De Vulgari Eloquentia: Deluxe Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Content
• Aim of the Game
• The Game Board
  • Action Space Example
• Game Preparation
• Start of the Game
• First Game Turn
• Actions Phase
  • 1. Movement (Cammino)
  • 2. Manuscripts (Manoscritto)
  • 3. Politicians, Noblemen, Abbesses, and Scribes (Politici, Nobiltà, Badesse and Copisti)
  • 4. Psalter (Salterio)
  • 5. Small Business (Commercio)
  • 6. Riddle from Verona (Indovinello)
  • 7. Messenger (Corriere)
  • 8. Orient (Oriente)
  • 9. Canticle of the Sun (Cantico)
  • 10. Papal Library (Biblioteca)
  • 11. Rest (Riposo)
• Following Game Turns
  • 1. Event Phase
  • 2. Charity Phase (up to 11th turn)
  • 3. Player Order Phase
  • 4. Actions Phase
• Free Actions
• End of the Game
• Final Election
  • Merchant
  • Friar
  • Cardinal
• Volgare Points
• The Winner
• Special Event and Tiles
  • Stupor Mundi Event
  • Friar Tiles
  • Cardinal Tiles
• Credits
• Expansions & New Tiles
  • Ritmo Bellunese
    • Venezia Action
  • Placiti di Capua & Guaita di Travale
    • Tuscany Action
  • Poeti Scuola Siciliana & Arnault Daniel
    • Brindisi Action
    • Cagliari Action
  • Glossario di Monza
    • Milano Action
  • New Tiles

Game Content

• 11 brown wooden cubes, "The Politicians"
• 7 blue wooden cubes, "The Noblemen"
• 20 pink wooden cubes, "The Abbesses"
• 11 turquoise wooden cubes, "The Scribes"
• 1 turn marker (purple)
• 100 wooden discs (20 for each of the 5 colors)
• 5 Merchant meeples
• 5 Friar meeples
• 5 Cardinal meeples
• 6 action markers
• 11 Event tiles
• 5 Papal Event tiles
• 5 Canticle of the Sun tiles
• 5 Merchant tiles
• 5 Friar tiles
• 5 Cardinal tiles
• 10 Papal Library tiles
• 56 Manuscript tiles
• 5 player screens
• 5 game player aids
• 1 rulebook
• 1 game board
• 1 manuscript board
• 1 cloth bag
• 33 metal coins (10x5 value, 18x10 value, 5x50 value)

Aim of the Game

The aim of the game is to obtain the most victory points, also called Volgare Points or simply VP. The players will gain VP from reading manuscripts, looking for important documents like the Canticle of the Sun or the The Riddle from Verona all while improving their social status.

Moreover, VP can be earned with money and through the support of Politicians, Noblemen, Abbesses, and from the Scribes.

The Game Board

The game board shows the map of Italy and some action tracks and action spaces.

The map is divided into various zones by colors: each zone has a corresponding color that represents the spoken dialect (blue for the D'Oil language, yellow for Latin, pink for the Fiorentino, green for the Siciliano, and orange for the D'Oc language). The white zones do not have a corresponding dialect (neutral zones).

The map of Italy also shows:

• The cities. Some cities show 1 or 2 icons with a value. The book value is the city's cultural value, while the coin value is the economic value. Some cities also have an anchor icon, which means that the city has a Harbor. Five cities have no economic or cultural values and show a squared box (Canticle box): they are the Franciscan cities (Celano, Gubbio, Cortona, Assisi, Urbino), where it is possible to look for the Canticle of the Sun (see later).
• 2 Cathedrals (Milano and Brindisi).
• 2 Convents in neutral zones.
• 3 Abbeys in neutral zones.
• The starting Cities from where the players begin the game: Catania, Taranto, Ancona, Torino, and Vicenza, in neutral zones (white).
• 11 spaces where Event tiles are placed (Event boxes).

The board also carries the following tracks and action spaces: the Knowledge track; Indovinello (Riddle from Verona track); Cantico (Canticle of the Sun track); Biblioteca (Papal Library track); Corriere (Messenger track); Salterio (Psalter action space); Commercio (Small Business action space); Politici (Politicians action space); Cammino (Movement action space); Nobiltà (Noblemen action space); Badesse (Abbesses action space); Copisti (Scribes action space); Manoscritto (Manuscripts action space); Oriente (Orient track); the Player Order track; Riposo (Rest track); the Cube track; and the Event track.

Action Space Example

Each action space shows:

• The cost in action points (1 or 4 actions).
• The effect (for example, gain 1 or 2 brown cubes).
• An additional cost, if any (30 or 60 Ducati).
• An icon.
• The space where you place your action marker(s).

Game Preparation

Place the board in the center of the table.

Place the Event Tiles on the spaces of the Event track. Each tile has a number: place the number 10 tile (Stupor Mundi) on the tenth space of the track. Shuffle the other ten tiles, pick one and place it face up in the first space of the Event track. Place the others, also face up, in numerical order starting from the tile in the first space. After the Event Tile number 9 is placed, place number 11, then restart from the Event Tile number 1 in the next free space.

Therefore there will be 11 Event Tiles, one for each of the first 11 game turns.

Example: if the tile in space 1 is the number 2 "Mercis", then in space 2 you place the event tile number 3, in space 3 the event tile number 4 and so on.

Shuffle the 5 Papal Event tiles and place them randomly and face-down on the last 5 spaces of the Event track.

Put the number of Cubes shown in the below table into the cloth bag.

Number of players	Brown cubes in the bag	Blue cubes in the bag	Pink cubes in the bag	Turquoise cubes in the bag	Cubes 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

Draw the number of cubes shown in the above table from the bag and place them on the board on the Cube track spaces of the first 7 game turns.

Example: with 3 players, draw and place 5 cubes in each of the first 7 turns. The bag should be empty once you have done this.

The cubes represent Politicians (brown), Noblemen (blue), Abbesses (pink) and Scribes (turquoise) that will be available during each game turn.

Shuffle the Canticle tiles and place them randomly face up near each Franciscan city in the proper gray box (Cortona, Celano, Gubbio, Urbino, Assisi). They determine the game turns on which the 5 cities of the Canticle will be active.

