Patrician: Towers of Influence
Patrician: Towers of Influence Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
As master builders, you and your fellow players will carry out building orders, adding floors to towers across Italy. When both towers in a city are complete, the builders who have constructed the most floors in each tower receive Prestige tokens, worth victory points. Collecting sets of matching Patrician portraits also scores victory points. At the end of the game, the builder with the most victory points wins!
Components
- 145 Tower floor pieces in 5 colors (29 each in black, white, red, yellow, and blue)
- 20 Prestige tokens (2 for each city)
- 1 Double sided game board
- 5 Reference cards
- 55 Building cards in 10 colors (7 cards for Bologna, 5 cards for Milano, 7 cards for Firenze, 4 cards for Ferrara, 5 cards for Lucca, 5 cards for Siena, 4 cards for Parma, 7 cards for Pistoia, 7 cards for Roma, and 4 cards for Verona)
Each Building card shows a starting symbol, a city crest, and either a Patrician portrait or a special action symbol.
Additional module components are explained at the end of the rulebook.
Setup
Place the game board on the table in easy reach of all the players. If there are 5 players, use the side that includes the orange city Pistoia. If there are fewer than 5 players, use the side without Pistoia.
If there are 5 players, use all the Building cards and Prestige tokens.
For games with 2, 3, or 4 players, leave Pistoia's orange Prestige tokens and seven orange Building cards in the box.
There are two Prestige tokens for each city, matching the city's color and crest. Place the corresponding Prestige tokens, number side up, on the round spaces next to each city.
Separate the Building cards with the star symbol in the upper right corner from the rest of the cards and shuffle them.
Deal each player three of the star cards to form your starting hands. Shuffle the remaining star cards with the Building cards without a star symbol, then place this deck face down to form a draw pile. For each city on the board, draw a card from the draw pile and place it face up on the city's name plate.
Each player chooses a color and takes all the Tower pieces of that color.
Your Tower pieces form a supply that you will use during the game. Return any extras to the box.
Note: The colors of the cities and the colors of the Tower pieces are independent of each other!
If playing with two players, follow the Architetto rules below.
How to Play
Choose a starting player to take the first turn, then play proceeds clockwise. On your turn, you will take five actions in the following order:
- Play a Building card
- Place Tower pieces
- Take a Building card
- Perform Special Actions
- Draw a replacement Building card
Then, the next player begins their turn.
1. Play a Building card
Choose one of the three cards from your hand, placing it face up on the table in front of you. Starting with your second turn, you will place your card on top of the card you played on your previous turn, creating a stack as the game progresses. You may examine your stack of cards at any time, but your opponents can only see the top card.
2. Place Tower pieces
The card you played shows one or two city crests. Each city crest shown allows you to place one Tower piece; once placed, it becomes a floor in the tower. Take the indicated number of pieces from your supply and place them in the city shown on the card. Each city has two building sites, indicated by the square spaces shown in each city.
If your chosen building site is empty, place your Tower piece on the empty square to begin a new tower in that city. If there are already Tower floors on your chosen building site, simply place your piece on top of the stack. As the towers grow taller, you may place Tower pieces onto existing Tower floors of any color. If the Building card you played shows two city crests, you may place both pieces on the same building site, or place one on each of the two building sites in that city.
EXAMPLE: Michael plays a Building card showing two crests for Ferrara. He decides to place one Tower piece on each of the two building sites in that city.
The total number of floors allowed in each city is shown on the city crest (see the Roman numerals above each city crest). A city will hold either 5, 7, or 9 total floors between the two building sites. For example, if a city crest shows "VII", the city is complete when exactly 7 total Tower floors are distributed between the two towers.
Important: Each of the two towers in every city must have at least one floor! If you are adding the last Tower piece in a city, and one of the building sites is still empty, you must place your Tower piece on the empty building site.
3. Take a Building card
Take the face-up card next to the city you just built in and add it to your hand. Later in the game, when the draw pile has been exhausted, there will be some cities that have no face-up cards to draw. If you build in a city that no longer has a face-up card, you draw a face-up card from any city on the board.
Note: If there are no more face up cards on the board, skip this action. Continue playing with the cards you have in hand until all cards are played.
4. Perform Special Actions
After building, you may take a special action if allowed. Most Building cards show one or more Patrician portraits, which will be important for endgame scoring. Some Building cards, however, show a Special Action symbol instead of a Patrician portrait.
