Stupor Mundi Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup (Central Board)
• Game Setup (Voyage Board)
• Player Setup
• Overview
• How to Play
• Action Phase
  • a. Travel
  • b. Perform action
• 1. Promote a Specialist
• 2. Visit the Market
• 3. Build a Structure
  • Castle income
• 4. Summon an Ally
• 5. Purchase an Action Card
• Issue an Edict
• End Phase
  • a. Refill hand
  • b. Castle income
  • c. Ally income
  • d. Reorganization
• End of the Game
• Credits
• Solo Rules
  • Setup
  • How to play
  • End of the game
• Appendices
  • House Action Cards
  • Advanced Action Cards (Level A)
  • Advanced Action Cards (Level B)
  • Allies
  • Workplace Tiles
  • City Bonus Tiles
  • Great Structures
  • Keep Cover Tiles
• Iconography

Components

1 Central Board — consisting of two areas: the Imperial Area (Frederick's Palace, with his Treasury, Castle, Court, and Reserve, plus the Active Edict spaces and Next Edict spaces) and the Workplace Area (the Countryside Section, Village Section, and City Section).

1 Voyage Board — double-sided: one side for 1–2 players, one side for 3–4 players.

40 House Action Cards — divided into 4 draw piles of 10 Action cards, one for each of the game's 4 Houses.

32 Advanced Action Cards — 16 level A and 16 level B (level B cards are marked with a coin symbol).

8 Workplace Tiles — 4 Countryside Tiles and 4 Village Tiles.

12 City Bonus Tiles.

20 Ally Tiles — 10 Independents and 10 Loyalists.

6 Market Tiles — each is double-sided, with an easy (front, blue) side and a difficult (back, red) side.

27 Edict Tiles.

2 Workplace Edict Tokens.

20 Stone Cubes.

20 Grain Cubes.

45 Augustalis Coins — 30 of value 1 (silver) and 15 of value 5 (gold).

12 Keep Cover Tiles.

4 Card Slot Tiles (one for each player color).

5 Dummy Ally Tiles.

5 Dummy Action Cards.

4 Player Aids.

1 First Player Marker.

In each of the 4 player colors (blue, black, red, green):

• 1 Player Board
• 1 Castle Board
• 5 Walls
• 5 Towers
• 3 Keeps
• 1 Ship
• 3 Specialists
• 1 Scoring Disc

Frederick's player pieces (yellow):

• 5 Walls
• 5 Towers
• 3 Keeps
• 5 Allies
• 1 Specialist

For the solo mode: 16 Solo Cards.

Game Setup (Central Board)

Note: When playing with 2 or 3 players, be sure to remove any tiles and ignore all spaces marked with the corresponding player-count symbols. The example below shows the setup for a 3-player game.

A. Place the Central Board in the middle of the table within reach of all players.

B. Create a common supply that includes all Grain cubes, Stone cubes, and Augustalis coins.

C. Place 1 Grain and 1 Stone on the respective "1" spaces of Frederick's Reserve, and place 1 Augustalis coin of value 1 on the "6" space of Frederick's Treasury.

D. Sort the Workplace tiles by shape. Randomly place 1 tile on each matching space of the Workplace Area.

E. In each City space, randomly place a number of face-up City Bonus tiles equal to one fewer than the total number of players.

F. Place the 2 Workplace Edict tokens in their designated locations.

G. Shuffle the Edict tiles and form a face-down draw pile next to the board. Draw 3 tiles from the stack and place 1 face up on each of the Active Edict spaces in the Imperial Area.

H. Draw 3 more Edict tiles and place 1 face up on each of the Next Edict spaces in the Imperial Area.

I. Place Frederick's Specialist on the first space of the first (Countryside) Workplace tile.

J. Place 1 of Frederick's Keeps, 2 of his Walls, and 2 of his Towers on Frederick's Castle as shown. Place 2 of Frederick's Allies in Frederick's Court (it doesn't matter which ones you choose). Place Frederick's remaining Structures (Walls, Towers, and Keeps) and Allies next to the board.

Small historical note: In this game, Frederick's Allies are all people who played an important part in his life. They represent: his first wife, Constance of Aragon; Hermann von Salza, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights; Al-Kamil, the Sultan of Egypt; a Jewish cartographer; and Frederick's trusted hawk.

Game Setup (Voyage Board)

A. Place the Voyage Board in the middle of the table within reach of all players. Be sure to use the side of the board that matches the number of players in your game.

B. Take the 6 Market tiles, remove 1 at random, and place the remaining tiles randomly in the corresponding slots on the board. The Market tiles have two different sides: one for an easier game (blue background) and one for a more challenging game (red background). Depending on how difficult you want the game to be, use the following distribution of easy and difficult sides:

Difficulty	Distribution
Easy	5 blue Market tiles
Medium	3 blue Market tiles + 2 red Market tiles
Difficult	5 red Market tiles

C. For 2- and 3-player games, place Dummy Ally tiles and Dummy Action cards in the red-colored spaces. These spaces will be ignored for the rest of the game. Note: For 4-player games, place Allies and Action cards in these spaces as normal.

D. Shuffle the 20 Ally tiles, and place 1 face down on each free Ally space on the Voyage Board. Place 1 Ally tile face up on top of each face-down Ally. Return any unused Allies to the game box.

