Spartacus: The Serpents and the Wolf Expansion Set
Spartacus: The Serpents and the Wolf Expansion Set Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 31 new Intrigue cards
- 55 new Market cards
- 2 new House cards
- 50 tokens and coins
- 2 Gladiator figures
- 26 dice
New Intrigue and Market Cards
Each new Intrigue and Market card is marked with a snake's head symbol. To add the new Intrigue and Market cards to the game, shuffle them into the Intrigue and Market decks of the base game. These cards are recommended for use regardless of the number of players.
New House Cards
This expansion introduces two new Houses, which can be used in games of three or four players, or to expand the game to 5-6 players.
House Seppia
Seppia and his sister are the last surviving representatives of the powerful and noble Roman family. Using the might of their House by right of birth, Seppia seeks to avenge the death of his brother Sextius, persistently searching for his killers.
Starting assets: Gold.
Treasury: the House card's Treasury area shows the House symbol only; the rulebook gives no rule text for it.
Special abilities:
- Obtrusiveness: Use X Guard cards to increase, until the end of this phase, by X the Influence required to play Conspiracy and Counteraction cards.
- Excellent Connections: Each time another Dominus plays a Conspiracy card and receives Gold coins from the Bank, Seppia also receives 1 coin from the Bank.
House special abilities may be used several times in the Intrigue phase.
Obtrusiveness: This special ability allows you to increase the Influence requirement of an Intrigue card in order to play it. A card that has been targeted by the Obtrusiveness ability and cannot be played is returned to its owner's hand. If there are 2 identical cards in play, the Obtrusiveness ability applies to only one of them. A Dominus may use the Obtrusiveness ability several times to greatly increase a card's requirements if the opponents have a lot of Influence. The new Influence requirement of a card remains in effect until the end of the current phase of the game (Intrigue, Market or Arena). Obtrusiveness cannot be used against cards with Hostile Influence.
Example: Petr has 7 Influence and plays the Conspiracy card "Guest from Rome", which requires 6 Influence. Liza plays for House Seppia and decides to use her House's special ability, Obtrusiveness. She uses 2 Guard cards and raises the requirement of "Guest from Rome" to 8 Influence. Now Petr must either take the card back into his hand or ask other Dominus players for Support.
Excellent Connections: The House of Seppia has long been rooted in Capua, and the fortune of Capua is closely tied to this House. Each time another Dominus, playing a Conspiracy card, receives Gold coins from the Bank, Seppia also receives 1 coin from the Bank.
House Varinia
Varinia is the Praetor of Rome and the favourite of the Senate. He builds his plans on the might of the Roman legions and the support of the Senate. Anyone who refuses to kneel before him faces a bleak fate.
Starting assets: Gold.
Treasury: the House card's Treasury area shows the House symbol only; the rulebook gives no rule text for it.
Special abilities:
- Will of the Senate: Once per Intrigue phase, the player may demand that any one Dominus Support his Conspiracy. If that Dominus refuses, he loses 1 Influence.
- Praetor of Rome: Use 3 Guard cards, and take 1 Guard card from the discard pile. Place it face down on the table. This ability can be used several times per turn.
House special abilities may be used several times in the Intrigue phase.
Will of the Senate: Varinia may demand that any of the Dominus players support his Conspiracy. However, he may not reveal to the other players which card he intends to play. Players have the right to refuse, but in that case they lose 1 Influence. Varinia may also demand Support not only for his own Conspiracy card, but also for any other player's Conspiracy card.
Praetor of Rome: Varinia may ask Rome for support to replenish his legions. A player cannot use this special ability if there is no Guard card in the discard pile. A Guard card is placed face down on the table from the discard pile as Used Assets. This ability may be used several times per turn. If you use the House of Varinia in the game, you may place Guard cards in a separate discard pile, so that players can more easily determine whether Varinia can use the "Praetor of Rome" ability.
Playing with 5-6 Players
The basic rules for playing with five or six players do not change. Only the length of the game increases. The additional tokens, dice and figures let you comfortably play with six players.
Hostile Influence
Some of the new Intrigue cards show arrows instead of Influence requirements.
