Khronos
Khronos Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Mechanics and Objective
- Set-up Material
- Game Turn
- A- The 3 Construction Rules
- B- Rippling a Building Through Time
- C- Domain Transformation
- III- Pocketing Domain Earnings on the 4th and 7th Game Turns
- IV- Draw 4 Construction Cards
- End of the Game
- Credits
Game Mechanics and Objective
The game is played over 7 turns and on 3 game boards, each representing the same region, but during three successive time periods:
- The age of Might
- The age of Faith
- The age of Reason
Each player controls two time traveling adventurers, each voyaging to allow you to construct military, religious and civil buildings. They will give you a chance at becoming the richest player by the end of the game.
Certain constructions produce money, Ecus, and that is one way to gain wealth. As these buildings are grouped they form domains. This allows you to establish dominant positions. In function of the period, the criteria for dominion will be either military, religious or civil. Domains allow players to earn tax and tithe revenue on turns 4 and 7 if they control them. Earning Ecus in this manner is the second way to gain wealth.
The players also have the power to destroy certain buildings or attempt to connect domains in an effort to change their overall ownership within an epoch. Depending on their size, certain constructions cast time shadows and are "rippled", or copied, from one game board to the next, expanding a player's domination forward through time.
But beware; the echoes of time are difficult to hear and might surprise you. An edifice constructed during the age of Faith might very well disappear, never to be remembered, if its geographical footprint is replaced by an older structure. Time can be a most difficult river to navigate.
On the end of the 7th turn, the player holding the largest pile of wealth is declared the winner.
Set-up Material
The game boards are placed in the center of the table. The three boards, in order, are: Age of Might, Age of Faith, and Age of Reason.
Turn Indicator
The "Turn Indicator" pawn is placed on the first square of the game turn counting ruler, found on the bottom of the Age of Might board.
Building Tiles
The 155 tiles are organized by color and placed in the compartments found in the box:
- The Military buildings are orange; 20 Watchtowers, 24 Keeps and 9 Castles.
- The Religious buildings are fuchsia; 20 Chapels, 20 Monasteries, and 9 Abbeys.
- The Civil buildings are blue; 20 Hamlets, 24 Towns and nine Cities.
10 Hamlets are already printed on each of the three game boards.
The value indicated on each tile corresponds to both its building's construction cost and the number of Ecus yielded during the revenue phase of the 4th and 7th game turns.
The Keep, Castle, Monastery and Abbey tiles also have a back side representing vestiges of the same building gone to ruins.
Adventurer Pawns
Each player takes two Adventurer Pawns of identical color and places them on their corresponding locations on the Age of Might board.
Control Cubes
Each player takes 25 Control Cubes of the same color as their Adventurer Pawns.
Ecus
Each player starts the game with 4 Ecus, using 1 Ecu coin pieces. They can be kept face up or down in front of each player. The remaining Ecus are kept in the 4th compartment in the game box. There are thirty 1 Ecu coins, fifteen 5 Ecu coins, and fifteen 10 Ecu coins.
Construction Cards
The 33 Construction cards are shuffled and placed in a pile face down. The pile is made up of 11 Military Construction cards (orange), 11 Religious Construction cards (fuchsia) and 11 Civil Construction cards (blue).
All players draw four cards to form their starting hands. They are kept hidden.
Summing It Up
Each player starts with:
- 2 Adventurer Pawns
- 25 Control Cubes
- 4 Ecus
- 4 Construction Cards.
Game Turn
Decide who goes first in a random manner. Players take turns in a clockwise fashion. The following phases are played by each player during their turn.
I. Exchange all or a part of your Construction Card hand.
II. The Action Phase:
- Travel in time.
- Use Construction Cards to construct, demolish, upgrade, populate or renovate a building. Note: certain buildings award an immediate Ecu bonus when they are constructed.
III. Discard all remaining unused Construction Cards and draw 4 new Construction Cards.
IV. Pocket Earnings from domains (only on turns 4 and 7).
When a player finishes a game turn, the player to their left starts their own.
When the turn comes back to the first player, that player moves the Turn Indicator pawn up a notch.
I. Exchanging All or a Part of Your Hand
During their turn, players that are dissatisfied with their hand can discard it entirely or partially. Once all the chosen cards are discarded, new Construction Cards are drawn until a hand of 4 cards is made. This action costs 2 Ecus.
This may only be done once per turn.
II. Action Phase
The following 2 actions (Traveling in Time and Using Construction Cards) are optional and can be made in any order, and several times.