E. Create the Advanced Action card draw pile as follows: a. Sort the Advanced Action cards into 2 separate piles: the level A cards and the level B cards (marked with a coin symbol). Shuffle each pile separately. b. Draw the following number of cards from each pile according to your player count: 8 in a 2-player game, 12 in a 3-player game, or 16 in a 4-player game. Return all remaining cards to the game box unseen. c. Place the level B cards face down in the center of the Voyage Board. Place the level A cards face down on top. Do not shuffle the combined draw pile!

F. From the newly created draw pile, place an Advanced Action card face up on each empty Advanced Action card space of the Voyage Board.

Player Setup

A. Each player represents a different House, each with its own symbol. Each House begins the game with a starting draw pile composed of 10 Action cards matching their House. If this is your first game, distribute Houses at random. The starting Action cards for each House contain 2 cards that are unique to that House (see Appendix). If players are familiar with the game, they may choose their House going in reverse player order (starting with the last player and going counterclockwise).*

B. Take all the pieces of your color: 1 Player Board, 3 Specialists, 1 Ship, 1 Scoring disc, 1 Card Slot tile, and 1 full set of Castle Structures (5 Towers, 5 Walls, and 3 Keeps). Place the Card Slot tile in the last card slot of your Player Board, as illustrated in the rulebook.

C. Place your Scoring disc on the first ("0") space of the Victory Point ("VP") track on the Central Board.

D. Take 1 Castle Board and 1 set of 3 Keep Cover tiles. Place the tiles in the matching spaces in the center of that board.

E. Place your 3 Specialists in the empty space to the left of the Workplace Area on the Central Board.

F. Place your Ship on the "Roma" space on the Voyage Board.

G. Shuffle your Action cards to create your face-down draw pile. Draw the top 5 cards from your draw pile; this is your starting hand.

H. Place your Castle Structures on the matching spaces of your Player Board. Place 1 Tower and 1 Wall on your Castle Board, as illustrated in the rulebook.

I. Randomly choose a first player and give that player the First Player marker and 6 Augustales. Give the second player 7 Augustales. If applicable, give the third and fourth players 8 and 9 Augustales, respectively. Give each player 1 Stone and 1 Grain, which should be stored on the warehouse spaces of their Player Boards. Note: If you gain resources when all of your available warehouse spaces are full, you must either replace an existing resource or immediately remove the new one.

*If you still wish to play with a specific color after drafting the House cards, you may do so. Your cards' crest won't match the color of your player components, but this doesn't otherwise affect the game in any way.

Overview

As Frederick II's vassal, you will perform tasks such as summoning Allies from around the Mediterranean, building Structures in your Castle, and promoting Specialists to improve your kingdom.

Certain actions will trigger Edicts that affect Frederick's Palace and determine the rewards players may receive from their Allies.

You will gain advantages by upgrading your Castle: Towers house additional Allies, Walls store more resources, and Keeps aid in managing Action cards.

How to Play

Round structure

1. Action Phase a. Travel b. Perform action
2. End Phase a. Refill hand b. Castle income c. Ally income d. Reorganization

Stupor Mundi is played over a variable number of rounds, each of which is divided into two phases: the Action Phase, which is played in clockwise turn order; and the End Phase, which may be performed simultaneously by all players.

During each turn of the Action Phase, players may first choose to travel by moving their Ship in order to gain access to various Allies, Advanced Action cards, and Market exchange rates. Then they will perform an action by playing one of their Action cards to take either the action on the card or a main action shown on their Player Board. Play then continues with the next player until all players have passed.

This is followed by the End Phase, in which players refill their hands by discarding played cards and drawing new ones. The End Phase concludes with income and reorganization.

Action Phase

a. Travel

At the start of your turn, you may choose to travel by moving your Ship 1–4 spaces clockwise around the Voyage Board. Movement to the first space clockwise is free. Movement to spaces beyond the first space costs you 1 Augustalis for each space moved beyond the first. After moving (or staying where you are), proceed to the next step, "Perform action."

b. Perform action

Action cards may be played face up or face down in any empty Action card slot of your choice; you are not required to play the Action cards from left to right.

Note: At the beginning of the game, the rightmost slot of each player's Player Board is locked and may not be used. Building a specific Keep during the game will allow you to remove the tile blocking that card slot.

• Playing a card face up will allow you to perform the action(s) displayed on that card. Performing an action is optional.
• Playing a card face down will allow you to perform 1 of the main actions pointed to by the soldiers' spears on the back of that card.

If an action has a cost, it must be paid before you take that action.

Some actions may trigger additional actions. If this happens, fully resolve each action in the order in which it occurred.

Once you have resolved the selected action, the next player will take their turn. That player must choose to travel or not, and then play an Action card. This process continues until all players have passed.

If a player cannot or does not want to play an Action card, they may pass. After passing, a player takes no more turns during this Action Phase. They may not travel or play Action cards until the following round.

See the Appendices for details on the actions provided by face-up Action cards. We will now explain the 5 main actions of the game which are available on your Player Board: 1. Promote a Specialist, 2. Visit the Market, 3. Build a Structure, 4. Summon an Ally, 5. Purchase an Action card.

