Siena Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Set Up
• Opening Auction Sale
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Starting a New Round
  • 2. Card Drawing Phase
  • 3. Actions Phase
• The "Siena" Cards
• How the Peasants and Merchants Produce Their Goods
• The Journey of the Merchants to Florence or Arezzo
• The Inn
• The Road Called "Via Francigena"
• From Peasant to Merchant and From Merchant to Banker
• The Banker
  • How the Banker Moves Inside the Town
  • The Wedding Procession in the "Palazzo Tolomei" District
  • The Way a Banker Earns Florins
  • The Courtesan
  • The Beggar Called Calandrino
• How to Earn Consent Points
  • 1. The "Senesi" Cards and the Merchants
  • 2. The "Senesi" Cards and the Donation to the Duomo
  • 3. The Artist Engagement at the Inn
    • The Artists Engagement
  • 4. The Building of the Tower Called "Torre del Mangia"
• Game End
• Final Count of the Consent and Victory Points
• The Variant for a Longer Game

Game Set Up

• Place one wooden cube on the 0 space of the Florins Chart, which surrounds the main board, and another cube on the detail of the corn fields marked on the right side of the board. This cube represents 1 good of Corn ready to be sold. Then place the wooden black pawn which represents the beggar Calandrino on the "Banchi di Sotto" district on the left side of the board, directly on the painting.
• Every player chooses one color and places 3 pawns of this color before them, representing their social status as Peasant (during the game, as their social status rises, the amount of pawns before them will decrease).
• Determine player order randomly and, by following it, every player places 1 of their pawns in a pile on the space marked 28 of the Florins Chart, in order to show that, at the beginning, they all own 28 Florins. Note that, both during the set up and in the course of the game, if two or more pawns are in a pile on the same space of the Florins Chart, the player whose pawn is on the highest position is considered as the richest one.
• In player order, everyone places 1 pawn on each space of the left column of the Initiative Chart - which is indicated on the left side of the board and made up of the spaces +0, +1, +2, +2 and +3 - by starting from the space +0.
• Shuffle the 7 "Fato" (Fate) and the 26 "Senesi" cards into separate decks and place them close to the game board.
• Shuffle the "Ambrogio Lorenzetti" card and 2 other face-down "Artista" cards taken at random, into a small deck. Place the remaining 5 "Artista" cards on these 3. Such a deck is the "Artista" card deck. Place it close to the game board.
• The main deck consists of the cards marked "Siena" on their back. Seven of them are marked on their front upper left side with a red asterisk, and with the green numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 on their right. Place them face-up on the table. Shuffle the remaining "Siena" cards and put them to one side at the moment.
• Start the opening auction sale.

Opening Auction Sale

Auction the 7 face-up cards laying on the table. Every player, starting from the poorest one (whose pawn is located on the +0 space) and then following the order of the Initiative Chart, has the opportunity to choose between the following two options:

a) start an auction for one of the face-up cards on the table b) do not auction any card

If a player decides not to auction any card available, he/she can't join the next auction sale in this round.

During each auction sale the players, in ascending order of wealth - according to the Initiative Chart - may overbid or pass. If they pass, they may not bid in this auction (even if they bid earlier), but they may start or join the next ones.

The player who wins the auction takes the card, pays as much as he/she has bid and moves his/her pawn down on the Florins Chart as many spaces as the amount of Florins he/she has spent.

The bidding continues until all players pass. When all players decide not to buy any other card by auction, they shuffle the remaining cards marked with the asterisk and the "Siena" cards that were put aside to form a new main deck.

If all 7 cards with the asterisk have been auctioned, the main deck then consists of just the "Siena" cards that had been put aside.

Every player, according to the amount of Florins they still own, place their pawn on the corresponding space of the Initiative Chart. The poorest one on the space +0, whereas the other ones, from the poorest to the richest, on the spaces +1, +2, +2 and +3.

Playing the Game

The game is played over several rounds and each of them is divided into 3 Phases.

1. Starting a New Round

During this phase the players just move the wooden cube 1 space forward on the Florins Chart in order to show that a new Round is starting.

2. Card Drawing Phase

During this Phase all players may draw up to two new cards and, if they wish, take an additional one marked with the asterisk by an auction.

a) Every player, according to the amount of Florins they still own, places their pawn on the corresponding space of the Initiative Chart. The poorest one on the space +0, whereas the other ones, from the poorest to the richest, on the spaces +1, +2, +2 and +3.

