Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Goal of the Game
• Preparing to Play
  • 1. Position the Lost Books
  • 2. Position the "Footbridges"
  • 3. Deal Out the Cards
• The Turn
  • 1. Swap Cards
  • 2. Play Cards
  • 3. Move His Acolyte
  • 4. Discard Cards
  • 5. Draw Cards
• Free Action
• How to Move Footbridges
  • Action "Rotas"
  • Action "Moves"
• Actions of the Cards — "Liber Fidei"
• End of the Game

Game Components

1 Gameboard

24 Footbridge tiles – four sets, with each set containing these six shapes:

• A large corner tile (5 squares)
• A small corner tile (3 squares)
• A T-shaped tile (4 squares)
• A long straight tile (4 squares)
• A medium straight tile (3 squares)
• A short straight tile (2 squares)

4 Acolyte pawns

4 Gargoyle pawns

32 "Liber Fidei" cards (4 sets of 8 cards, one for each Acolyte)

52 Positioning cards (4 sets of 13 cards)

16 Lost Books (4 of each color)

78 "Incertus Movet in Aere Sospeso" cards

Goal of the Game

Each player represents an Acolyte and tries to be the first to recover the four books that the Keeper has entrusted to him (the four books in the color of his pawn).

The sinners' pit is an intricate labyrinth of Footbridges and mobile walkways that can be moved by gears and pulleys. They can be turned and pushed in order to create a safe path over which the Acolyte may safely walk the abyss.

To move Footbridges, each Acolyte may read from the book "Incertus Movet in Aere Sospeso," which is a kind of user's manual explaining how to manipulate the walking passages to meet his needs. The more Footbridges the Acolyte moves during his turn, the farther he will be able to walk.

What's more, he will be able to use the content of his own "Liber Fidei," a set of prayers, thoughts and ascetic books, to perform apparently impossible actions (such as the manipulation of time and space) thanks to the power of his faith...

Preparing to Play

Each player chooses a colored Acolyte pawn and places it on his own starting square; he then takes 1 Gargoyle and the 8 "Liber Fidei" cards of the same color.

Before starting to play, you must:

1. Position the Lost Books
2. Position the Footbridges
3. Deal out the Cards

1. Position the Lost Books

Each player shuffles his own colored Positioning cards, then randomly chooses one of them. Each card represents one of the four quadrants of the gameboard and shows the position of four Lost Books (one in each color). The player places these Lost Books on the gameboard, as indicated on the card. Once finished, each quadrant will contain a book of each color. Once the Lost Books have been placed, return all the Positioning cards to the box. They won't be used again during this game.

NOTE: When playing with 2 or 3 players, draw one Positioning card from each unused color (so you have one for each quadrant), but place only the books which match the player colors being used on the gameboard.

The Lost Books now hover over the abyss on the gameboard.

2. Position the "Footbridges"

Randomly deal face-down Footbridge tiles to the players. With 2 players, each player receives 2 tiles of each shape; with 4 players, each player receives 1 tile of each shape; with 3 players, each player receives 1 tile of each shape and 2 other tiles following this order: the first and second players (in clockwise order) each choose 1 tile, the third player chooses 2 tiles, then the second player chooses 1 tile before the first player takes the 1 tile that remains.

The starting player is the one who last said a Psalm!

Then, in counterclockwise order starting with the last player, players take turns positioning a Footbridge tile of their choice from those in their possession. The object is to create a path that will let them recover the Lost Books of their own color.

NOTE: The tiles can be placed in many ways (including leaving spaces between them so there is no continuous path). To position a Footbridge under a Lost Book, first lift the book, place the Footbridge as desired, then reposition the Lost Book in the same place (on the Footbridge).

At all times, players must observe the following building rules during the Footbridge positioning phase:

1. The tiles MUST be placed (face up) so that they cover complete spaces in the white grid of the gameboard. They must not go out of the grid or cover any part of another tile placed on the board.
2. At the end of the Footbridge positioning phase, all Lost Books MUST be placed on one of the Footbridge tiles; in other words, no book may hover over the abyss at the end of this phase.
3. You cannot place two Lost Books of the same color on the same Footbridge. They must be positioned on two different Footbridges.

