Die Wiege der Renaissance
Die Wiege der Renaissance Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 36 historic events. The texts of the events are in different colours. The texts of the same colour belong to the same group. There are six colour-groups, and each colour-group consists of six cards:
- red: 1442–1471
- violet: 1474–1498
- green: 1499–1517
- blue: 1519–1525
- gray: 1526–1542
- black: 1545–1572
- Each historic event shows a setting area with 2–6 setting places joined by connecting roads, 1–3 cultural symbols, and dice of influence in the right corner.
- 40 cultural cards:
- 15 blue cards, each with a blue Genius symbol
- 15 red cards, each with a red Genius symbol
- 5 cards with two symbols
- 5 jokers (cards with two different cultural symbols)
- There are five different (equally distributed) cultural symbols:
- flight device: science
- building: architecture
- coin: financial system
- ship: discovery
- dove: religion
- 27 personality cards: 15 cards numbered 1 and 10 cards numbered 2, all with a cultural symbol (three of each cultural symbol for the 1s, two of each for the 2s); 1 card numbered 3 and 1 card numbered 4, both without a cultural symbol.
- 5 reference cards which summarize the rules shortly (2 + 2 + 1 + a back card, in German in the original printing; not reproduced here).
Topic of the Game
Go back to the times of the Renaissance. You are the head of an influential noble family in the 15th and 16th century. In accordance with the spirit of the times you support the cultural development of your family and make a name for yourself by supporting historic personalities. At the same time make your influence felt in order to react to the events happening in this exciting period.
Object of the Game
The player who has the most stones of influence in his reserve pile wins the game.
Note: If you are four and want to play in teams, see the section "4 Players / 2 Teams" below for further instructions.
Preparation
Put all 6 historic event cards of any colour completely apart. Shuffle the remaining 30 cards. If you are two players, take 7 cards out of it; if three, 9 cards; and if four, 11 cards. The rest is not needed any more, so you can put it away.
Shuffle the 7, 9 and respectively 11 historic events with the 6 you have taken apart earlier. They form the supplementary pile, which is placed in the middle of the table with only the backs visible.
Depending on the number of players, place 3 (two players), 1 (three players) or 2 (four players) historic events next to the supplementary pile with the front side up. Additionally, put one historic event between two players with the front side up (only if there are more than two players).
Each player gets 7 stones of influence and the Genius figure of one colour.
Mix the cultural cards with the personality cards and shuffle them. They form the Talon. Every player secretly gets 2 cards out of it and does not show them to the others. Then 4 further cards are turned and placed in the middle of the table. They form the general card deck. Place the Talon next to it. The player who has last visited a museum starts.
(The printed example layout for three players shows the supplementary pile, the Talon, the general card deck, the lost pile and each player's personal-card space.)
Game Play
The game continues clockwise. The starting player begins. He has two turns now:
- I. Setting of 1 stone of influence, and after that
- II. 1 or 2 card actions.
After that it is the next player's turn. In between times it is possible that the scoring of culture or persons takes place, during which the stones of influence change sides.
I. Setting of 1 Stone of Influence
The player puts one of his own stones of influence on a blue or red setting place of a historic event which is placed on his left or right side (not when playing with only two players), or in the middle of the table, to cause the scoring of culture or persons.
The first stone of influence may be set on any place of the setting area of one historic event. The following stones of influence must be set next to the first stone of influence, i.e. they are connected by a road.
Each player may set their stones of influence on the historic event in the middle of the table. But only up to two players can set their stones of influence on one historic event.
It is not possible to miss this turn. But at the end of the game it may happen that a player cannot occupy any historic event. In this case he has to pass completely.
The setting place occupied by a stone of influence has no meaning for the following actions, except for the Genius figure. When you use it, you get a special bonus (see "Genius Figure with Bonus Action" below).
II. 1 or 2 Card Actions
The player may now execute 1 or 2 card actions. The two actions A and B can be performed in any order (AA, AB, BA or BB). But if you cause any scoring by setting a stone of influence, you can only execute 1 action (see also "Scoring" below).
A. Drawing of Culture or Personality Cards
The player draws one card from the general card deck or from the Talon and adds it to his hand cards. The empty spaces are refilled with cards from the Talon only after the player has fulfilled his card actions.
B. Putting Cards in Your Space for Personal Cards
The player takes one of his cultural cards and puts it face up in front of him in his space for personal cards, or one of his personality cards face down on his person pile.
Example: Personal cards with the unseen person pile and 3 columns with visible cultural cards.
Putting down a cultural card: Put cards with different symbols next to each other with a small space between them. Cards with the same symbol are put one above the other so that the cultural symbol of the card already lying remains visible. (Genius symbols must be covered.)