Example: Franciscan city Gubbio will be active during the turn 2, after which Cortona will be available in turn 6.

With 5 players, separate the Manuscript tiles according to the numbers on them. In 4 players remove 5 Manuscripts of the 2nd level (1 per each color); in 3 players remove also 5 Manuscripts of the 1st level (1 per each color); in 2 players remove also 5 Manuscripts of the 3rd level (1 per each color).

Then shuffle each of the four decks and place them face down in the Manuscript's Display Board. From each deck draw a number of Manuscript tiles equal to the number of players in 2 or 3 players, or equal to the number of players minus one in 4 or 5 players and place them next to their according deck faceup.

The Manuscript tile, Lingua Volgare with value 8, is temporarily placed face up to the side of the board.

Shuffle the Papal Library tiles and place them on the board near the Biblioteca (Papal Library track). Place them face down to form a stack.

Place the following next to the board:

• The Ducati (5, 10, and 50 Ducati) this pile represents the bank.
• The 5 Friar tiles and the 5 Cardinal tiles face up in two rows.

Start of the Game

Each player chooses a color and takes his meeples (Merchant, Friar, Cardinal), his 20 discs, a screen, a player aid and 10 Ducati. Then each player receives a random Merchant tile. That tile simply identifies that a player is a Merchant: at the start of the game all players are Merchants.

The character meeple identifies the current position of the player on the map. The player's discs are used as markers on the various tracks and to mark where the player has received a cultural and/or economic bonus from a city (refer to the City Bonus in the "Free Actions" section for details).

The player order is chosen randomly and marked on the board using the player's discs on the Player order track.

In reverse player order, each player chooses a starting city between Catania, Taranto, Ancona, Torino, and Vicenza and places his Merchant meeple there. No two players can start on the same city.

Players use their screens to hide all their cubes and tiles, while player's Ducati, and turquoise cubes not yet converted, are known to everyone.

Still in reverse order, each player places a disc on the first space of the Knowledge track (stacked). If more than one disc is on the same space on a track at any time, the one on the bottom of the stack is considered the most advanced.

Example: The player order is grey, yellow, red, green (the players put their Knowledge marker stacked in reverse order).

Then the first player takes the 5 Action markers (purple discs), used to define the actions selected for the player's game turn.

Lastly, the Turn marker is placed on the first space of the Event track, replacing the first Event Tile, which is placed on the map in it's according city.

The game can now begin.

First Game Turn

A game of De Vulgari Eloquentia lasts between 13 and 16 turns (refer to the "End of the Game" section for details).

Each turn is divided in four phases in the following order:

1. Event
2. Charity
3. Player order
4. Actions

In the first turn, the Event, Charity, and Player order phases are not performed so the players start with the Actions phase.

Actions Phase

During this phase, in player order, each player performs some actions using all his available Action points. When all players have played, the current turn ends.

The possible actions are:

1. Movement
2. Manuscripts
3. Politicians, Noblemen, Abbesses, and Scribes
4. Psalter
5. Small Business
6. Riddle from Verona
7. Messenger
8. Orient
9. Canticle of the Sun
10. Papal Library
11. Rest

• All actions can only be performed 1 time in a player's turn. For example, it is not possible to do a Movement Action, then a Psalter Action, and again another Movement Action.
• The Messenger, Orient, Small Business, Papal Library, Psalter, Politicians, Noblemen, Abbesses, Scribes, and Rest actions can be performed regardless of the location of the player's character meeple. All the other actions require the character meeple to be in a specific location.
• Before or after the player has done an action, he can also do 1 or more Free actions (see "Free Action" section).

1. Movement (Cammino)

The player can move his character on the map by land, across the various places, and by sea, via the cities which have a harbor (anchor icon).

By land: it's possible to move from 1 place (city, convent, abbey) to another adjacent one. It costs 1 action point per movement done.

By sea: it's possible to move from a city with a harbor to a city with a harbor of the same Sea (Tirreno or Adriatico). It costs 3 action points. Venezia, Ancona and Brindisi are located on the Adriatico Sea, while Palermo, Napoli, Cagliari, Roma and Genova are located on the Tirreno Sea.

If the player uses more than 1 action point in the Movement action, he must pay 10 Ducati.

It is possible to travel via land and sea in the same turn as long as the player has sufficient action points and coins.

Note: Catania and the nearby Abbey are not connected by land and you cannot move from one to the other by land.

Example: Yellow player moves once. He pays 1 Action Point and 0 Ducati.

Example: Yellow player moves by 1 land place, then by sea. He pays 4 Action Points and 10 Ducati.

2. Manuscripts (Manoscritto)

Each player can take a maximum of 1 Manuscript tile during his turn. Manuscripts are placed behind the player's screen. In order to take a manuscript, three things have to be taken into account:

1) The player's level on the Knowledge track. A player can only take manuscripts which have a level of understanding equal to or lower than his Knowledge level. The number on the top of the manuscript tile shows the understanding level.

Knowledge can be raised through Event tiles, receiving a Knowledge bonus from cities, the Psalter action, converting Scribe cubes and with some benefits of the Friars.

Example: The Green player has a Knowledge level of 2. Therefore he can take manuscripts with a level of understanding of 1 or 2.

2) The zone where the player is located. Each manuscript has a color corresponding to the zone colors (spoken dialects) on the map. In order to take a manuscript, the player's character has to be in a matching zone, where that dialect is spoken, before or after his movement.

Level 4 manuscripts have two colors. In order to take one of them, the player's character has to be in either one of the two colored zones.

Example: The Red player can acquire only pink manuscripts, as the player's character is in a pink zone.

3) The required Action points for learning. In order to take a manuscript tile, the player has to spend 1 action point per level of the manuscript. So Level 1 manuscripts cost 1 action, level 2 manuscripts cost 2 actions and so on, up to a maximum of 4 actions for a level 4 manuscript.

Example: The level I Manuscript on the left costs 1 Action Point and is only available in pink zones. The level 2 Manuscript on the right costs 2 Action Points and is only available in blue zones.

