Fortuna
Fortuna Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Win the Game
The player with the highest number of Victory Points at the end of the game wins. The game ends when one player gets to the Center of Rome (the Palace of the Emperor), then this final round is completed. Scoring in the game is partly based on the number of steps you have made towards Rome = each step is one Victory Point. The other Victory Points are scored by collecting the right combination of privilege cards and resources. The Victory Points scored with the privately held privilege cards stays a secret till the end of the game when the total scoring is revealed.
Purpose of the Game
As soon as a player reaches Caesar's Palace in the Center of Rome (step 15), each player who has not had his turn in this round may finish his round. After that, the game ends.
Each player counts the total number of steps his pawn has moved towards Rome - each step is worth 1 Victory Point - and adds that number to the number of Victory Points gained with privileges to calculate his total score. The player with the highest score wins.
Important: only the players who are in the city of Rome (step 10 or more) at the end can win!
Game Play
The players execute their actions in turns. The starting player starts the game round. The other players follow in order of the Starting player track. Each turn a player follows these game phases in strict order:
- Gain water from an Aqueduct
- Choose, execute and exchange action card
- Execute military power
- Improve the favor of the Emperor
- Receive privilege
1. Gain Water from an Aqueduct
If a player has already built an Aqueduct in a previous round and his Aqueduct is empty, he receives one unit of water. The water is placed on the Aqueduct, NOT in the water reservoir. A player is not allowed to build more than one Aqueduct.
2. Choose, Execute and Exchange Action Card
- The active player flips the face-down action card and now has 3 action cards available to choose from. He chooses one of these cards and he may execute the action of the card if he wants;
- After executing an action card, the player must exchange the chosen card with one of the face-up action cards on one of the other three sides of the game board;
- The player places the chosen card face-up on one of the other sides and places his newly required action card face-down in the empty space in front of him. Each player always has 3 action cards available;
- The face-down action card cannot be exchanged by other players during this round and is therefore protected for the player to use it the next round.
In this way the players can plan a series of actions over several rounds.
The 12 action cards are explained on the separate overview card.
3. Execute Military Power
A player may use the power of his Centurions, by giving up a maximum of 1 Centurion to play an extra face-up action card from his deck of cards. If he executes his Military Power, his Centurion goes to the general stock. He must take the Centurion on the top position (the most expensive Centurion). The played action card will not be exchanged with an action card from another side and will stay in its place, face-up.
Example
(1) Martin has played the action card "Harvesting grain". After receiving his grain (and placing it on the grain field in his province), (2) he exchanges this card with the action card "Grain trade" from Anna and (3) places the Grain Trade card face-down in front of him. In this way he has reserved this card for his next round. Since the card is face-down, it is protected against an exchange by other players.
Since Martin has a Centurion, he may use the Military power by (1) giving up his Centurion to active his action card "Building" which is still lying face-up in front of him. (2) He decides to build a market so he can profit from a better price in the next round. After using the "Building"-card, (3) the action card will stay face-up in front of him. The action card is also available for the next round in case none of the other players exchange it.
By using his Military power Martin has "secured" his building, since otherwise other players could take his action card "building" before he could use it.
4. Improve the Favor of the Emperor
Roll the Dice
In phase 4 the player rolls his own dice. At the start of the game each player has one die available to roll. It is possible to gain more control over Fortuna by using the representation of the Clerus, resulting in a roll with 2 or 3 dice. The results of the roll determines the available ways to improve the favor of the Emperor and to move nearer to Rome. After rolling the dice, a player has to decide which favor card he will use.
He may only use a card with the same number or less than the number of dots on the die (or dice). If a player has more than one die, he has to choose which of the different results will count for his turn. The results of the dice are not added up.
For example, if the starting player rolls a "1", only the favor of supplying water is available, but if a player rolls a "3", he may choose the available favor cards with the die numbered 1 to 3 and deliver water, wine, or grain to the Emperor to improve his favor.
The Favor Cards
The players may gain the favor of the Emperor by giving up resources or by contributing to religion. Also, marriage can increase the favor of the Emperor and position the player closer to Rome without giving up anything. A player may use only one face-up Favor card per turn. These are the 6 favors:
- Favor card "1", Water supply: the player may give up 1 unit of Water to support the city. For the delivered unit of water, the player may move up 1 space on the Rome track. The delivered water goes to the general stock (lake). The maximum number of steps with water supply is 1.
