Jugula
Jugula Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- 1. What You Will Need
- Armaturae
- Jugula Cards
- The Cards
- Movement Effect
- Vox Populi Effect
- Combat Effect
- Draw Effect
- Ability
- Upgrade Effect
- Movement
- Combat
- Vox Populi
- The Jugula Cards
- Prima Jugula Cards
- The Traits
- Multi-Player Games
- Careers
- Goal of the Career Campaign
- Ludus Record Sheet
- Ludus
- Pre-Arena Sequence
- The Combat
- Post-Arena Sequence
- Careers and Multi-Player Games
- Appendix I: Servitors
- Appendix II: Talents
- Appendix III: Organizing Careers Mode Campaigns
- Armatura Descriptions
1. What You Will Need
To play Jugula, you will need the following; some are included in the book you hold in your hands, and some are available separately.
- This rulebook. The Rulebook describes the rules of the arena combat game, the rules for starting and conducting a career as a Lanista and all other necessary information.
- A gaming surface. This will represent the arena where the gladiators will fight and is divided into 64 squares. Around the combat zone, the Vox Populi track shows the support and inspiration that the crowd gives to your gladiators. Included within the pages of the Rulebook is a poster of just such an arena, and available separately is a deluxe vinyl mat offering a larger gaming area.
Ambitious players will of course make their own arenas, and in these pages you will find some examples of home-made arenas.
- At least two decks of Jugula cards. Each player needs his own deck of cards, made up of 12 Jugula cards and 12 Prima Jugula cards (differentiated by their crimson border). These cards are the backbone of the game, and can be bought separately.
- Wounds, Hindered and Vox Populi markers. These markers are used to indicate various states in the game (such as when a gladiator is hindered or wounded) and can be either photocopied from the back of this book or downloaded from our website.
- Gladiator miniatures. These are not included in the book, and are hardly downloadable! Each player will need 4 figures of different armaturae (see later for the description of the armaturae).
- Armaturae cards. Each player will place in front of him the four cards representing his gladiator team (his familia). These cards depend on the armaturae of the gladiators (their fighting style if you prefer). One side depicts the stats of the gladiator when unharmed and the other side when the gladiator has been wounded. These 12 cards are included in the Jugula decks.
- Experience tokens. These tokens are used when developing a gladiator's career. They are placed on the armaturae cards to indicate any experience bonuses gained by the gladiator. They can be photocopied from the back of this book or downloaded from our website.
- A reference sheet. This handy sheet summarizes the most important rules of the gladiator fights on one side, and helps as a reference for the career game mode on the other side. They are included in the Rulebook and can also be downloaded from our website.
Glossary
Throughout these rules there are some recurring terms. For convenience, they are all defined here and this glossary will be handy if you come across a term that needs explaining. You do not need to read this glossary right now, as it is quite boring, but keep in mind that it exists.
-
Ability: the Jugula cards may be played for their abilities. This is a special function of a card and differs from one card to another, each with specific game effects.
-
Armaturae: the armaturae dictates a gladiator's equipment and his fighting style. There are 12 armaturae in this book, ranging from the heavy crupellarius to the swift and fast veles. For each armaturae there is an armaturae card that shows the stats of this gladiator type and its special rules, if any. At the start of most games, all gladiators with the same armaturae will have the same stats, but this will change later as they gain experience in the career game mode.
-
Attack Value (ATT): the attack bonus, used when the gladiator attacks an opponent.
-
Biting the Dust: a gladiator that has bitten the dust is removed from the arena. He is not necessarily dead, just taken out of action by a blow.
-
Career: the game mode that allows you to lead and handle your gladiator school, making each game a continuation of the last.
-
Danger Zone: the square directly in front of a gladiator. Any opponent in that square has some severe restrictions to his movement options.
-
Defence Value (DEF): the defence bonus, used when the gladiator is on the receiving end of an attack.
-
Discard Pile: when a card is played, and once all its effects have been resolved, it goes on to its owner's discard pile. Any player may examine any player's discard pile at any time.
Setting up the game
These are the necessary steps to follow to set up a game of Jugula:
- Put the game surface between the two players, so they are sitting on opposite sides of the board.
- On the Vox Populi track of each player, place the Vox Populi marker on the first space of the track, indicating a Vox Populi of 0 (the two other Vox Populi tracks on the lateral sides of the board are only used in 3 or 4 player games).
- Each Lanista chooses four different armaturae, selects the relevant armaturae cards and gladiator figures.
- Each Lanista takes his Jugula card deck, separates the Prima Jugula from the standard Jugula cards. Prima Jugula cards are placed aside, face-up, while the Jugula cards are shuffled, and placed facedown to make the Lanista's draw deck.
- Wound and Hindered tokens are placed near the game surface.
- Experience tokens are not used during the standard one-shot game and should be put aside.
- Each Lanista draws four cards from his deck. This is his starting hand. These cards are kept hidden from the opponent's view.
- Each player takes the top card from his deck and reveals it. The dice value on the bottom of the cards is compared (draw a new card in case of a tie). The player with the highest score becomes the first player. The revealed cards are shuffled back into their owner's draw deck.
- The first player places his four gladiators in the arena, each one in a separate square. Gladiators are deployed into any of the 8 squares closest to your side of the arena. His opponent does the same on his own side of the arena.
- The first player starts the game by playing a Jugula card from his hand.
Here is what your table should look like after these steps have been done.
Please note that this set-up is for games played with two players. We will cover 3 or 4 player games and any appropriate changes later on!
Winning the game
Now we know how to start, let's see now how the game will end! The goal is to demonstrate your dominance in the arena, and this is done by wounding opposing gladiators or making them bite the dust.
The game ends immediately when one familia is left with:
- Only two gladiators in the arena, or
- Only wounded gladiators in the arena, or
- Only one unharmed gladiator and two wounded gladiators in the arena.
The judges decide to end the fight at that point, and the opposing familia is proclaimed winner of the match.
If both familia fulfil these conditions at the same time, the crowd stands up, shouts the names of their favourite gladiators and holds its breath.
Each Lanista puts his Vox Populi marker at the end of its track (space 10) and the game resumes. From now on, the first familia to wound or make an opponent's gladiator bite the dust is immediately proclaimed winner. Sort of sudden death!
Well, we will keep it simple
Let's make it simple. Each of your gladiators that have bitten the dust is worth two points for the swine sitting in front of you. Each of your wounded gladiators is worth one point. If your opponent scores 4 points, he has won the game. Of course, the same applies to you, lad. Score 4 points and you've got the match! The crowd will praise your name (well, the names of your gladiators) and your purse will end up as big as Ceres boobs!
Armaturae
Before focussing on the game-play of Jugula, we will take a look at the armaturae cards.
The armatura of a gladiator represents a fighting style in the arena and dictates the equipment that the gladiator will wear, something that was heavily codified in Ancient Rome. By taking an armatura, we expect the gladiator to adopt the personality of this style.
For Jugula we have limited our choice to the 12 of the most popular armaturae, and for each of them you can take the relevant armaturae card.
The armaturae card shows a number of important game elements as shown below:
- The armatura of the gladiator with an illustration of a typical gladiator of that armatura.
- The movement of the gladiator, expressed in Movement Points (MP).
- The class of the gladiator. Here we have an Agile gladiator. The other silhouette is used for Deadly gladiators.
- The Attack and Defence values of the armatura. For Attack and Defence, you have two sets of values, one for use against Deadly foe, and the other against Agile gladiators. Some armaturae are better against Agile opponents, and some against Deadly ones. Some armaturae have the same values against both. Using the best gladiators against a given enemy is a key to success in the arena!
- The Traits of the gladiator. Here our Laequarius has the Reach 1 and Hindrance traits. They are defined in the chapter dedicated to traits, later in these rules.
Jugula Cards
Jugula cards are the backbone of the game. They will allow the Lanista to interact with the arena, to move their gladiators, boost the support from the crowd and deliver some low blows to their opponents!
Each card displays various groups of numbers and games text. These are the different ways to use the card in the game. When you play a card you must choose which game effect on this card will be played. There are six different possibilities on offer, making each card play decision a crucial choice (you didn't expect play without having to think, did you?).
- The name of the card, in bad Latin. It is absolutely useless in game terms, but will help when referring to a specific card and provides laughter when players try to pronounce these titles.
- The movement effect of the card. The number indicates the number of different gladiators that will be able to move when this card is played for its movement effect.
- The Vox Populi effect. When this card is played for this effect, the Vox Populi marker will be moved to the right on the Vox Populi track a number of spaces equal to this number.
- The combat effect. This number indicates how many attacks you will be able to make when this card is played for its combat effect.
- The draw effect. This number indicates how many cards are drawn from your draw deck immediately after playing this card for this effect.
- The ability effect. When a card is played for its ability effect, you just resolve the text of the card. As simple as that.
- The dice value. This number is used to resolve your gladiator's attack or when they defend themselves from an opponent's attacks (and also on some other special occasions).
- The improvement effect. When this card is played for its improvement effect, the Lanista may immediately take one of the Prima Jugula cards whose value in stars (see below) is equal to or less than the number shown in this star (in our example, you will be able to take any Prima Jugula card of 1 or 2 stars). The acquired card is added to the Lanista's hand.
Prima Jugula cards are similar to standard Jugula ones, but have also a cost in stars, used when a Lanista uses an improvement effect.
- The cost of the card. To add this card to his hand, the Lanista must play a Jugula card for its improvement effect, and that card needs to have an improvement value (the number in the star in the bottom left corner) of 2 or 3.
Example card (Moriturí te salutant), printed text: Discard any number of cards from your hand. Increase your Vox Populi by the number of cards discarded.
Example card (Fatalitas), printed text: Designate an opposing gladiator that is in the danger zone of at least two of your gladiators. Wound that gladiator and remove this card from the game.
The Cards
Simply put, a turn in Jugula runs as follows: a Lanista plays a card from his hand, announces to his opponent which effect on this card is being played, resolves the effect and checks at the end of his turn that the number of cards in his hand does not exceed the maximum allowed by his current Vox Populi level (discarding some cards if needed, see page 25). Once all this is done, the Lanista's turn is over, and his opponent starts his own turn.
Plays continue like that until one player achieves the victory conditions described on page 9, bringing glory to his familia.
As we have started to see in the preceding pages, a Jugula card can be played in 6 different ways:
- For its Movement effect
- For its Vox Populi effect
- For its Combat effect
- For its Draw effect
- For its Ability
- For its Upgrade effect
Let's look at each of these different options, explain them in detail, and let you imagine some of the headaches that the difficult question of how to use a card will cause during your games.
Movement Effect
This effect will allow your gladiators to move in the arena. When this card effect is played, you will be able to move a number of different gladiators equal to the number next to the movement symbol (if that number is 0, you can play this card for that effect, but it will not move any gladiators and you should consult a psychiatrist).
A given gladiator can only move once during a turn (i.e. if you played a card with a Movement effect of 2, you won't be able to move the same gladiator twice, unless your opponent has not read the rules and you're ready to cheat. Let's blame your opponent for not having bought the rules).
When this effect is resolved, designate one of your gladiators. That gladiator may move, with a number of Movement Points equal to the number displayed on its Armatura card (see page 16 for more details about movement). If you have played a card that allows you to move multiple gladiators you may designate another gladiator and move him. Proceed like that until you have moved a number of different gladiators equal to the value of the Movement effect on your Jugula card, or are happy with the movement done so far.
Moving a gladiator is optional. You can designate a gladiator and choose not to move him at all. The only rule is that you must entirely finish the movement of one gladiator before proceeding with another gladiator. You cannot go back and forth between your familia.
Once played and all movement done, the card goes in your discard pile.
Our dear Lanista, Lucius Moronus decides after much thought to play his Ardor Oris card for its Movement effect. He can move 3 gladiators. He begins with his Thraex Blimyx. As he is currently unharmed (although that shouldn't last long...) he has his full allocation of 6 Movement Points (MP). Once the movement of Blimyx is done, our Lanista turns his attention to Asinus (so-called thanks to the content of his breeches) who only has 3 MPs to spend. Finally, he designates Minimea the Veles. As the latter is currently winking and making obscene gestures toward some of his groupies in the crowd, Lucius decides not to move him, and ends his turn...
Vox Populi Effect
By playing a card for this effect you will move your token on the Vox Populi ladder by a number of spaces to the right equal to the number indicated next to the Vox Populi symbol on your card.
On the Vox Populi ladder, under each space, appear two numbers. The first one is the Vox Populi bonus that applies to all attacks made by your gladiators (see Vox Populi page 25 for more details). The second number indicates the maximum number of cards you can have in hand at the end of your turn.
Once the Vox Populi effect has been resolved, your card goes in your discard pile.
This time Moronus wants to gain more support from the crowd so Asina takes down his breeches and clamour rises from the terraces. As the Impetus card that has been played has a Vox Populi of 3, Moronus moves his Vox Populi token three spaces to the right. From now on, his familia will get a +1 bonus on all attacks, as long as he keeps that level of support from the spectators.
Combat Effect
As its name would suggest, the Combat effect is used to attack opposing gladiators. The value next to the Combat symbol on the Jugula cards is the number of attacks your familia will be able to make during this turn.
To resolve this effect, designate one of your gladiators, the target of his attack and resolve it (for more details see the chapter about combats, page 19). Once the attack has been resolved (no matter what the outcome was,) if you have attacks left, you may designate a gladiator, his target and resolve a new attack; and again, until you have made as many attacks as indicated by the number next to the combat symbol of your Jugula card, or you are satisfied by the attacks resolved so far and want to stop here (attacking is not mandatory).
Your gladiators may attack more than once during a turn as long as the total number of attacks made does not exceed the number allowed by your Jugula card. But (there is a big BUT here):
An important rule: once the combat effect is resolved, the card goes into your discard pile.