Greater Influence
If the arrow points up, you must have more Influence than the Dominus against whom you play the Conspiracy card.
Lesser Influence
If the arrow points down, you must have less Influence than the Dominus against whom you play the Conspiracy card. In any case, you cannot play a card with Hostile Influence against a Dominus who has the same amount of Influence as you.
Example: During the Auction, Alla had 9 Influence and Ivan had 8. Bidding for the Gladiator Spartacus is at a fever pitch: Alla bid 8 coins and Ivan bid 9. Seeing the bids, Alla decides to play the card "Bend to Your Will", which requires more Influence than the Dominus against whom it is played. Ivan lowers his bid by 2 coins and loses the Auction; Alla takes Spartacus for herself!
Primus
The Primus is the most important event of the Arena games, the final decisive battle. Two teams of two Gladiators each meet face to face in the Arena, while the influential Dominus players do everything they can to satisfy the bloodthirsty crowd and fulfil their ambitions.
Using this expansion, you can field 4 Fighters in the Arena, doubling the amount of blood and glory!
Announcing the Primus
At the start of the Arena phase, after the Games Master has received Influence, he may announce the start of the Primus, but only if he has at least 10 Influence.
Note: The Primus may also be announced when the card "Spectacle of Blood and Death" is played. In this case the Games Master is obliged to announce the Primus. This card may be played against a Games Master who has 10 or more Influence, forcing him to announce the Primus.
Inviting Fighters
During the Primus the Games Master must make 4 invitations. No Dominus may receive a second invitation until every Dominus has been offered the chance to field their Fighter in the Arena. No House may be invited more than twice. The Games Master may invite players in any order. Each Dominus who declines an invitation loses 1 Influence and may not be invited again that turn.
Note: Fighters from the same team cannot use each other's Equipment.
Example: Ivan organised the Primus. He first invited Alla, and she accepted. Then he invited Petr, who has no Gladiators. Petr declines and loses 1 Influence. The next invitation goes to Liza, who fields her only Gladiator. Last, Ivan invites himself. Ivan has now invited every player once, but for the Primus he still needs 1 Gladiator. He may not invite Petr again, since Petr has already declined. Ivan invites Liza a second time, although she has no Gladiators left. She decides that sending one of her Slaves into the Arena is better than losing Influence.
Note: The more invitations there are, the more chances there are to make a deal! A Games Master who has announced the Primus can greatly increase his advantage.
Forming Teams
After all 4 invitations have been accepted and 4 Fighters have been placed in the Arena, the Games Master must form 2 Teams of 2 Fighters each. If one Dominus has placed both of his Fighters in the Arena, they automatically become one Team.
Fighters are placed on the green hexes.
Once both Teams have been formed, the players of Team I place their Gladiators on the starting positions on the game board, on the spaces adjacent to the space marked "I". The players of Team "II" then place their Fighters in the same way.
Failed Primus
If for any reason the Games Master cannot provide 4 Fighters for the Arena, the Primus is cancelled, and the first 2 invited Fighters fight each other under the normal rules.
Wagers during the Primus
Wagers are settled under the basic rules, with some clarifications:
- A winning Wager on Victory pays out only if a Team wins, not an individual Fighter.
- A Wager on Wounding wins if any one of the four Fighters is Wounded.
- A Wager on Beheading wins if any one of the four Fighters is Beheaded.
Combat during the Primus
Initiative
To make an Initiative roll, all Fighters roll their Speed dice. The Fighter whose roll result is higher chooses whether his Team acts first or second. In case of a tie, the players compare the results of the second team members' rolls. If there is still a tie, all players re-roll the dice for their Fighters.
Example: Ivan's and Alla's Gladiators are in Team I. Both of Liza's Fighters make up Team II. To determine initiative, everyone rolls the Speed dice of their Fighters. Ivan rolls 13, Alla 11, and Liza rolls 13 and 5. Since the highest results are equal for both Teams, the lower results are compared: Alla's 11 beats Liza's 5, so Alla wins the Initiative. Now Alla may decide whether her Team acts first or second.