As soon as all level 1 manuscripts are taken, and no more level 1 manuscripts can be refilled, all the other manuscripts move up on the track, thus decreasing their cost in actions (the required knowledge level does not decrease). So level 2 manuscripts then cost 1 action point, level 3 manuscripts cost 2 action points and level 4 manuscripts cost 3 action points. The same happens when all level 2 (or 3) manuscripts are taken and cannot be refilled: all other manuscripts move up on the track.

As soon as the manuscripts move up one level, the manuscript "Lingua Volgare" (value 8) comes into play and is available with a cost of 4 action points. This manuscript can only be taken by a player with a knowledge level of 8. For this manuscript only, it does not matter which zone a character is in, since the Volgare language is by now spoken in all of Italy.

Example: When Level I Manuscripts are depleted, the other Manuscript rows move 1 step up and their cost decreases by 1 Action Point.

3. Politicians, Noblemen, Abbesses, and Scribes (Politici, Nobiltà, Badesse and Copisti)

In each Turn a certain number of characters (cubes) are available.

Politicians: The Politicians are represented by brown cubes and the players will try to acquire their support. Acquiring 1 brown cube costs 1 action point and 30 Ducati. Acquiring 2 brown cubes costs 4 action points and 60 Ducati. The purchased cubes are placed behind the player's screen.

The player places 1 or 4 Action markers on the Politician Action Space on the board. The Politicians can be used in the following ways:

• Each Politician cube has a value of 3 for the Stupor Mundi and for the election at the end of the game (see "End of the game").
• To become a Cardinal it is necessary to discard a brown cube (or a blue cube).

Noblemen: The Noblemen are represented by blue cubes and the players will try to acquire their support. Acquiring 1 blue cube costs 1 action point. Acquiring 2 blue cubes costs 4 action points. No Ducati are spent to take blue cubes.

The taken cubes are placed behind the player's screen. The player places 1 or 4 Action markers on the Noblemen Action Space. The Noblemen can be used in the following ways:

• Each Nobleman cube has a value of 2 for the Stupor Mundi and for the election at the end of the game (see "End of the game").
• To become a Cardinal it is necessary to discard a blue cube (or a brown cube).
• A player who takes a Nobleman cube can choose to immediately discard it and receive 20 Ducati from the bank or 40 if the player acquires and discards 2 blue cubes. The discarded blue cubes are placed back on the board in the first space available on the Cube track, according to the rules of the Event Phase.

Abbesses: The Abbesses are represented by pink cubes and the players will try to receive their favor. Acquiring 1 pink cube costs 1 action point and 15 Ducati. Acquiring 2 pink cubes costs 4 action points and 30 Ducati. If the player is in a place with an Abbey, pink cubes cost no Ducati. The purchased or taken cubes are placed behind the player's screen.

The player places 1 or 4 Action markers on the Abbesses Action Space. The Abbesses can be used in the following ways:

• Each Abbess cube has a value of 1 for the Stupor Mundi and for the election at the end of the game (see "End of the game").
• The Abbess cubes can be spent when advancing on the Canticle of the Sun track (see "Canticle of the Sun").
• The Abbess cubes can be spent when graduating from the prestigious University of Bologna (see "Messenger").

Scribes: The Scribes are represented by turquoise cubes and the players will try to learn the art of writing from them. Acquiring 1 turquoise cube costs 1 action point. Acquiring 2 turquoise cubes costs 4 action points. No Ducati are spent to acquire turquoise cubes. The taken turquoise cubes are placed in front of the player's screen.

The player places 1 or 4 Action markers on the Scribe Action Space. The Scribe can be used in the following ways:

• A player in an Abbey can, as a free action, take all the turquoise cubes in front of his screen and place them behind his screen. At the end of the game, each turquoise cube behind the screen provides 1 VP. The turquoise cubes in front of the screen will not provide VPs.
• A player in an Abbey can, as a free action, convert all the turquoise cubes he has in front of his screen into knowledge. Each converted turquoise cube advances the player's marker 3 spaces on the Knowledge track. The converted cubes are placed on the Cube track, in the first space available according to the rules of the Event Phase.

You have to convert all the turquoise cubes you have in front of the screen into knowledge or VPs. It is not possible to convert part of them into knowledge and the remainder into VPs.

Example: the Yellow player moves his character to an Abbey and decides to convert the turquoise cubes in front of his screen. He has 5 turquoise cubes and decides to convert them into knowledge by placing the cubes on the Cube track and advancing his marker by 15 spaces on the Knowledge track. Alternatively, he could have placed the 5 cubes behind his screen to receive 5 VPs at the end of the game.

4. Psalter (Salterio)

Regardless of their character's location, each player can spend 1 action point to study the Psalter. The player places an Action marker on the Psalter Action space and advances his marker on the Knowledge track by 3 spaces (or 4 spaces if it's the last player on the Knowledge track).

5. Small Business (Commercio)

Regardless of their character's location, each player can spend 1 action point to do some small business. The player places an Action marker on the Commercio Action space and receives 10 Ducati from the bank.

6. Riddle from Verona (Indovinello)

A player whose meeple, before or after the Movement, is in a blue zone (Northern Italy) can advance on the Riddle from Verona track. The player's marker is advanced by a number of spaces equal to the number of action points spent (from 1 to 5). The player places the Action markers spent on the Riddle from Verona Action space.

Example: the Red player's character meeple is in Venezia (blue zone). He decides to spend 3 Action Points for the Riddle from Verona and advances his marker 3 spaces on the corresponding track. Then he places 3 Action markers on the action space of the track to indicate 3 actions were spent.

At the end of the game, the player that is furthest on this track is the one that has discovered the precious document and will receive 4, 5, or 6 VPs, depending on whether his disc reached or passed the number 4, 5, or 6 on the track.

If two or more players occupy the same space on the track, the VPs go to the player whose disc is on the bottom of the stack. The other players will receive no VPs.

7. Messenger (Corriere)

Regardless of their character's location, a player can advance his disc on the Messenger track a number of spaces equal to the action points spent (from 1 to 5). The player places the Action markers spent on the Messenger Action space.

In order to enter the last space on the track (the graduation space), a player must spend 10 Ducati and 1 pink cube.

The discarded cube is placed back on the board in the first space available on the Cube track, according to the rules of the Event Phase.