Example: At the start of his turn, Jack decides to move his Ship 2 spaces on the Voyage Board; he pays 1 Augustalis and moves his Ship from Alexandria to Barcelona. He then plays an Action card in the leftmost slot of his Player Board. Because this card was played face up, Jack performs the action displayed on that card (gain 3 Augustales). On his next turn, Jack decides to remain in Barcelona. He plays an Action card face down in his fourth card slot. He may now perform 1 (but not both) of the main actions ("Build a Structure" or "Summon an Ally") pointed to by the soldiers' spears. He chooses to Summon an Ally, paying 3 Grain, taking the Independent Ally in Barcelona (since that's where his Ship is located), and placing it on his Player Board.

1. Promote a Specialist

This action allows you to move one of your Specialists 1 space along one of the three paths (A, B, or C) on the Workplace Area. Specialists move from one Workplace space to the next, following the arrows.

You will notice that the Workplace Area is divided into 3 sections. From left to right, these are the Countryside (blue), the Village (beige), and the City (green). Each section uses different Workplace tiles.

Also note that Paths A and C each consist of 5 Workplace spaces, while Path B only consists of 3 spaces. Specialists on Path B bypass the Village and move directly from the Countryside to the City.

• Each Countryside and Village tile has 2 Workplaces, which provide special abilities IF you have at least 1 Specialist in that Workplace. Each Workplace may be occupied by any number of Specialists, belonging to any number of players. You may only use a Workplace's special ability for a single Specialist; there are no added benefits from having more than 1 Specialist in a given Workplace.
• City Workplaces offer one-time bonuses. When your Specialist reaches a City Workplace, take a City Bonus tile (if available) of your choice, receive the indicated bonus, and remove the tile. If you cannot gain the benefit of any of the tiles present, choose one and remove it. If your Specialist reaches a City Workplace that has no available City Bonus tiles, nothing happens. You may always look at the stacks of City Bonus tiles to see which ones are available.

The following rules apply when moving your Specialist:

• A Specialist may never change the path on which it moves.
• You may have multiple Specialists on the same path, and even on the same space, except for City Workplaces. Even if you have multiple Specialists on the same path, only 1 of them may reach that path's City Workplace.
• If a Specialist's move would cause it to pass over an arrow accompanied by the Grain-cost symbol, you must pay the indicated Grain to the supply before your Specialist may move forward. If you cannot pay that cost, you cannot move that Specialist on that turn.
• If a Specialist's move would cause it to move to a Workplace with a Workplace Edict token, you must immediately Issue an Edict (see "Issue an Edict") and remove the token from the Workplace.

All Workplace tiles and City Bonus tiles are explained in the Appendices.

Example 1: Bernard wants to Promote one of his Specialists. He moves his Specialist from one Village Workplace to the next, paying 1 Grain as required by the icon. With his Specialist now at that Workplace, Bernard will gain 3 VP each time he Builds a Wall or a Tower. If he moves that Specialist on a later turn, he will forfeit this benefit and immediately gain his choice of a City Bonus tile from this path (if available).

Example 2: On a later turn, Bernard wants to Promote his Specialist on Path B. Since Path B doesn't have any Village Workplaces, he advances his Specialist from the Countryside directly to the City. He then looks through Path B's stack of face-up City Bonus tiles and chooses one that allows him to Build a Keep at no cost.

2. Visit the Market

This action allows you to do one or both of the following actions ONCE:

• Sell the indicated resource(s) (Grain/Stone).
• Buy the indicated resource(s) (Grain/Stone).

You may only Visit the Market in the city where your Ship is currently located. You do not take or remove the Market tile. Market tiles remain in their location the entire game.

Example: Erika wants to Visit the Market. At the start of her turn, she moves her Ship from Alexandria to Tunis because there's a Market tile there that interests her. After moving her Ship, Erika plays an Action card face down in her second card slot to perform a "Visit the Market" action, which allows her to sell 2 Grain for 6 Augustales and buy 2 Stone for 4 Augustales.

3. Build a Structure

This action allows you to add a single Structure to your Castle. There are three types of Structures: Towers, Walls, and Keeps. Each type exists either as a normal Structure or as a Great Structure.

The rules for Building a Structure are:

• Each Structure must be Built in its corresponding space on your Castle Board. Each space can accommodate a normal or a Great Structure. Structures do not need to be built in the order in which they are arranged on your Player Board.
• Each Structure must be paid for using Stone and/or Grain. The cost to Build each Structure is indicated on its space on the Castle Board. You must pay those costs before you Build.
• Great Structures provide bonuses when Built, but they have additional costs that must be paid in Augustales. See the Appendices for details on the bonuses gained when Building Great Structures. Great Structures start on your Player Board, in the spaces with dashed red lines.
• You may only Build a Wall if it connects to a Tower already present on your Castle Board, and vice versa. This rule does not apply to Keeps.

Each type of Structure has a different function:

Tower — At the start of the game, you may only host 1 Ally in your Castle. Each Tower you Build during the game enables you to host 1 additional Ally.

Wall — At the start of the game, you may store up to 3 resources (Grain and/or Stone) on your Player Board. Each Wall you Build during the game enables you to store 1 additional resource.

Keep — When Built, Keeps provide advantages that improve your hand of cards. When you Build a Keep, take the corresponding Keep Cover tile from your Castle Board and place it on the empty Keep space of your Player Board to remind you of its effect. See the Appendices for additional details.

Important: Bonuses from Building a Structure always happen AFTER Building.

