Era of Tribes: Beliefs and Betrayals Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.3.H. Religion
  • 1. Game components & function
  • 2. Beginning of a round
  • 3. Special actions
  • 4. Revolution
  • 5. The Prophet
  • 6. Improvements
  • 7. Religious branches
    • 7.1. Overview
    • 7.2. Boni
• 1.3.I. Intelligence
  • 1. Game components & function
  • 2. Beginning of a round
  • 3. Actions
    • 3.1. Perform special operations
    • 3.2. New agents / MS
    • 3.3. VI & redeploy agents
  • 4. Special Operations
    • Turncoat
    • Technology
    • Bribe
    • Revolt
    • Unrest

1.3.H. Religion

Religion has always played an important role in history. With this module, which you can combine with any other modules, religion finds its way into "Era of Tribes". As soon as you have researched "Culture I", you can choose one of the religious branches (see 4.1.). To do this, move your priest (see 1.) to the first box of the corresponding branch (you can move your priest up one level each time you advance your culture without having to perform a dice check). This happens on the religion board, where your religiousity level is displayed. If you increase your religiousity, you will receive various bonuses (see 7.2.). You can use special actions (see 3.2.) if you lower your religiousity. However, the more religious you are, the more difficult improvements will be (see 6.).

1. Game components & function

The "Religion Tableau" (1x Tableau) illustrates which player belongs to which religion and how high their religiosity is.

1. Major rewards such as XP and the sanctuary at certain levels.
2. Rewards (see 7.2.) for reaching a level.
3. The number track represents the additional research costs, the difficulty for increasing religiosity and the relevant value for some of the prophet's actions.
4. Overview of possible special actions (see 3.).

• (1x per player) The priest is moved to his religion branch (see 5. "Blessing" and without a dice check for "Culture II-IV") and shows your religiousity. The bonuses apply at the start of the round and/or only once (see 7.2.). Several priests can be placed on one box.
• (1x per player) You receive the prophet immediately at level "1" of your religion branch. You place him on the game board on any of your own HP (from there you can move him to protect yourself, harm other players or increase your religiosity. If you no longer control any of your HP, place the prophet as close as possible to one of your HP).
• (1x per player) The sanctuary increases your morale by 2 at the start of the round (1.1.) and gives you 2 IP. A sanctuary can be built when you are at level "8" on your religion branch. The construction costs 10T, 1LG/MG (the sanctuary must be built on the corresponding province. Apply the LG/MG to the sanctuary. It is no longer available to you!) and requires at least "Architecture II" at 1.3.A. 3.). A sanctuary cannot be conquered. If the province is conquered, it is destroyed (and you lose the XP and bonuses; the LG is available again). You do not lose the sanctuary if you fall below the 8th religion level.
• (15x) Fanatics can be used in combat. They are removed after the militias and mercenaries. Surviving fanatics reduce your (!) morale by 1 each and are returned to your "Regular Army" after a battle. Defeated fanatics are returned to the supply. A player can have a maximum of 5 fanatics in their "Regular Army". If you would receive more fanatics at any time, they will expire. If there are no more fanatics in the supply, you do not receive any.

2. Beginning of a round

Check whether your morale markers show the correct value for the morale loss or even the increase in your morale. If your prophet was expelled in the last round or defeated during battle and is now next to your tribal board, place him back on one of your home provinces on the board for xT (value on the number track).

3. Special actions

You can perform a maximum of 1 special action in addition to your main action. To do any of these, sacrifice a religion level (move your priest down one level; you cannot use this if you are on the lowest box of the religion track). You may lose any IPs you have previously gained. You do not receive the bonus for the level your priest lands on after the special action.

• Battle luck (during a battle): You may roll your battle die 2x per battle round for the rest of the battle (with Monotheism even 3x). Both players in a battle can do this (including the currently inactive player!)!
• Fruitfulness (during expansion (1.3.A.1.)): You gain 2 additional growth (if you have to take this from cities, your morale decreases accordingly!). With Mysticism you even get 3 additional vassals.
• Send out preachers (at any time): You receive one of your vassals (not agents!) back from the general supply and place it in "Free Vassals". You only have this option if there are enough vassals of your color in the general supply.
• Bribe (during intelligence (1.3.I.)): If your religiosity (after lowering your level!) is higher than your opponent's, you gain a +3 bonus to your die roll on the Bribe special operation.
• Revolt (during intelligence (1.3.I.)): Attempting to take over a province using the Revolt special operation is easier. If your religiosity (after lowering your level!) is higher than your opponent's, you receive a +3 bonus to your dice roll.