The players who reaches the last space of this track (the space with the symbol) activates Bologna city for themselves, which is normally not available. From this moment on these players will be able to travel to Bologna and receive the bonus from the city gaining the 15 Knowledge points (or 10 Knowledge points if done after the 7th turn). As with the other cities, a player can receive the cultural value of Bologna only once during the game. After the bonus is received, the player places one of their discs on Bologna.

At the end of the game the players who completed the Messenger track and have their disc on Bologna will also score 1 VP for each city from which they gained the cultural bonus (the cities where they have placed their disc).

8. Orient (Oriente)

Regardless of their character's location, a Merchant player can advance his disc on the Orient track a number of spaces equal to the action points spent (from 1 to 5). The player places the spent Action markers on the Orient Action Space.

Once a player reaches the 6th space of the track, he receives 10 Ducati from each city from which he already received the economic bonus. It is possible for more than one merchant to reach the last space of the track: they will all get the benefit, but it's possible to complete this track only once per game.

At the end of the game the Merchant players who completed the Orient track will also score 1 VP for each Harbor city visited (the cities with a Harbor where they have placed their disc).

Friars and Cardinals cannot take the Orient action.

Example: the Yellow player spends 2 Actions and reaches the last space of the Orient track. He immediately checks the board and finds that he has 4 discs on cities with an economical value (with the coin symbol), so he gains 40 Ducati.

9. Canticle of the Sun (Cantico)

A player can advance his marker on the Canticle track only if his meeple is on a Franciscan city (Assisi, Gubbio, Celano, Urbino, Cortona) and this city is active:

• Before the 14th turn, each Franciscan city is active and available only during specific turns. These turns are determined during the game preparation using the Canticle tiles: before the start of the game, each city receives a Canticle tile that is placed face up near the city on the board. The number on the tile shows in which turn the city is active and available.
• During turns 14, 15 and 16, the five Franciscan cities are active.

A player who is in the active Franciscan City can spend from 1 to 5 actions and discard 1 Abbess cube per action to advance 1-5 spaces on the Canticle track. The player places the Action markers spent on the Canticle Action Space.

The discarded pink cubes are placed back on the board in the first space available on the Cube track according to the rules of the Event Phase.

Example: The Red player is in Gubbio city while it is active, so... by spending 2 Action points and 2 pink cubes he can advance two steps on the Canticle of the Sun track.

At the end of the game, the player furthest on the Canticle of the Sun track is the one who discovers this important document written in Volgare and receives 9 VPs. The second furthest player receives 6 VPs. If two or more players are on the same space of the track, the player whose disc is at the bottom of the stack is considered further along, followed by the one on top of the first, and so on.

10. Papal Library (Biblioteca)

Regardless of their character's location, a player can advance his marker on the Papal Library track by a number of spaces equal to the Action points spent (from 1 to 5). The player places the Action markers spent on the Papal Library Action Space.

When a player's marker reaches a "1", "2", or "3" position, he can, as a Free Action, draw that number of Papal Library tiles and remove his marker from the Papal Library Track.

The player takes the number of tiles from the top of the tile stack, and without showing them to the other players, chooses 1 of them and places it behind his screen. He returns the other tiles to the bottom of the stack. The number on the tile represents the number of VPs the player will receive at the end of the game. In addition to those VPs, at the end of the game the player can consider each of his Papal Library tiles with a manuscript symbol as a manuscript of any color.

Example: The Yellow player can take 2 Papal Library tiles, as shown on his position, and keep 1 of his choice as a free action. The Grey player cannot do this free action as his marker has not yet reached a valid position (last 3 track spaces).

On following player's turns, the player can advance again on the track and draw more Papal Library tiles, but a player cannot have more Papal Library Tiles than his Knowledge level: the player can exchange a new Tile with one previously kept if he so desires.

11. Rest (Riposo)

Regardless of their character's location, a player can advance his marker on the Rest track by a number of spaces equal to the number of actions spent (from 1 to 5). The player places the Action markers spent on the Rest Action Space.

During the Player Order phase, the player furthest on the Rest track will be the first player for the turn (refer to "Player Order Phase" Section).

Following Game Turns

Starting with the second game turn, the players performs all four phases: 1) Event, 2) Charity, 3) Player order, 4) Actions.

1. Event Phase

In this phase the following actions occur:

• Move the Turn marker to the next space of the Event track (in the first turn the marker is placed directly on the first space).
• Place the Event tile in the corresponding space on the map, next to the city shown on the tile.
• Move any cubes not acquired in the previous turn to the first available place on the Cube track (the 8th space then the 9th and so on), keeping in mind that each space can have a maximum of 4-5-6-7 cubes (depending on the number of players 2-3-4-5), and the cubes have to be placed in the following order: first the Politicians (brown), then the Noblemen (blue), then the Abbesses (pink), and finally the Scribes (turquoise). Any cubes that exceed the limit are placed on the following turn space on the Cube track. The same rules apply when returning cubes that have been used or discarded during player Actions.
• Refill any empty Manuscript tiles spaces if any were taken in the previous turn. Check that there are as many as before.

Example: The first turn has finished and the Event Phase takes place. Move the Turn marker to the second Event space. Place the next Event tile, in this case the number 3 "Notaro Giacomo" near Palermo. A pink cube is left over from the previous turn: The first available turn space is the 8th, as previous turn spaces already have 5 cubes, which is the limit in a 3 player game, therefore it will be moved to the 8th space.

2. Charity Phase (up to 11th turn)

Each player with the Friar character receives a charity of 5 Ducati and each Cardinal receives 10 Ducati from the wealthiest Merchant during this phase, but only if the Merchant has more Ducati than the character(s) asking for charity.

If there is more than one Merchant with the same number of Ducati, who are also the wealthiest, the Friar or Cardinal will choose from whom they will receive their charity. The Merchant cannot refuse to provide the charity.

The Friars and Cardinals will receive their charity from the bank if one of these conditions is met:

a) There is no Merchant wealthier than them. b) All players are Friars and/or Cardinals.

From the 12th turn onwards, during the Papal Events, the Charity phase no longer takes place.

Note: Charity is given out in turn order, checking each Friar and Cardinal player, and who is the wealthiest Merchant in that moment.

