Medieval Realms
Medieval Realms Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Goal of the Game
- Game Components
- Game Component Description
- Card Description
- Castle Cards (Orange Stamp, Majority Card)
- War Cards (black Stamp, Majority Card)
- Market Cards (Red Stamp, Realm Card)
- Great Person Cards (Majority Card)
- Realm Leader Cards (Yellow Stamp, Auction Card)
- Scientific Development Cards (Blue Stamp, Realm Card)
- City Cards (Green Stamp, Realm Card)
- Art Gallery (Violet Stamp) / Cathedral Cards (White Stamp, Majority Card)
- Territory Cards (Grey Stamp, Auction Card)
- Tithe Cards (White Stamp, Realm Card)
- Island Cards (Turquoise Stamp, Realm Card)
- Inquisition Cards (White Stamp, Realm Card)
- Gunpowder, University and Docking Bay Cards (Blue Stamp, Realm Card)
- Set-Up
- The Round
- End of the Game
- Credits
- Round Overview
- Reference — Card Symbols
- Reference — Resources and Leader Tokens
Goal of the Game
Each Player places their Leaders and gathers Resources. They put Cards into play and receive Victory Points. The Player who has the most Victory Points after the 7th Round wins the Game.
Game Components
- 5 Player Boards (Realm)
- 5 Player Screens (Defensive Wall)
- 1 Game Board
- 5 King and Queen Cards
- 109 Event Cards
- 5 Overview Cards
- Resource and Leader Tokens:
- 12 small and 8 large Science Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Production Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Raw Material Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Religion Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Culture Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Gold Tokens
- 12 small and 8 large Battle Point Tokens
- 26 Mayors
- 13 Generals
- 11 Admirals
- 10 Player Tokens
- 1 Round Track Token
1 large Token counts as 3 small Tokens.
Game Component Description
Game Board
- Future Events Panel — For Event Cards that will fill the empty squares in the Current Events Panel at the end of every Round.
- Current Events Panel — All purchasable Current Events are displayed here.
- Current Event Card Prices — Cards in the first column cost 1 Production Token. Cards in the second column cost 2 Production Tokens. Cards in the third column cost 3 Production Tokens.
- Warehouse — Place the Event Card Deck here.
- Turn Order Track
- Round Track — Every time a Player reaches or surpasses a space that is a multiple of 5 (for example: 5, 10, 15… indicated by the Iris) they are awarded one extra Token of their choosing. However, these Rewards are not triggered by End-of-Game Effects.
- Discard Pile
- Victory Point Track
Player Board (Realm)
- Personal Display
- Manor — The place where a Realm's Resources are stored.
- Realm's Map — The place where a Realm's Military Leaders (Generals and Admirals) fight for extra Resources.
- Management Zone — The place where a Realm's Resources are generated.
Event Cards
- Costs and Colour — This icon specifies the prices that Players have to pay to play the Card, as well as the Card's Colour.
- Effects — Shows the Actions that happen when the Card is played. They are divided into four different effects:
- Immediate Effect
- End-of-Game Effect
- (Repetitive) Colour Effect
- (Repetitive) Production Effect
- Card type — Shows which Card Type this is.
Card Symbols
- Immediate Effect — Players trigger this Effect immediately on playing the Card.
- End-of-Game Effect — This Effect is triggered when the 7th Round finishes.
- (Repetitive) Colour Effect — This Effect is triggered every time a Card of a specific Colour is played.
- (Repetitive) Production Effect — This Effect gets triggered every Round, after all Players withdraw their Defensive Walls and generate Resources.
- Realm Card — If purchased from the Current Events Panel, Players add it to their Personal Display.
- Majority Card — If purchased from the Current Events Panel, the Player with the most Resources of the type shown on the Card adds it to their Personal Display.
- Auction Card — Players have to bid on this Card.
- Great Person Card — Represents the Cards.
- Play a card — Special Effects can be triggered if a Card with the specified Colour is played.
- Get a card — Players choose a Realm Card from the Current Events Panel and add it to their Personal Display.
- Differently Coloured Cards — Represents every different type of Coloured Card a Player owns.
- Victory Points — The number of Victory Points awarded to the Player.
- Victory Points (Battle Points) — Players get awarded with as many Victory points as the sum of their Military Leaders' (Admirals and Generals) Combat Values.
- Iris — Players can choose which Resource Tokens they receive. But they can only receive one type of Token.
Card Description
Medieval Realms contains several types of Cards, whose features are as follows:
Castle Cards (Orange Stamp, Majority Card)
They cost 6 Raw Material Tokens.
