Habemus Papam Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Objective of the Game
• Key Concepts
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: The Camarlengo's Influence
  • Phase 2: Actions of the Players
  • Phase 3: Characteristic Indicators
  • Phase 4: The Camarlengo Decides
  • Phase 5: Black Smoke
  • Phase 5: End of the Game - White Smoke
• Example of Play
• Changes for Games with 6 Players
• Changes for Games with 3 Players
• Religious Orders

Components

• 56 Action cards
• 16 Candidate cards
• 9 Secret Objective cards
• 16 Public Objective cards
• 6 Influence calculation player aids
• 6 Secret Objective player aids
• 8 Religious Order tokens
• 3 Veto markers
• 1 game board
• 6 screens (1 in each color)
• 24 color markers (4 in each color)
• 126 Influence tokens (in 1, 5, 10, and 30 values)
• 4 Characteristic Indicator markers: Conservator/Novator, Senex/Iuvenis, Solemnis/Venustus, Vetus Mundus/Novus Mundus
• 1 Camarlengo card
• 1 Dean card
• 1 Papabile token

Each Candidate card shows the Candidate's name, Characteristics, and Religious Order. Each Public Objective card shows a set of Characteristics and a Religious Order token space. Each Secret Objective card shows a name and its conditions and score.

Setup

1. Shuffle the 16 Candidate cards. Take 8 cards and place them face up, forming a play area. Return the remaining 8 cards to the box, as you will not use them in this game.
2. Each player takes a screen and the 4 markers of their respective color, and places them in their play area.
3. Randomly deal 1 Secret Objective card and 1 Public Objective card to each player. Each player must place the Secret Objective behind their screen and the Public Objective face up beside their screen, so it is visible to the others. Place the deck of remaining Secret Objective cards face down close to the play area (some actions will allow you to change Objectives throughout the game).
4. Each player randomly takes a Religious Order marker and places it in the enabled space of their Public Objective card.
5. Each player places one marker of their color on the Candidates who share at least 3 characteristics with their Public Objective card (including Religious Order). This will help to easily distinguish possible objectives from other participants.
6. Each player takes 10 Influence points in tokens and places them behind their screen. The rest of the Influence tokens are placed near the board to make the general reserve.
7. The last player to have visited the Vatican takes the Camarlengo card and places it in front so that it is visible to everyone. Then, shuffle the Action card deck and deal 4 cards to each player. The player with the Camarlengo only receives 3 cards.

The Camarlengo card is passed to the player on the left of the current holder when a new round begins. In games with only 4 players, the Camarlengo in the last round is chosen by lottery. Use any method you prefer for the draw.

The Dean card is only used in games with 3 or 6 players. For games with 3 or 6 players, check the setup changes under Changes for Games with 6 Players and Changes for Games with 3 Players.

Everything is now ready to start the game!

Objective of the Game

In Habemus Papam, each player represents a group of cardinals who strive to have their candidate elected as the new Supreme Pontiff. Over 5 rounds, players compete to ensure that their preferred candidate accumulates the most Influence and is elected Pope.

On their turn, each player may play Influence tokens on one or more candidates, or if they prefer, they may play a card from their hand at their own cost. In addition, each player will have a Public Objective and a Secret Objective with which they can earn Influence points throughout the game. The Public Objective will give your rivals clues about your interests, but the Secret Objective can change both your plans and theirs.

The game ends if a Candidate manages to gain two-thirds of the total Influence at the end of a round, or by simple majority in the last round, thus becoming the new Pope. At the end of round 5, the game ends whether or not a Pope was elected.

The figure of the Camarlengo rotates between players and has special powers that affect the development of the game, including the ability to eliminate Candidates and collect additional Influence. Players earn Influence points by aligning the characteristics of Candidates with their own objectives and by matching the characteristics of the elected Pope if he is elected.

In the end, the player with the most Influence wins.

Key Concepts

Influence is the most important element of the game. On your turn you can play Influence tokens or Action cards (paying with Influence tokens or by discarding other Action cards). Influence also counts as victory points at the end of the game. Your personal reserve of Influence is secret, so use the screen to hide it from the other players.

Another key concept in the game is the Characteristics or personality of potential popes. Each papabile (popeable) cardinal has 4 key characteristics and belongs to a religious order that defines his personality, ideology and his interaction with the world.