Castle income

If you manage to complete a closed side of your Castle during this action, it will provide you with a specific bonus immediately, and again during each subsequent End Phase (see "End Phase").

A closed side consists of 2 Towers connected by a Wall. The income provided by that side is indicated by the corresponding exclamation mark icon. After you close a side of your Castle, you immediately gain the indicated bonus: 1 Stone, 1 Grain, 1 Augustalis, 1 Victory Point, or the ability to Visit the Market at your Ship's current location — depending on which side of the Castle you closed.

Example 1: Noa wants to Build a Great Wall. She can only place her Wall in a space highlighted in yellow, as each Wall must be Built adjacent to an already built Tower. She decides to Build it there. The total cost to Build in that spot is 2 Stone and 1 Grain, plus an extra 4 Augustales for the Great Structure cost. Since she now closed that side of her Castle, she immediately receives 1 Stone.

Building that particular Great Wall gives Noa the "Promote a Specialist" bonus action; she decides to move her Specialist 1 space along Workplace Path A. She does NOT have to pay the Grain cost to do so, as indicated by the bonus icon. Also note that Noa does NOT get 3 VP for Building a Wall, since her Specialist was NOT in that Workplace when she started her action.

Noa must then Issue an Edict, as indicated on her Wall's building site. She decides to Issue the middle Edict, gaining a resource of her choice, which she stores on her Player Board. The Edict shows 2 Walls and 1 Keep. She decides to add 1 Keep to Frederick's Palace, but she has to remove 2 Walls, since she has to either add OR remove both Walls, and she cannot add the 2 Walls since Frederick's Castle already has 4 Walls.

Finally, she places the Issued Edict face down in her playing area and replaces it with a new one from one of the Next Edict spaces.

Example 2: Bernard wants to Build a Keep. He would like to increase his hand size by 2, so he decides to Build the corresponding Keep. He pays 3 Stone and places a normal Keep in the appropriate spot of his Castle Board. Then, he takes the Keep Cover tile from that spot, flips it, and places it on the newly vacant space on his Player Board. This will serve as a reminder that his hand size is now increased by 2. He also immediately adds 2 cards to his hand.

Since Bernard Built a Keep, he must also Issue an Edict. He chooses the indicated Edict, and gains 3 Augustales. The Edict shows 2 Grain and 1 Augustalis. He decides to increase Frederick's Grain Reserve by 2, but decrease his Augustales by 1 step, from 6 to 3. Then, he places the Issued Edict face down in his playing area and replaces it with a new one from one of the Next Edict spaces.

4. Summon an Ally

You may Summon 1 Ally to your Castle by paying the cost shown under that Ally's spot on the Voyage Board.

You may only Summon a face-up Ally, and only from the city where your Ship is currently located. Immediately place the Summoned Ally on an empty, dedicated Ally space on your Player Board (one that does not contain a Tower). If you don't have an empty Ally space, you may not perform this action.

Note: Your Castle may never contain two identical Allies!

Allies will prove crucial during the "Ally income" step in the End Phase, when they provide VP. Pay close attention to which Allies your opponents have Summoned!

Example: Jack wants to Summon an Ally. He can choose one of the two Allies present in Alexandria, where his Ship is located. He pays 3 Grain to Summon the Loyalist Ally, which he immediately places in a free spot on his Player Board.

5. Purchase an Action Card

You may use this action to Purchase 1 Advanced Action card. You may only Purchase an Advanced Action card from the city where your Ship is currently located. Once that card's cost is paid, you may perform that card's action immediately, as though it had just been played on your Player Board. Then, take the card into your hand; it is eligible to be played this round as normal. Cards' costs can be found in their top-right corners. These costs may either be:

• A certain amount of Augustales, OR
• The removal of one of your Action cards from the game, either from your hand or your discard pile, but NOT from your draw pile.

Important: Action cards may be played during the same round in which they were Purchased.

Example: To Purchase the Action card available in Tunis, Erika must remove one of her Action cards from the game. She removes a card from her hand and returns it to the game box. She may now use the new card's effect as though she had just played it on her Player Board. She does so, receiving 6 Augustales. Finally, she takes the card into her hand. She will be able to play this newly acquired Action card again in the same round.

Issue an Edict

Before we continue, we must explain a very important component of this game: Edicts. Edicts are used to manage all of Frederick's possessions: his Castle Structures, resources, Allies, and even his Specialist in the Workplace Area. An Edict is Issued when you take an action on a space marked with the Edict icon. This icon can be found in several places:

• Player Board: An Edict is Issued when you place an Ally on this space.
• Great Wall: An Edict is Issued when you Build this Great Wall (see "Build a Structure").
• Castle Board: An Edict is Issued when you Build the marked Structure (certain Walls, certain Towers, and EACH Keep).
• Workplace Area: An Edict is Issued when a Specialist reaches a marked Workplace for the first time. The corresponding Workplace Edict token must then be removed from the game.
• City Bonus tile: An Edict is Issued when a player selects this City Bonus tile after advancing their Specialist to a City Workplace.

When an Edict is Issued, choose 1 of the 3 face-up Edict tiles (if available) on the Active Edict spaces of the Imperial Area on the Central Board. Take the reward displayed below that Edict tile, then activate all icons shown on that tile.

Activating an icon means that you must add the corresponding item to Frederick's Palace from the general supply, OR remove it by returning it to the general supply. If an item cannot be removed from Frederick's Palace, it must be added, and vice versa.