- Favor card "2", Orgy: the player may give up 1 or 2 units of Wine to support the festivities of the Emperor. For each delivered unit of wine, the player may move up 1 space on the Rome track. The delivered wine goes to the general stock (vineyard). The maximum number of steps 2;
- Favor card "3", Food delivery: the player may give up 1 or 2 units of Grain to feed the people of Rome. For each delivered unit of grain, the player may move up 1 space on the Rome track. The delivered grain goes to the general stock (grain field). The maximum number of steps is 2;
- Favor card "4", Battle: the player moves up 1 space on the Rome track for each Centurion he gives up. The given Centurions will go to the general stock (training center). The maximum number of steps for a battle is 3 if a player gives up 3 Centurions;
- Favor card "5", Marriage: the player moves up 1 space only if he is married. He does not have to give up anything for it. If a player has built a palace, this will bring him 1 additional step closer to Rome. The maximum number of steps a player can move up with Fortuna is 2 including 1 palace;
- Favor card "6", Religion: the player moves up 1 space on the Rome track for each Virgin he possesses. The Virgins are NOT lost (the player will keep them.) The maximum number of steps is 3;
Important: After using a favor card, the player flips the card over, so the card is not available for the players who follow in this round.
Example
Jonathan is the starting player, and (1) he rolls a "3". Now he may choose between supplying water "1", delivering wine "2" for the Emperor's orgy, or giving up grain for feeding "3". He has one unit of grain on the grain field in his province. (2) He delivers this to the Emperor (goes to the grain field on the game board), (3) moves his marker one step closer to Rome and (4) flips-over the favor card, feeding "3".
Note: if the active player is not the starting player, it is possible that some of the favor cards are flipped-over, which limits the available favor cards.
Privilege Tokens
Beginning with game round 2 the players can collect privileges. An explanation of the way privileges can be collected and how to use them can be found in the explanation of game phase 5 "Privileges of the Emperor".
Taxes
If a player is not able to fulfill the expectations of the Emperor he has to pay taxes. This is the case if he does not have the (correct) resources to deliver or if he does not want to deliver them. His penalty for dissatisfying the Emperor is paying 1 Money as tax. He moves his money marker down one space. If he has no money, he has to move away one step from (the center of) Rome. Giving up units with favor cards 1-4 is voluntary.
Example: Eric rolls a "3" and the favor cards of Orgy (2) and water supply (1) are both flipped-over (by other players). If Eric cannot deliver grain for the Emperor, he will have to pay taxes. Eric has two Centurions in his Province. In case he had rolled a "4" he could have offered one or two Centurions to the Emperor (+1 or +2 steps). Refusal to deliver will cost him taxes as well.
Turning the Favor Card
Only if a player has moved closer to Rome, he must flip-over the used Favor card. A flipped-over Favor card cannot be used a second time in a round. If a player rolls the die and has NO face-up favor cards available he cannot move closer to Rome, but he does NOT have to pay taxes.
Examples
- Eric has rolled a "1" and the favor card water supply "1" is flipped-over. Eric will not be able to move closer to Rome, but will also not pay any tax;
- Anna has rolled a "3" and the favor cards water supply "1" and feeding "3" are both flipped-over. She has no wine to provide for the Orgy favor card "2". Now Anna has to pay 1 Money as tax. She is not allowed to flip-over the favor card Orgy because she is not moving closer to Rome
- Martin has rolled two dice: "2" and "3". The favor card water supply "1" and orgy "2" are both flipped-over. Martin has no grain for feeding. To prevent paying taxes he may choose to use the roll of the dice "2". He will pay no tax and will not flip-over any favor cards.
Tactical hint
These rules make sure that it is attractive to be earlier in the playing order, since each player who follows later in the sequence has a higher risk that several useful Favor cards have already been used by others and he will not be able to move towards Rome.
5. Receive Privilege
Distribution of Tokens
At the end of each game round a privilege token will be placed on each unused favor card. The maximum number of tokens on a card is 3. If a player improves his favor (and moves closer to Rome) and the favor card carries 1-3 privilege tokens, the player receives all tokens on this card. Regardless of the number of steps he has made in this turn!
Receive Privilege Cards
- If the player has received one token, he takes the top card from the face-down pile with privilege cards and keeps it secret for the other players. The token goes back to the general stock.
