Six Sons of the Sultan
Six Sons of the Sultan Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Needed to Play
- The 9 game cards
- 3 six-sided dice
- 9 eurocubes in one player color and 9 eurocubes in a different player color, to track prestige, wealth and progress in supplying the teas requested
- 1 white eurocube to track the rounds of the game
Setup
Place the 6 Tea Cards and the 3 cards that show the Sultan's sons in a 3x3 grid within reach of both players. Give each player 1 set of 9 eurocubes. Players should place 1 eurocube on the (5) lira space on the Wealth Card as their starting capital. Each player should then place 1 eurocube in each of the 6 glasses of tea on the Tea Cards. The remaining eurocubes will be used to track Prestige Points (PP) at the end of the game on the Prestige Card.
Place the white eurocube on the (10) space on the Time Card's track. During the game this token will move down one number for each of the 10 rounds.
Whomever has the greater knowledge about tea is the start player, will take the 3 six-sided dice, and will roll first.
Play
Each round of the game consists of 3 phases, taken in turn by each player.
Phase 1 - The Dice Roll
The start player begins the round by rolling all 3 dice. (Note: in consecutive rounds each player will only roll two dice, having had one die passed to them previously.) Once the dice are rolled they are assigned as follows:
- Order Die: One die is chosen as the Order Die, the die number corresponding to 1 of the 6 Tea Card numbers.
- Wealth Die: One die is then chosen as the Wealth Die, and will increase a player's total wealth by the amount shown on the die.
- Passing Die: The final die is the Passing Die and is passed to the other player. This die is locked and may not be rolled during the next player's turn unless the player uses the White Tea card's special action.
Phase 2 - The Tea Order
The player may now place orders on the Tea Card that matches the Order Die's number, thus pleasing one of the Sultan's sons. A player may move their eurocube token up the card's track as many spaces as they are able to pay for (the bottom number denotes the price), moving their token on the Wealth card accordingly. If a player has (0) wealth they may not place an order this turn.
Spaces on the track also have a Prestige Point value which is totalled up at the end of the game (the top number shown for the space).
Certain marked spaces also allow the player to use the Special Action of that card. If a player can afford to move their token up a number of spaces, passing more than one Special Action space, only the final space landed on is counted. The space must be landed on to use the Special Action. The player does not have to use the Special Action if they do not want to.
If a player passes a Special Action space or lands on one, the opposing player may no longer use this Special Action on their turn. A player MUST be the first to land on the Special Action to use it.
Special Actions may not be saved for use beyond the player's next turn (exception: Black Tea, see below).
Phase 3 - Wealth Gained
The player may now move their Wealth token the number of spaces as indicated on the Wealth Die.
The player's turn is now over and the opposing player takes the remaining two dice and rolls them to begin their turn.
Once both players have had a turn, the round is over, the round token is moved down one space on the Time Card and a new round begins.
Game End
Play continues for a total of 10 rounds. When the 10th round is finished, players add up their respective Prestige Points to determine who will be the Chief Tea Merchant of the Sultanate. If the game ends in a tie, the player with the most accrued wealth is the winner.
Special Actions
- Herbal Tea (1): Each space on Order Die's matching Tea Card costs one lira less during the player's next turn. The cost does not go below zero.
- Jasmine Tea (2): The player may use their Wealth Die as a second Order Die on their next turn. The player will not gain any wealth during that turn.
- White Tea (3): The player may reroll any of their dice, including the Passing Die during their next turn.
- Oolong Tea (4): The player may double the value of their next Wealth Die roll.
- Green Tea (5): The player may swap the current positions of both player tokens on one Tea Card at the end of their current turn. Both tokens must be present on the card's track.
- Black Tea (6): At the end of the game, Prestige Points on one Tea Card are only scored by the player who has moved furthest along the card's track. The player who gained this Special Action during the game will decide which card to apply the action to.
Example Diagram
The printed diagram "Example diagram of the game's beginning" is an image and is not reproduced here. Its printed caption reads: Player 1 has passed the first Special Action space and landed on the second. They may use the Special Action of this card once. In order for Player 2 to use the Special Action, they must be the first to land on the third Special Action space at the top of the card.
Tea Cards (Card Faces)
The Tea Card faces carry a short summary of each special action in the card's header, as printed:
- Herbal: Pay one lira less for each order space per your next order die.
- Jasmine: You may use your wealth die instead as an additional order die on your next roll.
- White: Reroll any dice of your choice once on your next roll.
- Oolong: Double your next wealth die value.
- Green: Swap the current positions of both tokens on one tea card.
- Black: Prestige points are only scored by the majority player on a chosen tea card.
Where a card face's wording differs from the full rule above (for example Black, where the rules say "furthest along the card's track" and the card face says "majority player"), the full rule in the Special Actions section is the printed rule text.
Solo Rules
The solo player will always roll 3 dice during Phase 1.
The die chosen as the Passing Die will be the dummy player's Order Die. Once passed, roll one additional die for the dummy player. It will move its token a number of spaces on that Order Die's matching Tea Card as follows: 1: move one space; 2-3-4: move two spaces; 5-6: move three spaces.
Additionally the dummy player will move its token one space on the Black Tea card every even numbered round.
If the dummy player passes or lands on a Special Action space, the solo player may not use that space to gain a Special Action.
If the dummy player reaches the final space on the Black Tea card first, the Tea Card which the solo player has gained the most Prestige Points on is not scored.