How to play De Vulgari Eloquentia

THE OBJECT OF THE GAME

In this game, players are all ambitious scholars in Renaissance Italy. The most renowned
scholar, as measured in VP, will be the winner. (General rule: The player with the
highest knowledge wins all ties in this game.)

The board shows Italy on the left, the turn track in the middle and various tracks all
around. You have a player pawn that moves around the map and discs as markers for
your position on all the other tracks. The game also has a range of tiles that vary the
opportunities available to you and cubes that represent support from important people.
(Full setup instructions given at the end of this rule set.)
 WHAT YOU CAN DO TO GET VP

Manuscripts. Manuscripts give you VP equal to their printed value. To get a manuscript,
you need to be in the area where that language is spoken, i.e. the area must match the
colour of the manuscript tile. You also need to have reached a level on the knowledge
track to match or exceed the manuscript value and pay Action Points equal to the track
level where the manuscript is displayed. (Manuscript value and track level is the same at
setup, but may change later in the game, as manuscripts shift up when you run out of
manuscript tiles of any level.) Everyone starts with level 1 knowledge, but you can
increase your knowledge in various ways.

Status. Everyone starts the game as a merchant. You can

increase your status during the game as well as after the
game.
During the game
A merchant can go to a convent and voluntarily become a
friar by giving up half his money, rounded up. Choose a
friar from the available tiles. Each friar gives special
benefits.
A friar can go to a cathedral and voluntarily become a cardinal by paying 40 Ducati
plus either a Politician (red) or Noble (black) cube.
Discard the friar tile out of the game and choose a cardinal from the available tiles.
Each cardinal gives you special benefits.
Note that once you join the church, you get NO more money from the board areas or
tiles. You do get Charity and can do Small Business for 10 Ducati every turn.
Friar and Cardinal special benefits:
Underlined = VP awarded or subtracted at game end
Book = immediate knowledge gain
Virtual cube of a specific colour that can be used once per action as if it were real.
Friar Ralph never has to pay the 10 Ducati for moving more than one area.
Friar Gigi gets double charity 10 Ducati instead of 5.
Cardinal Muret costs 70 Ducati & gives you one extra Action Point per turn.
Cardinal Zazza gives you back the 40 Ducati he cost you & you can look at one extra
tile when you draw Papal Library tiles but you still only take one tile.
Cardinal Shlasinger lets you reduce an opponents knowledge by 6 once per game.
After the game
You can use votes of support (cubes) from politicians (red, 3 votes), nobles (black,
2 votes) and abbesses (yellow, 1 vote) to improve your status.
A merchant can pay 7 votes to become a banker, giving him 6VP.
A friar can pay 10 votes to become a monk, giving him 11VP.
A cardinal can pay 11 votes to become a camerlengo, giving him 14VP.
A cardinal can pay 17 votes to become the pope, giving him 22VP. You cannot be
both a camerlengo and pope. Only one player can become pope, with the
opportunity to do so given in knowledge order. The person who becomes pope
gets no VP from his character tile.
Leading tracks. You can get VP for your position on two game tracks. (General rule:
Whenever two markers are on the same space in this game, the bottom one is
considered most advanced.)
Riddle from Verona. The person leading at game end gets 4, 5 or 6VP, depending on his
position on the track. Nobody else gets anything from this track.
Canticle of the Sun. The person leading at game end gets 9VP and the second person
4VP. Nobody else gets anything from this track.

Additional VP are awarded as follows:

5VP if you have all five manuscript colours. You can count value 4 manuscripts (which
have two colours) as either colour, but not both.
2-4VP for a Papal Library tile.
7VP for the richest player if hes a merchant/banker. Otherwise 3VP.
3VP for the player with the highest total of unused votes.
1VP per amanuensis (green cube) that was converted to VP during the game.
Add or subtract VP for specific character tiles. Exception: If elected pope, a cardinal
tile does not add or subtract any more VP.

WHAT YOU DO EVERY GAME TURN

The game is played in 13-16 turns. Each game turn has four phases: Events, Charity,
Turn Order and Actions.

1. Events

1.1 Move the turn marker (purple pawn) down the turn track

1.2 On turns 1-10, a new event becomes available in a specific area for
each turn, as determined during set up. Place the new event tile face up
in the space pointing to the relevant area. (Note there is no event
associated with the space in Cagliari. This space is there by mistake.)

1.3 Each turn also gives players the opportunity to gain

support from important people. You pick up cubes to
represent their support. Cubes for the first seven turns are
placed during setup.
From turn 2 onwards, take any remaining cubes from the previous turn and put them on
the next available space. If there are more cubes than the space allows for the number of
players (see table in setup instructions), they go in order of value first red, then black,
yellow and green last. (General rule: These priorities also apply if players use cubes
and place them back on the track on a future turn.)