Each player must place all of his Footbridge tiles on the board and his Acolyte on the related starting square.

NOTE: When players are placing their Footbridge tiles, they cannot place a tile in such a way that another player is prevented from positioning a tile under one of his Lost Books.

STRATEGY: As the gameboard is unoccupied at the start of the positioning phase, all players can initially position tiles as they desire. Thus, it's recommended that players first place Footbridges under their own Lost Books in order not to be forced onto undesirable spaces at the end of the positioning phase.

GOLDEN RULE: ONCE ALL FOOTBRIDGE TILES ARE PLACED ON THE GAMEBOARD, ANY PLAYER MAY USE ANY WALKWAY.

3. Deal Out the Cards

Shuffle the 78 "Incertus Movet in Aere Sospeso" cards and deal them (face down) among all players as indicated below:

The first player (who most recently said a psalm) receives 4 cards; the second and the third, 5 cards; the fourth, 6 cards. When playing with 3, the first player receives 4 cards, the second 5 cards, and the third 6 cards; when playing with 2, the first player receives 4 cards and the second 5 cards.

Place the remaining "Incertus Movet" cards face down in a deck where everyone can reach them. In the course of the game, an open discard stack will be created next to this deck.

Each player shuffles his own 8 "Liber Fidei" cards and places them face down in front of himself. During the first turn, these cards will not be used.

RULE: During the game, a player may hold no more than 3 "Liber Fidei" cards in his hand.

The Turn

At the beginning of each turn, a player has 6 Action Points (AP) which he may use as he wants. The AP cost of a card is represented by a cogwheel symbol.

By using his Action Points, the player may:

1. Swap cards
2. Play cards

Once he has finished using his Action Points (whether voluntarily or not), the player may: 3. Move his Acolyte 4. Discard cards 5. Draw cards

Steps 1-5 must be performed in this order.

In addition, during his turn, the player has one Free Action that he may use whenever he wants (before swapping cards, before playing cards, etc.). When the player wants to use this Free Action, he must first declare it.

Play goes to the player to the left.

1. Swap Cards

The player may spend 1 Action Point and discard 2 cards from his hand to draw one new card from the "Incertus Movet" deck or from his own "Liber Fidei" deck.

OR

The player may spend 2 Action Points and discard 2 cards from his hand – one of which must be a "Liber Fidei" card – to choose one new card from the "Incertus Movet" deck or from his own "Liber Fidei" deck. Once finished, shuffle whichever deck was searched. The discarded "Liber Fidei" card is placed face up in front of the player for all to see; this card cannot be used for the rest of the game.

These actions may be repeated several times, as long as the player has enough Action Points at his disposal.

Swapping cards is optional.

2. Play Cards

Two kinds of cards can be played during the game:

1. "Incertus Movet in Aere Sospeso" cards
2. "Liber Fidei" cards

1. "Incertus Movet" Cards

These are pages of an antique code that let you manipulate Footbridges; depending on their name, some allow you to turn (ROTAS) a Footbridge according to its shape, while others allow to move (MOVES) it according to its type.

2. "Liber Fidei" Cards

These are a collection of prayers, invocations and psalms that enable a player to perform apparently impossible actions, something which only those who have faith can do!

As mentioned previously, the player has 6 Action Points on his turn that can be used to swap or play cards as he desires. Each card has one or more effects, and each effect costs 1-5 Action Points, as indicated on the card.

The player is free to choose how many Action Points he will spend on one (and only one) of the effects on the card, but he is free to play as many cards as he can afford.

To remember how many Action Points the player has spent, he lays down all the cards that he has already played in front of himself. These cards will be discarded at the end of his turn.

RULE: Effects of a played card must be performed immediately before playing another one. Once an effect has been performed, he cannot back up and choose a different Action. Once a card has been played, it must be laid on the table and discarded later; it cannot return to the player's hand.

Any Action Points not used during the turn are lost.