Note: When adding to Frederick's Castle, new Structures do not have to be connected to existing ones.

Here's an overview of what each icon means:

• Increase or decrease Frederick's Grain Reserve by 1 (by moving the Grain cube up or down the track).
• Increase or decrease Frederick's Stone Reserve by 1 (by moving the Stone cube up or down the track).
• Increase or decrease Frederick's Treasury by 3 Augustales (by moving the coin up or down the track).
• Add or remove a Tower in Frederick's Castle. It does not have to border a Wall.
• Add or remove a Wall in Frederick's Castle. It does not have to border a Tower.
• Add or remove a Keep in Frederick's Castle.
• Add or remove an Ally in Frederick's Court.
• Move Frederick's Specialist 1 Workplace forward or backward on the topmost Workplace path (Path A). Frederick's Specialist must stay on this path. If Frederick's Specialist reaches the City, it does not take a City Bonus tile. Frederick never pays any Grain costs.

Note: When you activate an Edict that shows two identical items, you must either add or remove both objects. For example, you may not add a Tower and then remove a Tower. Also, you must always complete the entire Edict. For example, if Frederick's Castle contains 4 Towers and your Edict shows 2 Towers, you must remove those 2 Towers (because it's impossible to add them).

Once an Edict has been fully resolved, remove it from the Central Board and keep it face down next to your Player Board. You must replace that tile with another of your choice, taken from one of the Next Edict spaces. Then refill the empty Next Edict space, if possible.

Note: If there are fewer than 3 Edict tiles to choose from, you must choose an available Edict tile and take the corresponding reward. If there are no Active Edict tiles remaining, you still take any 1 of the 3 Edict rewards.

So, you may be wondering: Why would you want to add or remove items from Frederick's Palace? It depends on the Allies you Summon during the game – Loyalist Allies provide VP based on what Frederick has in his Palace (or the position of his Specialist), while Independent Allies provide VP based on what you have in your Castle compared to what Frederick has in his Palace.

For more information on Allies, see the Appendices.

End Phase

Note: All players may perform their End Phase steps simultaneously.

a. Refill hand

1. Each player must discard all played cards from below their Player Board to their face-up discard pile next to their Player Board.
2. Each player may then discard any number of cards face up from their hand.
3. Each player must draw cards from their draw pile until they reach their current hand limit. The standard hand limit is 5, but that number can increase through Keep and/or Workplace bonuses (see the Appendices).

Important: If your draw pile is ever empty, immediately shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw pile.

b. Castle income

Each closed side of your Castle now provides the indicated income (see "Build a Structure").

Example: During the Castle income step, Bernard takes an income of 1 VP and 3 Augustales. He does not take the income of 1 "Visit the Market" action, 1 Grain, or 1 Stone, because those sides of his Castle are not yet closed.

c. Ally income

There are two kinds of Allies: Loyalists (orange) and Independents (teal). Each produces VP in different ways.

• Loyalists provide VP based on the items in Frederick's Palace or the position of his Specialist.
• Independents provide VP based on your Specialists and the items in your Castle or on your Player Board compared to Frederick's corresponding components.

Each Ally produces 1 VP, plus another 2 VP if their specific requirement has been met (for a total of 3 VP). For details on how each Ally generates VP, please see the Appendices.

Example: During the Ally income step, the players check Frederick's situation. He has 6 Augustales, 1 Stone, 3 Grain, 2 Allies, and 6 Structures (1 Keep, 2 Walls, 3 Towers), and his Specialist has reached the second Workplace.

Jack's first Ally will provide extra VP if he has more Allies than Frederick. Jack has 3 Allies to Frederick's 2, so he receives 3 VP for that Ally. Jack's second Ally will provide extra VP if he has Built more Walls than Frederick; Jack also meets this condition, for another 3 VP. Jack's third Ally will only provide 1 VP, since Frederick does not have the required 9 Augustales. Jack scores a total of 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 VP.

Noa has 2 Allies. The first one yields 3 VP, as Noa's built Castle Structures outnumber Frederick's. Noa's second Ally only provides 1 VP, since Frederick's Specialist has not moved the required distance. Noa scores a total of 3 + 1 = 4 VP.

d. Reorganization

1. If one or more spaces of the Voyage Board have no Advanced Action cards, refill those spaces from the draw pile.
2. If there are any uncovered face-down Allies on the Voyage Board, turn them face up.
3. Pass the First Player marker to the next player in clockwise order, and begin a new round.

Remember: In 2- and 3-player games, all Action cards and Ally spaces blocked by Dummy Action cards and tiles should be ignored.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately after any round in which one or more of the following situations occur:

1. One or more players have Built every Structure in their Castle, OR
2. An Active Edict space in the Imperial Area cannot be refilled, OR
3. There are insufficient Advanced Action cards to fully refill the Voyage Board during the End Phase.

Your final score is equal to the position of your Scoring disc on the VP track, plus:

• +1 VP for each Structure in your Castle.
• +4 VP for the player (or players) whose Castle contains the most Structures, and +2 VP for the player (or players) whose Castle contains the second-most Structures. In 2-player games, the +2 VP is not awarded.