Our Lanista plays the Virtus card for its Combat effect. He will be able to make three attacks. He first chooses Blimyx and sends him against the enemy Crupellarius (!) The attack is resolved and the enemy Crupellarius is pushed back to the wall of the arena (some ten centuries later, historians still argue about this feat of arms. The most popular explanation was that the Crupellarius was dead drunk).
Following up the pushed back gladiator, Blimyx attacks one more time and pushes him back once again (he must have been dead drunk, miracles like this never happen twice in a row). As the mighty (but drunk) crupellarius cannot retreat, he is wounded.
Asinus would also like to attack him, if only to prove to his team mates that he is worth something (although that has not be scientifically proved so far), but he can't as the Crupellarius was wounded this turn and the show must go on.
As Lanista Moronus is not the kind of guy to leave an attack, he moves his attention to Minimea. The boy was chatting with a lady about his unrivalled prowess (based on his lecherous look it has nothing to do with gladiatorial fighting).
He turns around, and unmotivated, throws his javelin toward the enemy Laequarius. He misses the gladiator but hits a roman notable in the belly.
The crowd applauds. Looks like some people owed the fat notable money...
Sidebar, "It's a show!": Your job (apart from gathering fame and riches) is to entertain the crowd and not to behave like the despised Hannibalus Lectus. And we all know that the longer the entertainment lasts, the better it is. So, if an enemy gladiator has been wounded by an attack this turn (irrespective of how it happened), you may not attack him again during the resolution of your combat effect. Don't try to read between the lines, it is not possible. Do not even think about it or the sky will open, and a lightning bolt will strike you dead in your chair. Or a Retiarus will come to your gaming club, take you to his cell in the ludus and... erm... Well you understand, right?
Draw Effect
As the name of this effect suggests, it will allow you to draw cards. The number of cards to be drawn is the number next to the Draw effect symbol on your Jugula card.
If at any time your draw deck is empty (i.e. all your cards are in your discard pile) shuffle your discard pile to reform your deck. If both your discard pile and your deck are empty (i.e. all your cards are in your hand), you cannot draw more cards, and any draw left is lost.
An important rule: once the draw effect is fully resolved, the card goes into your discard pile. Importantly, this means that the card you have used for its Draw effect cannot be drawn again this turn if you should have to shuffle your discard pile to form your deck. This principle extends to any card; they only go in your discard pile once their effect is fully resolved. Be careful when drawing cards as, at the end of your turn, you will have to discard some cards if you exceed the number of cards in hand allowed by your Vox Populi. You choose which ones are discarded and they are placed face-up on the discard pile (so your opponent will know which ones you discarded).
With a hand reduced to a single card, our insightful Lanista must play his remaining card for its draw effect and that's that, no matter what the situation in the arena. For example, the time Minimea had a fat Dimachaerius right behind him.
On that occasion, the Infamis card was played for its draw effect of 1. Lucius Moronus drew a card, and put Infamy in the discard pile. It was at this moment that Moronus realised that next turn, he would have to use the newly drawn card for its Draw effect too as he still had only one card in hand!
Minimea was left stranded and the opposing Lanista then played a card for its Combat effect...
Sidebar, "Last but not least!": You can never end a game turn with no cards in your hand. So, if you have only a single card in hand, you must play it for its Draw effect. You've got no choice (see above for what would happen if you think otherwise). This also means that you may never play an effect that would leave you without cards in hand at the end of the turn. This extends to any card's abilities (so you may not play an ability that would make you end the turn without cards in hand).
Ability
The ability of a card is an effect unique to that card. You play a card for its ability, and that means that the game text on the card will be resolved. Once the ability is fully resolved, the card will go into your discard pile.
A full chapter of this book is dedicated to the description of Jugula card abilities, and should be used as reference if you have a doubt about any of the abilities appearing on a cards.
With Minimea agonizing on the ground, his back bleeding, our Lanista decided to take the initiative back and after some thought (everybody held their breath for a minute, then stopped, as this dragged on), played Par Pari Refertur for its ability. He chose Asinus, who was able to move with 4 extra movement points.
As Asinus started to dance around with his extra movement points, Minimea on the ground started to scream as the Lanista seemed to have abandoned him to his fate, and the crowd grew angry at seeing a Retiarus jumping everywhere like a gazelle.
Looking back, it's incidents like these that make me look back fondly at the years when I was enslaved in salt mines. At least those slavers were smart...
Upgrade Effect
The Upgrade effect will offer you the opportunity to get Prima Jugula cards, which are, as their name suggests, usually better cards than the Jugula cards that make up your deck at the start of the game.
When a card is played for its Upgrade effect, you will be able to take (and only one) Prima Jugula card (the ones that were put aside at the start of the game, and have a red border on the left side), show it to your opponent and add it to your hand. The cost in stars of the acquired card cannot exceed the number indicated in the bottom right corner of your card (next to the dice).
This card goes into your hand and will remain part of your deck until the end of the game. This means that once played it will move into your discard pile, get shuffled into your deck once it gets depleted, etc.
Blaming an inappropriate deck for his current failure in the arena, Lucius Moronus decided to get a Prima Jugula card that he hoped will save the day. He played Acies Acei for its Upgrade effect, allowing him to add a Prima Jugula card worth 1 or 2 stars to his hand. He chose Formido and moves Acies Acei onto his discard pile.
At Minimea's grunting respiration, everybody understood that it would not have been the play Minimea would have taken.
Movement
Facing
Before going into the details of movement for your gladiators, it is important to take a close look at the positioning of the figures in the arena, and the immediate surroundings of the models involved in a Jugula combat.
All figures in the arena must face one of the four sides of their square. We call this the facing of a model.
Above illustrates the four possible facings of a gladiator within its square.
The three squares that are directly ahead of the gladiator are known as his front zone. The two squares on his right and his left are his flanks. The square directly behind him is his back. Finally, the two squares that are at the right and left of his back are his rear squares. These terms are worth remembering as we will refer to them throughout the rules from now on. To make your life simpler, and as a short diagram is worth hundreds of words, here is a picture illustrating these concepts:
Please note that the current facing of the gladiator will determine which squares form his front zone and obviously his flanks, rear and back. So, if the gladiator shown above turns to his right, his front will be changed accordingly.
Important: To this important concept we will add another one (stay with us, it won't get more complicated than this!): the Danger Zone. The Danger Zone of a gladiator is the square directly in front of him, in other words, the central square of his front zone, as shown in this picture:
Sidebar: Try to understand and remember these basics as their mastery (or lack of) is the thin red line that separates glory and shame in the arena. Facing the wrong way at the wrong time may be your doom. Gladiators never like to have another gladiator right on their back. Well, in the arena at least...
By playing a card for its Movement effect, you will be able to move one or more of your gladiators. The number next to the movement icon indicates the number of separate gladiators that will be able to move.
In this example, you will be able to move 3 different gladiators.
When a gladiator moves, he may spend a number of Movement Points (from now on, let's call them MP) equal to the number next to the movement icon on his armaturae card.
In this example, our gladiator has 4 MPs.
Each movement costs a given number of MPs, depending on the square the gladiator wants to move into, and some other factors that we will cover later. If a gladiator does not have enough MPs to move in a square, that movement is impossible and he will have to move differently or end his movement altogether.
- The cost of moving a gladiator into his own Danger Zone (i.e. directly forward) is 1 MP.
- The cost to move a gladiator into any other adjacent square is 2 MPs.
It's not a dance floor!
If your gladiator is in the front zone of one or more enemy gladiator(s), any movement to an adjacent square will cost him an extra Movement Point (this penalty does not apply if the gladiator changes his facing without moving). This extra MP is only paid once, even if your gladiator is in the front zone of 2 or more enemy gladiators.
Here is an example: our gladiator can move forward for 2 MPs (1 to move directly forward, and an extra MP for moving out of the front of an enemy gladiator); or he can move diagonally for 3 MPs (two for a movement that is not directly forward, and one extra MP for moving out of an enemy's front).
Sidebar: A gladiator may NEVER move into, or pass through, a square occupied by another figure. NEVER. EVER. That would drive me mad, and some people would think that the gladiators are actually getting a bit too close to each other. If you are so inclined, there are other games to play than Jugula. Forget about it right now!
Movement and the danger zone
A gladiator standing in the Danger Zone of an enemy gladiator has its movement options severely restricted. He may only change his facing to face an enemy exerting its Danger Zone on him and then, eventually, move directly backwards, without changing his facing (finishing his movement in his back square, facing the enemy gladiator). Once your gladiator is no longer in any enemy Danger Zones, he is free to continue his movement if he has MPs left.
Here the gladiator can only move back and this movement would cost 3 MPs (2 for a movement other than directly forward, and an extra MP for moving out of the front of an enemy).
If your gladiator is in the Danger Zone of two or more enemy gladiators, he may change facing to face any of the gladiators exerting their Danger Zone on him (and that, even if he is currently facing another gladiator) before moving back.
Please note that if you have an enemy directly in front and one in your back, you will not be able to move back. The only option in that case is to face one of these enemies and pray the Gods for the best!
Facing change
Before any movement to an adjacent square, a gladiator may change his facing. This does not cost any extra MP. The gladiator can change his facing by pivoting 90° or 180°, i.e. he can end facing any side of his square. If a gladiator wants to change facing without moving afterward, this would cost 1 MP. If the gladiator does not have any MP left, he may not change facing.
Note that a gladiator can change his facing before each movement to an adjacent square (and not only at the very start of his movement!)
These two examples of movement demonstrate how a gladiator can change facing before moving. In the case of the movement to the front, the gladiator either turned 90° then moved to his flank; or moved forward for 1 MP then turned 90° without any other movement for 1 MP. In both cases this movement cost 2 MPs. For the movement to the rear, he has turned 180° then moved to his final position (for 2 MPs as his destination is not the square directly in front of him).
Understood?
Now, a bit of practical work. Minimea wants to move from A to B. How many MPs will this movement cost him? Which way should he run?
Sidebar: I'd like to ensure that you have understood these very essential concepts of Jugula so I'll summarize:
- A gladiator can move directly forward for 1 MP or move in any other adjacent square for 2 MPs.
- Any movement that would bring him out of the front zone of an enemy gladiator costs an extra MP.
- Before each movement, a gladiator can change his facing for free. If he wants to change his facing without moving afterwards, it will cost 1 MP.
- A gladiator in the Danger Zone of one or more enemies can only change facing to one of the enemies that are exerting its Danger Zone on him, and then move directly backwards.
Not as complicated as it seems, no?
Got it? Here is the answer:
Yes, it will cost him 16 MPs! This demonstrates two things. Firstly, those enemy gladiators really are a pain when it comes to moving your gladiator - Danger Zones need to be considered when planning your movements in the arena. Secondly, it shows what an idiot Minimea is, able to get himself in the most troublesome position before realising.
Did you work out? Sidebar: No? Then re-read the movement section until it sinks in!
Combat
In this chapter we will describe the fundamentals for resolving attacks in Jugula (and you will take your share of attacks during a game!).
In Jugula, attacks may be the result of either:
- The Combat Effect of a Jugula card
- The Ability of a Jugula card that explicitly states that an attack has to be resolved.
Eligible targets
To resolve an attack, the first thing to do is determine the attacker (one of your gladiators) and his target (an enemy gladiator from now on referred to as the defender).
The target of the attack must be an enemy gladiator that is in one of the three squares that form the front zone of your gladiator.
In this example, our gladiator can attack A, B or C but not D as the latter is not in his front.
Also, as we shouted on page 13, you cannot attack a gladiator that has been wounded during your current turn. Therefore if you have already wounded a gladiator with an attack, you may not attack him again until your next turn. This also means that as long as you did not wound a gladiator, you can chain attacks against him.
Also, please note right now that a gladiator can attack any number of times during a turn, as long as you have attacks to resolve (i.e. a single gladiator is not limited to one attack per turn).
Also, we'll mention this now although the rules that explain it properly are in a later section on Traits, a gladiator that has had a Hindrance counter placed on him may not make an attack.
Attack resolution
Once the attacker and defender are determined, each Lanista involved in this attack (the players controlling the attacker and defender), starting with the Lanista controlling the attacker, will play a face down card.
The card that each Lanista will play can either come from his hand (the Lanista chooses one card and places it face-down on the table) or it can be the topmost card from his deck (he takes it and places it face-down). If the Lanista's deck is empty, he must shuffle his discard pile to form a new deck before picking his combat card.
Once the attacking Lanista has made his choice and put a card facedown, the defending Lanista must choose if the card he will play will come from his hand or from his deck (shuffling his discard pile if necessary).
You remember, right? Both cards are revealed. The only element considered on the revealed cards is the dice shown at the bottom of the cards. To determine the outcome of the attack, each Lanista will add to their revealed dice value a certain number of modifiers, and then the final totals are compared. See attack outcome, below.
Once the outcome of the attack has been determined and the effects of the attack resolved, the attack is over. If the attacking Lanista still has attacks left, he may declare a new attack by designating an attacking gladiator and a defender. If the Lanista is satisfied and doesn't want to resolve the other attacks, or if he doesn't have any attacks left, his turn is over.
Sidebar: You cannot finish a turn without any cards in hand. So, if you make an attack and have only a single card left in your hand, you have no choice but to take the topmost card from your deck as your combat card and pray the Gods that it is not a 1 or a 0. Next time, plan ahead, silly boy...
Combat modifiers
To simply compare the dice scores of the revealed cards would be extremely simple. Actually, a bit too simple (even for us!) and would lack any tactical refinement. That's why some modifiers will be applied to the dice score revealed by each player, and these modifiers will shift the balance toward the attacker or the defender. All these modifiers will be added to/subtracted from the revealed dice score to give a final score for the attacker and the defender. There are two series of modifiers, one set apply to the attacker, and the other to the defender.