1. Traveling in Time
By spending 1 Ecu, a player can use the Time Machine to travel in time. Each time it is used, one of the player's Adventurer Pawns is moved to one of the other two game boards.
A player can use the Time Machine as many times as wanted, with either the same Adventurer or both.
Moving to a different Epoch's game board allows one to:
- Take actions on that game board (see 2).
- Pocket the Earnings on that game board on turns 4 and 7 (see IV).
Example: The red player moves her first Adventurer Pawn from the Age of Might board to the Age of Reason, for a cost of 1 Ecu. He also moves her second adventurer from the Age of Might to the Age of Faith board by spending another 1 Ecu.
2. Using Construction Cards
Each player starts with 4 Construction Cards in hand.
Construction Cards may only be played on game boards containing at least one of the player's Adventurer Pawns.
Two scenarios are possible:
- When both Adventurers are present on the same game board, the player may play up to four cards in that time period.
- When the two Adventurers are on two different game boards, the player may use up to two cards on one game board and two cards on the other.
It is hence impossible to construct on all three game boards during the same turn. It is also impossible to spend three cards on one game board and the remaining one on a different game board.
A Player may play Construction Cards before or after a time travel.
If the player does not wish to use all 4 of their cards, the unused cards are lost and discarded.
On the Might and Faith game boards, it is possible to use the Construction Cards to:
2.1. Construct a building. 2.2. Upgrade a building. 2.3. Demolish a small building.
These three actions must take into consideration:
A- Construction Rules. B- Time Rippling Effects. C- Domain Transformation.
On the Age of Reason game board, it is possible to use Construction Cards to:
2.4. Populate a Civil Building. 2.5. Renovate a ruin.
A Player may construct, upgrade, demolish, populate and renovate as many times as they wish during the same turn, limited only by the number of Construction Cards in hand, and respecting the rules linked to each action.
2.1. Constructing a Building (during the Ages of Might and Faith only)
The player must use Construction Cards in order to build a building.
- This can only be done during an epoch where at least one of the player's Adventurers is present.
- In order to construct a building, Construction Cards of the same color type for the chosen building, and only that type, must be spent. Orange cards are used for Military buildings, fuchsia cards for Religious buildings and blue cards for Civil buildings.
- The number of Construction Cards necessary to build the edifice is indicated on each tile.
Example: The construction of a Keep requires two Military Construction Cards.
A building may be constructed on the Might and Faith boards but it is forbidden to construct a building during the Age of Reason.
A building must be constructed on free squares on the game board and respect geographical, dominical, and hierarchical rules for construction (see A – The 3 Construction Rules).
When players construct Military or Religious buildings, they place one of their Control Cubes on the tile to show ownership.
Control Cubes are not placed on Civil buildings when they are created, they belong to no one.
Example: The Monastery is controlled by the Red player; the Watch Tower by the Green player.
Construction Bonuses
The construction of a small building (size 1: Hamlets, Watch Towers, Chapels) awards no bonus. The construction of any bigger building (size 2 & 3: Towns, Cities, Keeps, Castles, Monasteries or Abbeys) awards, at the moment of its construction, 1 Ecu on the Age of Might board and 2 Ecus on the Age of Faith board.
Example: The green player builds a Keep on the Age of Might board and immediately pockets 1 Ecu.
2.2. Upgrading a Building (during the Ages of Might and Faith only)
A player uses Construction Cards to upgrade a Religious or Military building that they control or any Civil building on the Age of Might of Faith game boards.
- The number of cards necessary for the expansion is the difference in the cost of the original building and the newer version.
- To upgrade a building, Construction Cards of the appropriate building color must be spent.
Example: Upgrading a Watch Tower into a Keep costs 1 Military Construction Card.
The new building must cover entirely the space occupied by the original building and other unoccupied free squares on the game board. The upgrade must respect geographical, dominical and hierarchical construction rules (See A – The 3 Construction Rules).
When upgrading a Military or Religious building, the player retains control of the new building (leaving their control cube on the new tile).
It is forbidden to upgrade a building on the Age of Reason game board.
Upgrade Construction Bonuses
Upgrading a building awards an immediate bonus of 1 Ecu during the Age of Might epoch and 2 Ecus on the Age of Faith board.
Example: The red player upgrades a Chapel to a Monastery on the Age of Faith board and immediately pockets 2 Ecus.
2.3. Demolishing a Small Building
A player uses Construction Cards to demolish and destroy any size 1 building (Hamlet, Chapel or Watch Tower) whether it is controlled by them or not.
- Demolition requires that the player spend one Ecu and one Construction Card of the exact same color type as that of the building to be destroyed.