These characteristics are presented in opposite pairs, and each character leans toward one end of each pair. In keeping with tradition, these characteristics retain their Latin names.

The characteristics are:

• Novator (Progressive) vs. Conservator (Conservative) — A force for change or a defender of tradition? The Progressive cardinal seeks innovation, breaks rules and moves toward new ideas. The Conservative candidate protects the establishment and prefers to preserve customs.
• Iuvenis (Young) vs. Senex (Old) — A fresh spirit or someone with years of experience? The Young character has energy, idealism and often lacks experience. The Old candidate brings wisdom, pragmatism and a more cautious perspective to the table.
• Venustus (Charismatic) vs. Solemnis (Solemn) — A magnetic personality or more serious and formal? The Charismatic candidate conquers with charm, humor and social skills. The Solemn cardinal has a direct approach, inspiring respect with his seriousness and composure.
• Novus Mundus (New World) vs. Vetus Mundus (Old World) — More closely linked to traditional roots or the spirit of modernity? The New World representative is inclined toward innovation, pragmatism and experimentation. The Old World character values cultural heritage and classical thought.

Public Objective Card. At the beginning of the game, each player receives a Public Objective card. This card displays a set of characteristics (e.g. Novator, Iuvenis, Solemnis, Vetus Mundus), and a random Religious Order token, placed during game setup. These characteristics represent what that player is looking for in the future papal candidate. This goal is public, which means that all players can see it.

Your mission. The goal of each player is to exert Influence during the game so that the final papal candidate gets as close as possible to the characteristics of their Public Objective card. The more characteristics that coincide between the chosen Candidate and your card, the more points you earn at the end of the game.

Secret Objective Cards. At the beginning of the game, each player will receive a Secret Objective card. These cards represent hidden interests or personal motivations that can influence game decisions in unexpected ways.

The role of secret objectives. Unlike Public Objective cards, Secret Objective cards are private: only you know their contents. These cards can award you additional Influence points at the end of the game, but there are many various criteria for earning them. Some cards can even contradict your Public Objective, which adds an element of tension and strategy.

How to Play

A game of Habemus Papam is played in a maximum of 5 rounds. The goal is to ensure that the candidate that interests you most is elected Pope. Each round consists of the following sequence of actions that you must perform in order:

1. Phase 1: The Camarlengo's Influence
2. Phase 2: Actions of the Players
3. Phase 3: Characteristic Indicators
4. Phase 4: The Camarlengo Decides
5. Phase 5: Black Smoke / White Smoke

Phase 1: The Camarlengo's Influence

Before starting the round, the player holding the Camarlengo card may distribute 5 Influence points from the general reserve minus the current round number among the Candidates they want. This action is optional; the Camarlengo can decide not to put down any Influence tokens if they prefer.

Example: Anna starts round 2 as the Camarlengo. She has to place 3 Influence tokens (5 – the current round number = 3) and decides to place 2 on Giovanni Sfacciato, as he shares 2 characteristics with her Public Objective and 1 on Muhammad Al-Muqadas, as he could help her attain her Secret Objective later on.

Phase 2: Actions of the Players

Starting with the player to the left of the Camarlengo, each player must choose one of three possible actions on their turn:

A. Place Influence tokens from your reserve. Place as many Influence tokens distributed however you like among one or more candidates. Use your player aid cards to keep track of the total Influence in play.

B. Play an Action card. Play a card from your hand and pay its cost (indicated on the upper right corner). The cost can be paid with either Influence tokens or Action cards (1 card = 1 Influence point). The cost of red cards is indicated by a ? mark. In this case, the card's text will specify how to pay for it.

C. Pass. You skip your turn, and it passes to the next player on your left. If you pass, you can re-enter in the next turn. The round only ends when 3 players pass consecutively in games with 4 players. In games with 5 players, the round ends when 4 pass consecutively, and in 6-player games when 5 pass consecutively. In 3-player games, the round ends when 2 players pass consecutively.

Note: when a Candidate or player gains or loses half of their Influence points (due to card effects or the Camarlengo's privileges, for example), you must always round up.

Important: You can give Influence tokens to any player at any time, as long as it is the turn of the player who is giving or receiving. This can be in exchange for cards, in exchange for another favor, or in exchange for whatever you can think of. Of course, the agreement is not binding.