1.4 Restock the manuscript track. If any track cannot be restocked,

shift all manuscripts to the track level above and put the 8 value
manuscript on the bottom row.

1.5 On turn 12 onwards, flip a Papal Event tile to see if the game ends. When
the second red tile is revealed, the pope dies and it is the last turn of the game.
All player pawns go to Rome. Play then proceeds normally for one last turn.

After the game, do the election phase where players can improve their status as described
in the VP section above. Then do final scoring. (You can use a piece of paper or place
player pawns on the knowledge track to keep score.)

2. Charity (only on turns 1-10, if there is a friar or cardinal in play)

The richest merchant has to pay each friar 5 Ducati and each cardinal 10 Ducati.

If two merchants are equally rich, each friar or cardinal can pick who has to pay them.
If there is no merchant richer than the friar or cardinal or if the person who has to pay
runs out of money, the bank gives the friar or cardinal the remaining charity.

All wealth levels are taken at the actual time of each payment, so can change in the turn.

3. Player order

Rearrange the player order for

the turn by knowledge level
lowest knowledge going first.

However, player order can be amended due to positions on the Rest track. The player
furthest on the Rest track jumps the queue and goes first. Remove the marker that gave
him this privilege from the Rest track. Other markers remain on the Rest track.

4. Actions

In player order, each player takes the five purple action markers and places them on the
board, taking the relevant action as he does so. When he is finished, play passes to the
next player.
 WHAT YOU CAN DO EVERY PLAYER TURN

In each player turn, you take 5 actions, placing purple disks to mark your actions.

Move 1-5 AP

You can move your pawn by paying 1 Action Point (AP) per area
moved. In addition to AP, you have to pay 10 Ducati in total whenever
you move more than one area in a turn.

You can only take other actions or use map features before or after your complete
movement for that player turn. You cannot stop and start or benefit from a region in
any way if youre only passing through it.

Sea movement. You can move from a harbour (with anchor symbol) into the sea and stop
there exactly as if it were another land area, or you can immediately cross the sea to
another harbour by paying an extra AP. I.e. moving from a starting point on land to the
sea and on to a harbour costs 3AP, not 2. As a memory aid, use anchor symbols as stops.

You can combine sea and land movement by spending the necessary AP. You cannot
move from a harbour on one sea to a harbour on the other sea. Note: Calaria and the
nearby abbey is separated by sea.

Take event benefit no cost

You must be in the relevant area before or after movement.

Taking an event benefit is voluntary. (Friars and cardinals
cannot take money. They get only knowledge. Merchants get
both money and knowledge.) Flip the tile afterwards. No
other player can get that benefit.

* The event in turn 10, Stupor Mundi, is different. After this tile has appeared, any
player in Brindisi gets the opportunity to call an auction at the end of the game turn.
Follow turn order if there is more than one player.

Any players who want to take part in the auction must move their pawns to Brindisi, at no
cost. Starting with the auctioneer, participating players bid with their cubes (vote values)
in turn order until only one bidder remains. The auctioneer gets +2 added to his bid, i.e.
he only has to offer cubes with a combined vote value of 2 less than his bid.

The winning bidder pays the cubes and takes the 10 knowledge benefit, flipping the tile.
Others keep their cubes. If nobody responds to the auction invitation, the auctioneer gets
the Stupor Mundi benefit at no cost.
Take area benefit no cost

Many areas on the map give special money and/or knowledge benefits
for players in them. Taking the area benefit happens automatically on
arrival and costs no actions. Simply take the knowledge and/or money
benefit of the area. (Friars and cardinals cannot take money. They get
only knowledge. Merchants get both money and knowledge.) Place
your marker in the area to show you have had that area benefit. Each
player gets each area benefit once only.

* The area benefit for Bologna is different. To get this benefit, you first have to reach
the end of the Messenger track. (See rules for Messenger action.)

Salterio 1AP, once per player turn

You can be anywhere. Pay 1AP and take 3 knowledge, or 4 if you currently
have the lowest knowledge.

Small business 1AP, once per player turn

You can be anywhere. Pay 1AP and take 10 Ducati

Orient 1-5 AP
You can be anywhere. All merchants who reach the end of this track can
take 10 Ducati extra every time they take a new area benefit that includes
money. This represents trade with the orient.

Riddle from Verona 1-5 AP

You must be in the blue region. Pay 1AP per space moved. The furthest
person on this track at game end gets VP equal to the level he has reached
on the track, i.e. 4, 5 or 6VP.

Messenger 1-5AP
You can be anywhere. Pay 1AP per space moved. In addition, to enter the
last space:
Turn 1-7: Pay two yellow cubes and 20 Ducati.
Turn 8 onwards: Pay a yellow cube and 10 Ducati.
If you have completed the track and move to Bologna, youll get the area
benefit of 15 knowledge until turn 7, 10 knowledge if you arrive on turn 8 or
after.