Example: this is the current player order and wealth: Yellow (Merchant, 25 Ducati), Red (Merchant, 20 Ducati), Black (Cardinal, 10 Ducati), Gray (Friar, 5 Ducati), Green (Friar, 20 Ducati). The Charity starts with the Black player (Cardinal); the wealthiest Merchant is the Yellow player as he owns 25 Ducati and is richer than the Black Cardinal player (10 Ducati), so the Yellow player must pay 10 Ducati. Then the Charity phase follows with the Gray player. Now the wealthiest player is the Red player with 20 Ducati, as the Yellow player now owns only 15 Ducati. Red player is richer than the Gray Friar player, so he must pay 5 Ducati to him. Finally the Charity phase ends with the Green Friar player. Both Merchant players own 15 Ducati, but the Friar is richer with 20 Ducati, so the Friar must take his 5 Ducati from the bank.

3. Player Order Phase

During this phase the player order is updated. The discs on the Player order track are placed in the reverse order of the Knowledge track. Therefore, the last player on the Knowledge track will be first in turn order. If two or more discs are on the same space of the Knowledge track, the disc on the bottom of the stack is considered the most advanced and therefore will play after the player on top of the stack.

Then check the Rest track: if one or more discs have been placed on the Rest track, the player furthest along this track becomes the first player during this turn regardless of his position on the Knowledge track. Therefore:

• he places his disc in the first position of the turn order, and all the other discs are shifted accordingly.
• he removes his disc from the Rest track; the discs of the other players remain in their positions.

Example: The Green player spent 2 Action Points on the Rest Action, Red player spent 1 point. The Green player will be the first player on next Player Order, then the other players will follow in order as usual (in reverse of their Knowledge score). Red player's marker will remain on the Rest track, until it will be used to gain first position on a following turn, while Green's marker is removed.

4. Actions Phase

This phase is explained in the "Actions Phase" section above.

Free Actions

Players can do 1 Free Action per type during their turn. These Actions do not require the use of Action points, but can be done only before or after a normal player Action (not during the action). Many of these actions depend on the player's character location.

City Bonus: Some important cities have an economic value (with a coin symbol) and/or a cultural value (with a book symbol). A player whose character is in such a city can receive Ducati from the bank equal to the economic value of the city and/or advance on the Knowledge track a number of spaces equal to the cultural value of the city.

Each player can gain the bonuses from a city only once per game, to mark this players must place one of their discs on the circle next to the city.

• Exception: The city of Bologna works in a different way (see the "Messenger" section).

The Ducati represented on the economic value of the city can be received only by a Merchant, while the knowledge can be received by all characters types (Merchant, Friar, Cardinal).

Example: The Red player is in Firenze. As a free action, he chooses to receive the City Bonus, so he adds his marker to the city's circle (over the gray player's marker) gaining 15 Ducati and 9 Knowledge points.

Event Bonus: A player whose character is in a City with an associated Event Tile or more than one, can gain the Ducati or Knowledge that the tiles provide. After gaining the bonus the tiles are flipped and cannot be used again during the game.

• The bonuses with the coin symbol can be used only by Merchants. The Merchant receives from the bank the number of Ducati shown on the tile. The bonuses with the book symbol provide knowledge and can be gained by everyone: a player advances on the Knowledge track a number of spaces shown on the tile.
• The Event Bonus Free Action is not related to the City Bonus Free Action and can be used regardless if the player has or has not a disc in the city. A player can choose to take the Event Bonus AND/OR the City Bonus.
• The Event tile Stupor Mundi works differently (see the "Stupor Mundi" section).

Example: The Yellow player is in Venezia. He can do the City Bonus and/or Event Bonus free actions, as both are available. With the City Bonus he gains 15 Ducati, while with the Event Bonus he gains 30 Ducati. He will gain 45 Ducati if he chooses to gain both bonuses.

Example: The Red player is in Milano. He can do the Event Bonus free action, while the City Bonus free action is not available, as he has already done it in a previous turn (as shown by the red marker in the city circle). With the Event Bonus free action, he would gain 4 Knowledge points.

Abbey. A player whose character is in an Abbey can do two free actions (even both):

1. Pay no Ducati when acquiring pink cubes with the Abbess Action while in a Abbey.
2. Convert all of his turquoise cubes (Scribes). A player may choose to discard them to obtain 3 Knowledge points per cube OR to put them behind his screen to gain VP at the end of the game. The discarded turquoise cubes go back to the board and are placed in the first possible space according to the rules described in the Event Phase.

A player is not forced to receive the benefit from an Abbey; he can stop in that place without taking any benefits.

Convents: A player whose Merchant character is in a Convent can become a Friar. To do so, the player must give half of his Ducati to the bank, rounding up (if he has 0, he loses 0 Ducati). Then he must choose one of the Friar tiles available and place it in front of him discarding his previous Merchant tile. He substitutes also his Merchant meeple with the Friar meeple. Each of the 5 Friar tiles provides the player with some benefits (see the end of the rulebook).

• A Friar cannot go back to the status of Merchant. He can continue to be a Friar up to the end of the game or become a Cardinal in a Cathedral.
• A Friar cannot gain Ducati from Event Bonuses or City Bonuses. He can receive Ducati only from Charity (5 Ducati), the Small Business Action, or from trading Nobleman cubes (as earlier described).

Merchants can stop in a Convent space without being forced to convert to a Friar. In this case, nothing happens. Friars and Cardinals can stop in a Convent with no effect.

Cathedrals: a player whose Friar character is in a Cathedral can become a Cardinal. The player has to pay 40 Ducati to the bank and has to discard a brown or blue cube from behind his screen. The discarded cube goes back to the board and is placed in the first possible space according to the rules described in the Event Phase section.

• Exception: the player that chooses to become Cardinal Muret has to pay 70 Ducati instead of 40.

The player must choose one of the Cardinal tiles available. Each of the 5 tiles provides the player with one or more benefits (see the end of the rulebook). Then he discards his Friar tile removing it from the game. Lastly he substitutes his Friar meeple with the Cardinal one.

• A Cardinal cannot go back to being a Friar or Merchant.
• A Cardinal cannot gain Ducati from Event Bonuses or City Bonuses. He can receive Ducati only from Charity (10 Ducati), the Small Business action, or by trading Nobleman cubes (as earlier described). Friars can stop on a Cathedral without being forced to become a Cardinal.