Note that, as told above during the Game Set Up, in case two or more pawns are in a pile on the same space of the Florins Chart, the player whose pawn is on the highest position is considered as the richest one.

b) Draw from the face-down "Siena" deck as many cards as twice the number of players and line them up from left to right face-up on the table. When the "Siena" deck is exhausted, shuffle the discarded ones into a new deck.

c) In increasing order of wealth, that's to say by starting from the player whose pawn is located on the +0 space of the Initiative Chart every player may choose to take one of the face-up cards without an asterisk, or to pass. The red number marked on the card shows how many Florins you have to pay in order to take it. A player must pay an additional cost for the card equal to the amount printed on the space that player's pawn occupies on the Initiative Chart. In this way the poorest player will just pay the card cost, the second one will pay the card cost increased by 1 Florin and so on (the poorest player tries harder, arrives in advance and pays less). When a player takes a card, he/she moves their pawn back on the Florins Chart as many spaces as the card cost.

Attention: the 0 cost cards are free for all players, even for the richest ones, independent of their position on the Initiative Chart!

Then, in the same way and order, every player may draw another card without the asterisk or pass. Every time a player takes a card or passes, they move their pawn one white space forward on the Initiative Chart. When their pawn is on the last white space on the right, they may not draw any more cards without the asterisk during this phase.

In other words the players during this phase may draw two cards without the asterisk at the most.

Every player may hold no more than 7 cards! In case the player is already holding 7 cards, he may not take any more cards and must move their pawn directly to the last white space on the right.

d) When all the players' pawns are on the last white space on the right and a card with an asterisk is still on the table, such a card is immediately sold by auction. In case more than one card with the asterisk is still on the table, the card marked with the lowest green number is the only one to be sold by auction.

e) In case a card with the asterisk is sold by auction, every player, starting from the one whose pawn is located on the +0 space of the Initiative Chart, may choose to overbid or to pass. If they pass, they may not bid in this auction. The player who wins the auction takes the card, pays as much as they had bid and moves back his/her pawn on the Florins Chart as many spaces as the amount of Florins he/she has spent. In case the player is holding 7 cards, he may not bid in this auction. If no one buys the auctioned card marked with the asterisk, it's discarded, ready to be drawn later again.

f) Leave on the table all the cards marked with the asterisk that haven't been auctioned and discard all the remaining cards without the asterisk still on the table.

3. Actions Phase

During this phase the players take their turn and have the opportunity to carry out one or more actions according to their social status and to the type of cards they wish to play.

a) The player whose pawn is located on the +0 space of the Initiative Chart, chooses who's the first player during this phase.

b) The first player may play or discard as many cards as he/she wishes (see "The Siena Cards"). In case he/she plays a card with the asterisk, such a card cannot be used again (remove it from the game), whereas, if he/she discards it, the card is available to be drawn later in the game.

c) At the end of the first player's turn, the other players will take their turn according to the increasing order of the Initiative Chart until all players have taken their turn. If, after the player whose pawn is on the highest space of the Initiative Chart has taken a turn, the player whose pawn is on the lowest space of the Initiative Chart has not taken his/her turn, he/she will now take his/her turn. And if the next player on the track did not have a turn, he/she will get one after the previous player is done with his/her turn. Remember, all players must have a turn.

d) The players who are playing the roles of Bankers earn 8 Florins and must move their pawn in Town (see "The Banker").

The "Siena" Cards

Every "Siena" card is divided into two different parts: the upper part is marked with an asterisk and/or numerical values on a white background; and the lower part with one or more illustrations. Every time the player plays one or more of these cards, he/she must choose which of the two parts he/she wishes to use, according to the effects he/she wants to activate. He/she can utilize the upper part or the lower part, not both.

The upper part of the "Siena" cards is always marked with a red number or an asterisk indicating the card cost (as explained in the "Card Drawing Phase") and a green number. The Bankers and Calandrino are the only ones to have the opportunity of using such a green number: in order to move faster in Town (see "The Banker").

The lower part of the "Siena" cards activates different effects according to the type of card. In the paragraphs below it is explained how and when the different "Siena" cards are to be played. In order to make the reading easier, the name of every card is written in italics and its picture is added to the corresponding description.