Rest track 1-5AP

You can be anywhere. Move one space per AP spent.
 Library 1-5AP
You can be anywhere. Pay 1AP to move on this track. Once, on turn 11 or
later, you can look at a number of papal library tiles equal to the number
you have reached on the track. Keep one tile to give you the stated number
of VP at game end. Replace the others face down on the stack in any order
you choose.

Canticle of the Sun 1-5 AP

You have to be in the Franciscan area that is active this turn as indicated by
the square Canticle markers. From turn 14 onward, all Franciscan areas are
active. Pay 1AP and one yellow cube to progress one space on the track.
The furthest person on this track at game end gets 9VP and the second
placed player gets 4VP.

Take Abbess 1 or 4AP

You can be anywhere, but an Abbess (yellow cube) must be available this
turn. Pay 1AP and 15 Ducati for one cube or pay 4AP and 30 Ducati for
two. If you are in an Abbey space, you dont need to pay the money.

Take Politician 1 or 4AP

You can be anywhere, but a Politician (red cube) must be available this
turn. Pay 1AP and 30 Ducati for one cube or pay 4AP and 60 Ducati for
two.

Take Noble 1 or 4AP

You can be anywhere, but a Noble (black cube) must be available this turn.
Pay 1AP for one cube or pay 4AP for two. You can swap any noble cube
for 20 Ducati, but only if you do so immediately as you take it.

Take Amanuensis 1 or 4AP

You can be anywhere, but an Amanuensis (green cube) must be available
this turn. Pay 1AP for one cube or pay 4AP for two. Unlike other cubes, the
green ones go in front of your player screen. When youre at an abbey, you
can choose to convert all open Amanuenses, i.e. those in front of your
screen, to knowledge (3 knowledge each), putting them back on the turn
track, OR to move all of them behind your player screen for 1VP each at
game end.

Take manuscript AP=track level, once per turn

You have to be in an area matching the colour of the
manuscript and have a high enough knowledge level.

You can only take ONE manuscript per turn.

Use special map features before or after movement only

Convent
Merchant can become friar. Lose half your Ducati and choose a friar tile.

Cathedral
Friar can become cardinal. Pay 40 Ducati plus one red or black cube.
Discard your friar tile and pick a cardinal tile.

Abbey
Player can convert Amanuenses cubes to 1VP or 3 knowledge each. You
cannot split the group all have to be treated the same way.
Player can get Abbess cubes by paying only AP, no money needed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A four-player game set up, ready for play to start.

SET UP

1. Lay out the board & put the money nearby.

2. Randomly place the five canticle turn markers in the small squares, face up.

3. Shuffle the Papal Event tiles face down and place them from turn 12 to 16.

4. Shuffle the Papal Library tiles and place them face down next to their track.

5. Shuffle the manuscript tiles of each level together. Place them in stacks face down next
to the board. From each stack, take one tile less than the number of players and place the
tiles face up on the relevant track, i.e. level 1 manuscripts on track number 1, etc. Place
the single level 8 manuscript nearby not on a track. (Optional setup suggested on BGG:
For two-player games, remove one full colour set each from value 1, 2 and 3
manuscripts.)

6. Place cubes in the cloth bag as indicated on this table. Then draw them randomly and
place the indicated number on each space of the turn track. (This is the maximum number
of cubes allowed per turn even when replacing used or unbought cubes later.)
# of # of cubes placed in bag # of cubes
players Red Black Yellow Green per turn
2 3 5 14 6 4
3 6 5 16 8 5
4 8 7 17 10 6
5 11 7 20 11 7

7. Draw an event tile at random and place it on turn 1, face up. Then place the event tiles
in number order from that point on, starting at event 1 again when you reach 9. E.g. if you
draw event 8 for turn one, place event 9 on turn two, event 1 on turn three, event 2 on
turn 4, etc. Event tile 10 Stupor Mundi does not follow this pattern, but always goes on
turn 10.

8. Each player takes a player screen, the pawn and disks of his colour, plus 10 Ducati.
Everything goes behind the player screen except Ducati, which are always visible.
Amanuenses (green cubes) also go in front of player screens when you get them until
they are converted to VP or discarded for knowledge points.

9. Take a marker from each player and randomly place it on the turn order track.

10. Place a marker of each player on the first space of the knowledge track in reverse
player order, i.e. with the last player at the bottom.

11. In reverse player order, each player places their pawn on one of the starting spaces - .
Only one player may be in each space at the start. (Later in the game, players can happily
coexist in the same area.) Starting areas are (from the south): Catania, Taranto, Ancona,
Vicenza and Torino.