Senators Rulebook

Table of Contents

Set Up
Game Play
- A: Draw Event Card
- B: Take ONE Action
Running Out of Money
Public vs Private
Game End and Victory
Event Cards
Office Cards
Support Cards
Contents

Set Up

1 - Senate and Market Boards Place the boards on the table so that they form an ascending Senate track from 1 to 20.

2 - Player Tokens and Screens Give each player the player screen and tokens in their chosen color. Players put their Senate marker on the 5th position of the Senate track, the stacking order is not important. Choose a start player.

3 - Resource cards Shuffle each deck of Resource cards and deal one card from each deck face down to each player. These are a player's starting Resources. Place the decks back above the respective Senate and Market Boards.

4 - Office cards Shuffle the Office cards and place above the last Senate and Market Board.

5 - Event Cards Shuffle the Event cards and place face down on the table.

6 - Coins Give the start player 15 Talents, then each other player one more Talent than the previous player. (Second player gets 16, third player 17 etc). Remaining money forms the Bank.

7 - Support Cards (Advanced) Randomly deal face up as many Support cards as there are players and then starting with the player to the right of the start player, and continuing anti-clockwise, everyone chooses one and places it face up in front of them.

We recommend that Support cards are not used the first time you play. Without Support cards increase the additional starting money after the start player to 2 Talents (So the second player has 17, third player has 19 etc).

Game Play

The goal is to have the support of the most Senators at the end of the game. When a player gains or loses a Senator they move their marker up or down the Senate track accordingly. Starting with the start player and continuing clockwise, a player will:

A: Draw Event Card

B: Take ONE Action

Auction
Extortion
Cash in

A: Draw Event Card

Turn over the top card, resolve the event and discard the card.
If the event is War place the card on a separate discard pile to keep count. The fourth War card ends the game.

B: Take ONE Action

Auction

Turn the top card over of the Resource and Office decks. These cards are now offered for sale.
Bidding starts with the player to the left who may place their bidding markers on any price point below the cards they wish to buy.
In clockwise order other players may also make higher bids on any cards. Players may bid for all, any or no cards.
There is only one round of bidding, ending with the player to the right of the active player.
The active player then has a choice for each card: EITHER to sell the card to the player with the highest bid, for the price they have bid, OR to buy the card themselves by paying that same amount to that highest bidder and keeping the card for themselves. They may choose the order in which they buy or sell cards.
Any cards without bids are taken by the active player for free.
All cards purchased are public and placed face up in front of players.

Extortion

The active player first takes 3 Talents from the Bank.
Then they may make an offer to each other player for any one of their public cards. Private cards cannot be extorted.
The offer must be a single price for a card and there can be no negotiating. The other player must choose to either sell the card or pay the offered amount to the active player to keep their own card.
If the targeted card was an Office or Support card that remains public. If the targeted card was a Resource card it becomes private and whichever player bought or kept it now turns it face down.
Offers must be made in clockwise order starting with the player to the left, and each have to be resolved before the next offer is made.

Cash In

The active player may do either or both of the following and play any Office cards, in any order they choose.

Sell resources to the State for money

The active player may sell one or more sets of resources to the Bank.
A set must be three cards, either all the same type of resource or all the same value number.
The player receives Talents equal to the face value of the cards sold.
If a set is both all the same type of resource and three number values in consecutive order, the player receives an additional 15 Talents.

Same type = 12 Talents. Same number = 15 Talents. Run of same type (+15 Talents) = 24 Talents. Not all same type or number = Can't sell.

Buy the support of new Senators

The active player may buy the support of as many Senators as they want.
Each Senator costs 10 Talents.

Running Out of Money

At any time throughout the game a player may embezzle money from the State. They may choose to for tactical reasons or be forced to for a debt or bid.
They take 5 Talents from the Bank and lose the support of one Senator.
If a player loses their last Senator they are out of the Senate and the game.

Public vs Private

Money is always private and hidden behind a player's screen. Cards are either public and face-up for all players to see at all times, or private and kept face-down.
Offices and Support cards are always public.
Starting Resource cards are private, new Resource cards purchased from Auctions are public but may become private after an Extortion.

Game End and Victory

The Game is over immediately the fourth War card is turned up. The war is not resolved. The winner is the player with the most Senators at that moment with the tiebreaker being the most money and then last in play order.
The winner stands up and all other players have to proclaim "Hail Caesar"
There is no second place.

Event Cards

Event cards are resolved and discarded before a player chooses their action.

Senate Majorities (6 cards) Senators use their position to reward themselves from the state coffers.

Every player gains 2 Talents from the Bank for every player with fewer Senators than themselves. (Example: Haig has 6 Senators, Rikki and Nyree each have 4 and Sacha has 2. Haig receives 6 Talents, Rikki and Nyree each receive 2 Talents and Sacha gets none.)

War (5 cards) Rome is at war again and the Senate calls on on its own members to make a voluntary contribution. The most patriotic faction will increase their influence.