Even incompetence has its limits.
Attacker's modifiers. Apply these modifiers to the attacker's revealed die score.
| Modifier | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| + ATT | Attack value | The attacker adds his relevant ATT value from his armature card based upon the gladiator class of the defender. The attack value to be added is the one that corresponds to the silhouette of the defender (orange for heavies, green for lights). |
| + Vox Populi bonus | Vox Populi | The attacker adds any relevant bonus that would appear on his Vox Populi track, in the red-circled number, below the space where his Vox Populi marker is currently located. For more details see the chapter about Vox Populi, page 25. |
| + 1 | Flank | If the attacker is in one of the flank squares of the defender, he will get a +1 bonus. |
| + 2 | Rear | If the attacker is in one of the rear squares of the defender, he will get a +2 bonus. |
| + 3 | Back | If the attacker is in the back square of the defender, he will get a +3 bonus. |
| - 1 | Threatening gladiator | For each threatening gladiator (see below) the defender must deduct 1 from his combat score. |
Defender's modifiers. Apply these modifiers to the defender's revealed die score.
| Modifier | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| + DEF | Defence value | The defender adds his relevant DEF value from his armature card based upon the gladiator class of the attacker. The defence value to be added is the one that corresponds to the silhouette of the attacker (orange for heavies, green for lights). |
| - 1 | Threatening gladiator | For each threatening gladiator (see below) the defender must deduct 1 from his combat score. |
| - 1 | Hindered | If the defender has at least one Hindrance marker, he will suffer a -1 penalty to his combat score. |
Attack outcome
Once you have determined the final combat scores of both the attacker and the defender, they are compared.
There are five possible outcomes:
- The defender has a higher combat score. The Lanista controlling the defender may immediately increase his Vox Populi by one (moving his Vox Populi marker one space to the right), as the crowd exults after such an efficient demonstration of weapon mastery!
- Both combat scores are equal. Nothing happens, except a couple of spectators might fall asleep.
- The attacker's combat score is higher than the defender's. The defender is pushed back. The crowd looks interested. The attacker may pursue the defender into the vacated square.
- The attacker's score is at least twice as much as the defender's. The defender is pushed back then wounded. Spectators shout and applaud, rejoicing in the bloodshed! The attacker may pursue the defender into the vacated square.
- The attacker's score is at least four times as much as the defender's. The defender bites the dust. Exalted, the crowd chants the name of the victorious gladiator and quite a few ladies faint. The attacker can move into the square where the victim was standing. The attacking Lanista should feel free to shout a mighty "Hourrah!"
Only the most favourable applicable outcome to the attacker applies. In other words, if your combat score as the attacker is twice that of the defender, you push the defender back and wound him, but you do not push him back a second time for simply exceeding his combat score.
Sidebar: The final score of an attacker or a defender can never be less than 1. So, even if insane amounts of penalties affect your die score, you will end with a score of at least one. You will thank us later, if you survive...
Threatening gladiator
Each threatening gladiator gives a -1 penalty to the attacker's or the defender's combat score.
A gladiator is considered to be a threatening gladiator by any enemy gladiator who is in his front zone.
However, this gladiator ceases to be threatening if he is himself in the Danger Zone of an enemy gladiator that is not involved in the current attack, either as attacker or defender.
A gladiator is never considered to be a threatening gladiator in an attack that he is directly involved in, be it either as attacker or defender.
Gladiators A and C are considered as threatening for your gladiator. B is not, as your gladiator is not in his front.
C attacks your gladiator (in the central square). D, who is from your familia, threatens C and will therefore deduct one from C's combat score. A and B are however threatening gladiators for you, and will cause a -2 to your own combat score. C is not a threatening gladiator for two reasons: he is involved in this attack, and he is in the Danger Zone of D.
Pushed back gladiator
A pushed back gladiator must move back one square, keeping the same facing. The square to which the pushed back gladiator must move to is the one directly opposite from where the attack came, as shown in the diagrams below.
The black, red and green arrows show the direction of the attack and the square into which the defender will be pushed back.
The same basics apply if the attack comes from the flank, rear or back of the defender. Here the attacks push back the defender directly in the opposite direction. Keep in mind that the defender will not change facing.
It is not an uncommon occurrence for the defender to be pushed back into a square occupied by another gladiator or out of the arena or into its walls.
Following the attack from A, our gladiator cannot be pushed back to the square directly opposite (as B occupies it). In this case, he will have to be pushed back to a square adjacent to the one he should have moved to that is also one square away from the attacker. The choice is left to the attacker. Once the defender has been pushed back, the attacker may move into the vacated square.
Here, the limits of the arena mean that there is only one square where the defender can be pushed back to.
If there is no square that the defender could be pushed back into, he is wounded instead of being pushed back.
Our gladiator is in a bad spot. He cannot be pushed back, as there is no eligible square, so he will be wounded instead.
Pursuing
If the square the defender occupied is left empty after the resolution of the attack, the attacker may immediately move into it. He is moved into that square, but may not change facing. Pursuing is always optional and the controlling Lanista has the choice either to pursue or not.
Our gladiator pushes back the defender... ...and without changing facing, moves into the defender's vacated square.
Sidebar: Take care! When it comes to push back and pursuit, the Danger Zones are simply ignored. Defender and attacker may make their push back and pursuit irrespective of Danger Zones.
In the arena, you shut up and strike.
Wounded gladiators
When a gladiator is wounded, its owner should place a Wound token near the figure (as a visual reminder to his opponents that the gladiator is wounded) and turn the Armatura card for the wounded gladiator face down, with the wounded side face-up (thus revealing reduced stats for that gladiator.)
On the left you have the Armatura card for an unwounded Dimachaerius. On the right, you have the reverse of the card which shows same gladiator when wounded. Note the reduced Movement, ATT and DEF.
Sidebar: The clever reader that you are, you have already concluded that a gladiator that must be pushed back and wounded, but who cannot move back is actually biting the dust. No?
It takes blood!
Ok, let's put it differently. I see that you have never been in an arena with your life at stake.
A gladiator that is wounded and pushed back can easily bite the dust straight away. How? Simple. Imagine that the gladiator cannot be pushed back. What would happen? He would be wounded instead of being pushed back. And this would come in addition to the wound suffered by the attack. And a wound on another wound makes you bite the dust.
You got it Lanista?
... It happened to Minimea once. He had his back against the wall, and couldn't help but be thrown against the stone by a guy twice his height and weight. He ended the fight with a gladius in the stomach. I always felt that Minimea was a showman, even if it was is at his own expense.
Biting the dust
A gladiator that has bitten the dust takes no further part in the fight and the figure is removed from the arena. The figure is placed on his armatura card, for the guilty pleasure of his opponent.
The gladiator that delivered the fatal blow may pursue in the square left empty by his opponent's demise.
Vox Populi
The Vox Populi tracks appear on all four sides of the arena, so there will be one in front of each player involved in the game. Obviously, when playing with less than 4 Lanista, some will remain unused during the game.
On this track (which runs from 0 up to 10), the Lanista will be able to record their Vox Populi level. This represents the support the familia gets from the crowd in the shape of applause and encouragement, the fainting of Roman ladies, and, probably more usefully, an attack bonus for all your gladiators. It also governs the maximum size of your hand of cards.
At the start of the game, each Lanista should place his Vox Populi marker on the 0 space of the scale.
Vox Populi track diagram key: (1) Starting position of the marker. (2) Vox Populi space (indicating in this case a Vox Populi of 4). (3) Attack bonus granted by that level of Vox Populi. (4) Maximum number of cards a Lanista can have in his hand at the end of his turn.
The track values, from 0 to 10 (attack bonus / maximum hand size), are:
| Vox Populi | Attack bonus | Maximum cards in hand |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | +0 | 5 |
| 1 | +0 | 6 |
| 2 | +1 | 6 |
| 3 | +1 | 6 |
| 4 | +1 | 7 |
| 5 | +1 | 7 |
| 6 | +2 | 8 |
| 7 | +2 | 8 |
| 8 | +2 |
Below each Vox Populi space there is a small disc containing the attack bonus related to that level of Vox Populi. As we discussed in the chapter about combat, this bonus only applies to attacks, and never to defence scores! The crowd occasionally appreciates a nice dodge, but in the end, prefers to see blood and only truly supports aggressive gladiators!
On the right of the attack bonus you will find a number in a rectangle. This number is the maximum number of cards you can have in your hand at the end of your turn. As your Vox Populi increases, this number also increases.
At the end of your turn, if the number of cards in your hand exceeds the number allowed by your Vox Populi, you must choose and discard cards from your hand until you are left with a number of cards equal to that indicated by your Vox Populi.
Vox Populi changes
During the fight, your Vox Populi is likely to change. It can increase, moving your marker to the right, or decrease, moving one or more spaces to the left.
There are three circumstances which will make your Vox Populi level change:
- When you play a Jugula card (or, obviously, a Prima Jugula card) for its Vox Populi effect. Your marker is moved to the right by a number of spaces equal to the number appearing next to the Vox Populi icon on the Jugula card.
- When one of your gladiators defends successfully against an attack. That is, when the gladiator has a higher defence score than the attack score of the enemy gladiator. In that case, your marker moves one space to the right.
- When a Jugula card effect dictates a change in Vox Populi. Some cards will increase it, but be careful as some cards played by an opponent can decrease it.
The Vox Populi level can never go below 0 or exceed 10.
Any effect that would bring the Vox Populi level of a Lanista below 0 has no other consequences leaving the Vox Populi level at an impressive 0. If the Vox Populi level should increase beyond 10, it stays at 10 but for each point of increase that couldn't be made, the Lanista can draw an extra Jugula card from his deck.
Our beloved (hmmm) Lanista Moronus has already got the crowd well and truly behind his familia despite the fact that, at this moment, his gladiators are in quite a bad spot in the arena. His Vox Populi is now at the maximum level of 10, with a full +4 attack bonus on all attacks.
Miraculously, Blimyx manages to dodge an attack by getting a higher combat score than the attacker. Our Vox Populi should increase, but being at its maximum, our Lanista draws a card from his deck instead.
If your Vox Populi is...
Many Jugula abilities depend on (or have variable effects depending upon) your Vox Populi compared to that of your opponent.
For your Vox Populi to be considered higher than your opponent, your marker should be in a space closer to the right hand end of the Vox Populi ladder than your opponent's marker.
For your Vox Populi to be considered lower than your opponent, your marker should be in a space closer to the left hand end of the Vox Populi ladder than your opponent's marker.
In some cases, your Vox Populi must be at least X points higher. In this case, the numerical value of the space occupied by your Vox Populi marker must be at least X points higher than the numerical value of the space occupied by your opponent's marker.
Quite simple and intuitive, but better state it for deviously intentioned gamers!
Moronus, a bit too excited by the support of the blood maddened crowd, chooses to use Panem et Circenses (quite appropriate, isn't it?). As his Vox Populi is 10 and his opponent's is only of 5, he can use the card's ability which requires his Vox Populi to exceed his opponent's by at least 3. He plays this card. As it will take him a while to choose what to do with the card, let's continue our explanations.
Sidebar: A half-decent Lanista will never ignore the crowd and the Vox Populi bonuses which come from its support. Even if you choose not to increase your Vox Populi (which is a valid tactic) you must keep in mind that by doing so, you offer quite a lot of advantages to your opponents, without even mentioning the juicy attack bonuses given by a high Vox Populi level. But also take care not to go over the top with the Vox Populi. When you choose an effect to increase your Vox Populi, you usually do not get to do anything else, leaving the momentum with your opponent. Your gladiators might have the support of the crowd for now, but it will be useless if they don't move or if you don't have any cards in hand. Judicious timing of your Vox Populi increases is one the main keys to the success in the arena.
Maximum hand size
Your Vox Populi also determines the maximum number of cards in your hand. Your hand size is checked at the very end of each of your turns (and only then). Your Lanista's maximum hand size is indicated below his familia's current Vox Populi level in a small rectangle (it's next to his familia's current attack bonus).
If, at the end of your turn, your hand-size exceeds your current maximum, then you must discard enough cards to bring it back down to the maximum size. Cards to discard are chosen by the Lanista and are placed face-up to the discard pile.
Finally, Moronus has made his choice. It will be a movement effect and a draw effect. After moving two gladiators, he draws 4 cards, and, wetting his toga, proudly shows to his familia his 11 cards hand. That is until someone in the crowd, smarter than the usual Roman, reminds him that even with the maximum Vox Populi, his hand size is limited to 10 cards. Our Lanista must choose one card to discard at the end of the turn (which is right now).
If you wonder which card he chooses to discard, you will likely have to wait until Jugula 3rd edition to get an answer...
You live for the crowd and the crowd lives for you.
The Jugula Cards
As you will have discovered on the previous pages, the Jugula cards constitute the heart of the game and its backbone. Frequently, a Lanista can use the card abilities to gain a crucial advantage in the arena or to trick their opponent.
Most of the abilities are easy to understand and very intuitive, but to avoid any misunderstanding, we will take some time to look at the card abilities in a bit more detail. We will only discuss the abilities of the card, as their other effects are just numerical values.
Jugula cards
12 Jugula cards form your initial deck. They are shuffled and placed face down to create your draw deck.
Acies Aciei
This ability allows you to choose a card from your discard pile (usually, a card you have played previously) and return it to your hand. Very handy to recycle a powerful card and play it again later in the game without waiting for your draw deck to be depleted, reshuffled and the aforementioned card to be eventually drawn again.
Of course, if you do not have any cards in your discard, this ability will not be very helpful.
Acta est Fabula
This card allows you to choose a card that has been removed from the game, and to put it back on the top of its owner's deck. Acta est Fabula is then removed from the game.