- The Hamlets printed on the game board and the buildings of a size greater than 1 may not be demolished.
A demolished building might provoke the separation of a domain (C-b. Dividing a Domain).
Example: Demolishing a Chapel costs 1 Religious Construction Card and 1 Ecu.
A- The 3 Construction Rules
1 – Geographical Restrictions
The River
It is strictly forbidden to construct a Hamlet, or to construct or upgrade a Military or Religious building over a River square. Only Towns and Cities may occupy River squares.
The Forest
- When playing with two or three players, if the construction or upgrade of a building covers at least one forest square, the player must spend one supplementary Construction card of any color they wish.
- For 4 and 5 player games, the forest has no effect.
The Mountain
- When playing with two or three players, if the construction or upgrade of a building covers at least one mountain square, the player must spend 2 supplementary Construction Cards of any color they wish.
- For four player games the cost is 1 supplementary Construction card.
- For five players, the mountain has no effect.
Note: a square mixing plain and forest is considered a forest. A square mixed with forest and mountain is considered a mountain. A River square, wherever it is found, is considered as neither a mountain nor forest. It's simply a River square (See The River rule above).
2 – The Rule of Dominion
A domain is a group of buildings connected by their sides (either horizontally or vertically but not diagonally). A domain is made up of one or more buildings.
It is forbidden to construct or upgrade a Military or Religious building that would in so doing establish a junction between two domains.
The construction or upgrading of Civil Buildings that would then create the junction of two domains is authorized (see C-a. Connecting 2 domains).
Example: 4 domains are shown in this example. The lone Hamlet and the Watch Tower belong to the White player, each belonging to its own domain.
3 – The Rule of Hierarchy
Each domain might be made up of Military, Religious or Civil building of varying sizes, but within each domain, the most prestigious Military building must be unique (meaning, the building with the highest value). The most prestigious Religious building must also be unique.
It is forbidden to construct or upgrade a Military building that would end up having the same value as the highest Military Building already present in the domain. The most prestigious Military building (that with the highest value) in each domain must be unique.
It if forbidden to construct or upgrade a Religious building that would end up having the same value as the highest Religious building already present in the domain. The most prestigious Religious building (that with the highest value) in each domain must be unique.
The Rule of Hierarchy does not apply to Civil buildings.
Example: The biggest Military building in this domain is the Red player's Keep. It is possible to add a Watch Tower to this domain or a Castle, but not another Keep. The biggest Religious building is the Green player's Abbey. It is possible to add a Chapel or a Monastery but the addition of an Abbey is not allowed.
Summing It Up
- Only Civil buildings with a value superior to 1 can be constructed on a river square.
- When playing with fewer than 5 players, the forest and mountain squares have higher construction costs.
- Only a Civil building can be used to connect two domains.
- It is forbidden, within the same domain, to construct a Military building of equal value to the highest Military building already in the domain.
- It is forbidden, within the same domain, to construct a Religious building of equal value to the highest Religious building already in the domain.
B- Rippling a Building Through Time
Depending on its size, a building that has just been constructed or upgraded must be rippled to all the game boards moving forward through time:
- A tile representing a building of size 1: Hamlet, Watch Towers and Chapels is never rippled into the future.
- A tile representing a Town or a City is rippled onto the Faith and Reason game boards.
- A tile representing a Keep, a Castle, a Monastery or an Abbey is rippled onto the Faith game board. The control of that building is copied forward to the next Epoch as well.
The building is also partially rippled to the Age of Reason board but the new tile is only a vestige and is turned "ruin" side up. Control Cubes are never placed on ruins.
Example: The Green player's Chapel is not rippled. The Town is rippled onto the next two game boards. The Keep is rippled onto the Faith board with a new Red control cube and its ruin is rippled to the Age of Reason epoch, without a control cube.
- A building constructed during the Faith time period is naturally not rippled backwards in time to the Age of Might board. Time only ripples forward.
The ripple of a Civil building might create a junction between domains on successive boards. In that event, domain rules are immediately applied (see A2).
Temporal Paradox
If the legal construction or expansion of a building during the Age of Might creates a ripple on to the Age of Faith board that occupies totally or partially the spaced occupied by a different building (no matter what the size or type), that building is removed from the game.
When a Keep is upgraded into a Castle, the Castle leaves a ripple print of a ruin on the Age of Reason board, even if the Keep had been previously renovated. The same is true for an Abbey ripple print that replaces a renovated Monastery. (See 2-5: Renovating a building).