4. Revolution

In a revolution, you can always:

• A) Change your religion: Move your priest to another branch of religion. You immediately lose 2 levels (lowers the priest by 2 spaces) of religiosity. You lose your sanctuary!
• B) Become religious (prerequisite: "Culture I"): If you have no religion, you can now choose one of the religion branches. Move your priest to the first box on the corresponding track and place your prophet next to your tribal board.
• C) Become a free thinker: You immediately lose all religion levels (and any associated morale bonuses or fanatics), your prophet and your sanctuary.

5. The Prophet

The prophet moves around the game board. It always has 2 MP. He can also be transported via fleets. Entering an opponent's province does not trigger a conflict. He may perform a maximum of 1 action for 1 MP per turn.

• Blessing: If the prophet is on a province of your own, he can try to increase your religiosity. Roll a d6. If the value is at least as high as the value of the number track, increase your religiosity by one level by moving the priest up one space.
• Sermon: If your prophet is on a province with UM, he can try to remove them. Roll both d6. Subtract the lower value from the higher one (always at least equal to the value on the number track) and remove UM. Every second UM is removed from adjacent provinces (if possible, otherwise also from the affected province or they are forfeited).
• Sermon of rage: If your prophet is standing on a province of another player, he can try to cause unrest. Roll both d6. Subtract the lower value from the higher value (always at least equal to the value on the number track. If you roll a double, one die is boosted). Place UMs accordingly, placing every second UM on adjacent provinces (if possible on the player's provinces, otherwise on the provinces of other players, including your own. Otherwise they will expire. The UM must be distributed as evenly as possible). This can lead to uprisings and spreading of the UM! Free thinkers must place 1 UM less.
• Proselytizing: If the prophet stands on a province with a barbarian village, he can try to proselytize it. Roll a d6. If the value is at most as high as the value on the number track, you have proselytized the barbarians. Place a vassal and return the barbarian marker to the box unseen. The VP is not moved and there is no MO penalty (except when founding a colony).
• Expel prophet: If the prophet is on a province with another prophet, he can try to expel it. Roll a d6. If the value is at most as high as your value on the number track, you have expelled the prophet. Place the other player's prophet next to his tribal board (replace at 1.1.).
• Prophet in battle: The player with the prophet always receives the morale marker. The prophet is placed on the battle board as an additional unit. If the prophet stands unassisted on a neutral or hostile province, he receives an additional militia and the morale marker. From the second Battle Round during a battle, the prophet may sacrifice himself and turn both Battle Dice to Sword or Shield (this may be countered by another Prophet in the same Battle Round). If he is defeated or sacrificed, immediately place him next to your tribal board (replace him at 1.1). If both players have their prophet in battle, the morale marker is awarded as normal.

6. Improvements

Religion and science are not contradictory. However, the more religious a nation is, the greater the resistance to progressive ideas and the more difficult it becomes to achieve new breakthroughs. This is why every improvement is more expensive by the value of the number track, regardless of its level. If you achieve progress in the "Culture" area, you can move your priest up one space and receive the bonus.

7. Religious branches

7.1. Overview

The three different religious branches each offer different advantages when you enhance your religiosity (see 5. "Blessing"). But be careful! The higher your religiosity, the more expensive improvements will become (see 6.)!

• Mysticism is good for the morale and growth of your people. It boosts your morale by 1-5 at the start of each round at 1.1. (this is offset against the malus, possibly even increasing your MO) and gives you a small instant MO bonus. The sanctuary must be built on a beer or wine LG.
• Monotheism helps you to aggressively spread your culture, and if you increase your religiosity, you receive 1-5 fanatics, which you place on your "Regular Army", as well as a treaty marker (you can use the treaties in diplomacy actions (1.3.D.) or intelligence actions (1.3.I.)). If you lose religiosity, you do not receive any additional fanatics or treaties, but you do not have to discard any. The sanctuary must be built on a gold LG or ore MG.
• Polytheism offers various advantages, but these are less powerful in total. If you increase your religiosity, you will receive one-off bonuses that you do not have to give back if your religiosity decreases (you can therefore receive the same bonus several times!). The sanctuary can be built on any LG.

7.2. Boni

The icons on the source page are rendered here as words, in the printed order:

1. You receive 1 IP (which you can lose again).
2. You can build a sanctuary.
3. You immediately receive +"X" MO and +"Y" MO per round at 1.1.
4. You receive x Fanatics in your RA and a treaty.
5. Exchange 1 or 2 +1 partisans for +2 partisans.
6. You receive a +1 "Bread & Circuses" marker (the maximum bonus is +3!).
7. You receive "X" Fanatics in your RA and your MO increases by "X".
8. You may place a +1 partisan on any province.
9. You get back one of your vassals from the supply.
10. Your MO increases by "X" spaces.