Changing Fighters during a Combat Round
During its turn, a Team must choose the Fighter who will carry out its actions first (Move and then Attack, or Attack and then Move). After its actions, the Fighter passes the turn to the opposing Team, and there the players choose which of their Fighters acts first. Once all Fighters have acted, the Combat Round is over.
If the players whose Fighters are in the same Team cannot agree on which of them acts first, roll a die.
Otherwise, combat proceeds under the standard rules.
Note: If a Fighter's card says "During Attack" or "During Defence", that effect applies only to that Fighter, not to his Team partner. For example, Gannicus has the special ability "Unyielding: During Attack, wins all ties." This ability works only during Gannicus's Attack and has no effect on his Team partner.
Defeat
When one of the Fighters is defeated (by Surrender, Wound or Beheading), remove his Gladiator figure from the Arena and continue the combat.
Honour
On the sacred sands of the Arena, Gladiators keep the Code of the Brotherhood. Fighters are forbidden to attack their Team partners.
Treachery
Some Gladiator cards carry the special ability "Treacherous". It allows those Gladiators to switch to the opposing Team during the Primus. Treacherous Gladiators may change Team at the start of any Combat Round, before Initiative is determined. Treachery cannot be used if the Gladiator with this ability is the only one left in his Team.
Victory
A Team is declared the winner of the Primus when all Fighters of the other Team have been defeated. The players of the winning Team each receive 1 Influence, regardless of the state in which their Fighter finished the combat. Surviving Fighters of the winning Team each receive 1 Glory token. A player receives only one Influence point, even if he placed two Fighters in the Arena.
Life and Death during the Primus
The lives of both Fighters of the losing Team are in the hands of the Games Master. Only one decision may be made: either both Fighters are spared, or both are put to death at the Games Master's gesture. Being the Games Master is very pleasant.
Additional Rules Clarifications
Observing Etiquette in the Intrigue Phase
When you play a Conspiracy card, you are free to offer, bribe, extort, as you see fit. You may show or not show your card (or indeed any of your cards) to the other players.
But as soon as you have received Support from other players, you are obliged to show everyone your card by laying it on the table. After that you cannot take it back into your hand and must play it.
Choose which Dominus will be your target. At this point the target may still be changed, and other Dominus players may influence your choice. But as soon as someone tries to Expose your Conspiracy using Counteraction or Guard cards, you no longer have the right to change the target of your card.
Example: Ivan has the card "Poisoned Wine", which can harm one of the Gladiators or Slaves. Before playing it, Ivan loudly declares that Liza's Gladiator will be his target. Trying to save her Gladiator, Liza offers Ivan 1 coin to change his target, and Ivan takes the bribe. The new target becomes Petr. In response, Petr offers Ivan 2 coins to break the word he gave Liza and poison her Gladiator instead. But Ivan decides to keep his word and declares that the target remains Petr's Gladiator. Petr then declares that he will try to Expose the Conspiracy using Guard cards. It is now too late for Ivan to change the target, and Petr's Gladiator must rely on luck.
Note: When you have a card that can harm your opponents, you can gain a great deal (Gold or other promises) without even playing that card!
Instinct for Self-Preservation
In the Arena, Fighters fight for their lives, regardless of their Dominus's expectations and goals. When a player rolls dice during combat in the Arena, he must roll all of the dice available to him. When his Fighter attacks, defends or determines initiative, you must roll all Attack, Defence and Speed dice respectively.
Competition in Case of a Tie
If at the end of any phase 2 or more players have 12 Influence each, the winner will be decided in the Arena! Players who finished the phase with 12 Influence proceed to the Competition, which determines the winner. For a detailed description see page 17 of the basic rules.
If a Dominus cannot field a Fighter, he loses 1 Influence and does not take part in the Competition. If no Dominus can field a Fighter, they all lose Influence, the Competition is cancelled and the game continues. If only one Dominus can field a Fighter for the Competition, he becomes the winner of the game.
Competition with 5 and 6 Players
If 5 or 6 players have each reached 12 Influence, and the total value of all their Gladiators and Equipment is also equal, they roll a die. The four players with the highest results take part in the Competition for 4 players, as described on page 17 of the basic rules. The remaining players do not take part in the Competition.