Brutus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal
• Setup
• Sequence of Play
  • Card Distribution
  • The Forum
  • The Consul's Choice
  • Playing the Cards
• Special Cards
  • Dux (9)
  • Censor (10)
  • Senator (11)
  • Vestalis Virgo (12)
  • Caesar (13)
• End of a Round
• New Round
• End of the Game
• Variants
  • Gladiator Revolt
  • Conspiracy
  • Emperor's Benevolence

Components

• 104 Character cards numbered from 1 to 13, each value in 8 copies.
• 5 help cards.
• 10 Position cards: Imperator, Consul, Servus, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX.

Goal

Each player seeks to get rid of the cards in their hand in order to score points.

Setup

Depending on the number of players, some Character cards must be removed and certain Position cards must be used:

Players	Character cards to remove	Character cards dealt per player	Position cards to use
4	3 of each value	16	Imperator, Consul, III, Servus
5	2 of each value	15	Imperator, Consul, III, IV, Servus
6	2 of each value	13	Imperator, Consul, III, IV, V, Servus
7	1 of each value	13	Imperator, Consul, III, IV, V, VI, Servus
8	1 of each value	11	Imperator, Consul, III, IV, V, VI, VII, Servus
9	None	11	Imperator, Consul, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, Servus

Before the first round, each player randomly draws a Position card to determine the order of play. In order of rank, the Position cards are: Imperator, Consul, then the cards numbered III to IX, and finally Servus (slave). The Imperator is therefore the first player, the Consul the second player, and so on, up to the Servus, who is the last player. Players do not change seats around the table.

Sequence of Play

A game is played over several rounds. Each round is made up of several phases:

• Card distribution
• Forum
• The Consul's choice
• Playing the cards

Card Distribution

The player holding the Servus card is the slave. They shuffle the Character cards and deal them to the players one by one. All players must receive the same number of cards. Cards that are not dealt are set aside; they will not be played in this round but will be available again for the next round.

At 5 players, the game is played with 78 cards (2 cards of each value are removed). 15 cards are dealt to each player, for a total of 75 cards. The 3 remaining cards are set aside.

The Forum

Once the cards have been dealt and checked, the Imperator (the player with the Imperator card) announces the number of cards (1, 2 or 3) they want to see exchanged. Each player, the Imperator included, places that number of cards face down in the centre of the table. These cards are shuffled and revealed. Starting with the Imperator, then in order of rank (according to the result of the previous round, or the draw of cards at the start of the game), each player takes back cards of their choice from the centre, recovering the same number of cards as the number they placed there.

If the Imperator announces 2 cards for the forum, each player places 2 cards face down from their hand. These cards are revealed and the Imperator takes 2 of them. The Consul does the same. It is the turn of the player with the Position card III to choose, and so on, up to the player with the Servus card, who picks last.

The Consul's Choice

After the forum phase, it is the Consul's turn (the player with the Consul card) to decide whether or not to activate their power. If the power is activated, the Consul may play a combination of the same value as the combination to beat, and in this case the next player passes their turn (if the turn comes back to them, they may play again). By default, the Consul's power is not activated. If the Consul forgets to activate their power, they play without it.

In a 4-player game, player 1 plays a 4. Player 2 does the same, so the next player (player 3) passes their turn. It is therefore player 4's turn to play, who also plays a 4. Player 1 must therefore pass, and it is player 2's turn to play. The latter plays an 8.

Playing the Cards

Players take turns in a clockwise direction until every player passes consecutively. The Imperator starts the first round by playing one or more cards from their hand. When several cards are played, they must all have the same value. In this game, a "combination" means one or more cards played by a player.

The player to the left of the Imperator (who is not necessarily the Consul) then has the choice between passing (a player may pass even if they could play on the combination to beat) or playing the same number of cards as the current combination but of a higher value (unless the Consul's power is active). The next player then has the same choice, and so on, until nobody beats the current combination.

A player who has passed has the right to play cards again when the turn comes back to them.

When the turn comes back to a player and the combination to beat is their own (because all the other players have passed or were unable to play on it because of the Consul's power), that player is the winner of the round, which then ends. They may not play on their own combination.

Agrippa has just played a pair of 13. It is Claudius's turn to play. He plays a pair of 12. It is Octavius's turn. He has a pair of 1, but he cannot play it on the pair of 12. He decides to pass, like the other players. Decimus starts the round by playing a 1. The Consul's power being active, Octavius plays a 1 on Decimus's 1. The next player, Agrippa, must therefore pass.

Note: the combination Caesar (13) can only be beaten by the combination Brutus (1). Brutus cards can only be played on a Caesar combination, or as the first combination of the round, or on another combination of 1 if the Consul's power is active. After a combination of 1, play proceeds normally.

When a round ends, if the winning combination has an effect, it must be triggered (see the next paragraph). Then the cards played during this round are discarded. The player who played the winning combination starts a new round by playing a combination from their hand.

