Foundations of Rome

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• en

• Setup
  • • Lay out the City board, Deed board, and Score board. Be sure to use the correct side (smaller for 2-3 players, larger for 4-5).
    • Each player picks a color and takes the tray and cubes of their color.
    • Score cubes should be placed on their dedicated places on the Score board.
    • Pick a start player and give them the Start Player token.
      • The start player takes 5 coins and each other takes 1 more than the previous. e.g. the 4th player would take 8 coins.
    • Place the rest of the coins near the board.
    • If playing with less than 5 players, remove some cards:
      • 4 players: Remove all the red deeds.
      • 3 players: Remove all the red and purple deeds.
      • 2 players: Remove all the red, purple, and blue deeds.
    • Shuffle the remaining deeds and deal 6 to each player.
      • Optional draft variant: You may draft deed cards instead of just using the randomly dealt cards. To do this (after the 6 cards have been dealt):
        1. Each player selects a card from their hand and places it face down.
        2. After all players have selected a card, everyone simultaneously reveals their cards and places a lot marker on the corresponding location on the City board.
        3. Each player passes the remaining cards to the person on their left.
        4. Repeat this until all cards have been drafted.
    • Each player places lot markers corresponding to their deeds. Then, players keep the deed cards in a pile in front of themselves.
    • Split the remaining deed cards in approximately 3 equal piles and place them on the 3 eras on the Deed board.
    • Flip over the top 6 cards from Era 1.
    • If playing with Monuments:
      • Shuffle all the Monument cards together.
      • Turn over a number of Monuments equal to the number of players + 3 and place them near the City board. Place the matching monuments on them.
      • Return the unused monuments and their cards to the box.
• Player Turns

  • Players do 1 of the following on their turn.

    • Take Income: Take 5 silver plus an amount of silver equal to the value of any commercial buildings you've built.
    • Buy a Deed:
      1. Pay the amount of silver shown above the deed and take the deed card.
      2. Slide the other deeds from right to left fill in the open space.
      3. Fill the last spot with the top card from the current era.
      4. Place one of your lot markers on the matching lot on the city board.
      5. If the last deed for the current era was purchased, do NOT fill the deeds from the next era yet. Instead, proceed to the End of an Era.
    • Construct a Building: Build a building from your player supply with the following rules:
      • You can build on empty lots you own without restriction. If you are doing this, simply replace the lot markers with a building.
      • You can replace an already built building(s) as long as the new building is larger in size. If that would leave owned spaces open, be sure place lot markers in those owned lots. You can never replace a building that is the same size or larger.
      • If you have constructed a residential building, move your population marker up the the Population tracker equal to the amount of citizens on the building you built.
      • If you are playing with Monuments:
        • If you meet the requirement (if any) for the Monument and as well as the above conditions, you may build that Monument. Place a Monument marker of your color on the newly built Monument.
• End of an Era

  • When all available deeds for the current Era have been purchased (not when the deck runs out), the Era ends.

    • When the deed board is empty, each player takes one final turn to collect income or build, including the player who purchased the last deed.
    • Pass the Start Player token to the player to the left of the 1 who took the last turn in the previous Era. They will begin the next Era.
    • Perform end of Era scoring.
  • End of Era Scoring
    • • Residential Buildings:
        • Each player verifies the total number of citizens on constructed buildings matches their position on the Population tracker.
        • All ties are friendly, so any tied players get the same points/bonuses.
        • The player with the most citizens scores victory points equal to their position plus the era bonus:
          • Era 1: 4 points
          • Era 2: 7 points
          • Era 3: 10 points
        • Each other player scores a number of points equal to the number of citizens the next player in front of them has. You must have at least 1 citizen to gain these points!
      • Civic Buildings:
        • Players score victory points for symbols on adjacent buildings. Buildings are only adjacent if they share an edge (orthogonal adjacency).
      • Commercial Buildings:
        • Each player takes a number of silver equal to the value of all their constructed buildings. If it is the final Era, players score victory points instead of collecting silver.
        • Each player scores points for any buildings that show a point value on their uncovered spot on their player board.
      • Monuments: If playing with Monuments, take the listed silver or points on the Monument card for the monument you built. These generally score the same as their regular building type.
      • After all players have collected their silver and victory points, refill the Deed board from the next Era and begin the next Era.
• End of Game

  • The game ends after the 3rd Era. In addition to the End of Era Scoring, score the following:

    • Reminder: Commercial buildings should receive victory points instead of silver at the end of the 3rd Era.
    • Players score 1 victory point for each lot marker they have on the City board (marking empty, owned lots).
    • If playing with Trading and Stealing, add the points shown on any Favor tokens the player has.
    • If playing with Objectives, add any points from completed objectives.
    • If playing with Invocations, add any points on unused Invocation cards.
• Modules
  • Trading and Stealing

    • This module is recommended for 4-5 players. There are 3 ways to add the module to the game: Trading, Stealing, or Both.