How the Peasants and Merchants Produce Their Goods

A player who plays the role of Peasant or Merchant may play the Braccianti-Viandanti (Laborers-Wayfarers) cards in order to produce their goods and increase their fortune. Most of the deck consists of these cards (there are 25 altogether) and depict a series of pictures and colored spaces on which some numbers are printed and which are different from one card to another.

Each picture and every colored space relate to a specific good. The three pictures on the left card are Corn (yellow space), Wine (red space) and Cloth (white space) respectively. The two pictures at the bottom of the right card are Oil (green space) and Spices (blue space).

The numbers printed on the colored spaces show how many Laborers or Wayfarers are active. Such Laborers or Wayfarers are represented by wooden cubes to be placed on the board, into the frame with the corresponding color.

The players must place on the board all the Laborers or Wayfarers mentioned on their card, adding them to those remaining from the previous round if there are any.

Every time all the colored spaces of the same frame are filled with cubes, 1 good is ready to be sold: move these cubes away (leaving the surplus ones on the frame) and place one cube on the painting, on the picture that corresponds to that specific good.

The player, who, playing one or more cards of this type, has produced 1 or more goods, may collect the amount of Florins described in every area.

The 5 countryside areas where the goods ready to be sold must be placed, are illustrated at the bottom of the page.

The Peasants may earn money just by selling Corn (8 Florins), Wine (10 Florins) and Oil (14 Florins), but they may sell neither Cloth nor Spices. Likewise the Merchants may earn money just by selling Cloth (20 Florins) and Spices (25 Florins), but they may not sell Corn, Wine and Oil.

Example: The player plays 2 cards, and places, starting from left, 2 cubes on the red frame, 4 cubes on the yellow frame and 2 cubes on the white frame.

The amount of cubes necessary to produce 1 Corn is 3 cubes. On the yellow frame there are 4 cubes: 3 of them become 1 good ready to be sold (place 1 cube on the painting, on the corn fields) and the remaining 1 is left on the yellow frame.

On the Cloth frame there are 6 cubes. Playing these two cards another 2 cubes are added. The amount of cubes necessary to produce 1 Cloth is 7. So, 7 of them become 1 good ready to be sold (place 1 cube on the painting, at the bottom on the right) and the remaining 1 is left on the white frame.

In case a Peasant plays these two cards, the player earns 8 Florins immediately and the Corn cube which has just been placed on the painting is removed. In case a Merchant plays these two cards, the player earns 20 Florins immediately and the Cloth cube which has just been placed on the painting is removed.

The player may also earn Florins in case he/she has placed, by playing some cards, one or more Laborers or Wayfarers on one or more frames corresponding to those areas of the painting where some goods ready to be sold had already been placed by other players. In the example, if the two cards in the illustration have been played by a Peasant, the player may earn 10 Florins with the sale of 1 Wine (that had already been placed on the painting).

Attention: as explained in "Game Set Up", the game starts with 1 Corn ready to be sold, on the painting. So, the first player who plays a card mentioning at least 1 Corn Laborer may earn 8 Florins immediately.

All Peasants and Merchants may earn Florins from the sale of 2 or 3 goods in the same turn, but such goods must always be different from one another. A Peasant, for instance, may sell, by playing one or more cards, 1 Corn, 1 Wine and 1 Oil, but not 2 Corns.

The only exception to this rule is the Mule card. When a Peasant plays this card, they may sell 2 identical goods for each of the three countryside areas (Corn, Wine and Oil) and collect the corresponding amount of Florins. In addition to the Mule card, the player must play Laborers - Wayfarers cards which allow them to sell all their goods, as already explained.

Relating to the example above: if on the painting there were 2 Wines ready to be sold, a Peasant who plays the Mule card in addition to the two cards depicted, could sell both Wines and earn 20 Florins.

Attention: if every player has become a Merchant and there's no Peasant left, you must remove all the Laborers cubes from the board for the rest of the game. The same with the Wayfarer cubes when all players have become Bankers.