Example: In a 4-player game, both Jack's and Noa's Castles contain 12 Structures. There are 11 Structures in Bernard's Castle, and 9 in Erika's. During this scoring step, Jack and Noa each score 4 VP, Bernard scores 2 VP, and Erika scores 0 VP.

• Exchange your Grain and Stone cubes for 2 Augustales each. Then, gain 1 VP for every 6 Augustales you have remaining.

The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. If there is a tie for most VP, the winner is the tied player who built the most Great Structures. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Credits

Game Design: Nestore Mangone

Artwork: Maciej Janik

Art Direction and Graphic Design: Rafaël Theunis

Project Managers: Arno Quispel, Rafaël Theunis

Editor: Michael Schemaille

Proofreaders: David Moser, Henrik Larsson, Jay Talbot, Andrew 'Spin' Platt, Eric Selander, Loïc Le Gall

Digital Development: Dan Adams

A word from the author: I would like to thank Carlo Camarotto, Pierpalo Paoletti, Barbara Parutto, Piero and Gaia, Nino and Francesca, Valeria Grandinetti, coffee without sugar, 70% dark chocolate, Aglianico wine, and the twilight ninjas for helping me with that rainbow dragon issue. I love you all.

If you experience any issues with this product, please contact the vendor where you purchased this game, or contact Quined Games' customer service at www.quined.nl/missing-parts/.

Solo Rules

Challenge Frederick II to a head-to-head match! In this solo mode, you take on the "Stupor Mundi" himself. Will you manage to reach the title of Duke?

Setup

Create a 2-player setup with these changes:

• Use Independent (teal) Allies, including the German nun marked with the crown symbol. Do not use Loyalist (Orange) Allies.
• Your Ship and Frederick's Ship start in the "Roma" space on the Voyage Board.
• Shuffle the Solo cards and place them in a face-down deck next to the Voyage Board.
• If it's your first game or if you want to play an easier game, randomly choose 3 Edict tiles marked with the easy-mode symbol and add them to the ones used in a 2-player game. You may look at these tiles before shuffling them all together.

How to play

You play first, and take your turns as normal. On Frederick's turn, flip a Solo card and perform the indicated actions on Frederick's behalf. As long as you have at least 1 card in your hand, you cannot pass.

Exception: Frederick NEVER performs more than 5 actions in a round. After taking your 6th turn in a round (which becomes possible after Building the Keep that removes your Card Slot tile), proceed to the End Phase without flipping another Solo card.

Some of the Solo cards are marked with a crown. When the second card with a crown symbol is revealed from the deck, shuffle all of the Solo cards to form a new deck of 16 cards at the end of Frederick's turn.

In most cases, Frederick will move his Ship one or more steps to challenge you by removing cards or Allies from the Voyage Board.

Frederick does not perform actions like a human player, nor does he gain any VP. He only performs those actions indicated on the Solo cards:

• Move Frederick's Ship 1 space.
• Do not move Frederick's Ship.
• Move Frederick's Ship to the same location as your Ship.
• Remove the Action card from the location of Frederick's Ship (if possible).
• Remove the Ally from the location of Frederick's Ship (if possible).
• Issue the indicated Edict.

When Frederick has to Issue an Edict:

• Choose the Edict indicated by the Roman numeral on the Solo card: I is the topmost Edict, II is in the middle, and III is on the bottom. In the rare case where the Edict space is empty, Issue the next one in sequence (I → II → III → I).
• Frederick always positively activates an Edict. This means he will only ever add resources, Structures, and Allies, and he will only ever Promote his Specialist along Path A of the Workplace Area. Any leftover steps are ignored (for example: if Frederick needs to add 2 Towers, but there are already 4 Towers, he adds 1 Tower and ignores the other).
• After Frederick Issues an Edict, remove it and replace it with the one in the corresponding position in the Next Edict spaces (top, middle, bottom). If that position is empty, replenish from the next one in sequence (I → II → III → I).

End of the game

At the end of the game, your score indicates the title you have attained:

• 0–29 VP: Serf
• 30–49 VP: Knight
• 50–79 VP: Feudal lord
• 80 VP or more: Duke!

Appendices

Important: Bonuses from a performed action are received at the end of that action. These bonuses cannot be spent to pay for that specific action.

House Action Cards

Each player receives a set of 8 identical House Action cards (2 of each of the following cards):

• (x2) Gain 1 Stone.
• (x2) Gain 1 Grain.
• (x2) Gain 3 Augustales.
• (x2) Draw 4 cards from your draw pile.

Each player also receives 2 unique House Action cards, depending on their House:

House Savoy

• Gain 1 Grain for each of Frederick's Allies in his Court (max. 3 Grain).
• Take 2 Augustales. Purchase an Action card.

House Hohenstaufen

• Gain 1 Stone for every 3 Structures in Frederick's Castle (max. 3 Stone).
• Move your Ship anywhere on the Voyage Board at no cost. Visit the Market.

House Wittelsbach

• Gain 1 Augustalis for each resource in Frederick's Reserve (max. 6 Augustales).
• Build a Structure using any combination of Grain and/or Stone to pay for building costs. If you Build a Great Structure, you must still pay its Augustalis cost.

House Di Romano

• Gain 1 VP for each step Frederick's Specialist has taken along the path in the Workplace Area (max. 3 VP). Promote 1 of your Specialists.
• Build a Tower using exactly 2 Stone instead of any other indicated cost. If you Build a Great Structure, you must still pay its Augustalis cost.