Note: Please observe the special features of cards with two symbols and jokers (see pages 13–14 of the printed rules, sections "Cards with Two Symbols" and "The Jokers" below).
Putting down a personality card: Put your face-down personality cards as a pile next to the cultural cards. Once put down, these personality cards have to stay until the next person scoring (see "Person Scoring" below) without being touched.
Scoring
Depending on which setting places are first completely occupied, the scoring is different. If all blue setting places are covered, carry out a culture scoring. If all red ones are covered, carry out a person scoring. It does not matter whether the setting area is occupied by one or two players.
Note: The player carrying out a scoring can only perform one card action (see "II. 1 or 2 Card Actions" above).
After the player has performed his card action, the scoring is carried out. Only players who have at least 1 stone of influence on the historic event – no matter if on a red or blue place – can take part in the scoring.
First step in both types of scoring: put away all used stones of influence and put them back to the personal stock. The winner gets stones of influence out of the personal stock of his opponent and adds them to his own stock. You must always first give away stones of influence not in your colour. If one player does not have any more in his stock, he has to remove stones from the historic events. But he never has to give away his Genius figure (see also "No Stones of Influence in Your Stock" below).
Culture Scoring
In the culture scoring the involved players get opposing stones of influence for their open culture symbols. If you have one or more stones of influence on the historic event, you can choose one symbol shown on the historic event and add the number of cultural symbols shown on your cultural cards. If two or three symbols can be scored, it does not matter whether the player scores the same symbol as his opponent.
The player having caused the scoring names the cultural symbol and its number. After that his opponent does the same.
Increasing one's influence: The player who can score more symbols wins the scoring. He gets the number of stones of influence equal to the difference between his and the opponent's symbols.
Losses: The winner has to put as many cards of the scored symbol on the lost pile as he has got stones of influence. For that you remove the top cards of the line. You can ignore a surplus. The loser does not have to drop cards.
Example: On a historic event, player YELLOW causes a culture scoring. The historic event shows building and dove. Player YELLOW has 1x dove and 4x building (1, 2, 1) in his stock. RED has 2x dove. YELLOW names "building" and wins the scoring. He consequently gets (4 − 2 =) 2 stones of influence. RED gives two of his stones of influence to YELLOW. YELLOW removes the 2 top cultural cards. He has one left.
Note: In the case of equal numbers you do not exchange stones of influence, but both players lose their scored culture cards – except one. A player is free to choose this card and takes it into his hand.
If just one player occupies the setting area with stones of influence, he gets stones of influence equal to the number of named symbols. In the case that the historic event is lying between himself and his right or left opponent, he gets the stones from him. But if the historic event is in the middle of the table, he gets one stone from each player, going counterclockwise, until he has received the demanded number.
Person Scoring
In the person scoring the involved players receive opposing stones of influence for the influence of their personality cards.
You can only win as many stones of influence as you can see dice of influence in the right corner of historic events (see "New Historic Event" below).
The player who causes the person scoring starts. The players take turns showing one personality card or passing.
- You can take this card from your hand or from your person pile.
- A card from your hand has to be of the same cultural symbol as one of the cultural symbols of your historic event. But if the card is from your person pile, it is always valid even though the cultural symbol is not shown on the historic event.
- If you play personality cards of the same value, you can add 1 bonus point for each card to your result. The order of the played cards is not important and can be neglected.
Example: Player BLACK has played the following cards: 1 – 1 – 2 – 1 – 2. So he gets (1 + 1 + 1 + 3 bonus + 2 + 2 + 2 bonus =) 12 points for his ones and twos.
- When both players pass, the duel is over.
- The player with the highest number of points wins.
Increasing one's influence: The winner gets as many stones of influence as the dice of influence show.
Losses: The winner of the duel puts all his played personality cards on the lost pile. The loser may return one card back to his hand. The other cards must also be put upon the lost pile.
Note: In the case of equal numbers you do not exchange stones of influence, but both players lose their played personality cards – except one. A player is free to choose this card and takes it into his hand.
If only one player occupies a historic event with stones of influence, he has to play at least one personality card according to the rules to get stones of influence. Now value the same rules as already described at the culture scoring (see page 9 of the printed rules). A player refusing to play personality cards cannot get stones of influence.