      • Regardless of which combo of mechanisms being used, each player receives 2 Favor tokens at the start of the game.
        • The 4 VP side of the token is only used when using Stealing. Only the 2 VP side should be used when just playing with Trading.
        • At the end of the game, players earn VP based on the Favor tokens they have.
      • Trading: On your turn, you may trade empty lots you own with any players that wish to trade with you. Trading can only involve the active player.
        • When trading, lots, silver, and favor tokens can be used to make a trade. *If playing with Invocations, players may use unused or ongoing Invocation cards as part of a trade.
        • Players may make promises as part of the trade, but promises are not binding and can be broken.
        • Trades can be done in addtion to taking your normal turn.
        • Building can NEVER be traded.
      • Stealing: During your turn, you may forcefully take an empty lot from another player.
        • This, like Trading, is a free action that can be done in addition to your normal action.
        • You can never seize a building, only an empty lot.
        • You must own at least 2 lots and/or buildings orthogonally adjacent to the lot you are stealing.
        • You must have at least one 2 VP Favor token. Flip this to the 4 VP side and give it to the player you are stealing from.
        • Once stolen, take the Deed card and replace the lot token with one of yours.
        • A Favor token on the 4 VP side is "spent" and may not be used to steal.
          • If you are playing with Trading as well, the 4 VP token can be used in a trade, but remains in its "spent" state.
  • Objectives

    • This module allows for new ways to acquire VP. It can be played 2 different ways: Hidden Objectives and Public Objectives. In either case, people that have met objectives score bonus points during the end of game scoring.

      • Hidden Objectives: At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt 2 objectives. Players choose one and removes the other from the game.
      • Public Objectives: At the beginning of the game, lay out a number of objectives face up equal to the number of players. Multiple players can complete each objective.
      • Clarification: Contiguous lots. If 2 or more lots share an orthogonally adjacent edge, they are considered contiguous.
  • Invocations
    • • Setup: After Deed cards have been dealt to players and separated into 3 decks, but before flipping 6 face up during setup, deal 9 Invocation cards face down at random. Shuffle 3 Invocation cards into each Era deck.
        • IMPORTANT: Some Invocation cards can only be used with certain modules. Remove cards that do no match modules you are using.
      • Invocation cards are treated like Deed cards and can be purchased. Once purchased, the player keeps it face down until used.
      • Activating an Invocation card is a free action.
      • Unless otherwise specified, it can only be used on your turn.
      • After using an Invocation card, it is placed face up in your Deed pile.
      • Some Invocation cards have ongoing abilities, keep these separate and face up in your play area.
      • Some Invocation cards show a VP value. These points are only awarded if the Invocation card has NOT been used.
  • Player Roles
    • • Setup: Shuffle the player Role cards and deal 2 face down to each player. Players secretly select 1 and remove the other from the game. Once all players have selected, all Role cards are flipped face up and abilities are shared.
  • Will of the Consul

    • This module is only playable with 2-4 players. You may use Monuments, but no other modules may be combined with this.

    • Setup
      • 1. Setup the game as usual.
        2. Select an unused player color to use as the Consul on the victory point and Population trackers.
        3. Players and the Consul begin the game with 5 VP, but still 0 VP.
        4. Place the Consul card PLANNING side face up in front of the 1st player. That player will control the Consul until the end of the Era.
        5. Shuffle the size 1 Building tokens and create a face down pile. Do the same for other sizes.
        6. Select a difficulty:
           • Standard: The Consul starts with 0 Deed cards.
           • Hard: The Consul starts with 2 random Deed cards. Place a Building token on each lot. If the lots are adjacent, place a size 2 token.
           • Challenge: The Consul starts with 4 random Deed cards. Place a Building token on each associated lot. Make the largest building possible in case of adjacency.
           • If playing with the Monuments module, Hard or Challenge difficulties are recommended.
    • Gameplay
      • • Players take turns as usual. After the start player finishes their turn, the must flip the Consul card to the READY side and do the following:
          1. Take the leftmost Deed card. Place this in a separate pile for the Consul. Slide the cards down and draw a new card as normal.
          2. Construct a building token.
             • If the new lot does not expand an area for the Consul, take a random token from the size 1 pile and place it in the new lot.
             • If the new lot connects to one or more of the Consul's existing buildings, place the largest building tile possible on those lots. Remove the replaced tokens and place them in token discards based on their size.
               • If this causes 1 or more lots to become empty, draw the largest token that can take that spot(s) and place it.
             • If the face down token pile is empty, shuffle the discards and add them face down.
             • If there are no more of the needed building size, the Consul takes 7 VP instead.
          3. Flip the Consul card back to the PLANNING side.
    • Special Rules
      • • Population Scoring: Players do not receive VP as normal for their population. Instead the player with the most Population (including the Consul) will get the majority bonus. All other players receive a VP penalty for the diff between their Population and the player with the most. The rest of the buildings score as normal.
        • Consul's Commercial Buildings: When the Consul places Commercial buildings, it changes the minimum price on the board.
          • Every 2 silver on the Consuls buildings raises the minimum price by +1 silver. Place coins on the Deed board to remind people of this.
        • End of an Era: Pass the Consul card and control of the Consul to the next clockwise player.
        • Winning and Losing: After final scoring, the players win if each player has a higher score than the Consul. If not, the Consul wins.
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