Seven Sisters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Game Preparation
• The Seven Sisters and their Gifts
• Flow of Play
• Scoring for Rounds 1-4
  • Scoring example
• Final Scoring
  • Final scoring example
• Variant Game

Contents

1. 7 Sister tiles - depicting each of the seven sisters, Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Pride, and Envy.
2. 6 Player Screens - used to keep gold, fruit, and reserve servants hidden, also contain descriptions of gifts offered by each sister and turn summary.
3. 55 Influence Cards - dealt to players each turn to determine which sisters each may try to influence - 42 of these cards each have a picture of two sisters on them - one large and one small, indicating the primary sister and secondary sister; 13 cards with the icons of all sisters - these are "wild cards".
4. 35 Sisters' Favors (victory point tokens) - 5 per sister, color and picture matching that sister's tile.
5. 180 "Servant" Cubes - 30 per player (six different colors), used to represent servants sent to influence the sisters.
6. 6 Turn Marker/Bonus Goods tokens - four will be used randomly, these determine how many gold/fruit each player receives at the start of each turn (2 "3s", 2 "4s", 2 "5s").
7. 50 Yellow Tokens representing Gold.
8. 50 Pink Tokens representing Fruit.
9. 1 Red Wrath Marker.
10. 1 Black First Player Marker.

Overview

In Seven Sisters, each player is one of the aristocrats who have bet a parcel of land that he can gain the most favor from the King's seven daughters over the course of the party. Over the course of four rounds, the players will offer their servants to do the sisters' bidding, and hope for rewards of gold, fruit, and most importantly, the favor of the sisters. The player who offers the most servants to each sister in each round will gain that sister's favor and be granted a gift from the sister. At the end of four rounds, a final scoring will take place, and the player who has earned the most victory points is the winner!

Game Preparation

• Place the 7 Sister tiles in a row in the middle of the table, in numerical order from left to right (Wrath, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Pride, Envy from left to right).
• Shuffle the 55 Influence Cards and place them on the table near the row of tiles.
• Separate the (35) Sister's Favors into 7 piles, color and art matching each sister. Place the stacks of tokens above the tile of the appropriate sister.
• Mix up and place the 6 Turn Marker / Bonus Goods Tokens face down near the sister tiles.
• Place the "Gold" tokens and the "Fruit" tokens near the center tiles.
• Place the Wrath Marker on the first of the seven sisters, "Wrath."
• Randomly determine a first player, and place the "1st Player" Marker in front of that player's screen.

Each player takes:

• One player screen, corresponding to his player color, which he places in front of himself on the table.
• 30 Servant Cubes, coinciding with the colored bar at the bottom of his player screen.
  • Separate into two piles containing 15 each.
  • One pile is put in front of the player screen, visible to all players - this is the "playable" stock.
  • The other pile is placed behind the player screen - this is the "reserve" stock.

The Seven Sisters and their Gifts

Each of the seven sisters has a gift (a special action) that the player who has influenced her the most in each round receives in addition to the Favor Token from that sister. The list below describes each sister's gift.

Wrath - The player who has the most servants influencing Wrath removes the Wrath Marker from whichever sister it is on, and places it on another sister. The player must move the Wrath Marker, but may not place the token on Wrath. The Wrath marker may not be placed on the same sister in consecutive rounds. After the sister which the Wrath Marker is placed on is scored, all servants on that sister are returned to the respective players' reserve stock (unless those players pay Gold tokens to return them to their playable stock.) The Wrath Marker does not move again until Wrath is scored in the following round. If two or more players are tied with the most servants influencing Wrath, and the tie cannot be broken by Sloth tokens (see Sloth, below,) then the Wrath marker moves one sister to the right. This is the only way that the Wrath marker may be placed on Wrath (moving from Envy.)

Note: In the variant game, in which the Sisters are placed randomly, it is possible for Wrath to be scored after the Wrath Marker is resolved, in which case it is possible for two Sisters to be affected by the Wrath Marker in the same round.

Greed - The player who has the most servants influencing Greed receives five gold from the supply. All other players with at least one servant influencing Greed receive two gold from the supply.

Gluttony - The player who has the most servants influencing Gluttony receives five fruit from the supply. All other players with at least one servant influencing Gluttony receive two fruit from the supply.

Lust - The player who has the most servants influencing Lust receives five servants from their reserve stock and places them into their playable stock. All other players with at least one servant influencing Lust receive two servants from their reserve stock and places them into their playable stock.

Sloth - The player with the most Victory Point Tokens from Sloth wins ties. If two or more players have an equal number of Victory Point Tokens from Sloth, there is no winner.

Pride - The player who has the most servants influencing Pride chooses the first player for the next round; the First Player Marker is placed in front of the chosen player's screen. If there is a tie amongst players for the most servants influencing Pride which can't be broken by Favor Tokens from Sloth, the first player marker moves one spot to the right.

Envy - The player who has the most servants influencing Envy may move any two servant tokens from one sister's tile to Envy. These two servant tokens may belong to different players, including the player who gained Envy's favor.

Flow of Play

1. Six cards are dealt to each player from the top of the Influence Deck. These are kept secret from the other players.

2. The first player (chosen randomly,) flips over one of the face down Turn Markers, revealing a number between 3 and 5. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player may pick any combination of Gold or Fruit tokens that totals the number showing on the Turn Marker. These are placed behind the player screens to keep them hidden from the other players.

   Example: The first player flips over a Turn Marker that has the number 4 on it. Each player may take either 4 Gold, 4 Fruit, or any combination of Gold and Fruit totaling 4.

   Gold and Fruit tokens are a finite supply. If, for example, there is no gold in the supply, then gold may not be chosen.