This is an interesting card that can be used in two ways. If you choose one of your cards (Jugula or Prima Jugula), the chosen card will be available again (and the abilities of cards that remove themselves from the game after their use are usually very effective) and so the powerful card can be played another time. If you choose an opponent's card, it will usually be a particularly weak card that the Lanista wanted to get rid of (and he will be quite upset by this play!). So depending on the circumstances, both plays are valid options.
Ardor Oris
This ability allows you to make a single attack. Obviously one of your gladiators is the attacker, and an enemy gladiator is the target. During this attack, your gladiator benefits from a +4 attack bonus. You have to pay a price for that bonus though. At the end of the attack, your gladiator is wounded (and will bite the dust if he was already wounded). So this ability should be used cautiously!
Cognatus a Um
After this ability has been used, Cognatus a Um will be removed from the game. So, unless you play Acta est Fabula later, you will only get to use this card once per game.
It will cancel the wound on one of your gladiators, if that gladiator has no enemy gladiators in adjacent squares. Remove the wound marker from the figure, and turn his Armatura card to show its original, unwounded side. The boy is ready for some action!
Fraus Fraudis
Fraus Fraudis is a good way to quickly gain some Prima Jugula cards. When playing it for its ability, you will be able to choose two Prima Jugula cards, each worth one star (the printed rule shows the star icon alone, without a number) and add them to your hand.
Impetus
This ability allows you to choose one of your gladiators and either: move him then attack with him; or attack with him and then move him. Both options are interesting and a clever use of this card at the right time can be a game winner.
Infamis
This ability may only be used if you have a higher Vox Populi than any opponent's. You may then use the three effects (movement, Vox Populi and draw) in any order, each with a value of 1.
Moriturí te salutant
When playing this ability, you will have to discard as many cards from your hand as you wish (keeping at least one card in hand, see page 13). For each card discarded, you increase your Vox Populi by 1.
Panem et Circenses
To be able to make use of this ability, your Vox Populi must be at least 3 points higher than your opponent's. If this is the case, you will be able to choose two out of three of these effects and resolve them in any order:
- Movement effect.
- Vox Populi effect.
- Draw effect.
Note that the Upgrade effect is not one of the options offered by this ability.
Par Pari Refertur
By using this ability you will be able to move one of your gladiators, and that gladiator will benefit from 4 extra MPs to spend during this movement. Your gladiator may not start his movement in the front zone of an enemy gladiator, nor move into any enemy front zone during this movement. If, at any point, it is not possible to move without breaking this rule, the movement must stop.
Plausus
The first part of this ability will allow you to look at the 4 topmost cards of your deck and arrange them in any order before placing them back on top of your deck. Then, if you have the highest Vox Populi, you will be able to immediately play another card from your hand. This card is played like any other card you would play during your turn, by choosing an effect and resolving it.
Virtus
Unlike other abilities, this one can only be used if you do not have the highest Vox Populi. If you do not, reduce any opponent's Vox Populi by 2, and then play another card, in the same way as described in Plausus, above.
Prima Jugula Cards
Prima Jugula cards are not usually part of your deck at the start of the game. They are identified by their red border and the stars that appear on the left of the card. They are acquired with Upgrade effects or through some card abilities.
Audacia (cost: 1 star)
This card has no ability at all, but take a look at the impressive numerical values and the dice value on it before neglecting Audacia!
Fulmen (cost: 1 star)
This card has a double effect. It will allow you to draw two cards then either move one of your gladiators or attack with him.
Paro (cost: 1 star)
This ability will force an opponent of your choice to discard his hand down to 3 cards.
Animus (cost: 2 stars)
This card is very similar to Panem et Circenses, except that it does not depend on your Vox Populi level and adds a welcomed Combat effect to the array of options offered to the Lanista.
Dubitatio (cost: 2 stars)
This ability allows you to choose one effect from:
- Movement effect.
- Vox Populi effect.
- Combat effect.
- Draw effect.
Then, if your Vox Populi is of 6 or more, you will be able to select at random a card in your opponent's hand (obviously without peeking first, unless you can get away with it!). Your opponent will have to play this card during his next turn. The choice of the card effect is still left to your opponent.
Fatalitas (cost: 2 stars)
To be able to use this ability you must have an enemy gladiator in the Danger Zone of two of your gladiators. This gladiator is immediately wounded, and bites the dust if he was already wounded. Then Fatalitas is removed from the game.
Formido (cost: 2 stars)
By playing this card, you will increase your Vox Populi by 4 but you will have to choose one opponent that will increase their Vox Populi by 2. Then, you will have to play another card.
Perfidia (cost: 2 stars)
Perfidia allows you to choose any number of Prima Jugula cards whose total cost does not exceed 7 stars and put these cards in your discard pile.
Dementia (cost: 3 stars)
Dementia is, as its name suggests, an insane ability. It allows you to move an enemy gladiator. This gladiator gets its usual number of MPs for this movement, and still considers your own gladiators as enemies for the sake of movement restrictions and cost. But apart from these restrictions, you are free to move the gladiator in whatever way you want to!
Fortuna (cost: 3 stars)
This ability will offer you the opportunity to get rid of the weakest card in your deck. Once played, you can go through your deck and then your discard pile and remove from the game all Jugula and Prima Jugula that have a dice value of 2 or less. Be careful not to mix your deck and discard pile.
You must then shuffle your deck.
Potestas (cost: 3 stars)
The aim of this ability is to reduce any one opponent's Vox Populi. To do so, you discard any number of your hand (you must keep at least one though) and decrease one opponent's Vox Populi by the number of cards discarded. Then you may play another card.
Temperare (cost: 3 stars)
Another ability to stream-line your deck. To do so, you can browse your deck and discard pile and take 1, 2 or 3 cards. These cards are removed from the game. Then your discard pile is shuffled back in your deck to form a new draw deck.
Finally, if you have a higher Vox Populi than all opponents, you can draw two cards and play another card.
The Traits
Some gladiators have Traits listed on their Armatura cards. These correspond to special rules and reflect the gladiator's training in a particular style of combat.
Range
When determining which enemy a gladiator with Range can attack, the front zone of the gladiator with Range is projected forward by a number of squares equal to his Range, as illustrated below:
Attacks made by a gladiator with Range are not blocked by intervening gladiators, enemy or friendly.
A gladiator with Range 1 can attack into any of the brown squares. In this example, you can see from the brown squares that a gladiator with Range 2 can attack even further. Here, gladiator A with Range 1 can still attack B, even if C stands in the way.
A gladiator with Range benefits from the attack modifier that goes with his positionning on either the flank (+1), the rear (+2) or the back (+3).
Sidebar, "You might have the longest one, but...": Take care! Range only defines which gladiator you may attack and has no effect on movement, your Danger Zone or anything else. So, your Danger Zone is still the single square to your front, and when it comes to affecting the movement of enemies, your front zone is still restricted to the three squares immediately in front of your gladiator.
Hindrance
At the start of the game, each gladiator with this Trait places a Hindrance marker on his Armatura card.
Instead of performing a regular attack, if the gladiator has a Hindrance marker on his card, he can announce that he will make a Hindering attack. This attack is resolved like any other attack but if the attacker beats the defender's combat score, the defender will take the Hindrance marker. All other effects are ignored, regardless of by how many points the attacker has beaten the defender's score (so a defender is never pushed back, wounded nor bites the dust after a Hindering attack).
A gladiator that gains a Hindrance marker as a result of a Hindrance attack is subject to the following rules:
- He may not move or attack.
- His Combat score is modified by -1, as indicated in the chart of combat modifiers.
- He does not have a Danger Zone and enemy gladiators can leave his front zone without paying an additional +1 MP penalty.
To remove a Hindrance marker, a gladiator must first sacrifice all his MPs instead of moving. He may then remove any Hindrances markers he has, and each of these tokens is replaced on the Armatura card of its owning gladiator.
Bow
A gladiator with this Trait can never attack adjacent gladiators. When this gladiator attacks, his target increases its DEF by the number of squares that separate the bowman and the target, counting the squares on the shortest direct route possible between them.
The Sagittarius A attacks B. He has Range 5 and the Bow Trait. As two squares separate them, B will increase his DEF by 2. A could not attack C as the latter is adjacent to him.
Harassment
Any gladiator in the Danger Zone of a gladiator with this Trait reduces his attack (ATT) and defence (DEF) values by one, to a minimum of 0.
Massive
A gladiator with this Trait can only attack gladiators that are in his Danger Zone. In addition, his defence (DEF) is reduced by 2 when he is attacked by a gladiator that is outside his front zone.
Stoic
Hindrance markers have no effect on this gladiator. He also ignores all penalties for threatening gladiators (see page 21 for a description of threatening gladiators).
Multi-Player Games
The rules for multi-player games are very similar to the ones for opposing two Lanista. The differences are described below.
Entering the arena
Deciding who goes first is done in the same way as with two Lanista, with each player revealing one card from his deck to determine the first player.
This done, the first player deploys his familia in one of the available deployment zones (depending upon the number of players, as shown in the diagrams below).
Deployment for 3 players. The first player chooses one of the three green zones. Deployment for 4 players. The first player chooses one of the four green zones.
After the first player has deployed his familia, the player to his left deploys his gladiators, and so on, proceeding clockwise around the table.
Game round
A Jugula multi-player game is divided into rounds, a concept that does not exist in two player games.
A round is composed of one turn for each Lanista. Who goes first is determined at the start of each round.
The first player of a round will play his turn, followed by each other player taking one turn, proceeding clockwise around the table.
To determine the first player, each Lanista plays a card face down. This card can come from either his hand, or be taken from the top of his deck. Cards are revealed simultaneously and the Lanista with the highest die score will designate one player as the first player (it can be himself or any other Lanista).
If two Lanista are tied for the highest scoring die, the Lanista with the highest Vox Populi amongst the tied players wins. If there is still a tie between two or more players, these players (and only them) will have to pick another card (from their hand or from their deck) and reveal it. This process is repeated until a winner emerges.
Sidebar: In the arena, there are no friends.
Movement and combat
The rules are unaltered, but keep in mind that the number of opposing gladiators is much more important and all of them count as enemies! The number of threatening gladiators in a 4 player game can be intimidating!
Victory
The objective of a multi-player game is to be the last familia in the arena.
A familia must leave the arena when:
- All its gladiators in the arena are wounded;
- It has only one gladiator left in the arena.
The familia leaving the arena must remove all its figures from the arena and takes no further part in the game.
The last familia in the arena is triumphant, and its Lanista is the winner of the game.
Sidebar (example): Laure, Fred, Laurent and the (in)famous Captain Miller have deployed their gladiators in the arena and are waiting eagerly to spill some blood. But before that, they have to determine the first player for this round.
Laure, Fred and Captain Miller decide to take the first card from the top of their decks, while Laurent, calculating as usual, plays a card from his hand. The cards are revealed. Laure got a 3, Fred, Laurent and Captain Miller all have a 5. Their Vox Populi being 0 (it is the start of the game) they are tied and the process must be done again, excluding Laure this time.
Each of them takes the card from the top of their decks. Fred gets a 1 and Laurent and Captain Miller both reveal a 2. Their Vox Populi being the same, they have to do it a third time, this time without Fred.
The last cards revealed give a die score of 4 for the Captain and 2 for Laurent.
Captain Miller chooses the first player and designates Fred. As Fred is to the left of Captain Miller, this means the devious Captain is able to play last thus waiting to take his initial moves after all his opponents have played.
Careers
Jugula offers another game mode: the Careers Campaign. In this game mode, rather than playing a one-off combat in the arena, you will have to manage a ludus (a gladiator school) from its inglorious beginnings to the dizzying heights of fighting in the most prestigious of amphitheatres - the Coliseum!
To play the career mode (a "campaign" if we use the common parlance of wargamers,) you will need to have at least two Lanista, with the more players involved, the better (well, to a manageable degree!). As the stories of the ludi will take some time to be written, we would expect the players involved to be able to attend gaming sessions fairly regularly.
At the start of their career, each Lanista will have to fill out a ludus record sheet. Once all players have their sheet ready, the first combats can be fought. To do so, you only need to have between 2 and 4 Lanista agreeing to fight together, and then to play a game of Jugula. This game will be a bit different to a standalone game as it will be preceded by a pre-game sequence (see later for details). Once the arena game is finished, each Lanista involved will have to follow a post-game sequence, which will work-out the benefits and losses the combat has had on the ludus.
There are no set rules for organising combats. It is left to the availability of players and the will of the Lanista. This rather informal approach means that the careers mode does not rely too heavily on the availability of all players and so does not suffer too much from real world interference. Hopefully it keeps the campaign flowing smoothly. Of course, it means that the more assiduous Lanista will have some kind of advantage, but it doesn't seem odd to reward the ludi that are ready to send their combatants in to the arena, does it?
Fred, Laurent, Arnaud and Captain Miller decide to start careers as Lanista. Once Fred has received his satin toga and ensured that it is as glamorous as intended, they are ready to go. Each of them has a ludus record sheet properly completed, and they decide to have a weekly gaming meeting, leaving six days to hatch plans of revenge, taunt defeated opponents and wash pants.
For the first week, they agree to have two combats, leaving the pairings in the hands of Fate. A couple of coin tosses later and Laurent will face Captain Miller, and Fred and Arnaud will fight each other. As they have enough time for each player to play two games in a row, they decide that the winners of the first round will play in the second game, leaving the defeated to fight amongst themselves.
In the second week, as Captain Miller, with his infamous reliability, could not make it, they decide to have a game with three players, rather than having one of them jeering from the terraces. When Captain Miller finally decides to get out of his Roman bath, they will again be able to play standard games. They also agree that if two Lanista are able to organise a game outside their weekly meeting, they are allowed to do so. It's all about the sport and glory after all...
Goal of the Career Campaign
The final objective of a career (at least from the Lanista point of view, we expect the players to play this mode for fun!) is to gain Glory. Before their careers start, the players involved in the campaign will need to decide what Glory level is needed to win the campaign.