To see the card effects, refer to the section: "How to move Footbridges".

3. Move His Acolyte

The player receives Movement Points equal to the number of "Incertus Movet" cards played during his turn: 1 "Incertus Movet" card played means that his Acolyte may move 1 square. If the player plays 3 "Incertus Movet" cards, his Acolyte may move up to 3 squares.

GOLDEN RULE ON MOTION: ANY PLAYED "LIBER FIDEI" CARDS DO NOT AWARD MOVEMENT POINTS.

Rules of movement

• The Acolyte may move only across the squares of the Footbridges (not across the abyss).
• The Acolyte can never move diagonally.
• The Acolyte can move from one Footbridge tile to another only if the starting tile and the destination tile create a contiguous walkway (that is, a space on one Footbridge must be adjacent to a space on the other Footbridge). If the two tiles connect only at an angle or don't connect at all, the Acolyte cannot move between these tiles.
• An opponent's Acolyte is an insurmountable obstacle; you move around him, but not over or through him.
• The player may decide not to use all of his Movement Points, but any unused points are lost at the end of his turn.

Collect the Lost Books

During the movement phase, the player tries to collect his own Lost Books. If his Acolyte passes through (or arrives on) a square where a book is located, the player collects the book and places it in front of him.

RULE: The player can neither collect an opponent's Lost Book nor have his Acolyte end its movement on a square where an opponent's Lost Book is located. He may, however, pass through a square that holds an opponent's Lost Book.

4. Discard Cards

Once the Acolyte has been moved, the player discards the cards that he played during his turn. "Incertus Movet" cards are placed face up on a discard stack near their deck. Whenever this deck is depleted, shuffle the cards in the discard pile and form a new deck.

A player's "Liber Fidei" cards must be placed face up in front of him for all players to see. These cards can't be used for the rest of the game.

5. Draw Cards

To end his turn, the player must draw cards until he has six cards in his hand. He may draw "Incertus Movet" cards from the common deck or "Liber Fidei" cards from his own deck. No matter what, the player may hold no more than 3 "Liber Fidei" cards!

Free Action

During his turn, the player has at his disposal a Free Action, which can be used whenever he wants (before playing cards, or after, and so on).

The Free Action can be performed by:

1. moving his own Acolyte 1 square.

OR

2. moving any Footbridge that has no Acolytes on it 1 square.

OR

3. turning any Footbridge that has no Acolytes on it.

SPECIAL CASE: If the player has any Action Points to be spent, he can't add their respective value to the Free Action. For example, he cannot move any Footbridge with an Acolyte on it, even if he has an AP to spend. (In regular tile movement, as described below, a player can spend an AP this way.)

How to Move Footbridges

The "Incertus Movet" cards and some of the "Liber Fidei" cards allow the player to move any free tile (that is, one unoccupied by an Acolyte) or any tile with Lost Books on it. In the latter case, the Lost Books move together with the Footbridge so their position on the tile remains the same.

It's possible to move a Footbridge with one or more Acolytes on it, but this is not an easy operation. This effort costs 1 more Action Point per Acolyte present on the Footbridge to be moved. As with the Lost Books, these Acolytes move with the Footbridge and remain in the same position on the tile.

If a player wants to move a Footbridge two or more times during the same turn and one or more Acolytes are on this Footbridge, he pays the extra cost only once.

EXAMPLE: if the player wants to move a tile 2 squares and this tile has an Acolyte on it, he must pay 3 Action Points: 1 for the Acolyte and 2 for the cards.

NOTE: After finishing its movement, no part of a Footbridge may end up outside of the white grid or overlapping another tile.

GOLDEN RULE ON MOVING THE FOOTBRIDGES: ON A TURN, PLAYING TWO IDENTICAL CARDS IN A ROW ON THE SAME TILE IS NOT ALLOWED.

SPECIAL CASES:

• Moving a tile, then returning it to the original position for the sole purpose of gaining Movement Points is not allowed.
• If a card's effect cannot be carried out on the gameboard, then a different effect must be chosen; if this isn't possible, then this card cannot be played.