- End-of-game Effect: At the End of the Game, the Player receives as many Victory Points as the sum of their Military Leaders' Combat Values.
- (Production) Repetition Effect: The Player receives 1 Battle Point Token.
War Cards (black Stamp, Majority Card)
They cost several Battle Point Tokens, depending on the number of Players:
- In a 5-Player Game, 5 Battle Point tokens are required.
- In a 4-Player Game, 6 Battle Point tokens are required.
- In a 2-Player Game and a 3-Player Game, 7 Battle Point tokens are required.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 6 Victory Points.
Market Cards (Red Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 6 Production Tokens.
End-of-game Effect: The Player receives 1 Victory Point for each different Stamp Colour on their played Cards, including this one.
Great Person Cards (Majority Card)
There are 3 different types:
- Artists (Violet Stamp): They cost 5 Culture Tokens.
- Missionaries (White Stamp): They cost 5 Religion Tokens.
- Scientists (Blue Stamp): They cost 5 Science Tokens.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 2 Victory Points.
End-of-game Effect: The Player receives 1 Victory Point for each Card of the specified Colour on their played Cards, including this one.
Realm Leader Cards (Yellow Stamp, Auction Card)
They cost as many Gold Tokens as the bid price that was set by the winning Player.
Immediate Effect: Said Player instantly receives an extra Mayor, an extra Admiral or an extra General, depending on the Card.
Scientific Development Cards (Blue Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 5 Science Tokens.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 2 Victory Points.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 1 extra Token (of the type specified by the Card) for every Mayor they have.
City Cards (Green Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 5 Raw Material Tokens.
End-of-Game Effect: At the End of the Game, the Player receives 1 Victory Point for each Mayor in their Realm.
(Repetitive Production) Effect: Every time a Player plays another Card with the Colour that is shown, they receive 1 Resource Token specified on the Card and 1 Victory Point.
Art Gallery (Violet Stamp) / Cathedral Cards (White Stamp, Majority Card)
They cost 5 of the shown Resources.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 5 Victory Points.
Territory Cards (Grey Stamp, Auction Card)
They cost as many Battle Point Tokens as the bid of the winning Player.
Immediate Effect: Said Player receives 5 Tokens of the specified Resource.
Tithe Cards (White Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 5 Religion Tokens.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 2 Victory Points. They may also choose one kind of Resource (except Religion Tokens) and receive 4 of them.
Island Cards (Turquoise Stamp, Realm Card)
They do not cost any Resources, but a Player must have 1 Admiral Token per Island Card you want to put in play.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 2 Victory Points.
End-of-Game Effect: The Player receives 3 Victory Points if they fulfill the Condition.
If a Player wants to activate a second Island Card, they must have 2 Admiral Tokens to do so. A third Island Card requires 3 Admiral Tokens, and so on.
Inquisition Cards (White Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 4 Religion Tokens.
Immediate Effect: The Player receives 1 General.
Gunpowder, University and Docking Bay Cards (Blue Stamp, Realm Card)
They cost 4 Science Tokens each.
Immediate Effect: The Player instantly receives an extra Mayor, an extra Admiral or an extra General, depending on the card.
Set-Up
Place the Game Board on the table.
- All Players choose a Colour and the respective Player Tokens, then place one of them on space 0 of the Scoring Track.
- Place the Round Track Token on space 1 of the Round Track.
- Shuffle the Event Card Deck, draw 12 Cards and place them face up on the board's Current Events Panel.
- Next, draw 6 more Cards and place them on the board's Future Events Panel.
- Put the rest of the Event Cards face down on the Warehouse.
- Every Player must select a King or Queen Card (representing a Player's Colour), a Realm (Player's Action Board), a Defensive Wall (Player's Screen) and an Overview Card. After that distribute the Starting Capital to each Player (see adjacent box).
- Randomly, determine the Turn Order. Then each Player places their marker accordingly on the Turn Order Track.
- Divide all available Resources into individual piles: Production, Science, Culture, Religion, Gold, Raw Material and Battle Point Tokens.
- Two extra Resource Tokens will be awarded to every Realm's Manor by the Players choosing in inverse Turn Order in the following way: the last Player on the Turn Order Track gets to choose two DIFFERENT Resource Tokens and stores them in their Manor. Next, the second to last Player on the Turn Order Track gets to choose two DIFFERENT Resource Tokens and stores them in their Manor. Next, the third to last Player on the Turn Order Track gets to choose two DIFFERENT Resource Tokens as explained before, followed by the second and/or first Player. Every Player's extra set of Resources must be a Unique Pair in relation to their Opponents'.