After Influence is placed during a turn, a Candidate becomes Papabile if he has two-thirds of the total Influence on the board (in rounds 1-4), or a simple majority in round 5. Place the Papabile token on the Candidate to indicate that the game may end at the end of that round.

You can use the player aid cards to help you check the amount of Influence a Candidate needs to be Papabile at any moment. In each space, the top number indicates the total Influence in play, and the bottom number indicates how much is two-thirds of that total.

Example: The total Influence in play is 17. Giovanni Sfacciato is Papabile because he has 12 Influence points, which is 2/3 of 17 (check the player aid cards), so we place the Papabile token on his card. If this situation continues until the end of the round, the game is over and Giovanni Sfacciato is the new Pope.

Players will perform actions until the end of round conditions are met.

End of the round:

• In 3-player games: when 2 players pass consecutively.
• In 4-player games: when 3 players pass consecutively.
• In 5-player games: when 4 players pass consecutively.
• In 6-player games: when 5 players pass consecutively.

At that moment the round ends and the game moves to the next phase.

Phase 3: Characteristic Indicators

Once the round is finished, the characteristic indicators must be adjusted. To do this, the Candidate with the most Influence in a particular characteristic is compared with the Candidate who has the most in the opposite characteristic.

One is subtracted from the other and the marker is placed on the corresponding indicator. This is done for each of the characteristics, including those that are vetoed for that round, since, if a Pope is elected, all vetoes are removed and every characteristic scored.

Example: Giovanni Sfacciato is the Candidate with the most Influence in Senex (5) and Jong-Gyoui Jun has the most in Iuvenis (2). 5 - 2 = 3, so we move the token 3 steps towards Senex.

Phase 4: The Camarlengo Decides

The Candidate with the least Influence is eliminated in each round. In the event of a draw, the Camarlengo chooses the Candidate who will be eliminated from among those with the least Influence. Turn the card around, but leave it on the game area, as there may be actions that allow you to recover the eliminated Candidate.

Then, the Camarlengo takes from the general reserve half the Influence of the Candidate with the most Influence (rounded up), and places it on their own personal reserve.

Now, if there is a Papabile Candidate, the game then moves on to Phase 5: White Smoke. If not, the next phase is Phase 5: Black Smoke.

If, at the end of round 5, there is still no Papabile Candidate, the game ends anyway (see Phase 5: End of the Game - White Smoke).

Phase 5: Black Smoke

If no candidate has been elected, you move on to the next round. Perform the following steps before starting a new round.

1. Each player takes 2 Influence points from the general reserve and places them in their personal reserve.

2. We add up the Influence that each player receives for each characteristic on their Public Objective by checking the position of the markers on the characteristic indicator:

   • Rounds 1-2: 1 Influence point per space.
   • Rounds 3-4: 2 Influence points per space.
   • Round 5: the game is over (see Phase 5: End of the Game - White Smoke).
   • Religious Orders and vetoed characteristics do not score.

   Example: It is round 3 and Senex is on space 2 of the track. Since Senex is one of your Public Objective characteristics, you get 4 Influence points.

3. Return all Influence points played on Candidates during that round to the general reserve. Then, reset all characteristic indicators to 0 and, in rounds 1, 2, and 3, the Camarlengo places a veto marker on a characteristic of their choice. At the end of round 4, remove all veto markers.

Important: The veto marker indicates which characteristics will not score in future rounds (Venustus/Solemnis, or Senex/Iuvenis, for example). These vetoes will remain on the board until the end of round 4, when they are removed so that the last round is played without vetoes. They are also removed if there is White Smoke. The veto markers will also help you track which round you are in. For example, if there are 3 veto markers in play, you know that you are in round 4 and that the next one is the last.

4. The Camarlengo gives their card to the player on their left, who will be the new Camarlengo for that round.
5. Players can save one card in their hand from one round to another. Then, deal 4 cards to each player, who must discard the cards they do not want until they are left with only 4 cards in their hand, which is the hand limit. The player with the Camarlengo card includes it in the total for their hand and, obviously, may not discard it.
6. If at any time the deck of Action cards is exhausted, the discarded cards are shuffled to build a new draw deck.