The Journey of the Merchants to Florence or Arezzo

A Merchant may play this type of Laborers - Wayfarers card in order to extend his/her own trades out of the territory of Siena all along the most busy roads leading to Florence or Arezzo. In order to extend his/her activities in this way, the Merchant may play one or more cards according to the picture at the bottom of the corresponding card. With the first card he/she plays in this way, he/she could place one of his/her pawns on one of the two roads represented on the Firenze-Arezzo Chart on the right of the board. The road to Arezzo is shorter than that to Florence, but the latter promises higher profits.

Every time a player plays, during the same round or in the course of the next rounds, one or more cards of this type, he/she moves his/her pawn along the chosen road on the Firenze-Arezzo Chart, as many spaces as the amount of cards they have played (if a Merchant plays 2 cards together, he/she will place his/her pawn directly on the second space of the chosen road).

In case the Merchant's pawn stops on a space marked with a number, the player earns immediately that many Florins and moves his/her pawn on the Florins Chart as many spaces as the amount of earned Florins. When the Merchant arrives in Florence or Arezzo (end of the journey), the player earns the highest profit and moves his/her pawn off the Florence-Arezzo Chart.

If a Merchant on the journey to Florence or Arezzo plays a card which adds Wayfarers (cubes in the area of Cloth or Spices), the player must move his/her pawn off the Florence-Arezzo Chart, since the Merchant comes back to sell his/her goods close to Siena.

The player who, by means of this card, starts the journey to Florence or Arezzo must also place the amount of Laborers mentioned on that card, favoring the Peasants in this way, too.

The Inn

If a player, independently of his/her social status, plays three Inn cards during their Actions Phase, he/she earns immediately 20 Florins (the player has won by playing cards in the Inn).

The Road Called "Via Francigena"

The Peasants only may play the Via Francigena card. In addition to the "Via Francigena" card they must also play one or more Laborers - Wayfarers cards, which allow them to earn Florins by selling 1 or more goods. In this way they give up collecting the profit corresponding to the usual sale of such goods in order to sell them out of the Town limits, in the villages along the "Via Francigena". The demand for basic products in these villages is such that their sale seems to be very profitable, if the Peasants are ready to face the dangers lurking along the Via Francigena.

The Peasant shuffles the "Fato" cards deck and decides the amount of cards he/she wants to draw (that's to say the length of his/her journey). He/she must take such a decision before starting to draw and may not change his/her mind afterwards.

The deck consists of 7 cards: 6 colored cards and 1 Devil card. In case the player draws colored cards only, he/she earns the total amount of Florins indicated on the cards according to the kind of goods he/she is carrying, whereas, if among the drawn cards there is the Devil card too, he/she won't earn any Florins, since he/she has been robbed by brigands. These are the risks along the Via Francigena…

From Peasant to Merchant and From Merchant to Banker

At the beginning of the game every player plays the role of a Peasant.

By increasing their patrimony they may become Merchants and then Bankers.

A Peasant who owns at least 30 Florins may decide to become a Merchant at the end of his/her Actions Phase, but he/she is not bound to.

As Merchant the player won't go back to the Peasant status anymore, even if his/her amount of Florins decreases under 30 Florins. As soon as a player becomes a Merchant, he/she must discard one of the three pawns of his/her own color on the table before him/her. Only two pawns of the player's color are always on the table before them, as Merchant.

A Merchant who owns at least 80 Florins may decide to become a Banker at the end of his/her Actions Phase, but he/she is not bound to.

As Banker, the player won't go back neither to the Merchant nor to the Peasant status anymore, even if his/her amount of Florins decreases under 80 or 30 Florins. As soon as a player becomes a Banker, he/she must discard both pawns of his/her own color on the table before him/her, and places one of them on Town Walls, which separates the Town (at the left) from the fields (at the right). On the spaces 30 and 80 of the Florins Chart the letters M and B are indicated, reminding players that once on or past those spaces a player may change their social status.

When a player owns more than 100 Florins he/she places another pawn on the one which is already on the Florins Chart, just to highlight that he/she has more than 100 Florins.

Attention: a Peasant may not directly become a Banker! The player must play the role of Merchant at least one round.

The Banker

How the Banker Moves Inside the Town

The Town is divided into 10 districts and the Banker must move through them. The corresponding pawn moves directly on the painting, from district to district, according to the districts names marked on the frames.