3. The first player chooses one of the influence cards from his hand and lays it on the table so that the other players can see it. That player may then choose one of the following actions:

   A) Place two servants from his playable stock on the tile corresponding to the primary sister pictured on the card (the large picture.) The player may additionally choose to place one servant on the tile corresponding to the secondary sister pictured on that card (the small picture,) but must pay one Fruit token to do so. A fourth servant may then be placed on either of the two sisters pictured, but the player must also pay an additional Fruit token to do so. If a player does not have two servants in his playable stock, he must choose option B, C, or option D2, below.

   B) Remove two of his servants from the primary sister pictured, and move them to a different sister. The player does not then have the option of paying a Fruit token to place other servants.

   C) Take three servants from his reserve stock and add them to his playable stock. The player does not place any servants on a sister's tile when choosing this option. This option, option B, or option D2 must be taken if a player does not have two servants in his playable stock. If a player has no servants in his reserve stock, he receives no benefit from this action.

   D) If the player chooses to play a "Wild Card," he places two servants from his playable stock on the tile of the sister of his choice. Alternately (option D2,) he may move two of his servants from any sister's tile to any other sister's tile. His turn is then over. The player does not then have the option of paying a Fruit token to place other servants.

Play then continues in a clockwise order, with each player in turn playing an Influence Card and choosing one of the actions available. This continues until each player has played five of the six Influence Cards that were dealt to him; all Influence Cards, including the one that was not used, are then placed in the discard pile.

Note: The unused Influence Cards should be placed in the discard pile so as to remain hidden from all players.

4. Score each sister according to the instructions in the Scoring section below.

5. Repeat steps 1-4, but in rounds 2-4, before dealing Influence cards: The first player takes one servant from his reserve stock and places it on any of the seven sisters. Note: This step is taken only at the beginning of rounds 2 through 4. Each player adds two servants to their playable stock from their reserve stock, except the last player, who only adds one. Note: This step is taken only at the beginning of rounds 2-4.

Scoring for Rounds 1-4

Each round, once all players have finished playing their Influence Cards, each sister is scored. Starting with the first sister, and continuing in order, these steps are followed:

Check to see if a player has more servants influencing the sister than any other players. If a player has the most servants influencing that sister, he gains a Sister's Favor Token (victory point) from the appropriate sister's stack. Since that player has gained the sister's favor, he also receives a gift from the sister and/or performs her special action (see The Seven Sisters and their Gifts.) The servants belonging to the player who influenced the sister the most are removed from the sister and set aside temporarily.*

Note: If there is a tie for most servants influencing a sister, then the player with the most "Sloth" Favor Tokens wins. If there is still a tie or no tied player has any "Sloth" Favor Tokens, then none of the tied players gain that Sister's Favor Token or that sister's gift... however, all players influencing the sister in question gain the "secondary" gift from Greed, Gluttony, and Lust.

*After the winner of the first sister's Favor Token and gift are determined, and his servants have been removed from the sister, that player has the option of spending Gold tokens to return his servants to his playable stock. If he chooses to do so, the player may pay one Gold token to return one servant to his playable stock; two Gold tokens to return three servants; or three Gold tokens to return five servants. Any servants that the player does not spend Gold on to return them to playable stock are placed in that player's reserve stock. Note: It is possible for a player to pay more than three Gold tokens to return servants to his playable stock, using the ratios given. Example: A player may return eight servants to his playable stock by paying five Gold (3 Gold for 5 servants, and 2 Gold for 3 servants.)

The seven sisters are all scored using the methods described above, with players gaining Sister's Favor Tokens if applicable and performing each sister's special action (as a result of receiving her gift.)

After scoring, the players then move to the next round, and follow the flow of play in order. A total of four rounds are played and scored before final scoring (see next section.)

Scoring example

• Wrath - Green has more servants on Wrath, so green wins Wrath's favor. First green takes Wrath's favor, then moves the Wrath token where he wants. Scenario: Moves Wrath token from Lust to Greed. Green's servants are removed from Wrath and he may pay to return them to his playable stock, otherwise they go to his reserve stock. Blue's tokens remain on Wrath.
• Greed - Blue has more tokens, so he wins Greed's favor. He takes a token and removes his servants. Because the Wrath token is on Greed, ALL players remove their servants. Any player may pay to return his servants to their playable stock.
• Gluttony - Both players have the same amount of servants on Gluttony. Since green has won a Sloth token in a previous round, he wins Gluttony's favor and removes his servants. Blue's servants remain on Gluttony.

Final Scoring

The following scoring takes place after four rounds are complete:

• Each sister is scored a final time, using the normal method to gain Favor Tokens and gifts.
• Each player scores one point for each Favor Token they have acquired.
• In addition, two points are scored for each full set of Favor Tokens that they have acquired (a full set consists of one Favor Token from each of the seven sisters.)
• The player with the most unspent Gold tokens scores one point.
• The player with the most unused Fruit tokens scores one point.
• The player with the most servants in their playable stock scores one point.

If the scoring results in a tie, the player with the most Sloth Favor Tokens wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most servants remaining on the Sisters' tiles wins.

Final scoring example

• Green: +8 points for each single Favor token (eight tokens), +2 points for 1 set of all Favor tokens, +1 point for most unspent gold (green has 6, blue has 3). Final Score: 11.
• Blue: +6 points for each single Favor token (blue doesn't have a full set of Favors), +1 point for most playable servants (blue has 8, green has 6), +1 point for most unused fruit (blue has 5, green has 2). Final Score: 8.

Variant Game

In the variant game, try arranging the sisters' tiles in a random order rather than the numerical order given above. This will add a little more cut-throat play to the game, as well as some interesting variations such as the Wrath marker affecting two sisters each turn most of the time. Strategies will have to be adjusted based on the order the sisters are placed.