In a 4-player game, Octavius starts the round by playing two 2s from his hand. Agrippa, who plays after him, passes. Claudius, who is 3rd in turn order, plays a 5. Decimus, the last player, plays two 6s. It is Octavius's turn again. He decides to pass. Agrippa, who has already passed once, has the right to play cards again, which he does by playing a pair of 8. Claudius, the next player, passes. Decimus plays a pair of 9. The three other players then decide to pass, so Decimus is the winner of this round. He carries out the effect of the 9 cards by giving two cards from his hand to Agrippa. Then he starts the next round by playing a 5.

Special Cards

Some cards have particular effects. The effect of these cards is mandatory and only takes place at the end of the round in which they are won.

Dux (9)

When a player wins a round by playing a combination of 9, they must give 1 or 2 cards from their hand to 1 or 2 players of their choice. If a player has no cards left in hand when winning a round with a combination of 9, they do not perform this action.

Agrippa has just won the round with a pair of 9. He gives one card to Decimus and one card to Claudius. He could have given two cards to Claudius, or a single card to Decimus.

Censor (10)

When a player wins a round by playing a combination of 10, they must discard a card from their hand. If a player has no cards left in hand when winning a round with a combination of 10, they do not perform this action.

Senator (11)

When a player wins a round by playing a combination of 11, they must give a card from their hand to the player of their choice, but that player will start the next round. If a player has no cards left in hand when winning a round with a combination of 11, they do not perform this action.

Claudius has just won the round with a pair of 11. He gives a card to Decimus, who starts the next round by playing a three of a kind of 4.

Vestalis Virgo (12)

When a player wins a round by playing a combination of 12, they must discard a card from their hand (of their choice). The player to their right starts the next round. If a player has no cards left in hand when winning a round with a combination of 12, they do not discard a card, but the player to their right still starts the next round.

Caesar (13)

When a player wins a round by playing a combination of 13, they gain one victory point (2 points in a 7-player game or more). This point is won even if this player no longer has any cards in hand after playing their winning combination.

End of a Round

When a player has no cards left in hand after playing a combination (or after activating the effect of a special card), they no longer take part in this round. They take the Position card corresponding to their finishing place for this round and score the number of points shown on that card for the number of players. The round then continues.

The first player to finish a round takes the Imperator card, the second takes the Consul card, the third takes the III card, and so on, up to the last player, who takes the Servus card.

In a 6-player game, the first player to have no cards left in hand takes the Imperator card. That player scores 10 points, since the 6-player column on that card shows 10. The second player to finish takes the Consul card and scores 8 points (the 6-player column). This continues until the last player takes the Servus card and does not score any points.

When a player has just played their last cards, the round continues normally. If nobody plays on this combination, it is the player to the left of the player who has just finished the round who starts the new round, unless the round was won by a combination of 12 or 11.

A round ends when only one player is still in the game, and that last player does not score any points.

Points are recorded on a sheet of paper or in a scorekeeping app on a smartphone.

In a 4-player game, Octavius has just won the round and has no cards left in hand. As the first player to have no cards left, he takes the Imperator card (6 points in a 4-player game). It is up to the player on his left to start the new round: Agrippa. Agrippa plays his three of a kind of 4. Since Agrippa has no cards left in hand, he takes the Consul card (4 points in a 4-player game). The round then continues with the player on his left, Claudius, who plays a three of a kind of 5. Since Claudius has no cards left in hand, he takes the III card (his place is third for this round) and scores 2 points. Since only one player remains, the round is over. The last player does not score any points and takes the Servus card.

New Round

The player who won the previous round (the first to finish) becomes the new Imperator. This is not necessarily the player with the highest total of points. The player who finished second is the new Consul. The player who finished last is the new Servus. The other players' cards are determined by their finishing order, which decides the order in which cards are taken during the next forum phase.

The new round begins with the card distribution, dealt by the Servus.

End of the Game

After a number of rounds defined at the start of the game, the player with the most points is the winner.

It is recommended to play as many rounds as half the number of players, rounded up (3 rounds with 5 players). However, you may play as many rounds as there are players, or set a game duration and stop when the time is up, or set a total number of points to reach, and so on.

In case of a tie, the player who has won the most rounds wins. If the tie persists, it is a shared victory.

Variants

These variants may be played on their own or combined, as you wish.

Gladiator Revolt

A player who manages to finish the round with a combination of 2s, whatever their rank (but not last, obviously), gains additional victory points. They gain 2 points for each 2 played in this combination.

A player who finishes a round with a pair of 2s therefore scores 4 additional points.

Conspiracy

When a player plays a combination of 1 on a combination of 13 (Brutus has just assassinated Caesar), they may decide to trigger a Conspiracy (unless they have no cards left in hand). When a Conspiracy is triggered, each player must pass one card from their hand to their left-hand neighbour, then the round resumes.

If the Consul's power is active, a 1 may be played on a combination of 1, but this does not trigger a Conspiracy, just as when a round starts with a combination of 1.

Emperor's Benevolence

During the forum phase, before the cards discarded by the players are revealed, the Imperator may, in a gesture of mercy, decide that the Servus player takes their cards first. The Imperator then gains 2 victory points, but will take their cards last. The order for the other players does not change.