10 Glory is the standard, but there is nothing to stop players deciding to increase or decrease that level.
At the end of a post-game sequence, if a Lanista has 10 Glory, he has triumphed and wins the campaign, successfully ending his career and retiring to live the life of a Roman notable.
If two or more Lanista reach this level at the same time, decide the ultimate winner with one final, glorious, combat.
Ludus Record Sheet
On the right is an example of a ludus record sheet. Each Lanista will have the responsibility of keeping their record sheet up to date as it will record all the important information about himself, his ludus and his gladiators.
The information recorded is:
- The name of your Lanista. As your objective in the campaign is to bring fame on your lineage, an evocative and awe inspiring name is recommended. Nobody expects the crowd to shout the name Marcellus Maximum Pustullus in the arena!
- Here the current Glory of your Lanista is recorded. Acquiring Glory is the goal of your career and there are many ways to gain Glory, as we will see later.
- Your money, cash, shiny coins. Money in Jugula is the aureus (plural aurei,) the standard money in ancient Rome. The more you have, the better you feel.
- The Popularity of your Ludus. Going from 1 to 10, it will determine the kind of arena you can expect to be invited to fight in. The Popularity of your Ludus has a direct impact on the Glory of your Lanista, and it depends upon the ranks of your gladiators.
- This zone of the record sheet is dedicated to the gladiators of your familia. There are 6 spaces, and this is the maximum number of gladiators your ludus can have. In each space, you will be able to write all the information about one of your gladiators: his name, armatura, his upgrades, experience and rank (the number of stars).
- Recorded here are the servitors working for your ludus. Next to each servitor's name is his rank (in stars) ranging from one to three. The higher the rank, the better are his abilities and the greater is his efficiency.
- During your career, your Lanista may have to borrow some cash or may even lend some money. The usury zone will record the sums you have borrowed or lent and the interest rates related to these loans.
- As your career progresses, your Lanista will fulfil some Glory attribution criteria. As each criterion can only be fulfilled once during your career, this section will remind you of what you have already achieved and what you need to aim for next.
Ludus
At the start of your career your ludus has:
- 4 gladiators, with different armaturae (they are Tiro, as we will see later)
- 50 aurei. Not a big deal, but better than nothing.
- Any one servitor of your choice, of rank 1 (so a single star).
You must choose any four different armaturae to compose your initial ludus. Give a name to each of these gladiators on the Ludus Record Sheet, and record their armatura. These gladiators, as green as they are, have no upgrade or experience.
Note the 50 aurei that are your initial cash in the relevant space of your record sheet.
Finally, choose one servitor amongst the 10 available servitors, and fill the first star of this servitor, indicating that he is of rank 1.
Apart from your usual Jugula gaming material, each Lanista will have to bring two six sided dice (let's call them D6 from now on, 2D6 being used for the sum of two dice rolled together): these will be used during the pre and post-arena sequences.
You are ready to fight your first combat!
Sidebar: A prime rule in the managing of a ludus: you may never have two gladiators with the same armatura. So, your six gladiators will always be of 6 different armaturae. Also, this means that you cannot hire a gladiator with the same armatura as a gladiator that is already part of your ludus, even if the latter does not take part in the current combat. They are like that, gladiators, they like to feel unique!
The Gladiators
Each space on your ludus sheet will record the data for one of your gladiators. This space represents different information:
- Wounded or convalescent. Allows you to record the severity of injuries of the gladiator during the arena post-sequence (see page 43, Wounds treatment).
- The name, this will identify the gladiator. It can be his name or a nickname but whatever it is, it will always be better than a bland and boring 'my retiarus'.
- The armatura of the gladiator. Remember than each ludus can only have one gladiator fighting with any given armatura.
- The gladiator's upgrades, acquired through experience in the arena. They may be increased stats (indicated with a simple +1 ATT, for example,) or a talent (the list of talents is found in the appendix).
- The rank of the gladiator. A star-less gladiator is a Tiro. Once he gains his first star, he becomes a Palus. With two stars he becomes a Secundus Palus and finally, the last star will make him a legendary Primus Palus.
- The experience of the gladiator. When a gladiator gains an experience point, one square is marked. When one of the larger squares is marked, the gladiator gains a star and has reached the next rank.
Pre-Arena Sequence
When playing a career mode game, some steps will have to be meticulously followed before releasing your gladiators into the arena.
You will find them described below. For your first few games, make sure to resolve them in the given order, to avoid missing out an important step. As with the main Jugula rules, we will assume that the game involves two Lanista and we will deal with games involving three or four players later.
The pre-arena sequence has four steps: (1) Determine the arena; (2) Determine reward; (3) Hire gladiators and servitors; (4) Start of combat.
Determine the arena
Before even contemplating the idea of your familia putting a foot on the sand, it is necessary to know in what kind of arena they will fight. It is unlikely ("impossible") for an obscure ludus, managed by an unknown Lanista, to be invited to fight in the temple of gladiator fighting, the Coliseum. It is much more likely that your first combat will take place in one of the myriad of illegal arenas throughout the Roman Empire, in an underground cellar, fighting for a handful of drunken and sinister spectators. Once a bit of notoriety has been acquired, a provincial arena might be interested in seeing your familia fight. There you will discover the joys of a crowd that is not suspected of murder, thievery and rape. After making a name in these provinces any right thinking Roman notable would despise, you might jump to a provincial capital arena, a Camulodunum or Colonia Agrippina. The worthiest or luckiest Lanista will make their way to Italy and fight in some of its prestigious arenas, such as the famous Capoue. Finally, your wildest dreams may come true and one day you might even fight in the Coliseum.
To determine the arena where the combat will take place, each Lanista rolls a die and adds the bonus granted by his Munenarius (if his ludus employs such a servitor). Any results higher than 6 are treated as a 6. The scores of the Lanista are added together, and the result is read on the chart below.
Arena chart (rows: total of the dice rolls; columns: Ludi cumulated popularity)
| Result | 0-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 9-11 | 12-14 | 15-17 | 18+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Illegal | Illegal | Illegal | Provincial | Provincial | Prov. Capital | Italian |
| 3 | Illegal | Illegal | Illegal | Provincial | Provincial | Prov. Capital | Italian |
| 4 | Illegal | Illegal | Provincial | Provincial | Prov. Capital | Prov. Capital |
The accumulated Popularity of the Ludi is the sum of the popularity stars of each ludus involved (which appear under the Popularity heading of the ludus record sheet).
Determine reward
Now that you know where the fight is taking place, you might be interested to determine what financial rewards the organizers have offered for taking part in their show. The prize money is randomly determined, but the size of the arena will be crucial. Bigger arenas mean bigger rewards!
Each Lanista rolls a die, and their sum determines the reward according to the chart below:
| Arena | Reward (in aurei) |
|---|---|
| Illegal arena | (Total x 10) + 100 |
| Provincial arena | (Total x 20) + 300 |
| Provincial capital arena | (Total x 50) + 400 |
| Italian arena | (Total x 200) + 800 |
| Coliseum | Total x 750 |
Note down the reward and keep it nearby, as it will be needed during the post-arena sequence.
Fred and Captain Miller, now that their careers are well underway, are owners of ludi of a popularity of 6 and 4 respectively. Before starting a new arena game, each of them rolls a die. Fred gets a 4 and the Captain rolls a 5. Fred has a Munenarius of rank one star so his +2 bonus is added to the die roll. The final result to be read on the table will be 4+5+2, so 11. Their cumulated popularity being 10, they will fight in a provincial arena. Exciting!
Now that they know where they will fight, they need to determine the reward. Each of them rolls a die, and this time Fred rolls only a 1 while Captain Miller rolls a 3. The reward will be of 600 aurei (4x50+400). It could have been much better, but none of them will turn down such a sum!
Editor's note on the printed example: the example names a provincial arena, but by the arena chart a cumulated popularity of 10 with a result of 11 reads as Provincial Capital, and its reward arithmetic (4x50+400) is the Provincial capital row. The printed example is transcribed as printed.
Hiring gladiators and servitors
Before the fight, you might be interested in bolstering your ludus with hired combatants or auxiliaries, especially if you feel that your ludi does not have the necessary tools to ensure victory in the arena.
In that case, by spending some money, you will be able to recruit extra help for a single session in the arena. These hired gladiator(s)/servitor(s) will join you as you enter the arena, and leave your ludus after the post-arena sequence. They will not gain experience nor will they need to be paid after the combat (they will take their wages right now!). So the only payment you will have to make for their services is indicated in the chart below.
| Hiring a... | Cost (in aurei) |
|---|---|
| Tiro | 10 |
| Palus | 100 |
| Secundus Palus | 750 |
| Palus | 1200 |
| Servitor (1 star) | 100 |
| Servitor (2 stars) | 400 |
| Servitor (3 stars) | 1000 |
Editor's note on the chart: the last gladiator row is printed as "Palus" at 1200 aurei, the same name as the second row; by the rank order (Palus, Secundus Palus, Primus Palus) it is the most expensive rank and is transcribed as printed.
There are a few restrictions though: you cannot hire a gladiator with an armatura that another gladiator in your ludus already has. Likewise you cannot hire a servitor that you already have in your ludus, even if the hired one is of higher rank than your current servitor (imagine what the later would say)!
When you hire a gladiator, choose his armatura. If it is a Palus, give him an upgrade of your choice (see page 44, Experience).
A Secundus Palus will benefit from two upgrades of your choice and a Primus Palus will get three upgrades.
Unlike gladiators that are bought, the hired gladiators will have upgrades of your choice, making them perfectly fitted to your needs.
Sidebar: Hired gladiators are not part of your ludus, and hence do not count against the 6 gladiators you can have. So, even with a full ludus, you would be allowed to hire say 4 gladiators to make up your familia in the arena, and leave your own gladiators out of the arena, chatting and getting drunk (lucky boys!).
No need to find a bed for them!
The Combat
The game will be played with the standard rules, following the set up steps highlighted on page 8, with the important additions listed below:
- Each Lanista with a Manicarius places his Vox Populi on the number indicated by his Manicarius rank (1 for a rank one star, 3 for a rank two stars and 6 for a rank three stars).
- Before drawing his initial hand of Jugula cards, each player with a Sacerdos may add to his deck of Jugula cards a number of Prima Jugula cards whose total cost in stars is equal or less than allowed by the rank of your Sacerdos (1 for a rank one star, 3 for a rank two stars, and 7 for a rank three stars). These cards are added to your deck for the game, unless removed from the game by a Jugula card effect.
- During the deployment of your familia, you will only put 4 gladiators in the arena, even if your ludus has 5 or 6. You can choose which gladiators will take part at the moment you have to deploy them.
The Winner of the arena contest is determined by the standard rules as indicated page 9.
Fatum
Each time a gladiator bites the dust you will have to determine his fate (fatum), that is, determine if the crowd wants him to live or die, and if his death is pronounced by the editor.
To do that, the Lanista owning the gladiator rolls 2D6 on the chart below as soon as his gladiator bites the dust:
| Dice roll | Fatum |
|---|---|
| 2-4 | Jugula! The gladiator is killed and erased from his owner's ludus record sheet. |
| 5-12 | Mitte! The gladiator is spared. If his wounds are dealt with properly, he will survive another day. |
Modifiers:
| Modifier | Applies when |
|---|---|
| +1 | The gladiator is a Secundus Palus |
| +2 | The gladiator is a Primus Palus |
| +X | X = Editor modifier of the Lanista controlling the gladiator biting the dust.* |
| -X | X = Editor modifier of the Lanista controlling the gladiator that delivered the attack that made the gladiator bite the dust.* |
() This modifier depends on the rank of the editor as indicated on your ludus sheet, and won't apply if the gladiator has bitten the dust by himself (as with a gladiator biting the dust after using Ardor Oris).*
Post-Arena Sequence
Once the fight has ended and the dust has settled, the time has come to see how the events in the arena have affected the Ludii involved. To do so, each player will have to follow the steps below, in the exact order listed. Each step must be entirely resolved before moving on to the next in the sequence. The winning Lanista takes his post-arena sequence before any losing player.
The post-arena sequence has ten steps, in order:
- Liberatio!
- Rewards
- Wounds treatment
- Gladiator maintenance
- Gladiator's experience and rank updates
- Gladiator and Servitor sales
- Gladiator and Servitor purchases
- Usury
- Popularity update
- Glory update
Liberatio!
This step only happens after a fight in the Coliseum and if your familia deployed in the arena included a Primus Palus who has not bitten the dust.
Sometimes, the Emperor, impressed by the feats of a gladiator, decides to free him by offering him a rudius, a wooden (or bronze) glaive that testifies to his newly acquired freedom.
For each of your Primus Palus that has not bitten the dust during a combat in the Coliseum, you have to roll 2 dice, adding 2 to the result for a Primus Palus that was wounded during the fight. If the sum of the dice is equal to or exceeds 10, the Primus Palus has been liberated.
The Primus Palus is removed from your ludus sheet, but, in exchange, you immediately receive three stars to divide amongst your Servitors, representing the support that you acquire from the notables of Rome by attracting the attention of the Emperor himself. These stars can immediately be used to gain new servitors or increase the rank of your existing servitors without any restriction.
Also, and importantly, your Lanista immediately gains 3 Glory points.
Sidebar example: After an epic and bloody fight in the Coliseum, Craterus, Fred's retiarus, is liberated by the Emperor. Fred has to remove him from his ludus sheet, and sheds a tear. He then gains three Glory points immediately, drying all tears and replacing them with a huge smile.
Then he gets 3 stars to divide amongst his Servitors. He decides to upgrade his nomenclator from rank two stars to rank three stars, and that immediately gains Fred another 3 Glory points. His second star will be given to his medicus, bringing him up to rank two stars. Finally, the last star will get him a new servitor, a sacerdos of rank one star.