Editor's note: the source prints a German fragment after item 10 ("Du erhältst 1 EP (diesen kannst du wieder verlieren)", meaning "You receive 1 XP (which you can lose again)"). It is a leftover from the German edition and is not part of the English text; it is recorded here and not repeated as a bonus line.

1.3.I. Intelligence

Intelligence allows you to interact directly with your fellow players (as soon as both have reached at least the Bronze Age) through various Special Operations (SO see 4.). The chances of these actions succeeding depend on different individual conditions. It is very important to keep an eye on your vigilance, as this has a direct influence on your resistance to the special operations of your opponents.

1. Game components & function

• (1x board) The "Intelligence Board" displays:
  1. Vigilance track (VI - Vigilance) showing how difficult special operations are against you and how many SOC you may have.
  2. 3 action spaces for deploying the leaders (and later the MS):
     1. perform special operation(s)
     2. recruit agents or MS
     3. increase vigilance and redeploy agents
  3. Recruit Pool in which the agents and the master spy are stored at the beginning of the game.
  4. Illustration of how and where to use your agents.
• (32 cards) Special Operation Card (SOC), with which you can carry out special operations against your fellow players and with which you can even defend yourself against special operations. Discard "Conversion" if you are playing without the religion module. With 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 players, use 20, 22, 24, 26 or 28 cards. Shuffle them and place the pile face down. Return the discarded cards to the box.
• (1x per player) The "Vigilance marker" shows your vigilance, which is between 0 and +3. The higher the number, the more vigilant you are and SO against you are made more difficult by this number. When the bronze time is reached, the corresponding player's marker is placed on the box with the "0".
• (1x per player) The "Master Spy" (MS) can be trained using the corresponding action on the Intelligence Board (see 4.). It is used only for actions on this board. SO are reduced by 1 when using it. For the "Intelligence" IP card, he counts as 3 agents.

2. Beginning of a round

If necessary, adjust the number of your SOC to your hand card limit. Draw or discard cards (of your choice). When the draw pile has been used up, shuffle the discard pile and make a new face-down draw pile.

3. Actions

All actions can only be used once you are in the Bronze Age. However, no player can perform actions against you before then.

3.1. Perform special operations

This action is not limited.

You can perform any number of special operations (see 5.) in succession with one deployed leader/MS. You do not have to announce how many SOs you want to perform in total! The first operation is free of charge, all further operations cost Taler (if you perform a total of 3 SO, this costs 5T).

Play the first SO you want to use and resolve it in this order:

1. You can discard additional cards from your hand for Taler to strengthen the operation. The SOC played indicates the additional costs and bonuses for this (example: you play "Bribe", each additional card you want to play as backup costs 5 T, whereby additional "Bribe" cards improve your dice roll by +4 and all other cards by +2). The "attacked" player may do the same thereafter. In this case, the first card is free, all further cards cost T accordingly (example: the defender also defends himself with a "Bribe" card and makes the dice roll more difficult by -4, in addition he pays 5 T for a second card, whereas further "Bribe" cards bring -4 and all others -2).
2. You can use up to 3 additional treaties. These each give a bonus to the dice roll of +2. If you have used your MS for the action, all special operations you perform have a bonus of +1. If you have infiltrated the player with attack agents, each one gives a bonus of +2. (If you are playing with the reputation module, you can receive an additional +2 bonus).
3. Roll the two six-sided dice and add the bonus determined in step 2.3.
4. Subtract your opponent's vigilance and one or two other modifiers as well as 1 per defense agent.
5. Use the chart and the result to determine the outcome. A result of less than 3 is always a "fail". You lose a vigilance and must immediately discard an SOK. With a "3" you lose an attack agent with the player (if you have one, return it to the "Recruit Pool" - otherwise nothing happens), with 4-X the special operation is a success and you receive the reward. For every Y additional points, the operation is a major success and your reward is boosted.
6. A major success forces one of your attack agents to leave the player (see above).
7. If you roll a double, you have been observed and lose 2 MO .

Editor's note: the source prints "SOK" in step 5 and "(see 5.)" in 3.1; both are kept as printed.

3.2. New agents / MS

Limited to 1-3 leaders/master spies with 1-6 players.