Advanced Action Cards (Level A)

• Card A1. Cost: 3 Augustales. Gain 2 Grain.
• Card A2. Cost: 2 Augustales. Spend 1 Augustalis to gain 1 Grain (this can be done up to 3 times).
• Card A3. Cost: 1 Action card. If you have at least 3 Grain, gain 8 Augustales.
• Card A4. Cost: 1 Action card. Spend 2 Augustales to gain 1 Stone (this can be done up to 3 times).
• Card A5. Cost: 1 Action card. If you have at least 3 Stone, gain 8 Augustales.
• Card A6. Cost: 5 Augustales. Build a Structure with a discount of 1 Stone. If you Build a Great Structure, you must still pay its Augustalis cost.
• Card A7. Cost: 1 Action card. Gain 6 Augustales.
• Card A8. Cost: 2 Augustales. Gain 3 Augustales. Promote 1 of your Specialists.
• Card A9. Cost: 2 Augustales. Gain 1 Grain. Promote 1 of your Specialists.
• Card A10. Cost: 3 Augustales. Gain 1 Stone. Promote 1 of your Specialists.
• Card A11. Cost: 2 Augustales. Promote up to 2 of your Specialists (they cannot be the same Specialist).
• Card A12. Cost: 1 Action card. Gain 1 Grain. Visit the Market.
• Card A13. Cost: 1 Action card. Gain 1 Stone. Visit the Market.
• Card A14. Cost: 1 Action card. Gain 3 Augustales. Visit the Market.
• Card A15. Cost: 3 Augustales. Gain 1 Grain for each Ally on your Player Board (max. 3 Grain).
• Card A16. Cost: 3 Augustales. Summon an Ally with a discount of 1 Grain.

Advanced Action Cards (Level B)

• Card B1. Cost: 3 Augustales. Spend 1 Grain to gain 2 VP (this can be done up to 2 times).
• Card B2. Cost: 3 Augustales. Spend 1 Stone to gain 2 VP (this can be done up to 2 times).
• Card B3. Cost: 4 Augustales. Spend 3 Augustales to gain 2 VP (this can be done up to 2 times).
• Card B4. Cost: 4 Augustales. Choose Independent or Loyalist. For each Ally of that type present on your Player Board, gain 1 Grain or 1 Stone (max. 3 Grain/Stone). Note: all resources gained in this way must be of the same kind.
• Card B5. Cost: 3 Augustales. Choose Independent or Loyalist. For each Ally of that type present on your Player Board, gain 2 Augustales (max. 8 Augustales).
• Card B6. Cost: 3 Augustales. Choose Independent or Loyalist. For each Ally of that type present on your Player Board, gain 1 VP (max. 4 VP).
• Card B7. Cost: 1 Action card. If you have at least 3 Grain, gain 2 VP.
• Card B8. Cost: 5 Augustales. Gain 2 Stone.
• Card B9. Cost: 1 Action card. If you have at least 3 Stone, gain 2 VP.
• Card B10. Cost: 3 Augustales. For every 3 Structures Built in your Castle, gain 1 Grain.
• Card B11. Cost: 3 Augustales. For every 3 Structures Built in your Castle, gain 1 Stone.
• Card B12. Cost: 2 Augustales. For every 3 Structures Built in your Castle, gain 3 Augustales.
• Card B13. Cost: 2 Augustales. For every 3 Structures Built in your Castle, gain 1 VP.
• Card B14. Cost: 3 Augustales. Spend 7 Augustales to Build a Structure in your Castle without spending Stone or Grain. If you Build a Great Structure, you must still pay its Augustalis cost.
• Card B15. Cost: 1 Action card. Spend 3 Augustales to Summon an Ally per the usual rules. You do not have to spend Grain to do so.
• Card B16. Cost: 3 Augustales. Gain 1 Grain. Gain 1 Stone.

Allies

Independents

• Theophilos (Greek engineer): Gives a +2 VP bonus if you have at least as much Grain as Frederick has in his Reserve.
• Maumettu (Sicilian miner): Gives a +2 VP bonus if you have at least as much Stone as Frederick has in his Reserve.
• Altair (Arab merchant): Gives a +2 VP bonus if you have more Augustales than Frederick has in his Treasury.
• Severin (Bohemian lumberjack): Gives a +2 VP bonus if your Castle has more Towers than Frederick's.
• Castellan (Lombardian knight): Gives a +2 VP bonus if your Castle has more Walls than Frederick's.
• Idalia (Italian duchess): Gives a +2 VP bonus if your Castle has more Keeps than Frederick's.
• Gregoria (x2, German nun): Gives a +2 VP bonus if your Castle has more Structures (Towers, Walls, and/or Keeps) than Frederick's.
• Gisèle (Frankish princess): Gives a +2 VP bonus if you have more Allies than Frederick has in his Court.
• Mocenigo (Italian lord): Gives a +2 VP bonus if any of your Specialists are ahead of Frederick's (regardless of which path they are on).

