settle Territorial Claims
  • Phase 3: Emperor receives 1 victory point chip
  • Phase 4: Rebellion
  • Phase 5: New Cards
  • Phase 6: New Areas
• End of Game
• Optional Variant

Object

Players, representing Chinese provincial rulers, want to annex the valuable areas of 14th Century China. In each round they assert their claims to fortresses, temples, villages, palaces, and rice fields. Each area will be fiercely contested. And during this, the discontented peasants, led by the leader of the White Lotus, will be ganging up and rebelling against the Emperor. Each player is forced to decide which side they are on – for or against the Emperor.

Most victory points wins after all the areas are owned by the players. Victory points are awarded for: 1) each area owned, 2) role of the Emperor each round, 3) victory in military struggles, and 4) having the largest connected territory.

Setup

1. Each player chooses a color and receives: summary table player aid, 5 wooden control markers, 16 round player tiles, a set of Dragon cards consisting of their opponents colors (remove colors not used), 3 Army (red) cards each with a value of '1', 6 Influence (blue) cards (2 each), with values of '3', '2', and '1'. 1 Influence cards with value of '0' (bluffing card).

2. Throughout the game, each player keeps their cards face down in front of them.

3. Sort the rest of the blue cards by denomination & play the 3 stacks face up next to the board.

4. Sort the rest of the red cards by denomination & play the 3 stacks face up next to the board.

5. If less than 6 players, only the light colored areas of the board are used.

6. Pick out 7 Neutral Tiles as follows (see pictures on player mats): 1 palace, 1 temple, 1 rice field, 1 fortress, and 3 villages (4 villages with 6 players). Mix them up, face down and place on the areas containing a lotus symbol, then turn face up. The rest of the Neutral Tiles are all placed face down next to the board.

7. Player with the most gray hair (or oldest) is the Emperor (given the black marker) and is the start player. The red Rebel Marker is placed to the side for now.

How to Play

The game lasts for several game years, with each year consisting of 6 phases:

Phase 1: Announce Territorial Claims

There are 3 placement rounds. Beginning with the Emperor, each player places a Control Marker (wooden cube) in an area of their choice that contains a Neutral Tile. When everyone has placed their 1st marker, the Emperor places a 2nd and so on until everyone has placed 3 markers. A player may only place 1 of their markers per region.

(Note: from the 2nd year onwards, a player may place an extra marker for each rice field owned up to a maximum of 2 additional markers. These additional markers are placed 1 at a time).

Phase 2: Settle Territorial Claims

a) Acquiring areas of no conflict: If only 1 player marker is in an area, they acquire it at no cost and replace the Neutral Tile with 1 of their own color (same symbol).

b) Conflicted areas: In the 1st year, the area containing the palace is resolved 1st. The player who wins the area immediately becomes the new Emperor & receives the Emperor marker. Henceforth the Emperor decides the order of area resolution. Only players with markers in the area take part in the conflict as follows:

i) Choose the area – the Emperor chooses the area and places the Emperor marker in it.

ii) Choose an Enemy – each competing player places a Dragon card face down on the table – the color of the chosen card is the player whom they will be using their influence against.

iii) Play Influence cards – in addition, each competing player places, face down, any desired number of Influence cards.

iv) Reveal cards – all played cards are revealed simultaneously. Influence for each targeted player is totaled. (if tied, the Emperor decides who is eliminated)

v) Result – Player with the most influence points is eliminated, taking back their control marker and discarding half of the influence points played (rounded down).

vi) Used up Influence: Remaining players discard all the Influence cards played (except the '0' card which you always get back). Repeat steps ii through vi until only 1 player is left. This player wins the area and exchanges the Neutral Tile for his own and takes their control marker back. The Emperor now chooses the next area to be contested. If another player has more palaces than the current Emperor, they immediately take over as the Emperor.

Phase 3: Emperor receives 1 victory point chip

When all disputed areas have been allocated, the player who is the current Emperor gets 1 Victory Point Chip.

Phase 4: Rebellion

The Emperor asks if anyone wishes to lead a rebellion against the Emperor, starting with the player who has the most villages. If declined, then the player with the 2nd most villages is offered the opportunity to rebel and so on. If no one takes up the offer, no rebellion takes place. (if tied, the 1st from the Emperor in clockwise order). If a rebellion occurs:

i) All players must decide if they are for or against the Emperor.

ii) Each player places a Dragon card face down on the table with the color of the card matching the color of the player that they are against.

iii) Play Army cards – in addition, each other player then secretly selects Army cards from their hand to commit to the fight.

iv) Reveal cards – all played cards are revealed simultaneously. Army cards for the Emperor and Rebel Leader are totaled. The Emperor adds +2 for each palace he owns, the Rebel Leader adds +1 for each village he owns. (if tied, the Emperor wins). All Army cards are discarded.

v) Result – The winning side (led by either the Emperor or the Rebel Leader) then chooses 1 area they would like to take over from the losing side. The order of each ally's choice depends on the number of Army points committed to the battle (highest goes 2nd and so on). If tied, the 1st choice goes to the player who is 1st in clockwise order from the victorious leader.

Restrictions: The conquered area must be adjacent to 1 you already own (if none owned, then choose any area from the losing side), no player may lose more than 1 area. If as a result of these restrictions, a player is unable to take over an area, they gain 1 Victory point instead. When you take over an area, you exchange the existing building tile for 1 of your own (same symbol). These exchanges may result in a change of Emperor (most palaces) – if tied for the lead, the new Emperor is the one who took a palace away from the old Emperor.

Phase 5: New Cards

Each player receives new cards as follows:

• 10 Influence points
• 2 Army points
• Each palace owned = 2 Influence points or 1 Army point
• Each temple owned = 3 Influence points
• Each rice field owned = 1 Influence and 1 Army point
• Each fortress owned = 2 Army points

Phase 6: New Areas

Beginning with the Emperor, each player turns over 1 face down tile and places it on the map – but only in areas adjacent that already contains a tile. Plus, for each temple owned that player places an extra Neutral Tile (one and a time in the usual player order).

When all of the tiles have been placed, the game year is over and the next one begins, starting with phase 1 above.

End of Game

• The game is in the final year when all areas contain Player Tiles. This final game year is played as far as the end of phase 4 and includes any changes of area ownership and any change of Emperor that might result from a rebellion. (If playing with less than 6 players, 8 Neutral Tiles will be left over).

• Scoring: Each area is worth VP as shown on the player mat, + 3 VPs for largest connected area (if tied no award), + 2 VP for each area with a dragon symbol, + 1 VP for each Victory Point Chip. Most VP wins.

• If tied, tied player who is the emperor wins or otherwise player who owns the most palaces. If still tied, the victory is shared.

Optional Variant

Allow negotiations between players for help in areas, Influence and/or Army cards. Any promises are not binding. Realize the game will take significantly longer.