Starting Capital of each Player
The following Resources must be distributed to every Player: 5 Production Tokens, 2 Science Tokens, 3 Culture Tokens, 3 Religion Tokens, 3 Gold Tokens, 3 Raw Material Tokens.
The following Leaders must be distributed to every Player:
- In 3-Player, 4-Player and 5-Player Games: 4 Mayors, 1 General, 1 Admiral.
- In a 2-Player Game: 6 Mayors, 1 General, 1 Admiral. While 4 Mayors will be used to produce Resources throughout the Game just like in a 3–5-Player Game, the other 2 will contribute to warfare strategies in a special way (check the "Place the Leader Tokens" section below).
Example: In a 4-player game, Michael is chosen as the Start Player and places his Token on space 1 of the Turn Order Track. Valerie places her Token on space 2 of the Turn Order Track. Claire places her Token on space 3 of the Turn Order Track. James places his Token on space 4 of the Turn Order Track.
This way, the two extra tokens from each of their Manors will be distributed as follows: James goes first and picks 1 Culture token and 1 Battle Point token. Claire goes second and picks 1 Production token and 1 Raw Material token. Valerie goes next and picks 1 Religion token and 1 Culture token. Michael goes last and picks 1 Science token and 1 Gold token.
The Round
Each Round consists of the following steps:
1. Hide behind the Defensive Wall
All Players must use their Defensive Walls to hide their Realms. Remember that the Realm's Resources need to remain in front of the Wall and will not be hidden from the other Players.
2. Place the Leader Tokens
All Players simultaneously and secretly place their Leaders on their Realm:
In a 3-, 4- and 5-player game: Mayors will be placed on the Management Zone (the squares on the left half of the Realm). Players can place as many Mayors as they want within any Resource Square, each one providing 1 Token for said Resource. Generals and Admirals will be placed on the Areas on their Realm's Map (the locations on the right half of the map).
Example: By placing 2 Mayors on the Science square, 1 Mayor on the Gold square and 1 Mayor on the Production square, a Player receives: 2 Science Tokens, 1 Gold Token, 1 Production Token.
In a 2-player game: 4 Mayors will be placed on the Management Zone (the squares on the left half of the Realm). They will award 1 Resource each. Players can place as many Mayors as they want within any Resource Square, each one providing 1 Token for said Resource. 2 Mayors will be placed on 1 or 2 Areas on their Realm's Map (the locations on the right half of the map).
Their distinctive features are:
- These 2 Mayors' Combat Value is +2 each.
- They can ONLY be placed on those Areas unoccupied by the Player's own Military Leaders.
- Unlike Generals and Admirals, they DO NOT get awarded the extra Resources for the Areas.
Their mission is to serve as "buffers" so the Player's Opponent is unable to gain control over said Areas and claim their rewards.
Combat Value: Each Admiral's Combat Value is 1. Each General's Combat Value is 2.
Note: Areas 9 and 10 are only available in a 5-player game!
3. Get Resources
Once all of the Players have placed their Leaders on the Management Zone and the Realm's Map, they must withdraw their Defensive Walls. They will get awarded every Resource produced by their Leaders (Admirals, Generals and Mayors alike) and their active Cards.
Moreover, once every Defensive Wall is down the Players will challenge one another with their Military Leaders (Generals and Admirals).
All Players must check the Realm's Maps. Every time a Player's Military Forces overpower their Opponents' by at least 1 in a determined Area of the Map, they will gain control of said Area and therefore will be awarded the Resources there. In case of a tie between two or more Players, none of them will obtain the extra Resource Token.
Example (2 Player Game): Rachel: Her General is placed on Area 5, her Admiral is placed on Area 3 and her 2 "buffer" Mayors are placed on Area 6. Wyatt: His General is placed on Area 2, his Admiral is placed on Area 1 and his 2 "buffer" Mayors are placed on Area 5 and 4 respectively.
The result of the challenge is: Rachel gains control over Area 3, and gets its reward. Given the fact that her General's Combat Value on Area 5 is +2 and Wyatt's "buffer" Mayor's Combat Value on Area 5 is also +2, she doesn't get to claim its reward. Her "buffer" Mayors on Area 6 have no ultimate effect because Wyatt didn't place any Military Leader on his map's Area 6. Wyatt, on the one hand, gains control over Areas 1 and 2, and therefore gets their rewards. On the other hand, he stops Rachel from getting control over Area 5 by having one of his "buffer" Mayors on his map's Area 5. His "buffer" Mayor on Area 4 has no effect because Rachel didn't place any Military Leader on her map's Area 4.