Action "Rotas"

All cards with the latin inscription "ROTAS" allow the player to rotate any tile of the shape indicated on the card.

A rotation means:

• 90 degrees (clockwise or counterclockwise)
• 180 degrees

Once a card has been played and a tile chosen, the player chooses one square on the Footbridge; the Footbridge will rotate around this "center." During the rotation, a tile may overlap another one, but at the end of its movement, it must not overlap any other tiles.

RULE: A rotation of 90° or 180° always costs 2 Action Points.

If a player wants to perform two rotations (for a cost of 4 Action Points), a different center square must be chosen for the second rotation. At the end of the first rotation, the tile must not overlap another one. Both rotations count as separate movements.

Action "Moves"

All cards with the latin inscription "MOVES" allow a shifting move of any tile of the type indicated on the card.

Once a card has been played and a tile chosen, the player pushes it vertically or horizontally (toward any open squares) in the direction he prefers. If he wants to move a tile two or more squares, he may change the direction for each movement.

RULE: Each tile on the board is an insurmountable barrier for any other tile that's moving. So unlike the "ROTAS" action, no two Footbridges may overlap during a "MOVES" action, not even for a moment.

Actions of the Cards — "Liber Fidei"

Each player's 8 "Liber Fidei" cards are:

NIHIL PENSI NEQUE MODERATI HABERE (Have neither scruples nor limits)

Depending on the Action Points spent, a player may move one or more opponent's Acolytes as indicated on the card. The player may move pawns only along valid paths.

• 1 AP = an opponent's Acolyte may be moved up to 4 squares;
• 2 AP = one or two opponent's Acolytes may be moved up to 6 squares total, divided as the player chooses;
• 3 AP = any number of opponent's Acolytes may be moved up to 9 squares, divided as the player chooses.

VIRTUS CLARA AETERNAQUE HABETUR (Goodness is ageless and bright)

The player may place his Gargoyle pawn – which represents fears and doubts in the face of evil – on any Footbridge square. When a Gargoyle sits on a Footbridge, this tile cannot be shifted or rotated until the Gargoyle is removed. An Acolyte cannot walk through a space with a Gargoyle; it may only move around it. During a player's turn, he may remove a Gargoyle at any time with a prayer: by discarding three cards from his hand, he may remove the Gargoyle from the gameboard (and place it back in the box).

MIHI IN DIES MAGIS ANIMUS ACCENDITUR (My soul is bursting into flame, every day a little more)

The player can make up to 5 tile rotations or movements. He may move different tiles during his turn (but he may not move tiles with an Acolyte on them). When using this prayer, the player's Acolyte cannot move this turn. (To help remember this rule, the Acolyte on the card is shown with a small padlock.)

VIRTUS OMNIA DOMUERAT (Bravery overcame any obstacle)

The player may move a tile that has no Acolytes at least 4 and up to 6 squares. He may not move it diagonally but he may change the direction between moves.

NEQUE ANIMUS NEQUE CORPUS A VOBIS ABERIT (My soul and my body belong to you)

Depending on the Points spent, the player makes his Acolyte jump over unoccupied spaces of the abyss up to the number indicated by the card's effect. The Acolyte must jump from the edge of a Footbridge and may not jump over any Footbridge squares.

Example jumps illustrated on the card: an impossible jump, a possible jump, and the starting space of the red Acolyte, showing how a jump must launch from the edge of a Footbridge tile rather than clearing an occupied one.

QUIN IGITUR EXPERGISCIMINI? (So why do you not wake up?)

The player may choose one or two Footbridge tiles that have no Acolytes or Books and place them on other free spaces on the gameboard.

ANIMI IMPERIO, CORPORIS SERVITIO MAGIS UTIMUR (Our force lives in our soul and in our body)

The player's Acolyte may move up to 4 squares.

VICTORIA IN MANU NOBIS EST (Victory is in our hands)

The player may remove 1 or 2 empty Footbridges from the board without replacing them.

End of the Game

The game ends when one of the players/Acolytes has recovered all four of his Lost Books. This player is declared the winner.