Papal Book: If the player's marker has reached a numbered value on the Papal Library track, the player can take 1 or more books from the stack. See "Papal Library" Action for further info.

End of the Game

Starting from the twelfth turn a Papal Event tile is revealed during the Event Phase.

If the flipped tile is white, nothing happens and the turn proceeds normally.

If the flipped tile is red and it is the first one revealed, the Pope is dying, but the turn proceeds normally.

If a second red tile is revealed, the Pope is dead and the current turn is the last one of the game.

Example: The second red tile has been revealed on the fifteenth turn, so this will be the last game turn.

In this event, all players move their character to Roma, regardless of where they were on the map, without spending any actions.

The last turn proceeds normally with the exception that all the players start from Roma.

Final Election

At the end of the game a player can be elected to a higher status.

• Each brown cube (Politicians) that a player has behind his screen provides 3 votes for this election.
• Each blue cube (Noblemen) that a player has behind his screen provides 2 votes for this election.
• Each pink cube (Abbesses) that a player has behind his screen provides 1 vote for this election.

Using the cube values mentioned above, players can discard cubes from behind their screens to be elected and gain VPs:

Merchant

Each Merchant that discards brown, blue and/or pink cubes with at least a total of 7 votes, gains the status of Banker and receives 6 VPs. The discarded cubes are removed from the game.

Friar

Each Friar that discards brown, blue and/or pink cubes with at least a total of 10 votes, gains the status of Benedictine Monk and receives 11 VPs. The discarded cubes are removed from the game.

Cardinal

Each Cardinal that discards brown, blue and/or pink cubes with at least a total of 11 votes, gains the status of Camerlengo and receives 14 VPs. The discarded cubes are removed from the game.

If a Cardinal discards brown, blue and/or pink cubes with at least a total of 17 votes, he gains the status of Pope and receives 22 VPs. The discarded cubes are removed from the game. Only one Cardinal player can become the Pope.

If more than one player wants to discard cubes with a total value of at least 17, the player further on the Knowledge track is the next Pope. In this case, the remaining Cardinals can gain the status of Camerlengo by discarding brown, blue or pink cubes with a total value of 11.

Note: Cardinals can be elected either Camerlengo or Pope, not both.

VPs gained by the Monk or Camerlengo status can be added to the VPs gained from Friar or Cardinal tiles, while becoming Pope cancels the VPs from the Cardinal tiles.

For example, the Cardinal Lanzuisi tile gives 6 VPs if the player stays Cardinal or becomes Camerlengo, while it gives 0 VP if the player becomes Pope.

Character	Votes	Elected to	VPs
Merchant	7	Banker	6
Friar	10	Monk	11
Cardinal	11	Camerlengo	14
Cardinal	17	Pope	22

Volgare Points

After the Final Election, in addition to the VPs gained for gaining a higher status, the following VPs are added:

• Players add all their remaining cube values, and the player with the highest sum receives 3 VPs. The player further on the Knowledge track wins ties.
• The turquoise cubes (Scribes) that the players have behind their screen provide 1 VP each.
• Players with Papal Library tiles reveal them and receive the VPs shown on them.
• If the player with the most Ducati is a Merchant, he gains 6 VPs. If the richest player is a Friar or a Cardinal, he gains 3 VPs. The player further on the Knowledge track wins ties.
• The player furthest on the Riddle from Verona track receives 4, 5 or 6 VPs, according to the space reached or passed. In the case of a tie, the VPs go to the player whose disc is on the bottom of the stack.
• The player furthest on the Canticle track receives 9 VPs for discovering this important document written in Volgare. The second furthest player receives 6 VPs. If two or more players are on the same space of the track, the player whose disc is at the bottom of the stack is considered further along, followed by the one on top of the first, and so on.
• Players that have completed the Messenger track and that have their player disc on Bologna gain 1 VP for each city with a cultural value visited (where they have their disc).
• Merchant players that have completed the Orient track gain 1 VP for each harbor city visited (where they have their disc).
• Players show their Manuscripts. Each manuscript owned provides VPs equal to the number shown on the Manuscript tile: each level 1 manuscript provides 1 VP, each level 2 manuscript provides 2 VPs, each level 3 manuscript provides 3 VPs and, each level 4 manuscript provides 4 VPs.
• The owner of the Lingua Volgare manuscript gains 8 VPs.
• Any players that have manuscripts in all 5 colors gain 5 VPs. Level 4 manuscripts have two colors, but can contribute only one of these not both, while any Papal Library tile with a manuscript symbol can be considered as a manuscript of any color. Example: the Red player has a level 4 blue and pink manuscript, a level 1 pink Manuscript, a level 1 green Manuscript, a level 1 orange Manuscript and 1 Papal Library tile with a manuscript symbol. Considering his level 4 manuscripts as blue, he is missing a yellow manuscript, therefore he considers his Papal Library tile as a yellow manuscript, gaining 5 additional VPs for the completed set.
• Finally some VPs are assigned to some Friars and Cardinals:
  • Friar Raffaele receives 4 VPs.
  • Friar Gigi loses 4 VPs.
  • Cardinal Lanzuisi receives 6 VPs.
  • Cardinal Shlasinger receives 4 VPs.

The Winner

The player with the most VPs is the winner and speaks Volgare better than the others. In the event of a tie, the winner is the player furthest on the Knowledge track. If more than one player are on the same space on the Knowledge track, the winner is the player on the bottom of the stack.

Special Event and Tiles

Stupor Mundi Event

During the Event Phase of the tenth turn the Stupor Mundi Event tile is placed on the board near Brindisi. The Stupor Mundi event works differently from the other events, since Federico II, the Stupor Mundi, can raise the knowledge level of a player.

A player who is in Brindisi can, at the end of his turn, summon the other players to Brindisi, on the condition that the Stupor Mundi tile has not already been used.

If that happens, at game turn end, players in the current player order must accept or refuse the summoning. Any player who refuses remains in his current location. The players that accepted the summons move their character to Brindisi, without spending any action points.