At the beginning of every Actions Phase the Banker must move inside the Town in clockwise order from the district where his/her pawn is located to the adjacent district. During the first round as Banker, the player moves his/her pawn from the Town Walls to the "Banchi di Sotto" district and, from there, he/she goes on moving in clockwise order without coming back to the Town Walls.

The Banker, in order to move faster and so to reach quicker the most interesting districts, may play during his/her Actions Phase the green numbers indicated on the upper side of the "Siena" cards, as added Movement Points.

The Wedding Procession in the "Palazzo Tolomei" District

When a Banker reaches the "Palazzo Tolomei" district, he/she must stop and join a wedding procession, even if he/she still has Movement Points at his/her disposal. If the player doesn't want to stop and join the procession, he/she must pay 10 Florins as wedding present for the bride and then go on. In case the Banker starts movement from the "Palazzo Tolomei" district the player need not pay anything.

The Way a Banker Earns Florins

Unlike Peasants and Merchants, who usually play Laborers and Wayfarers cards to earn their Florins from the sale of their goods, Bankers do their businesses in the districts of the Town.

At the beginning of every Actions Phase, the Banker collects automatically 8 Florins. The Banker may also earn money in the following ways:

a) Like Peasants and Merchants, the Bankers, too, may play 3 Inn cards, in order to earn 20 Florins immediately.

b) During the other players' turn, every time a Merchant collects Florins for the sale of Cloth or Spices, all the Bankers immediately earn 3 Florins for any good sold.

c) Every time the Banker stops his/her Movement in one of the 4 Town districts, the name of which is printed on a yellow background, the player earns 5 Florins immediately because of some secondary deals he/she has made in such districts.

d) Every time the Banker stops his/her Movement in the "Banchi di sotto" or "Via dei servi" districts and plays, during the same turn, one or two Banchi di sotto or Via dei servi cards, the player earns 20 or 40 Florins immediately because of some especially profitable deals he/she has made in such districts.

e) Every time the Banker stops his/her Movement in the "Piazza Salimbeni" district and plays, during the same turn, the Piazza Salimbeni card, the player may, by running some risks, make handsome profits. If the Banker wants to try, the player shuffles the "Fato" deck and decides the amount of cards he/she wants to draw (as the Peasants on their journey along the "Via Francigena"). In case the player draws colored cards only, he/she earns the total amount of Florins indicated on the lower side of the cards, but if among the drawn cards there is the Devil card too, he/she won't earn any Florins, since the Banker is robbed by thieves in the square. These are the risks of the Piazza Salimbeni…

The Courtesan

The players may play the Cortigiana (Courtesan) card in order to put one wooden cube into the Inn, that's to say on the detail of the painting indicated on the Inn card. This cube symbolizes a Courtesan who is at the Inn in order to entertain the passing Bankers… There's no limit to the amount of Courtesans (wooden cubes) that can be placed into the Inn.

In case a Banker passes through the "Via della Cerchia" district when one or more cubes are on the detail of the painting depicting the Inn, the player is bound to enter the Inn, since he/she is attracted by the invitations of a Courtesan, and must not go on moving during this phase. The player moves his/her pawn from the "Via della Cerchia" district to the detail of the painting depicted on the "Inn" card.

The Bankers who come in contact with one or more cubes in the Inn must pay 10 Florins for any cube there; the cube (or cubes) are removed from the board after the payment. If in the Inn there are some Bankers and one or more cubes are placed in the Inn, they each must pay 10 Florins for every single cube.

In order to avoid such a payment, the Banker player may play the Courtesan's girlfriends card, who distract the Courtesans. In this case the cubes are not removed, the Banker need not pay any Florins and, if he/she wishes, he/she may decide to go on along the street instead of entering the Inn.

The Beggar Called Calandrino

When the player plays the Calandrino card, he/she moves the wooden black pawn representing the Beggar Calandrino 3 districts counter-clockwise on the Town painting. The player, in order to move Calandrino faster, may play the green numbers indicated on the upper side of the "Siena" cards, as added Movement Points.

Every time a Banker is reached or passed through by the Beggar, the player of the Banker has to choose among one of the following actions:

• give Calandrino 10 Florins and move back that many Florins on the Florins Chart;
• refuse to give alms to him and place 1 wooden cube before him/her representing the Banker's stinginess. At the end of the game every "stinginess" cube scores as a negative Consent Point (see "The Final Count");
• play the Guards card: the Beggar walks away, the Banker doesn't give any alms to him and doesn't take the "stinginess" cube.