Example: Player BLACK has caused a person scoring. The historic event shows one dove and one die of influence. Including the historic event which is lying beneath (see "New Historic Event" below), you can see two dice of influence altogether. Consequently you have to deal about two stones of influence. BLACK plays a personality card (dove, value 2) out of his hand. Player YELLOW has no suitable hand cards and has to take the first card of his person pile: a card numbered 1. BLACK passes, because he is still in advantage. YELLOW draws the next card: another card numbered 1, so he has (1 + 1 + 2 =) 4 points altogether. BLACK retires and passes. YELLOW also passes because he wins with 4 to 2 points. YELLOW gets two stones of influence from BLACK. BLACK takes his played card back to his hand. YELLOW must forfeit his played cards and discards them to his lost pile.
New Historic Event
After a scoring takes place, put the stones of influence of an historic event back to their stock. If a person scoring is caused, remove the scored historic event and put it back in the box (including also the cards beneath). When there is a culture scoring, the cards can remain there for the moment. The historic event at the top of the supplementary pile is put at the non-occupied position. If occupied, place it above the already lying card but so that the dice of influence in the right corner remain visible.
Example: after one or two culture scorings.
Note: Even though the supplementary pile is empty, you remove the scored historic event (including the cards beneath) and put it back in the box in the case of a culture scoring.
End of Game
The game is over when only 2 historic events remain visible on the table. Stones of influence on the last two historic events are given back to their players without scoring.
The player who has the most stones of influence in his stock wins the game. In case of a tie, the player who has the most culture cards in his hand wins. If there is still a tie, add the personality cards in their hands and score them (including the bonuses, see "Person Scoring"). If they have the same result again, they have both won.
Peculiarities
Genius Figure with Bonus Action
Instead of a stone of influence, you can also set the Genius figure. If set, you can immediately use its special bonus action. This bonus action takes place before the normal card actions. You cannot use it when a player causes a scoring.
Genius figure on a blue setting place: If you place a Genius figure on a blue setting place, you have to count the number of visible blue Genius symbols in your personal deck. This number indicates how many culture cards you can take at most from the general card deck (if there are any) into your hand.
Example: The player puts his Genius figure on a blue setting place. The blue Genius symbol can be seen twice in his deck. There are three culture cards in the general card deck. He takes two of the three culture cards into his hand.
Genius figure on a red setting place: If you place a Genius figure on a red setting place, you have to count the number of visible red Genius symbols in your personal deck. This number indicates how many personality cards you can take at most from the general card deck (if there are any) into your hand.
Example: The player puts his Genius figure on a red setting place. The red Genius symbol can be seen three times in his deck. There are two personality cards in the general card deck. He takes these two cards into his hand.
Note: You refill the empty spaces in the general card deck only after the card actions.
Cards with Two Symbols
Cards with two symbols are culture cards whose value is doubled after 1 card action. At first you place the card in your deck so that the cultural symbol is above. If this card is not covered by another one, you can turn it 180 degrees so that the same cultural symbols are above. This counts as one card action. From now on the card has the value 2.
The Jokers
Culture cards with two different cultural symbols are called jokers. You can lay them down into a column so that one of its symbols corresponds to the other culture cards of this column. Or you can play them in a new column if there is no column that corresponds to at least one symbol.
If you lay down a joker card, or if a column with one of its symbols already exists, the other symbol becomes invalid. Otherwise, both symbols are valid as long as you do not clear its status by putting a card onto it or by creating another column. This can also happen by laying down another joker card onto the first one.
No Stones of Influence in Your Stock
If you have only someone else's stones of influence in your stock instead of your own, you can exchange these stones with your own stones in the stock of the player whose stones you own. This must happen before the setting.
If you have no stone of influence at all and cannot change any, you have to set an already set stone to another place of the same historic event or of another historic event, according to the rules. If it is your Genius figure, you can use its bonus action again, in case you meet the requirements (see "Genius Figure with Bonus Action").
Note: First of all, you always have to give away opposing stones of influence. If you do not have stones in your stock, you have to remove stones of influence from the historic events. But you never have to give away your Genius figure.
Shuffling Cards
If you take the last card of the Talon, you have to shuffle the cards of the lost pile immediately. The 4 uncovered cards remain in this position. If there are not enough cards left to fill the deck with the 4 uncovered cards, every player has to put the first card of each column of his personal deck on top of the lost pile.
4 Players / 2 Teams
Changes:
- The players of a team face each other.
- As a team, you cannot occupy the same historic event in the middle of the table at the same time.
- If only one player scores in the middle of the table, his partner is not included in the losses.
- At the end scoring, put the stocks of the two partners together. The team that owns the most stones of influence wins the game. If the number of stones is equal, the team that has the most culture cards in their hands wins. If they are still equal, add the personality cards in their hands and score them (including the bonuses, see "Person Scoring"). If there is still no difference, all players win the game.