If you play one of these cards, after placing your Tower floor you may choose another city that you previously built in and move the top floor of either tower, regardless of color, to the top of the other building site. You must obey these limitations when doing so:
- You must choose a different city than the one where you placed a Tower floor this turn.
- You must own at least one Tower floor in the city you have chosen.
- You cannot move a Tower floor to a different city.
- You must choose a city that has not been scored yet.
If you cannot meet those requirements in any city, your special action is lost.
Example: Mary (the red player) plays this card for Lucca. She places one of her tower pieces in Lucca and looks for a Tower piece to move. She cannot move a piece in Parma because she has no pieces in that city. She cannot move a piece in Lucca because she just built a Tower piece there this turn. So, she decides to move a piece in Milano, and moves the top piece (black) from one tower to the empty building site. Now she has the majority in one of the Milano towers!
If you play one of these cards, when taking a Building card you may instead take the face-up card next to any city on the board.
5. Draw a replacement Building card
Draw the top card from the draw pile and place it face up on the newly emptied city name plate.
Note: When the draw pile is empty, skip this action.
City Scoring
The Roman numeral above each city crest shows the total number of Tower floors that can be built in that city, distributed between the two towers. When that number is reached, the city is immediately scored and Prestige tokens are awarded.
- The player with the most floors on the taller tower takes the city's higher-valued Prestige token.
- The player with the most floors on the shorter tower takes the city's lower-valued Prestige token.
- Any other players with pieces in that city receive no points.
If there is a tie for the most floors in a given tower, the tied player who owns the floor closest to the top of the tower receives the Prestige token. Place your Prestige tokens face up in front of you. The towers in that city remain standing for the remainder of the game.
Note: You can tell that a city has been scored because its Prestige tokens will no longer be on the board.
End of the Game
The game continues until no cards remain on the board (all of the city name plates are visible), players have played all the cards from their hands, and all of the cities have been scored.
Final Scoring
Sort all the Building cards you played during the game by their Patrician portraits. Each set of 3 matching portraits earns you 6 bonus points.
Note: Be sure to count portraits and not cards; some cards may have 2 Patrician portraits!
Add points you earned for Patrician portraits to the value of all the Prestige tokens you collected during the game. The player with the greatest total is held in the highest of esteem with the Patrician families and wins the game!
Scoring Example: At the end of the game, Mary has played cards worth 6 points, 12 points, and 0 points for Patrician portraits, and has collected Prestige tokens worth 33 points. Her total score is: 33 points for Prestige tokens + 18 points for Patrician portraits = 51 total points.
If there is a tie for the most points, the tied player with the fewest Tower floors on the board is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory!
The Architetto (Rules for 2 Players)
An arrogant builder has arrived in Italy, claiming to be the greatest of all engineers. While their skills are questionable, their bravado has caught the eye of the Patrician families. In your duel to gain favor with the influential families, this scheming Architetto now adds a bothersome wrinkle…
Setup
Follow the setup instructions for 3 players, setting one unused set of 29 Tower pieces beside the board. These are the Architetto's pieces. Draw the top three Building cards and, without looking at them, place them face down next to the Architetto's Tower pieces. These hidden Building cards will be revealed at the end of the game.
Gameplay
During the game, the Architetto activates at the end of the player's turn when a Building card showing two crests is played. The current player first completes their entire turn, and then the Architetto acts before the next player's turn. Once the draw pile is exhausted, the Architetto does not activate until the end of the game.
To activate the Architetto, reveal the top card from the Building card deck and place a number of the Architetto's Tower pieces based on the city crests shown, following these rules:
- If the city has no tower pieces or if both building sites in the city have the same number of floors, the current player places the Architetto's Tower piece in the matching city on the building site of their choice.
- If the building sites have different numbers of Tower floors, the Architetto's Tower piece must be placed in the building site in the matching city that gives the Architetto majority. If placing in neither building site would give the Architetto majority, then place the Architetto's Tower piece on the shorter of the two towers. The Architetto's Tower pieces should always be placed to force ties in a way that would provide the maximum points to the Architetto.
The Architetto does not perform Special Actions shown on cards. After the Architetto acts, discard their Building card into a dedicated Architetto discard pile. If the card revealed for the Architetto shows two crests, the Architetto takes another turn.