Attention: in case the Calandrino pawn reaches or meets one or more Bankers standing at the "Duomo" district, those players may neither play the "Guards" card nor, in view of the place where they are standing, refuse to give the alms to him. In addition, they must give him 20 Florins alms instead of 10!

If a player plays an Inn card, he/she may move Calandrino inside the Inn. The player of the Banker reached or passed through by the Beggar while inside the Inn may choose among one of the same actions described above (paying, refusing to pay, playing the "Guards"), but if the player decides to give the alms to him, he/she must pay 20 Florins since he/she offers him a magnificent spread too!

Calandrino never disturbs the Banker whose player has played the "Calandrino" card in the turn.

How to Earn Consent Points

There are 4 ways to win the favor with the Siena's townspeople, which is needed to win the game.

1. The "Senesi" Cards and the Merchants

Every time a Merchant earns some Florins, the player may decide to earn less in order to win the favor of the Siena's townspeople. In this case the Merchant can choose between the following two options:

• renounce to 10 earned Florins and draw 1 card from the "Senesi" card deck, which lays alongside the map;
• renounce to 15 earned Florins, draw 2 "Senesi" cards, and choose one of them only. The discarded one is placed on the bottom of the deck.

Every "Senesi" card is marked with a number representing the Consent Points: the players can find twelve "1", eight "2", four "3" and two "4". At the end of the game the points indicated on such cards are scored as Consent Points.

2. The "Senesi" Cards and the Donation to the Duomo

Once per game only, the Banker may make a donation to the Church and win, in this way, adding Consent Points with the Senesi cards.

In order to make it, the Banker must stop in the "Duomo" district. The amount of Florins for the donation is not free, but depends on the owned Florins and on the value of the red numbers indicated on the Florins Chart. If, for instance, the player's pawn on the Florins Chart is on the red number 30 space or beyond but before the red number 40 space he/she must make a 30 Florins donation.

In this case the player takes a look at the first 4 cards of the "Senesi" card deck, chooses two of them and places the discarded ones on the bottom of the deck, without revealing them. At the end of the game the points indicated on such cards are scored as Consent Points.

Place the two cards cross-shaped, in order to remind all players that that Banker may not make any other donation during this game.

If a Banker owns less than 15 Florins, the player may not make any donation.

3. The Artist Engagement at the Inn

The Banker may try to book an Artist of the time in order to win the townspeople's Consent. When a Banker's pawn reaches "Via della Cerchia" and wishes to go on moving, the player must choose between two possible directions:

a) going to the adjoining "Palazzo Tolomei" district and going on with the clockwise Town tour; b) entering the Inn, that's to say on the detail of the painting represented on the "Inn" card, and stopping there in order to book an Artist.

Both choices cost 1 Movement Point.

Technically, the Inn is the 11th Town district to which you may get from the "Via della Cerchia" district only. If a Banker's pawn starts his/her turn at the Inn, the player is bound to move it out of the Inn, going to "Via della Cerchia" by spending 1 Movement Point. From this district the player must move to the "Palazzo Tolomei" district only, since the Banker may not come back to the Inn immediately. In order to enter the Inn again the Banker must make the whole tour of the Town again.

The Artists Engagement

The player enters the Inn with the aim of starting the Auction to book an Artist: he/she draws the first card of the "Artista" card deck, looks at it secretly and starts an auction, offering 15 Florins as the opening bid.

If there are other Bankers at the Inn, they all have the right to look secretly at the auctioned Artista card. All the other players may take a look at the auctioned Artista card before the beginning of the Auction by paying 8 Florins. If a player holds the Inn card, he/she may play it to look at the Artista card without paying 8 Florins.

Every player, independently of their social status, may join the auction to book an Artist. Peasants and Merchants, if they are interested in it, must raise the previous bid by at least 5 or 3 Florins respectively. The other Bankers, on the other hand, must raise the previous bid by just one Florin.

At their turn, according to the increasing order of the Initiative Chart, every player may overbid (by 1, 3 or 5 Florins, as explained above) or pass. The player who passes may not continue bidding in the current auction. The player who wins the auction pays the corresponding amount in Florins (adjusting his count on the Florins Chart) and takes the card. In this way the player books the Artist and earns the specified Consent Points, to be kept hidden until the end of the game.