The players that accepted the summons will participate in an auction. The players bid using the brown, blue, and pink cubes that they have behind the screen: the brown cubes have a value of 3, the blue cubes a value of 2 and the pink cubes a value of 1.

The player who summoned the others has a bonus of 2 value points and makes the first bid declaring a value (even just that bonus of 2). The other players (in the current player order) can pass or raise the bid. Bluffs are not allowed as players must declare values corresponding to cubes which they really own.

The auction proceeds until all but one player have passed. The winner:

• Takes the cubes required to pay his bid value from behind his screen and discards them to the first available space on the Cube track according to the rules of the Event Phase.
• Immediately gains 10 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track.
• Flips the Stupor Mundi tile.
• The players who lost the auction retain their cubes.
• If none of the players accept the summons, the summoning player wins the auction by default without spending any cubes!

Friar Tiles

When a player becomes a Friar, he chooses a Friar tile that will represent him. Each tile provides one or more benefits.

Note: underscored symbols on Friar tiles represent effects that are applied at the end of the game.

Friar Mario: The player who chooses Friar Mario immediately gains 12 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track.

Friar Michele: The player who chooses Friar Michele immediately gains 7 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track. In addition, the player gains a virtual pink cube per turn, as shown on the tile. Therefore the player has a pink cube, in addition to the ones he has behind his screen, that he can use in: the auction for the Stupor Mundi, during the Final Election, for the advancement in the Canticle of the Sun, to enter the last space of the University of Bologna, and for determining the player with the most cubes at the end of the game. The player never loses this virtual pink cube as long as he remains Friar Michele.

Example: the player who has the Friar Michele tile chooses to move 2 spaces on the Canticle track. Normally he should discard two pink cubes but, thanks to the virtual cube, he discards one.

Friar Stefano: The player who chooses Friar Stefano immediately gains 7 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track. In addition, the player gains a virtual blue cube per turn, in addition to the ones he has behind his screen, that he can use in: the auction for the Stupor Mundi, during the Final Election and for determining the player with the most cubes at the end of the game. Moreover, he can use this blue cube if and when he chooses to become a Cardinal. The player can never use this virtual cube to receive the 20 Ducati from the Bank. The player never loses this virtual blue cube as long as he remains Friar Stefano.

Friar Gigi: the player who chooses Friar Gigi will always, up to the 11th turn, receive 10 Ducati instead of 5 during the Charity Phase, whether he receives the money from another player or from the bank. At the end of the game the player that has Friar Gigi loses 4 VPs.

Friar Raffaele: the player who chooses Friar Raffaele immediately gains 7 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track. The player does not have to pay any Ducati to move his character pawn. At the end of the game the player that has Friar Raffaele gains 4 VPs.

Cardinal Tiles

When a player becomes a Cardinal, he chooses a Cardinal tile that will represent him. Each tile provides one or more benefits.

Note: underscored symbols on Cardinal tiles represent effects that are applied at the end of the game.

Cardinal Balestreri: the player who chooses Cardinal Balestreri immediately gains 4 Knowledge points on the Knowledge track. In addition, the player always has a virtual brown cube per turn, in addition to the ones he has behind his screen, that he can use in: the auction for the Stupor Mundi, during the Final Election, and for determining the player with the most cubes at the end of the game. The player never loses this virtual brown cube.

Cardinal Lanzuisi: at the end of the game the player with Cardinal Lanzuisi gains 6 VPs.

Cardinal Muret: The player who chooses Cardinal Muret has to pay the bank 70 Ducati instead of 40. Starting from the turn in which the player chooses this Cardinal tile he will always have 6 actions per turn instead of 5. A sixth Action marker is provided for this.

Cardinal Shlasinger: At the end of the game, the player with Cardinal Shlasinger gains 4 VPs. In addition, the player is an inquisitor and has the power to move the disc of one other player 6 spaces back on the Knowledge track. This power can be used only once per game as Free Action. Note: the player targeted by Cardinal Shlasinger does not lose Manuscript(s) due to the lack of knowledge.

Cardinal Zazza: The player who chooses Cardinal Zazza immediately takes back the 40 Ducati he has just spent to become a Cardinal. Since Cardinal Zazza is a close friend of the keeper of the Papal Library he can look at one additional Papal Library tile during the Papal Library Action, but, as usual, he may keep only one tile.

Credits

Author: Mario Papini Illustrations: Lamberto Azzariti, Guido Favaro, Eva Villa, Fabio Porfidia Project: Michele Quondam

Special thanks to all crowdfunding campaign participants which made this game a reality.

Special thank you to Federico Sonzogni, Alessandro Delle Cese, Fabrizio Pedata, Sergio Baluci and to all the playtesters of 2019 game edition.

Thank you to the crowdfunding campaign supporters Felipe Suarez Perandones, Joao Cury, Matteo Chiarion, Marco D'Annibale, and Alfredo Nicolosi.

Expansions & New Tiles

The following expansions and tiles are available to backers of the crowdfunding campaign of De Vulgari Eloquentia Deluxe as additional content. If you would like to have them, contact your local store.

Ritmo Bellunese

Contents: 16 cards (3 Ritmo Bellunese cards per 5 colors, 1 Action Space card).

Setup: Place the Action Space Card next to the board near the city of Venezia. Shuffle the 15 Ritmo Bellunese cards and place them facedown adjacent to the Action Space card.

Venezia Action

A player whose meeple is on the city of Venezia can do this action 1 time per turn.

The player places 1 Action marker (or 4 Action markers) on the Action Space card and draws 2 cards and keeps 1 (or draws 4 cards and keeps 2). Place the acquired card face up in front of you and visible to other players, then secretly discard facedown the other card(s) under the Ritmo Bellunese deck.

A Player may trade his Ritmo Bellunese cards during his turn as Free action with other players. It's possible to exchange them for coins, Papal Books, cubes, manuscripts or for other expansion cards. For Papal Books, manuscripts, and cards the limit defined by the Knowledge value is always valid.

On following turns, the player can acquire more cards, but a player cannot have more Ritmo Bellunese cards than his Knowledge level (or more than 4 cards). The player can exchange a new card with one previously kept if he so desires.

A player, as a free action during his turn, can return 2 or 3 cards with different colors to the bottom of the deck gaining 3 or 7 Knowledge points respectively.