When a City is scored, the Architetto gains Prestige tokens following the same rules as players.
Running Out of Cards
When the draw pile is empty, the Architetto does not affect the game again until the end.
End of the Game
After both players have finished playing all the cards in their hands, reveal the three hidden Building cards that were set aside at the beginning of the game. Place the Architetto's Tower pieces in the matching cities, following the same placement rules as before. Discard the played cards into the Architetto discard pile.
Like the players, the Architetto scores 6 points for every set of three Portraits in their discard pile.
Winning the Game
Score the game as normal. If the Architetto wins the game, immediately play again. The Architetto cannot be allowed to gain favor!
Playing Patrician with Advanced Modules
Once you are familiar with Patrician: Towers of Influence, you can expand your gameplay with either or both of the following advanced modules, which add additional strategic elements and new ways to score.
Module 1: Trade Routes
The bustling roadways can increase trade between cities and bolster their prestige, but nefarious bandits often prey on travelers, instead weakening the reputation of the cities.
Components
- 6 double-sided Trade Route markers (Trader +1 / Bandit -1)
- 24 double-sided bonus Prestige tokens (+1 Prestige / -1 Prestige)
Use the core Patrician: Towers of Influence rules with the following changes.
Setup
When playing with 2 or 3 players, each player gets two Trade Route markers. When playing 4 or 5 players, each player gets one Trade Route marker. Put any remaining Trade Route markers back in the box. Set the Bonus Prestige tokens near the board.
Note: When playing with 2 players, the Architetto receives no Trade Route markers.
Gameplay
If a player plays a card with a star icon in the upper right, they first take their turn as usual. Then, after drawing a replacement Building card, they may choose to place a Trade Route marker on the board, following these rules:
- Trade Route markers must be placed on a Trade Route signpost between two cities, with their arrows pointing towards both cities.
- Neither of the two cities is allowed to be the city shown on the Building card played this turn.
- Each city can have at most two Trade Route markers pointing to it.
- Only one Trade Route marker is allowed between any two cities.
- If a player places a Trade Route marker pointing to a city that already scored, the Trade Route marker has no effect on the scored city.
Example: Mary has played a card with a star icon. She chooses to place a Trade Route marker on the signpost between Lucca and Siena, neither of which appear on the card she played.
City Scoring
When a city with at least one Trade Route marker is scored, the player who scores each tower (and Architetto, in a 2-player game) gains Bonus Prestige tokens based on the Trade Route markers pointing to it:
- One Trader: one 1 point bonus Prestige token.
- Two Traders: two 1 point bonus Prestige tokens.
- One Bandit: one -1 point bonus Prestige token.
- Two Bandits: two -1 point bonus Prestige tokens.
- One Trader and One Bandit: no bonus Prestige token.
Final Scoring
During Final Scoring, players add or subtract the value of their bonus Prestige tokens when determining their final score.
Module 2: The Delegates
Once a year, the Patrician families send influential delegates to an important gathering, which allows them to achieve additional Prestige points for their families.
Components
- 3 Minor Delegates cards (A, B, and C)
- 1 Major Delegates card (D)
Use the core Patrician: Towers of Influence rules with the following changes.
Setup
Set the Delegates cards face up near the board to be scored at the end of the game. Use the side of the 6-point tower Minor Delegates card (C) that matches the player count.
Final Scoring
The Delegates cards are earned as follows:
Minor Delegate cards:
- The player with the most 2 point Prestige tokens gains Delegates card A.
- The player with the most 4 point Prestige tokens gains Delegates card B.
- The player with the most 6 point Prestige tokens gains Delegates card C.
In case of a tie, the player who owns the highlighted Prestige token shown in the leftmost spot of the Delegates card earns that card.
For each Minor Delegates card, its owner gains one additional Patrician portrait of their choice toward making a set.
Major Delegates card:
The player who has the highest sum point total for the cities of Verona, Parma, and Ferrara gains the Major Delegates card D. In the case of a tie, the player who has the most points in Verona gains the Major Delegates card. The owner of the Major Delegates card gains one additional Patrician portrait of each type toward making sets.
Note: If you play with the Trade Routes module, the extra points won for the Trade Routes are not relevant for the distribution of the Delegates cards.