The Banker may start the auction to book an Artist even in case he/she is attracted into the Inn by a Courtesan.

4. The Building of the Tower Called "Torre del Mangia"

The Banker may stop in the "Torre del Mangia" district and contribute to its building at the end of his/her Actions Phase. The building costs depend on the tower height and on the supply of labor. The tower first floor costs 5 Florins, because of the building materials, and any other upper floor costs 5 Florins more than the lower one, apart from the 7th and last floor which costs 20 Florins more than the 6th one. In addition to the materials costs, every floor costs 10 Florins extra because of the labor.

Unlike the material costs, which are inevitable, the labor costs may be avoided if the Banker has some workers at his/her disposal, represented by the Bricklayer card, that can be played in order to avoid such an added cost. For example: the 4th floor costs 20 Florins instead of its 30 Florins normal cost, if the Banker plays the "Bricklayer" card.

After having paid the corresponding amount of Florins for the building, the player places one of his/her pawns on the frame of the Torre del Mangia to remind all the players that he/she has contributed to the building of that floor. The tower may be built with all Bankers' contribution, even if every one of them contributes to the building of no more than 4 floors.

The pawns of all players who have contributed to the building of the tower are placed in a pile, following the order of building, so that at the end of the game every player knows the identity of the Bankers who have built every single floor.

Every floor will give different Consent Points (see "The Final Count"). Every player may contribute to build just 1 floor per turn.

Game End

As soon as the 7th floor of the Torre del Mangia is built or as soon as the auction to book the Artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti has been closed, then the game ends immediately, without ending the current turn.

The game also ends at the end of the 20th round, in case none of the above conditions have yet occurred.

Final Count of the Consent and Victory Points

At the end of the game, the player who hasn't become a Banker yet, is excluded from the count and thus from victory. All pawns belonging to those players who haven't become Bankers are removed from the Florins Chart.

The remaining players' pawns must be moved from the Florins Chart to the Initiative Chart, where they are placed, from the poorest to the richest player, according to the amount of Florins they own.

The Florins Chart is now used to score the final Consent Points gathered by the players, which depend on a combination of different factors, as explained below.

The richest Banker's pawn is placed on the space marked 30 of the Florins Chart whereas the poorest Banker's pawn is placed on the space marked 26. The other Bankers' pawns must be placed on the space marked 28. In the case of 2 players, the poorest Banker's pawn is placed on the space marked 28.

At this point, every player, following the order of the Initiative Chart (starting from the poorest one) decreases their own score as many points as the amount of "stinginess" cubes they have before them. The first "stinginess" cube scores -1; the second one -2; the third one -3 and so on. For example, 3 stinginess cubes subtract -6.

Now the remaining Consent Points are scored as follows:

• 2 Consent Points to the player who has built the first floor of the Torre del Mangia, 3 to the one who has built the second floor, 4 to the one who has built the third floor, 5 to the one who has built the fourth floor, 6 to the one who has built the fifth floor, 7 to the one who has built the sixth floor and 9 to the one who has built the seventh and last floor.
• 2 Consent Points to the player who has built the most floors of the Torre del Mangia. In case of a tie among two or more players, the 2 Consent Points are given to the one who has built the lowest floor.
• Add the Consent Points indicated on your "Senesi" cards together with those on the "Artista" ones and move your pawn forward on the Florins Chart as many spaces as your total sum.

At this point the player whose pawn is highest on the Florins Chart is the one who has earned the most Consent Points: he is nominated Member of the Consiglio dei Nove of Siena and wins the game.

In case of a tie, the player who has built the highest floor of the Tower is the Winner. If, in case of a tie, no player has built some Tower floors, the Winner is the player who has gathered the largest amount of Florins, as indicated by the pawns on the Initiative Chart.

The Variant for a Longer Game

Once you will get some practice with the rules of the game, you could feel like competing for a more difficult and amusing challenge.

Let the game end as soon as the seventh floor of the Tower is built or the Artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti is booked, so that the round length rule does not apply.

This is the kind of game recommended by the Author since in this way you have to make a much more strategic choice if you want to choose the right moment to become a Merchant and then a Banker.