Rewards
The winner of the game receives the reward as determined during the pre-arena sequence.
Each other Lanista receives payment equal to half of the reward determined during the pre-arena sequence.
To this sum is added the bonus income generated by your unctor (50 for a rank one star, 200 for a rank two stars and 500 for a rank three stars).
If you have a running debt, you must deduct the interest rate from the money gained this way (indicated in the Usury space of your ludus sheet).
If you have a running loan, you apply the interest rate to the money gained by the combat (indicated in the Usury space of your ludus sheet).
The final sum is added to your treasury, in the relevant space of your ludus sheet.
Wounds treatment
It is time now to determine the seriousness of the wounds suffered by your gladiators. Each wounded gladiator and each gladiator that has bitten the dust must roll 2D6 on the chart below to determine the gravity of his wounds and any lasting effects of such wounds. To the dice score the Lanista can add the rank based bonus granted by his medicus (+1 for a rank one star, +2 for a rank two stars, and +4 for a rank three stars).
Obviously, gladiators that ended the combat unharmed do not have to roll on this chart.
| Dice roll | Gladiator that has bitten dust | Wounded gladiator |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | Dead | Convalescent |
| 4-5 | Convalescent | Wounded |
| 6-7 | Wounded | Ready |
| 8-12+ | Ready | Ready |
Heading in the book: "The life of a gladiator boils down to this."
Sidebar, status definitions:
- Dead: The gladiator has crossed the Styx. He is deleted from your ludus sheet.
- Convalescent: the gladiator cannot take part in your ludus's next combat. Mark the 'convalescent' box of his gladiator space to indicate this. At the end of the post-arena sequence of the next combat, delete this mark and the gladiator will be back in business.
- Wounded: this gladiator will start your ludus's the next combat wounded (i.e. with his armatura card on the wounded side). Mark the "wounded" box of his space on the ludus sheet to remind you. The mark is removed at the end of the post-arena sequence of your next combat, even if the gladiator was not deployed in the arena (which could be a wise decision).
- Ready: just a flesh wound! The gladiator is ready to fight another day.
Gladiator maintenance
We should now talk a bit more about the not-so jolly part of running gladiator schools. In a world where gladiators are made of tin and their weapons are dice, such warriors do not need to be fed, housed or paid. Painted maybe, but definitely not paid. But you are now a Lanista, and your gladiators, as beings made of flesh and blood, need their share of meat, wine and other, guilty pleasures. They might be slaves, but they are still men, and their motivation in the arena largely depends on the way you treat them on a daily basis. And with their fame comes greater expectations. You cannot imagine a Primus Palus sleeping in a stinky dormitory with half a dozen other gladiators all performing a snoring chorus. He will soon request his own personal lodging, special meals and some pleasant men or women to join him during the dark and cold nights...
And all these expenses will have to be paid by you, Lanista.
During this step of the post-arena sequence, you will have to pay a certain amount of aurei for each gladiator in your ludus. This amount is based on the rank of the gladiator, but each gladiator will generate his own maintenance cost that can vary during each post-arena sequence. If you have a procurator, some of these gladiators will not need any money to be spent on their maintenance (2 gladiators for a procurator of rank one star, 4 for a rank two stars, and 6 for a rank three stars). In this case, you choose which gladiators will not have to be paid, but this choice has to be made before rolling the dice.
If, unfortunately, you do not have the aurei necessary for the maintenance of all your gladiators, any gladiators that have not been paid leave your ludus immediately. Delete them from your ludus record sheet.
| Gladiator rank | Cost to maintain (in aurei) |
|---|---|
| Tiro | 10 |
| Palus | 1D6 x 10 |
| Secundus Palus | (1D6 x 25) + 100 |
| Primus Palus | (1D6 x100) + 300 |
Gladiator's experience and rank updates
After each combat, gladiators that have survived the fight will gain experience and, hopefully, progress through the ranks. This experience will be recorded in the relevant part of the space dedicated to that gladiator on the ludus sheet. Reaching the thresholds will progress the young Tiro into a Palus, then a Secundus Palus and finally a Primus Palus.
Each experience point allows the gladiator to tick one of his experience boxes, starting on the first line and moving from left to right. Each gladiator of your ludus will gain experience after each combat, even the ones that were not deployed in the arena (they are training after all!).
At the end of each combat, each of the gladiators in your ludus earns one experience point. In addition, a gladiator may gain extra experience points as indicated in the table below. These gains are cumulative, so a gladiator could earn up to 5 experience points after a combat.
| Bonus | Condition |
|---|---|
| +1 | The gladiator was deployed in the arena |
| +1 | The gladiator has bitten the dust during the combat |
| +1 | The gladiator fought in the arena and at least one of the opposing ludi had a Popularity exceeding your Popularity by at least 4 points |
| +1 | The gladiator has been trained by a doctor |
According to his rank, your doctor will be able to focus his training sessions on a certain number of your gladiators (one for a rank one star, three for a rank two stars, and five for a rank three stars). These lucky gladiators that you choose from your ludus, each gain an extra experience point, as shown on the table above. Each gladiator may only gain one experience point per post-arena sequence this way so if your doctor's rank allows him to train more gladiators than you have in your ludus, these potential experience points are lost. Tough. Buy some more gladiators, tight wad.
If, when recording the experience gained by one of your gladiators, you tick one of the large boxes on his chart, then that gladiator has reached the next rank.
The first large box ticked makes the gladiator a Palus. You should record this by blackening one helmet symbol on that gladiator's area on your ludus sheet.
The second large box ticked promotes the gladiator to a Secundus Palus. Blacken a second helmet for that gladiator on your ludus sheet.
The third and last large box ticked makes the gladiator a Primus Palus. You proudly blacken the final helmet for your gladiator.
This change of status has several effects: it will impact the maintenance cost of the gladiator, it might improve his chance of survival if he bites the dust in the future, it will increase the Popularity of your ludus (as shown later) and it will also give him an upgrade. Each time a gladiator reaches a new rank, he gains an upgrade. So a Primus Palus will have three upgrades when he has reached the final step of his gladiator career.
As the Lanista and owner of the gladiator, you get to choose from the list below which upgrades the gladiator will gain. This upgrade will be recorded in the relevant space for this gladiator on your ludus sheet. If necessary, you can use a token like the ones shown at the end of this book to help remind you of the upgrades gained during the game.
There are four upgrades available:
- Increase the gladiator's movement points (MP) by one point.
- Increase the gladiator's defence (DEF) by one point (it will be increased against both light and heavy gladiators).
- Increase the gladiator's attack (ATT) by one point (it will be increased against both light and heavy gladiators).
- Gain a Talent (in the list that you will find in the appendix).
Each upgrade may only be chosen twice by a single gladiator. In other words, a Primus Palus could not have an ATT, DEF or MP increased by more than 2 points each, or he could not have more than two Talents.
Note that the upgrades of stats are not affected by a gladiator being wounded. So a wounded Crupellaris with a MP upgrade would have 2 MPs.
Gladiator and Servitor sales
The hard life of a Lanista and the economic troubles he can face may force him to sell some of his gladiators or slaves to generate some money to help him pay his bills. Some Lanistae make a business out of training gladiators and selling them to other ludi. If you want to sell a gladiator or a servitor, you will have to find a customer. This customer may never be another Lanista involved in the current campaign, and your business is conducted with one of the hundreds of anonymous ludi throughout the Roman Empire.
The selling price of the gladiator or the servitor depends upon his rank and a die roll. The die roll will be modified by your nomenclator (if you have one), one of whose jobs it is to find the best customers for your slaves.
For each gladiator or servitor you want to sell, roll a D6 on the relevant chart below.
Gladiator sale prices
| Rank of the gladiator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiro | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Palus | 50 | 100 | 125 | 150 | 200 | 300 | 500 |
| Secundus Palus | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 5,500 | 8,000 |
Servitor sale prices
| Rank of the servitor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One star | 50 | 100 | 150 | 250 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| Two stars | 400 | 750 | 1,000 | 1,200 | 1,600 | 2,000 | 2,500 |
| Three stars | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 5,500 | 7,500 |
Add the rank based bonus for your nomenclator to the die roll as indicated on your ludus sheet (+1 for a rank one star, +2 for a rank two stars, +3 for a rank three stars). Once you have decided to sell a slave (gladiator or servitor) the sale is mandatory, even if you think that the money offered is inappropriate (read: "you rolled a one and cursed the gods!"). So, think twice before selling your precious slaves.
The sum gained (the aurei) is immediately added to your funds.
Gladiator and Servitor purchases
To refill your ludus after having lost some gladiators in the arena, or to increase the number of fighters at your disposal, you might, at some point, feel the need to buy gladiators. Servitors can also be bought or upgraded.
Unlike the selling prices, the purchase costs are fixed, and depend on what you want to buy. Having a lupa in your ludus will attract some gladiators, and hence reduce their cost (please, tell us that you do not need more explanations about the reasons lupae impact the cost of gladiators).
According to his rank, the lupa will decrease the cost of all gladiators you buy, as shown on the chart below.
| Purchase | Cost (in aurei) | Lupa one star | Lupa two stars | Lupa three stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiro | Free | |||
| Palus | 250 | 200 | 100 | 50 |
| Secundus Palus | 2,000 | 1,900 | 1,500 | 1,000 |
| Primus Palus | 7,500 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 |
| New servitor (one star) | 250 |
Each Servitor can only be upgraded once after each combat. Also, a newly acquired servitor cannot be upgraded in the same post-arena sequence. When you buy or upgrade a servitor, blacken the relevant star of his space on your ludus sheet.
When you acquire a new gladiator you can choose his armatura, but keep in mind that each armatura may only be represented once in your ludus.
If you buy a Palus, a Secundus Palus or a Primus Palus, you will have to determine his upgrades. For each upgrade he has (one for a Palus, two for a Secundus Palus and three for a Primus Palus), roll one die on the table below and record this upgrade.
| Die roll | Upgrade |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | ATT Upgrade |
| 3-4 | DEF Upgrade |
| 5 | MP Upgrade |
| 6 | Talent |
If a Talent is gained, you can freely choose it from the list presented in appendix of this book (page 54), based on the armatura of the gladiator. If a Primus Palus gains an upgrade that he has had twice already, re-roll the die until a suitable upgrade is rolled.
Sidebar: You can never have a loan and lend aurei at the same time. To be able to borrow money, you must first get back all the cash you have lent; you must pay your debts before lending money. Don't forget that, greedy Lanista!
Usury
During the growth of your ludus, the need for cash might force you to borrow aurei, maybe to develop your ludus or to simply pay the ever-increasing bills. A prosperous ludus can also lend some money to yield a profit and increase its incomes.
So, you may well get the choice to either contract a loan or lend money.
There is no Latin word for trader!
The maximum amount of money a ludus can borrow is based on its Popularity. So the bigger ludi will have access to more funds than newcomers (capitalism is such an ancient thing...). This is indicated in the chart below.
You can always borrow less aurei than the maximum amount allowed, but the sum borrowed must correspond to the amount shown on one of the lines of the chart (so, for example, you cannot borrow 4,000 aurei as this number does not appear in this chart).
Maximal loan by Popularity
| Popularity | Maximal loan (in aurei) |
|---|---|
| 1 star | 100 |
| 2 stars | 300 |
| 3 stars | 800 |
| 4 stars | 1,500 |
| 5 stars | 3,000 |
| 6 stars | 5,000 |
| 7 stars | 8,000 |
| 8 stars | 10,000 |
| 9 stars | 20,000 |
| 10 stars | 30,000 |
When contracting a loan, add these aurei to your cash immediately, and note this sum next to the "Loan" space of the Usury box of your ludus sheet. Then, pray, sacrifice a chicken, and roll a die on the chart below to determine the interest rate for this loan. The interest rate MUST be paid during each post-arena sequence, and will be deducted from your reward (and if your reward is not enough, you will still have to pay the excess aurei).
Loan interest rate
| Die roll | 100 | 300 | 800 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 75 | 200 | 375 | 750 | 1,250 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 7,500 |
| 2 | 20 | 60 | 160 | 300 | 600 | 1,000 | 1,600 | 2,000 | 4,000 |
Note down that number next to the Interest rate space of your Usury box. After any subsequent combat, once you have paid the interest rate, you can repay your loan. To do so, you simply have to deduct the full and complete amount of your loan from your treasury, and delete the loan from the Usury box.
You can also lend aurei. Choose an amount in the available sums below and roll a die to determine the interest rate your debtor will have to pay you.
Sum lent interest rate
| Die roll | 500 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 50 | 100 | 300 | 500 |
| 2 | 15 | 30 | 90 | 150 | 300 | 900 | 1,500 |
| 3 | 25 | 50 | 150 | 250 | 500 | 1,500 | 2,500 |
Note down the sum lent in the "Lent money" space of your usury box, and the interest rate next to that number. The interest rate is added to your income after each combat, during the reward step of the post-arena sequence. Your debtor will have a chance to pay you back after each combat, once he has paid the interest rate. Immediately after getting your reward and interest payment, roll a die. On a result of 5 or 6, your debtor repaid his loan. The sum lent is added to your available cash.
On a result of 1 to 4, the debtor didn't have the funds to pay you off, and the repayment will have to wait until at least after your next combat. In all cases, you cannot refuse a repayment, and your debtor will clear his debts as soon as he is ready!
If you have a procurator then any rolls on the Loan or Lent Sum charts are subject to a modifier based on the rank of the procurator (+1 for a rank one star, +2 for a rank two stars, +4 for a rank three stars). The maximum roll, even after modification, is 6.
Popularity update
During this step of the sequence, your Popularity will be updated.
The popularity of your ludus is the sum of the helmets on top of the gladiator spaces of your ludus sheet. So, a Palus is worth 1, a Secundus Palus is worth 2 and a Primus Palus is worth 3. The maximum Popularity is 10.