- If a player has received 2 or 3 tokens, he takes the same number of privilege cards from the pile and decides which of them he wants to keep: he may only keep one privilege card. The tokens go back to the general stock and the privilege card which has not been chosen, will be discarded next to the face-down pile of privilege cards;
- The Basilica: if a player has built a Basilica he may keep two privilege cards, but only if there are at least 2 tokens on the favor card he has fulfilled.
Example
(1) The favor card Religion ("6") has not been used for three rounds and now 3 tokens are on the card. In the next round (2) Anna rolls a "6" and she has two Virgins. Anna may now use the favor of Religion to improve her position by moving two steps closer to Rome. (3) Now she takes the 3 tokens from the favor card and flips the card over. (4) She takes the top three privilege cards in her hand, chooses one to keep and places the other two on the discard pile. The three tokens are placed back in the general stock.
When the pile of privilege cards has been used, then shuffle the discarded privilege cards and form a new pile. When there are no privilege cards left, no new privileges can be received.
End of the Game Round
- At the end of a game round the new Starting player order will be determined by adjusting the sequence of the markers on the Starting player track;
- The player with the Fortuna card in front of him will be the (new) starting player. The rest of the positions on the track will be decided in order of Wealth. The player with the most money (on the money track) is second and so on. In case of a tie, the player who is nearest to the starting player in clockwise order will have the higher position;
- Place 1 privilege token on each unused (face-up) Favor card. The maximum number of tokens on a Favor card is 3. If the maximum has been reached, no tokens will be added to this favor card until one of the players has used this favor (and has taken all tokens);
- All used favor cards will be flipped over, so all are available again for the next round.
The End of the Game
- As soon as a player reaches Caesar's Palace in the Center of Rome (step 15), each player who has not had his turn in this round may finish his round. After that, the game ends.
- The player who is the first to reach Caesar's Palace will receive 3 privilege tokens and may take the top three privilege cards. He chooses one to keep and places the other two cards face-down on the table. The second player to reach the Palace may choose from the 2 privilege cards which are left. In the rare case that a third player reaches the Palace in the last round he receives the last privilege card of the three.
Example
(1) Anna is the first to reach the Palace. She takes the three tokens and takes 3 privilege cards from the pile. (2) She chooses one and keeps it. Eric has had his turn already, but Jonathan and Martin are third and fourth in the starting player track and have their last turn. (3) Jonathan ends on position 13, and Martin (4) is able to reach the Palace too. He chooses (5) one of the two privilege cards which are left after Anna's choice.
The Winner of the Game
- A player cannot win the game if his marker is outside Rome, so a player must have at least reached step number 10 to get inside the gates of the City of Rome;
- At the end of the game all players who are inside Rome reveal the values of their collected privilege cards;
- Each player counts the total number of steps his marker has moved towards Rome - each step is worth 1 Victory Point - (no more than 15 steps) and adds that number to the number of Victory Points gained with privileges to calculate his total score.
- Of these players, the player with the highest total score wins.
- In case of a tie, the player with the most steps wins, after that the most money, followed by the number of Centurions, and finally, the number of Virgins determines the winner.
Additional Rules
- A player cannot have more than 20 Money;
- A player may not have debts;
- The use of action cards is voluntary. A player may play the card without executing the action on the card.
2 Player Rules
Playing Fortuna with two players is the same as with 3-4 players with one exception:
- ONLY the starting player may flip-over one additional Favor card of his choice directly after game phase 4 (favor of the emperor), regardless of the results of the dice roll.
IMPORTANT: A player may not flip-over a favor card with tokens on it! If the starting player cannot flip-over an additional favor card (when there are tokens on all face-up cards,) game phase 4 ends immediately.
The Playing Cards
Action Cards
The 12 action cards are explained on the separate overview card.
The Building Cards
The Market
The owner of a Market may sell his wine (when using the action card Wine Trade) or grain (Grain Trade) for +1 Money per unit.
Example: if a player is selling 3 units of wine, his revenue would normally be 9 Money. If the player owns a Market building, this will bring him 12 Money (3 extra).
The Aqueduct
The owner of an aqueduct receives one unit of water, ONLY if his aqueduct is empty. This water unit is received from the general stock. A player may not place the newly required water unit in the reservoir. Only units from the action card Water Distribution may be placed in the water reservoir! To empty the Aqueduct a player may use the water in the aqueduct at every opportunity by harvesting wine or grain or by supplying water for the Emperor's favor.