Each player secretly puts a bid in their hand. They may choose to bid nothing. All are revealed simultaneously and whoever contributed the most Talents gains 1 Senator. All money contributed is given to the Bank regardless of success. In ties each gain 1 Senator.

New Senator (3 cards) A new Senator is appointed and visits the different factions to offer his support.

Starting with the current player, players have the opportunity to purchase the support of the new Senator. The current player must pay 15 Talents. If they choose to pass the next player in clockwise order can buy it for 14 Talents and the following for 13 Talents etc. The offer continues around the table dropping by 1 Talent each time until a player chooses to purchase the Senator.

State Deficit (3 cards) The state finances have been mismanaged and money is lacking for popular projects. The Senate calls on its own members to make good on their promises.

Each player secretly puts a bid in their hand. They may choose to bid nothing. All are revealed simultaneously and if the total Talents contributed by all players adds up to, or exceeds, the deficit level of the Event card the player who contributed the most gains 1 Senator. If the total fails to reach the deficit level then the player who contributed the least loses 1 Senator. All money contributed is given to the Bank regardless of success. In ties each gain 1 Senator or lose 1 Senator.

Civil Conflict (3 cards) Italian cities rise against Rome. Senators have to help to protect their privilege and power. Those stationed overseas are not involved.

All players must pay 5 Talents to the Bank. Players with a Governor pay nothing.

Trial of Governors (2 cards) The smell of corruption has become too rancid for even the Senate to ignore and a clean sweep is made of all Governors (except those with political protection) to restore confidence in Rome's justice.

All players lose any Governor cards they have. A player holding the Support of the Tribunes card is immune and ignores this event.

Office Cards

Office cards are always public even after Extortion. There is no limit to how many Offices a player can hold. Offices are played and discarded in the Cash-in action.

Governors (6 cards, one for each Resource type) A coveted appointment to run a foreign province of Rome with an unspoken right to use that position to plunder the territory for their own personal gain.

Each Governor card relates to one Province and its resource. This card may be played as if it were a wild Resource card of any value (1-9).
Players holding Governors at the moment of Civil Conflict are immune and do not have to pay 5 Talents to the Bank.
All Governors are immediately discarded when the Trial of Governors is drawn.

Censors (5 cards) A powerful but unpopular role that audits the activity of powerful Senators. Calculated investigations can cause Senators to change allegiance to avoid scrutiny.

A player playing a Censor steals one Senator from another player with more Senators - the targeted player loses a Senator and the active player gains a Senator. A player with equal or fewer Senators cannot be targeted.

This card can be played during a Cash-in before buying new Senators.

Consuls (2 cards) The most influential position a Senator can achieve, with significant honor and patronage at their disposal to attract others to their cause.

A player playing a Consul can purchase any number of Senators for 7 Talents each instead of the usual cost of 10 Talents.

Quaestors (2 cards) In control of public finances, they can bend the rules on State budgets.

Playing a Quaestor allows the player to sell sets of any three cards that turn. (ie they neither have to be all the same resource type nor the same number)

Support Cards

These represent support from sectors in Rome outside the Senate. Support cards are always public even after Extortion. There is no limit to how many a player can hold. The benefits are continuous and they are not played and discarded like Office cards.

Vox Populi The favorite of the Roman mob.

When the player holding this card takes the Cash-in action they gain 1 Senator for free.

Tribune Support The Tribunes could override the courts in matters of justice.

A player holding this card does not lose any Governors with the Trial of Governors.

Lictors The thuggish Lictors with their fasces provide physical enforcement for officials.

A player with this card that chooses Extortion as an action gains an additional 5 Talents from the Bank. (ie they take 8 Talents instead of 3 Talents at the start)

Mercadores As the principal merchants of Rome their support helps in commercial transactions.

When the holder of this card chooses to Auction they draw the top two cards of each Resource deck, secretly look at them, and choose which is for sale in that auction and which is returned to the top of the deck.

Equites The knightly class that were the backbone of the Roman cavalry.

When a War is being resolved and players have revealed their contributions, the player holding this card adds 3 to however much they bid.

Pontifex Maximus The most important priest in pagan Rome, he confers the support of the temples.

The holder of this card gains a bonus of 9 Talents for every "1" value resource card in a set they sell to the State. They also gain this bonus if they choose to designate a Governor card being played as a "1".

4 Senate and Market boards
54 Resource cards in 3 decks
22 Event cards
6 Support cards
15 Office cards
48 Coins: Roman Talents in 1, 5 and 10 denominations
5 Player token sets with 4 bid and 1 Senator marker in each color
3 Rules Summary cards (For reference only)
5 Player Screens (Fold before first use)

Credits

Original Creation: Haig Tahta Game Design: Haig Tahta, Rikki Tahta Development: Sacha Alexander, Andrew Dickinson, Sam Dickinson, James Dickinson, Skip Simmons, Robert Osterbauer Illustration: Andrew Higgins Graphic Design: Jorge Martinez