Your Popularity might increase if your gladiators reach higher ranks or if new, experienced gladiators join your ludus, but it may also decrease due to unfortunate deaths in the arena or on the butcher... sorry, medicus, table.
Example: Laurent has in his ludus two Tiro, two Palus and two Secundus Palus. His ludus Popularity is 6 (0+0+1+1+2+2).
Glory update
As mentioned earlier, the objective of your career is to reach the level of Glory fixed at the start of the campaign (usually 10).
Some events may occur during the campaign that will increase your Lanista's Glory. The Glory bonuses described below are cumulative, but you can only ever apply each bonus once during your career. So, for example, if you gain one Glory for a Tiro reaching the rank of Palus, you will not gain any more Glory for any of your other Tiros when they reach the next rank, as this bonus has already been taken.
At the bottom of your ludus record sheet you have a list of all these bonus situations with boxes to check when they are scored, to avoid any mistakes. Represent each point of Glory on the Glory track of your ludus record sheet by blackening a Glory Star.
| Event | Glory |
|---|---|
| One of your Tiro becomes a Palus | 1 |
| One of your Palus becomes a Primus Palus | 1 |
| One of your Secundus Palus becomes a Primus Palus | 2 |
| Your ludus has 6 gladiators and no Tiro | 1 |
| Your ludus has a rank two stars servitor | 1 |
| Your ludus has a rank three stars servitor | 1 |
| Your Popularity is of at least 4 | 1 |
| Your Popularity is of at least 6 | 2 |
| Your Popularity is of at least 8 | 2 |
| Your Popularity is 10 | 3 |
| Your ludus has at least 8 servitors | 2 |
() This only applies if your ludus has that amount of money available after the usury step of the post-arena sequence and has no outstanding loan to repay.*
Bankrupt
Unfortunately, it can happen that during the life of your ludus you are forced to pay a sum of money that you do not have. Under these circumstances, the Lanista has no choice but to declare his ludus bankruptcy.
Should this happen, he will immediately have to sell his gladiators and/or his servitors one by one (see Gladiator and Servitor sales, page 46) until he has raised enough funds to pay all the outstanding sum.
If, after selling all his gladiators and servitors, there is still not enough money to pay the sums asked, the ludus is closed and shame brought on the Lanista and his line for seven generations. The player is removed from the campaign, and should take some management courses before starting a new career!
Careers and Multi-Player Games
Handling the pre-arena sequence in a multi-player game is slightly different to that in a head-to-head confrontation. The differences are:
- During the determine arena step in pre-combat preparations, add together only the lowest and highest Popularity values among all the Ludii taking part in the combat. Only the munenari of the ludi that had their Popularity used can affect their respective Lanista die roll.
Fred, Laurent and Captain Miller are ready for a 3-players game. Their respective Popularity are 5, 3 and 1. To determine which column will be used, only the lowest and highest Popularity values are added together, so in this case we get a total of 6.
- The winner gets the full reward and all the other Lanistae involved gain half that sum.
- When a gladiator bites the dust, only the owner of the gladiator and the owner of the gladiator that delivered the killing blow may adjust the fatum die roll. The other Lanistae cannot modify this die roll.
Apart from these exceptions, multi-player games in a career mode are handled in the same way as described in the main rules.
Worked example. Fred and the infamous Captain Miller, as devious as ever, have just finished their Jugula game. Fred won, and the Captain silently plots revenge.
Now, our Lanistae are ready for their post-arena sequence.
As the combat took place in a provincial arena, there is no need to determine any Liberatio. The reward for this combat was 460 aurei, so Fred gets the full sum (Captain Miller gets half that amount, 230 aurei, but we will focus on Fred as we do not care a damn for losers). As Fred has an unctor of rank one star, he gets an additional 50 aurei, for a total of 510 aurei. He does not have a loan, nor has he lent any money, so no interest rates are added to or subtracted from this sum.
Fred has a gladiator that has bitten the dust and another one wounded, and so now he must tend to their injuries. For the gladiator that has bitten the dust, he rolls a 7, meaning that he will start the next combat "wounded". He marks that on the gladiator's space on his ludus sheet. For the wounded gladiator, he rolls a 3! The auguries have conspired against him! This gladiator is convalescing, and will not take part in the next combat. If only Fred has a medicus (even of rank one star) the results would have been "ready" and "wounded", a much better omen for the next fight.
Now, Fred has the pleasure of maintaining his ludus and will have to withdraw some aurei from his treasury. His ludus is made up of 3 Tiro and 2 Palus. Tiro only cost 10 aurei (a bowl of rice, straw and they are happy) but his Palus have a varying maintenance cost. As he has got a Procurator of rank one star, he chooses two of his gladiators that will not have to be paid. Obviously he chooses his two Palus and does not have to roll for them. After all this, he has to spend 30 aurei to cover the maintenance costs of his ludus.
Next, Fred must work out experience gains for his gladiators. He starts by giving each gladiator of his ludus one experience point. For the four gladiators that fought in the arena, he marks another experience point. Finally, the Tiro that has bitten the dust gains another experience point (pain is a good teacher in Jugula). Fred does not have a doctor, so does not gain any extra experience point to distribute. But one of his Tiro (surprisingly, the one that has bitten the dust) becomes a Palus! After blackening the first helmet on top of that gladiator's space, he then chooses an upgrade for that retiarus. He chooses to increase his defence, and notes down this upgrade in the relevant line of his gladiator's space.
Fred does not want to sell any gladiators, and so moves to the next step. He decides to buy a 6th gladiator for his ludus, to be able to deploy 4 ready gladiators for his next combat. As he has 620 aurei available, he decides to buy a Palus. As he does not have a lupa, he has to pay it at full price, 250 aurei. He chooses a Veles, and rolls for his upgrade (gladiators bought on the market have randomly generated upgrades). He gets a defence upgrade. Not the one he would have chosen, but he has to live with it.
Appendix I: Servitors
Servitors are an essential component of any ludus. These men (and women) will handle all the thankless tasks that your Lanista will never do himself. Their experience will be shown in their work and the benefits you will reap from their labour.
In game terms, each servitor has a rank, from one star to three stars. Each ludus starts with a single servitor of rank one star chosen by the Lanista. Later, after combats, new servitors can be hired or your existing servitors can be advanced to new ranks, but this can be rather expensive (see page 46).
Here we will look at the different servitors available, their role in the ludus and the way they interact with the post-arena sequence.
Unctor
The role of the unctor is to provide massages for your gladiators after their training or combat, ensuring that they are rested and ready for the trials of the next day. Also, the unctor makes ointments from the gladiators' dead skin and uses massage oils which he sells for prohibitive prices to Roman women, who hope that the virility of the gladiator will help them maintain a bright complexion that ageing will not decay.
| Rank | Income |
|---|---|
| One star | 50 aurei |
| Two stars | 200 aurei |
| Three stars | 500 aurei |
After each combat during step 2, Rewards, your unctor will generate an income, depending upon his rank, which is added to your income. This is summarized in the opposite chart.
Medicus
The medicus is tasked with the care of your gladiators, ensuring that they recover from their injuries by properly treating their wounds. Without an experienced medicus, you run the risk of seeing your best gladiators recovering too slowly, missing many combats or, even worse, dying from an infection that could have been prevented if properly dealt with.
| Rank | Wounds treatment bonus |
|---|---|
| One star | +1 |
| Two stars | +2 |
| Three stars | +4 |
During step 3 of the post-arena sequence, each of your gladiators that have to roll on the Wounds Treatment chart will benefit from a bonus added to the die roll based on the rank of your medicus, as shown in the opposite chart.
Doctor
The doctor is often a veteran gladiator, who, after retiring, has become a trainer for his former comrades. He ensures that their spare time is not lost in idleness, and passes on to them his knowledge of the fighting techniques that will ensure their success in the arena.
| Rank | Gladiators trained |
|---|---|
| One star | 1 gladiator |
| Two stars | 3 gladiators |
| Three stars | 6 gladiators |
During step 5 of the post-arena sequence, the doctor may train a number of different gladiators based on his rank. Each of these gladiators will benefit from an extra experience point after the combat. This is summarized in the opposite chart.
Manicarius
The manicarius is a smith. He crafts and takes care of your armour and weapons. Shiny armour and weaponry, with unexpected and elaborated designs, will attract the attention of the crowd to your familia and generate excitement as soon as your gladiators step into the arena!
| Rank | Vox Populi bonus |
|---|---|
| One star | +1 |
| Two stars | +3 |
| Three stars | +6 |
Once your familia is deployed in the arena and before the first Jugula card is played, your ludus can increase its Vox Populi by a number of points based on the rank of your manicarius, as shown in the opposite chart.
Munerarius
The munerarius is a gladiator game organizer. Often a priest or a magistrate, his role is to invite ludi to take part in the celebrations. An experienced Lanista will maintain a good relationship with such a character, using bribes, blackmail, in fact any necessary means to ensure the ludus is invited to the most prestigious arenas.
| Rank | Arena die roll bonus |
|---|---|
| One star | +2 |
| Two stars | +4 |
| Three stars | +6 |
The munerarius grants a bonus on your die roll when determining the arena, based on his rank. Each Lanista can add his munerarius bonus to his die roll, so they are cumulative between the two ludi. The modified die roll value has a maximum of 6, so, for example, if you rolled a 5 with a rank one star munerarius, the final score will be capped at 6.
Sacerdos
The sacerdos is the priest whose tasks include attracting the favours of the gods upon your ludus. He organizes the religious rituals that order the rhythm of life at your ludus, makes sacrifices when needed and ensures the spiritual morale and wellbeing of your ludus. This should not be overlooked in a society as obsessed with all things spiritual as was ancient Rome!
| Rank | Prima Jugula cost allowed (in stars) |
|---|---|
| One star | 1 |
| Two stars | 3 |
| Three stars | 7 |
In game terms, before drawing your first hand of Jugula cards, you can add to your deck a number of Prima Jugula cards whose total cost in stars does not exceed the number permitted by your sacerdos. There is no limit to the number of Prima Jugula cards that can be added to your deck, except that the total cost in stars of these cards (as shown in the upper-left corner) does not exceed the number of stars allowed by your sacerdos rank. These cards are shuffled into your deck before you draw your first hand of cards.
Lupa
The lupa is in charge of the official prostitutes whose main role, well... happens during the night. Let just say that she ensures that your gladiators are happy men, not frustrated by the fact that they are men crowded together with other men (though some gladiators are quite happy with that to be honest).
Basically, having an experienced lupa in your ludus makes it more attractive to join, and reduces the cost of recruitment of new gladiators, as shown on the table of gladiators purchases, page 46.
Editor
The editor is an important character, often a high-rank notable in Roman society. He decides (swayed perhaps by the wishes of the crowd), if a fallen gladiator should, or should not, be spared. Of course, some coins left in the right place may ensure that the decisions are favourable to your interests...
| Rank | Fatum modifier |
|---|---|
| One star | +/-1 |
| Two stars | +/-2 |
| Three stars | +/-3 |
The editor modifies the Fatum die roll of a gladiator that has bitten the dust, according to the editor's rank. The Lanista with a tame editor will be able to positively affect his own die rolls (+X) and give a penalty to the Fatum of an opposing gladiator (-X). If the ludi of both the fallen gladiator and the one who delivered the fatal blow both have an editor, then both sets of modifiers apply to the Fatum roll. The modifiers granted by the editor are indicated in the opposite chart.
Nomenclator
The nomenclator is a slave whose main job is to know the "who's who" of the Roman society, and to introduce your Lanista to the most important, rich and influential persons of note in town. Each rank of the nomenclator corresponds to a Glory gain. When your Lanista acquires a nomenclator, you gain one Glory point. When your nomenclator moves up a rank, you gain an additional 2 Glory points. Finally, when your nomenclator reaches his highest rank, you gain 3 more Glory points. Remember, Glory points determine the winner of the campaign.
| Rank | Glory bonus | Sale die roll bonus |
|---|---|---|
| One star | +1 | +1 |
| Two stars | +2 | +2 |
| Three stars | +3 | +3 |
If you lose your nomenclator, all the Glory points acquired by him (1 for a rank one star, 3 for a rank two stars, 6 for a rank three stars) are immediately lost and must be deleted from your Lanista Glory track.
Also the nomenclator may help you find good customers for the gladiators and servitors you would like to sell, and gives a positive modifier to any sale (see page 45). The Glory bonus and sale bonus are the same, and summarized in the opposite table.
Procurator
The procurator is your accountant, watching the money flow in or out from your chest. A good procurator will save you a lot of money by negotiating your purchases and sales and by knowing the tricks to minimise tax payments.
The procurator gives you two practical benefits. The first one is to save some money on the maintenance costs of your gladiators. During step 4 of the post-arena sequence, you will not have to pay the maintenance cost of your gladiators. Having a good procurator will save you your choice of some of these maintenance payments. The number of such savings depends on the rank of your procurator.
| Rank | Gladiators freely maintained | Usury die roll modifier |
|---|---|---|
| One star | 2 | +1 |
| Two stars | 4 | +2 |
| Three stars | 6 | +4 |
Also, during step 8 of the post arena sequence, the procurator provides a positive modifier on the roll on the loan or lent money tables, as shown in the opposite table.
Appendix II: Talents
Talents are special (and often extraordinary) abilities that your gladiators can acquire through experience, or for gladiators bought on the market, with a bit of luck.
When a gladiator acquires a talent, he can choose any talent that is available to his class. Some talents are only available to light gladiators, while others are restricted to heavy ones. Some abilities are available to all gladiators, irrespective of class.