The Palace
A palace may only be built after a player is married. When a player is married, owns a palace, and if the player is able to use the favor card "Fortuna" (dice level "5") in game phase 4, he will move upwards one extra step on the Rome track. The player can move a maximum of 2 steps when he uses the favor card "Fortuna", is married and has built a palace. He does not have to give up anything for using this favor card to move closer to Rome.
The Basilica
The owner of a Basilica may keep an additional privilege card in case he receives two or more privilege tokens in game phase "Improve the favor of the Emperor". The Basilica will not have any effect on the three tokens in the center of Rome (Caesar's palace). Even if he has a Basilica, the first player who reaches the goal is allowed to keep 1 privilege card.
Example: Anna has rolled a "4". She delivers a Centurion to improve her favor and moves one step closer to Rome. On the favor card "Battle" there are three tokens. Since Anna owns a Basilica, she may keep two of the three privilege cards.
Privilege Cards
The players will keep the privilege cards face-down or in their hands during the game. There are in total 26 privilege cards in the game. When playing with 2-3 players the 4 privilege cards with the 4 pawns printed in the top left corner will be taken out of the game so in that case only 22 privilege cards will be used.
Privilege cards can provide additional:
- Resources
- Steps towards Rome
- Victory Points
A. Privilege cards bringing resources (5 cards)
These cards bring one or two additional resources to a player when he uses the card in his turn. After the resources have been received, the card is discarded face-up next to the face-down pile of privilege cards.
B. Privilege cards bringing steps towards Rome (8 cards)
These cards give one additional step to Rome for a players pawn when the player uses this card in his turn. After the pawn has been moved, the card is discarded face-up next to the face-down pile of privilege cards. Both cards (with or without the 4 pawns) bring one step towards Rome. A privilege card of type B may be used only once per turn.
C. Privilege cards bringing Victory Points (13 cards)
These cards can bring Victory Points to a player at the end of the game in case he has the matching resources.
Each building you own at the end of the game gives you 2 additional Victory Points (VP). This card can be used for several buildings, but since a player cannot build more than three buildings, this card cannot bring more than 6 VP.
When a player holds this privilege card the player receives 1 Victory Point for each unit of grain that he can give up at the end of the game.
These are the other 7 privilege cards in the game.
Note: If the pile of privilege cards is depleted, shuffle the discarded face-up privilege cards and form a new pile.
IMPORTANT
- Privilege cards A and B may be used at any time in a player's turn.
- The privilege cards B providing additional steps towards Rome may only be used once in a turn.
- A privilege card can only be used once! For resources, steps and scoring!
Words of Thanks
The publisher and the designers would like to thank the many playtesters for contributing to the finalization of the game.
First of all, a special thanks goes to Andrea Schlosser for the great effort she has put into testing the game and giving valuable input.
And we want to offer thanks for the feedback from all playtesters (in alphabetic order): Guillaume Besson, Maarten Boer, Patrick Bots, Inka and Markus Brand, Michael Braun, Thijs Bressers, Daan Brüggeman, Pol Cors, Claus-Jürgen Danker, Yvonne van Dijk, Danny Kip, Daniel Dittmann, Peter Eggert, Friedemann Friese, Arnd and Maria Fischer, Jeroen Geenen, Tim Grebin, Hjalmar Haagsman, Ronald Hoekstra, Herke van Hoof, Arjo van Houwelingen, Mirjam Klopper, Ruud Kool, Detlef Kraut, John Lopez, Edwin Lubbers-Van der Wal, Wolfgang Luedtke, Anna Ferreira Marques, Kim Melkert, Wilfred Meyboom, Saskia van Reeden, Elke Renwanz, Jeroen op 't Root, Birgit Rupp, Markus Reichert, Thomas and Jeannette Stadler, Frank Stürmann, Ralph Querfurth, Ester en Madelief van Tol, Bas Verkaik, Marcel van Vliet, Mike Witkamp, Arrie ten Wolde, and Hanneke en Marjan Wouda.
Credits
- Game design: Michael Rieneck & Stefan Stadler
- Editing and finalization: Hans van Tol
- Editing the English rules: Jason Fordham
- Illustrations: Franz Vohwinkel
- Graphic design: Imelda Vohwinkel
Publisher
The Game Master BV Raadhuisplein 21 2914 KM Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel The Netherlands www.thegamemaster.nl
© The Game Master BV, 2011, all rights reserved