Phase 5: End of the Game - White Smoke

If a Candidate has two-thirds of the total Influence on the board at the end of any of the first four rounds, the game ends and moves to the Fumata Bianca phase. In round 5, the Candidate only needs a simple majority of the total Influence. The final count is calculated with the following steps:

1. Each player reveals their Secret Objective. First, apply Machiavelli, then Corrupt, and then score all others simultaneously. Add up the Influence points obtained.
2. Remove all veto markers (if there are any). Then, each player receives Influence for each matching characteristic with the chosen Pope, at the rate of 2 points for each space that the characteristic indicator has advanced (max. of 10 per characteristic).
3. If your Religious Order matches that of the chosen Pope, receive 10 Influence points.
4. Finally, the total Influence each player has is calculated by adding up what they have obtained by the Objectives, by matching the Pope, and what remains in their personal reserve.

If no Candidate achieved a simple majority by the end of round 5, follow the same steps as described above, but with these changes:

• Score characteristics as you would on a Black Smoke phase. Each space on the characteristic indicator is worth 1 Influence point.
• There are no points for matching Religious Order.

Habemus Papam! If you are the player with most Influence, you win the game. In case of a tie, tied players share the victory.

Example: Giovanni Sfacciato is elected Pope. The player holding the matching card gets, for their Public Objective: +10 for Novator, +10 for Vetus Mundus, +10 for the matching Religious Order. For their Secret Objective: +10 for the elected Pope being from Vetus Mundus. Since there is another player with a larger personal reserve of Influence, they don't get the other 10 Influence points indicated on the card. This totals 40. Finally, they add their personal reserve.

Example of Play

We are in round 3 of a 4 player game:

Four cards are drawn. João has 15 Influence points in their personal reserve and has received the following cards: Murmur, Addere, Silentium and Speculatores. He still has a Prohibere card in his hand from a previous round.

He must discard 1 card to maintain the 4 card hand limit. He chooses to discard Speculatores.

Paco is sitting to the left of Lucía - the Camarlengo - so he begins his turn. We are in round 3, so he places 2 Influence points on Hitesh Pavitr, a Candidate who benefits him, since 3 of his characteristics match Paco's Public Objective card. Since he has more than 2/3 of the total Influence in play, Hitesh Pavitr becomes Papabile.

Olga plays the Extractum card, pays its cost (1 Influence point) by discarding a card face down, and robs a card from Lucía, who now has 3 cards.

João plays the Murmur card on Hitesh Pavitr. He pays the cost of 3 Influence points from his personal reserve (Murmur's cost is equal to the round number).

According to the card's text, Hitesh Pavitr loses half his Influence, which is returned to the general reserve.

From now on, it costs 2 Influence points to place 1 Influence point on that Candidate.

Lucía wants to put 4 Influence points on Hitesh Pavitr and therefore pays 8 Influence points (due to the Murmur card). Four are placed on the Candidate and 4 are placed in the general reserve. Hitesh Pavitr has 5 Influence points.

There is a total of 5 Influence points among all Candidates, so Hitesh Pavitr remains Papabile. With a total of 5 Influence points in play, a Candidate only needs 4 to be Papabile.

It's Paco's turn again and he plays the Addere card. He pays 1 card to cover Addere's Influence cost, and adds 1 Influence point to each of the 5 Conservative Candidates. He takes those 5 Influence points from the general reserve and places them on the Candidates.

One of them goes to Hitesh Pavitr, but since it doesn't come from any player's personal reserve, it is not subject to the negative effect of the Murmur card. Now Hitesh Pavitr has 6 Influence points out of a total of 10, and so is no longer Papabile (he would need at least 7).

Olga plays the Movere card and, paying 5 Influence points with a combination of 1 card plus 4 tokens from her personal reserve, moves 4 Influence points from Hitesh Pavitr to Christian Guy.

The cost to play Movere is variable and is detailed on the text of the card itself.

João, seeing that the situation is to his advantage, decides to pass.

Lucía wants to secure the last move of the turn and plays the Suffragatio card, paying 3 Influence points from her personal reserve.

Paco, seeing the direction the game is taking, pays 10 Influence points and places them on Christian Guy. Now, with 14 Influence points out of a total of 20, Christian Guy is Papabile.

Olga plays the Pactum card, pays 1 Influence point from her personal reserve, and takes 5 Influence points (half of what Christian Guy has, up to a maximum of 5) from the general reserve.

João is not going to give Lucía the chance to play the last move and uses the Silentium card which forces her to pass. To do this, he must pay 1 Influence point by discarding the Addere card face down.