Sidebar: A gladiator may never have more than two talents, and may never have the same talent twice. Two gladiators of your ludus may never have the same talent. Never. Ever. The same applies to gladiators bought or hired on the market. For them, you cannot choose a talent owned by a gladiator already in your ludus. In the unlikely event of that not being possible, the gladiator will not be able to gain a talent, or will have a talent of doubtful use that does not appear on this list (knitting?).
I'm not a number!
Light Gladiator
| Talent | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fast | The gladiator does not pay any additional MP to move out of a front square of an opposing gladiator. |
| Dexter | The gladiator gains RANGE 1. If the gladiator already had a RANGE X trait, it is increased by one (RANGE 1 becomes RANGE 2, range 4 becomes RANGE 5, etc...). |
| Sharp | This gladiator may never be attacked by gladiators that are not in an adjacent square. |
| Dodge | When this gladiator is pushed back, he may choose the eligible square to which he will be pushed back. In addition, after having been pushed back, this gladiator may immediately spend one MP to move. If he chooses to move back into the square from which he was pushed back, the opposing gladiator cannot pursue. |
| Aware | Each time an opposing gladiator moves in one of the 8 squares adjacent to this gladiator, this gladiator may freely change his facing within his square. |
| Souple | This gladiator ignores the enemy Danger Zones. He considers them as standard opposing front squares. |
Heavy Gladiator
| Talent | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sturdy | As long as the final score of an attack aimed at him does not exceed his defence final result by at least 3 points, this gladiator is not pushed back by the attack. In other words, an attack that only exceeds his defence score by one or two points does not push him back. |
| Brute | If the dice value of the card used during an attack by this gladiator is 6, he gets a +3 bonus to his final attack score. In other words, cards with a dice of 6 contribute 9 points to his final attack score. |
| Impressive | Any opposing gladiator that wants to move in one of the 8 squares adjacent to this gladiator must pay an extra MP (this penalty is cumulative with any other movement penalties, such as moving out of the front square of an enemy gladiator). |
| Resilient | If the die of the Jugula card used for defence of this gladiator is a 0 or a 1, you may immediately discard it and replace it with the top card of your deck. |
| Tough | This gladiator considers all instances of "the defender bites the dust" as "the defender is pushed back then wounded". Note, however, that the gladiator can still bite the dust if unable to be pushed back or when wounded for a second time! |
| Butcher | If this gladiator's attack score is at least three times higher than the defender's defence score, the defender bites the dust (rather than the normal four times the score of the defender). |
All Gladiators
| Talent | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cute | During the maintenance step of the post-arena sequence, this gladiator adds his maintenance cost to your ludus's funds rather than deducting it (we will let you figure how this can be possible). |
| Arena Idol | When this gladiator is deployed in the arena, increase your Vox Populi by one. |
| Perfidious | If this gladiator attacks a gladiator from his flank, rear or back and is not in the Danger Zone of an enemy, he gets a +2 bonus to his attack score. |
| Vigorous | You never roll on the Wounds treatment table for this gladiator. He automatically obtains a "Ready" result. |
| Smart | At the end of each combat in which he took part, this gladiator gains an extra experience point that is added to the point normally gained. |
| Leader | Any gladiator from the Leader's familia that is attacking a gladiator that is in the Danger Zone of the Leader adds 1 to his final attack score. |
Appendix III: Organizing Careers Mode Campaigns
So, here we are, ready to start a life in the ludus, eager to earn a ton of aurei and determined to become the most famous Lanista that Rome has ever seen. But, where should you begin? Here is some advice based on our experience of running careers based campaigns.
The Imperator
If you have more than 4 players involved in a Jugula careers mode game, we strongly recommend that you delegate responsibility for the smooth running of the campaign to one of the players involved. Preferably this should be the most experienced player available. We like to name that player the Imperator, a title that comes with minimal perks and loads of responsibilities! The Imperator should remain impartial and not take any advantage of his position (and we might remind you at this point that quite a few Emperors were stabbed in the back while abusing their power...).
Free careers
One of the tasks of the Imperator is to fix, in consultation with all the Lanistae taking part, the Glory value the Lanista will have to reach to win the campaign. For your first career, we suggest a threshold of 6 points. This level will be reached quite quickly, but beginners will not have to suffer for too long if any bad management decisions have been made early in the campaign. You can see a shorter initial campaign as a taste of glories to come in more ambitious future careers.
Each Lanista is expected to kick-off the campaign with a properly filled ludus record sheet, helped, if needs be, by the Imperator. Then, the Imperator will decide how the combats will be arranged. When we designed Jugula, we intentionally gave a lot of freedom to the players to arrange their games as suits them, without needing to fix constraints on who has to face who in a campaign. But the Imperator might want to establish a precise agenda of encounters, planning each game of the careers. But be aware that such a calendar can really slow down the campaign and can easily be derailed by real-life interference.
Don't be afraid to have a game between a seasoned player's ludus and a beginner's one. Jugula, by its design, makes such games interesting for the less experienced ludus. By using the Popularity of both the ludi involved to determine the hosting arena, the less popular ludus is likely to be dragged up the social ladder to fight in arenas usually out of reach to the novice Lanista. They can also expect higher rewards and to be able to develop his ludus quicker than if fighting only beginners like themselves. So, a Lanista should never refuse a combat against a much more experienced ludus, as such games are usually very rewarding!
The Imperator should also stay watchful so that no Lanista refuses a combat for fallacious reasons. Such behaviour is inappropriate, and if repeated, the Imperator can impose the Terrible Jugula Taxation on the cowardly Lanista (we let each Imperator decide what is hidden behind this frightening name).
The careers rules do not allow the Lanista to buy or sell gladiators from other ludi involved in the campaign, nor to lend money to fellow gamers. However, if your campaign has an Imperator, and only if he so chooses, he can authorize such sales and loans and regulate them as he sees fit. We do recommend, however, that each transaction between players in the campaign is recorded by the Imperator and that he reports these transactions to all ludi in the campaign to avoid accusations of bribery and corruption. Likewise, all players should report their results to the Imperator, especially if the latter is not present at the game, and in particular any Glory increase for the Lanistae involved should be publicly recorded. Hence the Imperator should at all times have a picture of the ludi involved in the campaign, their current Glory, the Lanistae they have already faced, etc...
It is possible (and positively encouraged) that the Imperator should maintain an entertaining way to communicate with all the Lanistae, either by emails, publishing a gazette or by any suitable means available such as, and may the gods forgive us for suggesting this, facebook or twitter. However it is achieved, the Imperator needs to highlight the most important events of the campaign as they happen, and ensure that the Lanistae are excited and involved in the campaign.
In the end, the Imperator rules, and can add as many different gaming elements as he can cope with, ensuring that the players have fun and are challenged by the campaign. But don't take it too seriously; we didn't when we designed the game...
Tournaments
Another way to run a careers campaign, and one well suited to clubs or gaming events, is to run a career campaign over one or two days during which all Lanistae will compete to acquire the highest level of Glory among those taking part.
If you want to go down this road, we suggest the adoption of a Swiss round system, which is easy to set-up and usually ensures interesting games for all players no matter how well they are doing. In such a system, after the initial random pairings, the winners of the previous match will face other winners and defeated players will face other defeated players. The organizing Imperator(s) will have to fix the number of games played during this day (days). In our experience, six games can easily be played in a single day, leaving enough time between combats to chat and have a drink.
For this sort of tournament, it can be a good idea to fix the starting amount of aurei for all ludi at higher than the usual 50 aurei. The Imperator(s) can decide that the ludi will start with 500 (or even 1,000) aurei, and that this money can be spent before the tournament to buy gladiators and/or servitors. This is an interesting option for experienced Lanistae as it offers them some strategic choices before the event has even started and these will impact the way their games play out.
In a tournament setting, the normal way of determining rewards could be considered too random. For tournaments, the Imperator(s) can decide that the rewards will be set levels, depending upon the arena hosting the game (for example, 150 for an illegal arena, 450 for a provincial arena, etc...). By doing so, you ensure that a ludus gains neither an unfair advantage nor disadvantage thanks on the vagaries of a die roll. You can even extend this choice to the die roll that determines the arena, by fixing that the sum of the die rolled by the players will always be 7, only modified by the munecari of the ludi involved. That way, each ludus will have the same chances of fighting in a good arena.
After the fixed number of games, the Lanista with the highest Glory will be declared winner of the tournament. If two or more players are tied for the highest Glory then the one with the most aurei in his treasury (after paying off all his debts) wins the tournament.
Two-player careers
We have dealt with careers involving a few players but it is also possible to run a career game mode with only two Lanistae. As the miserable end of Vaxus Malerio testifies, we have done that ourselves, and we can agree that this is an exciting and very interesting way to play a Jugula campaign.
When we organized such campaigns, we used a mechanism to represent the combats fought against ludi that were not involved in the careers, to offer more variety of opposing ludi.
After each game played between the two rival's ludi, each Lanista would face a ludus that was not part of the campaign (but played by the other player). Your opponent in the campaign would create a familia, whose composition would depend on the Popularity of your ludus. We decided that this "virtual" ludus would be made of Tiro, but that for each point of Popularity your ludus has, it could upgrade one of these gladiators to the next rank (from Tiro to Palus, from Palus to Secundus Palus, etc...). So, if you have to design a familia to fight a ludus that has a Popularity of 4, you could have 4 Palus, or two Tiro, one Palus and one Primus Palus, etc... The upgrades of the gladiators would be determined randomly as if bought on the market.
By doing so, you ensure that the combats will be varied, while having the pleasure of both running your own ludus and yet getting to play something different from time to time.
So a career mode campaign played by two Lanistae would run like this: one game between the two players involved, then a combat between one of the playing ludus and a virtual ludus played by the opponent, then a combat between the other ludus and a virtual ludus, before moving back to the fight between the two ludi involved in the career mode. This way, each time they meet, the two main ludi will benefit from the experience gained from fighting the outside ludi. And so on until one of the ludi reaches the Glory threshold fixed at the start of the career.
As you see, there are many ways to organize and run a career mode game in Jugula. These three approaches are the most common that were used during the development of this game, but they are not the only ones! If you find new ways to organize careers, please share them on our forum.
Armatura Descriptions
The Lights
- Veles. Sometimes called the Hastarius, this (very) light gladiator is based on the skirmishers of the Roman Republic. Protected only by a small buckler, he had to rely on his agility to survive in the arena. He was armed with javelins and a dagger. The wolf pelt often, but by no means universally, worn by Veles was meant to intimidate their opponents although its actual impact in the ring has to be doubted.
- Thraex. The Thraex took his inspiration from the formidable Thracian warriors. In combat he used a fearsome double edged sword which mimicked the famous romphaia or the falx. He also used a parmula, a small and easy to handle shield. A light gladiator that often faced much heavier opponents, he used his mobility and precision to overcome the odds.
- Retiarius. The Retiarius is another classic gladiator whose image readily springs to mind when talking about combat in the Roman arenas. The Retiarius was a lightly armoured gladiator who used a trident and net in combat. The net was used to entangle their enemies and made them easy targets for the trident's fatal blow.
- Sagittarius. Rarely seen in the arena, the Sagittarius was inspired by classic mythological figures. He was equipped with a bow and used precision to kill his enemies. This gladiator became very vulnerable when not protected by his fellows.
- Dimachaerius. Another armatura rarely seen in the arena, the Dimachaerius distinguished himself by being the only gladiator to simultaneously use a pair of edged weapons during combat. This was a fighting style that required a lot of practice and training. To protect himself, the Dimachaerius had only a helmet, greaves and forearm protection.
- Laquearius. Also called the Laquator, this armatura is quite singular as it doesn't seem to be based upon any historical or mythological figure, while all other armaturae clearly have such inspiration. His equipment comprised of an unorthodox lasso or whip that was intended to capture his opponent, and a glaive or long dagger that delivered the final blow once the enemy was caught. If unable to catch his enemy, the Laquearius was in trouble as he was very lightly armoured.
The Heavies
- Murmillo. Once of the most famous gladiators, the Murmillo was equipped with a large shield that was similar to the Roman imperial scutum, and a short glaive. His imposing helmet was often used as a grip point by his enemies, but could also be used offensively by the Murmillo and offered decent neck protection, always a plus in the arena.
- Scissor. Also called the Contra-Retiarius (counter-retiarus), or nicknamed "Clutter", "Reaver" or "Render", the Scissor was the traditional opponent of the Retiarius and his equipment was designed for this task. He was heavily protected with a breastplate, a helmet and greaves. He was armed with a dagger and a specialist weapon that consisted of a steel tube encasing the gladiator's hand and forearm, with the end capped off and a blade attached. This was ideal to cut the Retiarius's net.
- Hoplomachus. As his name suggests, the Hoplomachus was based on the Greek hoplite model and used a spear as his main weapon. He also had a round shield, but much smaller than the hoplon. The Hoplomachus was a defensive version of the Thrax with slightly more armour.
- Provocator. With an armatura evocative of the Roman legionary, the Provocator was armed with a gladius and equipped with a scutum and leg greaves, all of which would not look out of place on a Roman soldier. The Provocator also had a distinctive piece of armour, the cardiophylax, which protected his upper torso without going down to the abdomen.
- Secutor. The Secutor ("follower") was a really offensive armatura, using the gladius and protected by a heavy shield. His helmet was designed to avoid being caught or held by opponents, but it dramatically restricted his field of vision.
- Crupellarius. The existence of the Crupellarius is not historically proven, although Tacitus mentions the armatura in his work. It seems to have appeared in Gaul, and it might be possible that the style was confined to this particular province. He appears to have been entirely covered, head to toe, in metal armour, topped off by a gigantic helmet that now looks medieval. Armed with a long sword, the spatha, the Crupellarius must have been a terrifying sight although it is said that once on the ground, his suit was so heavy that he couldn't stand up again.
The book's Design Notes (Appendix IV) and the designers' signed closing letter are design commentary and attribution and are not transcribed here.