Example (4 Player Game): James: His General is placed on Area 3 and his Admiral is placed on Area 1. Claire: Her General and her Admiral are both placed on Area 3. Michael: His General is placed on Area 3 and his Admiral is placed on Area 8. Valerie: Her General is placed on Area 4 and her Admiral is placed on Area 8.
The result of the challenge is: James, on the one hand, gets defeated by Claire over Area 3, getting no rewards from it. On the other hand, he gains control over Area 1 and he gets its reward. Claire gains control over Area 3, and gets its reward. Michael, on the one hand, is defeated by Claire on Area 3, getting no rewards from it. On the other hand, he ties with Valerie over Area 8. Therefore, he gets no rewards from said Area either. Valerie, on the one hand, gains control over Area 4, and gets its reward. On the other hand, she ties with Michael over Area 8, and just like him does get no rewards from it.
4. All Players get awarded 2 extra Production Tokens
5. Determine Start Player
The Player with the most Production Tokens will be the new Start Player. They get to place their Token on space 1 of the Turn Order Track.
In case of a tie, tied Players will keep the previous order.
Their Opponents' will carry on, on taking their respective stored Production Tokens into consideration, in placing their Tokens on the spaces of the Turn Order Track.
Example: At the end of step 4 in a 4-player game, James (Black) owns 5 Production tokens. Claire (Violet) owns 2 Production tokens. Michael (Blue) owns 5 Production tokens. Valerie (Yellow) owns 6 Production tokens.
This way, Valerie is the new Start Player and places her Token on space 1 of the Turn Order Track. After that, James puts his Token on space 2 of the Turn Order Track, because James was ahead of Michael on the Turn Order Track in the last Round. Michael puts his Token on space 3 of the Turn Order Track. Claire puts her Token on space 4 of the Turn Order Track.
6. Actions
All Players, beginning with the Start Player and following the order of the Turn Order Track, will execute 1 of the following Actions:
- Activate a Card from the Current Events Panel
- Put a Card from their Personal Display into Play
- Passing
Once a Player has executed one of the mentioned Actions, the next Player, according to the Turn Order Track, will execute their Actions and so on until every Player has passed.
All Players' Personal Displays must be visible to their Opponents, so they must be placed face up at the top of their Realms. A Personal Display will consist of up to 4 Cards, and it will never be made up of Cards of the same Stamp Colour.
A Player cannot activate or receive a Realm Card under these circumstances:
- They already have 4 Cards in their Personal Display.
- They have insufficient Production Tokens.
- They already have a Card of the same Colour in their Personal Display.
Majority Cards
Every time a Player activates a Majority Card, they must purchase it with Production Tokens. The price is indicated on the Current Events Panel, on the column above the card. After purchasing it from the Current Events Panel, the Player with the most Resources of the type shown as the Card cost (irrespective of who activated it) adds it to their Personal Display.
Remember that Majority Cards will not be acquired if a Player's Personal Display already has 4 Cards or if they already have a Card with the same Stamp Colour. This way, Players with fewer Specific Resources in their Realm than the Opponent who "was meant to acquire it" can get Majority Cards. In case of a tie, the Player who activated the Majority Card in play will place it in their Personal Display. If they already have 4 Cards in their Personal Display, or already have that Stamp Colour, it will be acquired by the tied Player who is closer to the Start Player on the Turn Order Track. If no Player can acquire the Majority Card, it must be discarded.
Action 1 – Activating Cards from the Current Events Panel
There are 3 different types of Cards in Medieval Realms:
Realm Cards — Every time a Player activates a Realm Card, they must purchase it with Production Tokens. The price is indicated on the Current Events Panel, on the column above the card:
- 1 Production token – Cards from squares 1 to 4
- 2 Production tokens – Cards from squares 5 to 8
- 3 Production tokens – Cards from squares 9 to 12
A Realm Card can be activated even if a Player does not have enough Specific Resource Tokens to bring it into play right away. Next, the Player must put the Card into their Personal Display.
Majority Cards — Every time a Player activates a Majority Card, they must purchase it with Production Tokens. The price is indicated on the Current Events Panel, on the column above the card. After purchasing it from the Current Events Panel, the Player with the most Resources of the type shown as the Card cost (irrespective of who activated it) adds it to their Personal display. The bottom left of the Cards indicates the kind of Resource which is taken into consideration.
For Example: The Card will be awarded to the Player with the most Religion Tokens in their Manor.
Auction Cards — These are the only Cards that do not require Production Tokens to be activated. The Player who activates an Auction Card gets to make the first bid on it using the type of Resource indicated. Clockwise, the rest of the Players can either bid higher or pass. Players will keep bidding until all but one of them have passed. Said Player wins the auction and pays as many Resources as they bid, by placing those Resources on the Resource Pile. Next they must place this Auction Card beside their Realm (on the right) and activate the Immediate Effects of the Card (if available).