At the end of the game, the player with more cards of the same color gains 1 VP for each step made on the Indovinello (Riddle from Verona track). If 2 or more players are tied for the most cards of the same color, the player with the most cards of another color wins the tie, if a tie still occurs then the player furthest on the Knowledge track wins the tie.

A player may gain VPs from the Ritmo Bellunese cards or the Indovinello track, not both. If the player furthest on the Indovinello track chooses to gain VPs from the Ritmo Bellunese cards, he removes his marker from the track, so the second player furthest is now in the lead.

Example: At the end of the game, the Red player has 2 Blue cards and 1 Pink card while the Yellow player has 2 Pink cards, therefore Red player wins the tie. He chooses to gain VPs from the expansion gaining 7 VPs, and he removes his marker from the Indovinello track since he is the furthest on it. This causes the Green player to win the Indovinello track.

Placiti di Capua & Guaita di Travale

Contents: 13 cards (5 Placiti cards, 1 Guaita card, 6 White cards, 1 Action Space card).

Setup: Place the Action Space Card next to the board near the pink zone (Tuscany). Shuffle the 10 Placiti di Capua and Guaita di Travale cards and place them facedown adjacent to the Action Space card.

Tuscany Action

A player whose meeple is in a pink city can do this action 1 time per turn.

The player places 1 Action marker (or 4 Action markers) on the Action Space card and draws 2 cards and keeps 1 (or draws 4 cards and keeps 2). Keep the selected card in your hand without showing it to other players. Secretly discard facedown the other card(s) under the Placiti di Capua deck.

On following turns, the player can acquire more cards, but a player cannot have more Placiti di Capua cards than his Knowledge level (or more than 4 cards). The player can exchange a new card with one previously kept if he so desires.

A player, as a free action during his turn, can return the "Guaita di Travale" card and gain 30 Ducati or 6 Knowledge points. If he does this, he places the card in the deck and shuffles it.

During your turn, as a Free Action, you can return 1 or more white cards to the bottom of the deck, to gain 1 Knowledge point for each returned card.

At the end of the game, the player with the most Placiti di Capua cards gains 2 VPs for each step made on the Cantico track. In case of a tie, the player with more white cards wins the tie. If a further tie occurs, the player further on the Knowledge track wins the tie.

A player may gain VPs from the Placiti di Capua cards or the Cantico track, not both. If the player in the first or second position on the track chooses to gain VPs from the Placiti di Capua cards, he removes his marker from the track.

Example: At the end of the game, the Yellow player has 2 Placiti di Capua cards and 1 white card while the Red player has 2 Placiti di Capua cards, therefore Yellow player wins the tie. He chooses to gain VPs from the expansion gaining 14 VPs being on the 7th step, and removes his marker from the Cantico track. This causes the Red player to win the Cantico track.

Poeti Scuola Siciliana & Arnault Daniel

Contents: 17 cards (6 Scuola Siciliana cards, 10 Arnault Daniel cards, 1 Action Space card).

Setup: Place the Action Space Card next to the board near the city of Cagliari. Shuffle the 10 Arnault Daniel cards (the cards with Cagliari map on the back) and place them facedown adjacent to the Action Space card.

Then shuffle the 6 Scuola Siciliana cards (the cards with Brindisi map on the back) and place them facedown near the city of Brindisi.

Brindisi Action

All players that are on the city of Brindisi during the activation of the Stupor Mundi Event, draw 1 card from the Scuola Siciliana deck keeping it in their hand without showing it to other players.

Cagliari Action

A player whose meeple is on the city of Cagliari and owns a Scuola Siciliana card can do this action 1 time per turn.

The player places 1 Action marker (or 4 Action markers) on the Action Space card and draws 2 cards and keeps 1 (or draws 4 cards and keeps 2). Keep the selected card in your hand without showing it to other players. Secretly discard facedown the other card under the Arnault Daniel deck.

On following turns, the player can acquire more cards, but a player cannot have more Scuola Siciliana and Arnault Daniel cards as a total, than his Knowledge level (or more than 4 cards). The player can exchange a new card with one previously kept if he so desires.

At the end of the game each player gains VPs equal to the sum of all their Scuola Siciliana and Arnault Daniel cards but only if the player has cards from both decks.

Example: It is the end of the game, the Yellow player has a Scuola Siciliana card worth 3 VPs and an Arnault Daniel card worth 2 VPs. Red player has a Scuola Siciliana card for 5 VPs. The Yellow player gains 5 VPs (3+2), while Red player gains 0 VPs since he didn't acquire any Arnault Daniel cards.

Glossario di Monza

Contents: 11 cards (10 Glossario di Monza cards, 1 Action Space card).

Setup: Place the Action Space Card next to the board near the city of Milano. Shuffle the 10 Glossario cards and place them facedown adjacent to the Action Space card.

Milano Action

A player whose meeple is on the city of Milano can do this action 1 time per turn.

The player places 1 to 3 Action markers on the Action Space card and acquires 1 to 3 cards from the deck. Place the acquired card/s facedown in front of you and visible to other players.

On following turns, a player can acquire more cards and can exchange a new card with one previously kept if he so desires.

A player can have maximum 1 Glossario di Monza card per different expansion card owned, not including the Glossario di Monza expansion (therefore maximum 3).

A player cannot have more Glossario di Monza cards than his Knowledge level.

At the end of the game, each player gains VPs equal to the total points shown on his Glossario di Monza cards.

Example: The Yellow player is on Milano, he has acquired a card from all 3 other expansions, but his Knowledge level is 2, therefore he can only draw 2 cards from the Glossario deck with 2 APs. The Yellow player draws 2 cards and finds a 3 VPs card and a 1 VP card. At the end of the game the Yellow player gains 4 VPs (3+1).

New Tiles

Friar Alessandro. When the player draws cards thanks to an Action spent, he can draw 1 additional card. The number of cards which the player can keep remains the same.

Cardinal Sonzogni. When the player draws cards thanks to an Action spent, he can draw 1 additional card and keep 1 additional card from those drawn (if his Knowledge value allows it).

New Papal Library tile. Add this tile to other Papal Library tiles during the Setup.