Loyalists

• Sigeberht (Burgundian engineer): Gives a +2 VP bonus if Frederick has 3 or more Grain in his Reserve.
• Okechukwu (Nubian miner): Gives a +2 VP bonus if Frederick has 3 or more Stone in his Reserve.
• Tento (Venetian merchant): Gives a +2 VP bonus if Frederick has at least 9 Augustales in his Treasury.
• Romigi (Genoese lumberjack): Gives a +2 VP bonus if there are 3 or more Towers in Frederick's Castle.
• Balthasar (Bedouin knight): Gives a +2 VP bonus if there are 3 or more Walls in Frederick's Castle.
• Domentzia (Byzantine duchess): Gives a +2 VP bonus if there are 2 or more Keeps in Frederick's Castle.
• Sebastian (x2, Bavarian monk): Gives a +2 VP bonus if there are 6 or more Structures (Towers, Walls, and/or Keeps) in Frederick's Castle.
• Gisela (Saxon princess): Gives a +2 VP bonus if Frederick has 3 or more Allies in his Court.
• Philaretos (Byzantine lord): Gives a +2 VP bonus if Frederick's Specialist has reached at least the 3rd Workplace (i.e., a Village tile or the City).

Workplace Tiles

Countryside level I

A. Your hand size is increased by 1. Immediately draw a card from your draw pile and add it to your hand.

B. When you Build a Wall, you also gain a Grain.

C. When you travel, the first and second travel steps you take are free.

D. When you Purchase an Action card, you get a discount of 2 Augustales.

Countryside level II

A. When you Summon an Ally, you also gain 2 VP.

B. When you Visit the Market, you may perform one additional sale or purchase.

C. When you Build a Tower, you also gain 4 Augustales.

D. When you Build a Structure, you also gain 2 Augustales.

Village level I

A. When you Build a Keep, you also gain 4 VP.

B. When you Build a Keep, the cost is reduced by 1 Stone.

C. When you Summon an Ally, you get a discount of 1 Grain.

D. When you Visit the Market, you also gain 3 Augustales.

Village level II

A. When you Build a Tower or a Wall, you also gain 3 VP.

B. When you Purchase an Action card, you also gain 3 VP.

C. When you Build a Structure, you also gain 1 Grain or 1 Stone (after paying the Structure's resource cost) and 2 VP.

D. When you Issue an Edict, you also gain 3 VP. This also applies when you would Issue an Edict but none are available.

City Bonus Tiles

If you cannot perform a City Bonus tile's action, nothing happens. You must still choose and remove a tile.

A. Gain 6 Augustales and 3 resources of your choice (may be all one type or a mix of Grain and Stone).

B. Issue 1 Edict. Gain 3 VP.

C. Summon an Ally from your Ship's current location at no Grain cost.

D. You may immediately Build a Tower without paying its resource cost. If you Build a Great Tower, you must still pay the additional Augustalis cost.

E. You may immediately Build a Wall without paying its resource cost. If you Build a Great Wall, you must still pay the additional Augustalis cost.

F. You may immediately Build a Keep without paying its resource cost. If you Build the Great Keep, you must still pay the additional Augustalis cost.

Great Structures

Important: When Building, all costs must be paid first. Then, if this closes a side of your Castle, gain the applicable bonus. After that, gain any applicable benefits/effects from Workplace tiles. Finally, if you Built a Great Structure, gain the applicable bonus listed beneath it:

Great Keep — Cost: 4 Augustales. Promote 2 of your Specialists once each, or Promote 1 of your Specialists twice.

Great Tower A — Cost: 2 Augustales. Purchase an Advanced Action card from your ship's current location, at its normal cost.

Great Tower B — Cost: 3 Augustales. Summon an Ally from your ship's current location at no Grain cost.

Great Wall A — Cost: 3 Augustales. Issue 1 Edict.

Great Wall B — Cost: 4 Augustales. Promote 1 of your Specialists at no Grain cost.

Keep Cover Tiles

When you Build a Keep, place its corresponding Keep Cover tile on your Player Board as a reminder of the ability it provides.

• Increase your hand size by 2. Immediately draw 2 cards from your draw pile and add them to your hand.
• Remove the Card Slot tile from your Player Board. You may now play an extra Action card in each round.
• Starting with your next turn, you may now perform BOTH main actions your soldiers' spears point to when you play an Action card face down.

Iconography

As a general rule:

• A white number with a black outline means that you GAIN the indicated items/reward.
• A red number with a beige outline means that you need to SPEND/REMOVE the indicated items.
• A yellow underlined number with a black outline means that you need to OWN/POSSESS what's indicated.
• A parenthetical number (Ex: (x3)) underneath a conversion arrow indicates how many times you may use that conversion in a turn.
• If a single item is shown, it always means a quantity of one.

The rulebook's icon glossary covers: a Stone, a Grain, a Stone or Grain, an Augustalis (coin), a Victory Point (VP), a Tower, a Wall, a Keep, a Great Tower, a Great Wall, a Great Keep, Frederick's Tower, Frederick's Wall, Frederick's Keep, Your Specialist, Frederick's Specialist, Frederick (the character), You (the player), an Ally, an Independent Ally, a Loyalist Ally, Frederick's Ally, an Edict, Issue an Edict, Refresh the Edicts (add an Edict from a Next Edict space to an empty Active Edict space), an Edict reward, Move your Ship, Promote your Specialist, Visit the Market, Build a Structure, Summon an Ally, Purchase an Action card, an Action card, Draw a card from your draw pile, Hand size, a Card Slot tile, Remove, Perform / Completed, an Income step (only used in 3- and 4-player games), a player-count restriction icon (only used in 4-player games), and End of the game.

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