It must be remembered that: a Player can only bid with the Resources stored in their Manor. Once a Player has passed, they can not bid again for the same Auction Card. Only the Player who wins the Auction needs to pay the Resources.
Resources are limitless. If during a Game any Resource runs out, Players can use any other Token to replace them.
Players must remember they cannot discard any Cards from their Personal Display.
Action 2 – Putting a Card from their Personal Display into play
Players can do this by paying as many Resources as indicated on the Card of their choice. Next they must place this Card beside their Realm (on its right) and activate the Immediate Effects of it, when available.
Players can only use (Repetitive) Colour Effects and (Repetitive) Production Effects from Cards previously placed beside the Realm (on its right).
Action 3 – Passing
Players can pass whenever they do not want to keep taking more Actions during the current round.
This way, when a Player passes, they must wait until the next Round to make a move again. The only exception to this is Bidding for an Auction or gaining a Majority Card activated by another Player.
Once a Player has executed one of the aforementioned Actions, the next Player, according to the Turn Order Track, will execute theirs, and so on until every Player has passed.
7. Ending the Round
The Round ends, once all Players have Passed. Next, they must:
- Discard a certain number of Cards from the board's Current Events Panel. Depending on the number of Players, Players must discard:
- 5 Players: the Card from square 1
- 4 Players: the Cards from squares 1 and 2
- 3 Players: the Cards from squares 1 to 3
- 2 Players: the Cards from squares 1 to 4
- Slide the rest of the Cards (in order) until the vacant square/s get refilled.
- Refill the other squares using the Cards from the Future Events Panel, keeping the order.
- Then, fill the empty squares on both the Current and Future Events Panels with Cards from the Events Deck from the top to the bottom.
- Move the Round Token forward one space. The next Round begins!
End of the Game
The Game finishes at the end of the 7th Round. Once the Last Round comes to an End, do the following:
- Activate every End-of-Game Effect on the Cards in play.
- Each Player receives 1 extra Victory Point for every 2 stored Resources (rounded down) from their Manor.
- Each Player receives Victory Points depending on their number of Great Person Cards:
- 1 Great Person card – 1 extra Victory Point
- 2 Great Person cards – 3 extra Victory Points
- 3 Great Person cards – 6 extra Victory Points
- 4 Great Person cards – 9 extra Victory Points
- 5 Great Person cards – 12 extra Victory Points
Players add up their Victory Points. The Player with the most Victory Points wins the Game.
If there is a tie:
- The Realm with the most Cards wins.
- The Realm with the most Castle Cards wins.
- The Realm with the most Leaders wins.
- The Start Player or the one who is closer to them on the Turn Order Track wins.
Credits
A game by LOST GAMES
Game design: Carlos Michán Illustration: Daniel Rosa, Fran Fernández and Philipp Ach Graphic design: Philipp Ach English translation: Bárbara Mata Editing: Board Game Circus
Game testing and additional development: Bárbara Mata, Alfredo Michán, Adela Amado, Enrique Holguín, Irina Gumeniuk, José Picos, Francisco González, Jaime Navas, Lea Dallier, Daniel Morales, Sergio Morales, Soi Núñez, Javier Benítez, Joni Rua, Daniel Rosa, Fran Fernández
Round Overview
- All Players place their Defensive Wall in front of their Realms.
- All Players must put their Mayors on the Management Zone and their Military Leaders (Generals and Admirals) on the Realm's Map.
- All Players withdraw their Defensive Walls. They receive several Resources depending on the placement of their Mayors and their Military Leaders (Generals and Admirals).
- All Players receive 2 Production Tokens.
- The Player with the most Production Tokens is the new Start Player.
- All Players, beginning with the Start Player and following the Turn Order Track, will execute one of the following Actions: Activating a Card from the Current Events Panel, Putting a Card from their Personal Display into Play, or Passing.
- Ending the Round, once all Players have Passed.
Reference — Card Symbols
- Immediate Effect
- End-of-Game Effect
- (Repetitive) Colour Effect
- (Repetitive) Production Effect
- Great Person
- Realm Card
- Auction Card
- Majority Card
- Card
- Play a card
- Get a card
- Differently Coloured Cards
- Victory Points
- Victory Points (Battle Points)
- Iris
Reference — Resources and Leader Tokens
- Production Token
- Science Token
- Culture Token
- Religion Token
- Gold Token
- Raw Material Token
- Battle Point Tokens
- Mayor
- General
- Admiral