Lucía, due to Silentium, has to pass, and with that the round ends due to the effect of her Suffragatio card.

At the end of the action phase, this is how the play area looks. Now we begin Phase 3: Characteristic Indicators. The Candidate with the most Influence is Christian Guy, so we compare each of his characteristics with the Candidate with the most Influence among those with the opposite characteristic.

Christian Guy has 14 Influence and Senex. Hitesh Pavitr, with 2 Influence points, is the most Influential Candidate with the opposite characteristic, Iuvenis. The difference is 12 in favor of Senex, so we place the marker in 5 Senex. The same happens with Novator (vs Chris P. Bacon, who's tied with others), Solemnis and Vetus Mundus (vs Hoss Hannah).

Now we move on to Phase 4: The Camarlengo Decides. Following the steps on the Camarlengo card, first we eliminate the Candidate with the least Influence. The Camarlengo decides to eliminate Muhammad Al-Muqadas, so he flips his card face down.

Then, we check who is the Candidate with the most Influence. It's Christian Guy, with 14. Lucía, being the Camarlengo, takes 7 Influence points from the general reserve (half of Christian Guy's influence).

Then we check if any Candidate is Papabile. Christian Guy is (he has 14 out of 20 Influence points) and so we move to the White Smoke phase.

First, all players reveal their personal reserves and their Secret Objective cards:

Paco has 23 Influence points and Loss of Faith, Olga has 41 Influence Points and Machiavelli, João has 12 Influence points and Fanatic and Lucía has 15 Influence points and Corrupt.

The first Objectives played are Machiavelli and Corrupt, in this order, because they affect the rest of the objectives.

First, Machiavelli. The condition is fulfilled. None of Olga's characteristics match those of the new Pope. The personal reserve of all the other players is reduced to 0.

Lucía makes a quick calculation and sees that with 41 Influence points in her personal reserve, Olga is close to winning the game. But she matches the new Pope in more than one characteristic so, even if she copied Machiavelli, she would not be able to act on it. So she copies João's Fanatic.

Now we apply Paco's Loss of Faith and João and Lucía's Fanatics. Paco doubles his personal reserve but, since it is 0, it stays at 0. João gets 25 Influence points because a Pope was elected before round 5, as does Lucía.

At the moment Paco has 0 points, Olga has 41 points and João and Lucía have 25 points each.

Now the Public Objectives are considered. As the game has reached Fumata Bianca, all characteristics will be scored and will have double value. So, both veto markers are removed and matching characteristics are checked.

Paco coincides with the Pope in 3 characteristics, so he receives 30 Influence points.

Olga has 0 matching characteristics with the Pope, so she gets 0 Influence points.

João coincides with the Pope in 3 characteristics, so he receives 30 Influence points. His Religious Order also matches with that of the new Pope, so he scores an additional 10 Influence points.

Finally, Lucía coincides with the Pope in 3 characteristics, so she receives 30 Influence points.

The final score is as follows:

• Paco: 30 points
• Olga: 41 points
• João: 65 points
• Lucía: 55 points

João wins the game!

Changes for Games with 6 Players

If the game reaches Round 5, deal the Camarlengo and the Action cards as usual, and the player to the left of the Camarlengo receives the special Cardinal Dean card. This card does not count toward the limit of 4 cards in hand and has the following effect:

Before the Camarlengo can take half the Influence of the most influential Candidate, the Cardinal Dean must give their permission. If they accept, the Camarlengo will receive the corresponding Influence, and the Cardinal Dean is then awarded half of what the Camarlengo receives. If the Dean declines, neither will receive any Influence.

Changes for Games with 3 Players

With three players, Habemus Papam turns into a semi-cooperative game in which players compete not only against each other but also together against a virtual player: the Antipope.

During setup, remove the Antipope Secret Objective card from the game.

During Phase 2, the Antipope acts as a fourth player and they are always the last in turn order. On their turn, the Antipope places 1 Influence point on every Candidate with the least Influence. When two players pass consecutively, the Antipope takes their turn and the round is over.

The Antipope may never be the Camarlengo and, in round 5, the person to the left of the Camarlengo receives the Dean card. At the end of round 5, if no pope is elected, the Antipope wins.

Religious Orders

The Religious Order tokens are: Benedictines, Cistercians, Dominicans, Carmelites, Franciscans, Jesuits, Salesians, and Augustines.