Recruit agents: Recruit 1 or 2 agents for 0 or 3 T and deploy them as:

• a) Attack agent (+2 to all your SO against this player): roll both d6. Subtract the other player's VI. If the result is at least 6, place an agent on one of the player's (free) cities. If the result is less than 6, the agent is returned to the "Recruit Pool".
• b) Defense agent (-1 on all SOs against you): Roll both d6. Add up your VI. If the result is at least 6, place an agent on one of your (free) cities. If the result is less than 6, the agent is returned to the "Recruit Pool".
• c) Agent for entertainment in your "Bread & Circuses" room on your player board. These agents work similar to the unused vassals in your "RA" after all battles in 1.3.A.4.) to remove UM.

OR

Train a master spy: Return 1 agent from the Recruit Pool (or a-c) to the box, pay 5 T and receive your MS. You can use it from the next round.

3.3. VI & redeploy agents

Limited to 1-3 leaders/master spies with 1-6 players.

1. Improve Vigilance: Improves the VI by 1. If possible, move your VI marker one box to the left.

UND

2. Redeploy agents: Redeploy your agents in your agent network a) - c) (see 3.2.). For a) and b), you must pass the corresponding dice check. Agents who fail the check cannot take up their new position in the network and are returned to the "Recruit Pool".

4. Special Operations

All special operations in detail. Detailed information on the deductions on the dice checks (see 3.1.4.) and the rewards for success and major success.

Turncoat

Subtract your opponent's vigilance, mechanic level, morale and defensive agents from your dice roll. On a 4-6, 1 army (only vassals in the RA!) moves from your opponent's RA to yours. For every 2 additional points, another army is defected. These must (!) be used in the next expansion and/or returned afterwards, turning them back into free vassals of "their" player.

Technology

Subtract the vigilance, twice (!) the level of the technology you want to copy and the opponent's defense agents from your dice roll. On a 4-7 you copy this technology. For every 4 additional points, you copy another technology of your choice but of the lowest possible level. No technologies may be skipped!

Bribe

Subtract the opponent's vigilance, add the number of active leaders (gray leaders count) and subtract the opponent's defensive agents. On a 4-8, bribe one of his colored leaders, for every 6 additional points, bribe another one (only! colored leaders) and place them with your leaders. You can deploy these leaders during this round and return them at the start of the subsequent round.

Revolt

Subtract your opponent's vigilance, morale and defensive agents from your roll. Add the total number of his unrest tokens. On a 4-7 you take over a basic land province with a vassal (swap them according to the usual rules, there is no conquest penalty). For every 5 additional points, this province may contain a city, a military good, a luxury good and/or food. UM and/or partisans remain on the province.

Unrest

Subtract your opponent's vigilance and defense agents and add up the number of black spaces on the XP track between you and your opponent (positive if you are behind him, negative if you are ahead of him). On a 4-6, his morale is reduced by 1 space. For every 3 additional points, you can place 1 UM on any (different) province. UM may already be on these provinces. Uprisings may occur!

Conversion

Subtract your opponent's vigilance and defense agents and add the difference (number of boxes) of your religion levels (positive if you are higher, negative if he is higher). On a 4-8 you increase your level by 1 box (you immediately receive the bonus) and lower your opponent's level by 1 box (no bonus). For every 3 points you gain, your opponent's level is lowered by another level. This card cannot be played against free thinkers.

Robbery

Subtract your opponent's vigilance and defensive agents from your roll. On a roll of 4-10, you steal 3 talers from him. For every 3 additional points, you steal 1 out of every 5 talers.

Counter Spy

You have 3 options here:

• a) Place the card face up next to your board. In this round, all intelligence actions against you are made more difficult by 3 and in a battle, the opponent must use his units from the RA ahead of you.
• b) Roll the dice. Depending on the result, your opponent's vigilance decreases by 1-2 spaces. On 8-12, remove 1 or 2 of his attack or defense agents and return them to the "Recruit Pool". a) and b) can only be countered by another counter-spy card.
• c) Countering a SO (not for boosting) for 3 T makes a SO 6 more difficult (the predefined costs of the SO played do not apply!). The prophet allows increasing by 2 levels (pay for both levels and receive the benefits of both levels).

Editor's note: the last sentence of option c) is printed in German in the source ("Der Prophet erlaubt das Erhöhen um 2 Stufen (beide Stufen bezahlen und für beide Stufen Vorteile erhalten)."), with no English counterpart. It is translated here as printed; it reads as a leftover from the German edition and relates to the prophet's Blessing in 1.3.H. Religion, not to the Counter Spy card's own text.