Example: The blue player's Monastery, constructed on the Age of Might board, casts a time shadow that occupies the space created during the Age of Faith epoch. The Green player's monastery is forgotten and removed from the game.
Any building that had been constructed on the Age of Faith board could potentially be destroyed by the time shadow of a building constructed during the Age of Might when it ripples. It had never really existed in the new reality.
The rippling of a Military or Religious building is forbidden on two instances:
- If a Military or Religious building, constructed on the Age of Might board violates the Rule of Dominion on the Age of Faith board, the building does not cast a shadow and the building is not rippled. The Age of Faith in this instance defies Might.
- If a Military or Religious building, constructed on the Age of Might board violates the Rule of Hierarchy on the Age of Faith board, the building does not cast a shadow and the building is not rippled. The Age of Faith in this instance, again gets the better of the Age of Might.
Example: The blue player's Monastery, constructed on the Age of Might board, is not rippled forward to the Faith board because the rippled building would violate the Rule of Dominion that prohibits the junction of domains by the creation of a Religious or Military building.
Example: The blue player's Monastery, constructed on the Age of Might board, is not rippled forward to the Age of Reason board because it would violate the Rule of Hierarchy that requires that the largest Religious or Military building be unique within the domain.
Note: the fact that a building cannot be rippled forward to the Age of Faith does not impede its construction on the Age of Might board.
The rippling of a Civil building through time might create the junction (C-a. Connecting two domains) or the division (C-b. Dividing domains) of two domains on the same board. The Hierarchical implications of all ripples must therefore be verified by the player constructing the building.
C- Domain Transformation
a- Connecting 2 Domains
Whenever a Civil building, during its construction or upgrade, links two domains, a junction has been made.
When a junction takes place, the Hierarchical rule must be respected: the most prestigious (of highest value) Military and Religious buildings must be unique within this new, larger domain. In the event that there is more than one prestigious building:
During the Age of Might:
The player provoking the junction calculates the Military power of the two original domains (meaning the sum of the values of all Military buildings) no matter who the owner of those buildings is individually. If one domain is more powerful than the other, the building within the weaker domain is downsized. (See Downsizing a building).
In the event of equal power, the building to be downsized would be in priority that of the player who caused the junction or if the player is not concerned by the violation of the Hierarchical rule, the building the player chooses.
The player proceeds in the same manner if the Hierarchical rule is not respected for Religious buildings.
Example: The Red player uses Civil Construction cards to build a Hamlet and thusly creates the junction between two domains on the Age of Might board. Two Keeps are now present within the new domain, which is contrary to the Rule of Hierarchy.
The Military power of the domain to the left beats the domain to the right 3 to 2. The White player's Keep is downsized to a Watch Tower. The Keep is removed from the three games boards and the Watch Tower is placed on the space occupied by the defeated Keep.
During the Age of Faith:
The procedure is identical but the player who has provoked the junction verifies the Rule of Hierarchy for the Religious buildings first, then the Military buildings.
During the Age of Reason:
The Rule of Hierarchy does not apply.
Whenever a Civil building would connect 3 or more domains, the rules are the same. The military or religious power is calculated for each domain and the initiating player must always, in the event of a tie, downsize their own buildings first.
Downsizing a Building
When downsizing a Military or Religious building, the building of the same type of the directly inferior size replaces it. The building must be placed on squares occupied by the older version of the building, the choice being up to its owner, without any further constraints.
Downsizing destroys size 1 buildings (Watch Towers and Chapels).
Example: 1 - The Green player uses a Civil Construction card to build a Hamlet and creates the junction between two domains. Since neither of the two Keeps belong to him, he decides which one will be downsized: he chooses the red one.
2 - The Red player downsized her Keep into a Watch Tower in such a manner that it remains attached to the domain. The resulting consequence is that now two Chapels violate the Rule of Hierarchy.
3 - This time, the Green player is concerned because he controls one of the two Chapels. He must downsize his own in priority. Being a small building, it is destroyed.
After downsizing, it is possible that the original domain becomes divided into two separate domains (C-b - Dividing 2 domains).
Rippling a Downsized Building Through the Future
- Downsizing a Keep or a Monastery destroys its time shadows immediately in future epochs.
- When a Castle or an Abbey is downsized, the Keep or Monastery that replaces it is rippled forward into future time periods. The Control Cube placed on a new ruin in the Age of Reason is lost, and if the building had been renovated, it becomes a ruin again (see 2.5).
Example: The Green player builds a Hamlet and creates the junction between two domains. The two Castles do not respect the Rule of Hierarchy. The domain to the left has more Military Power than the one to the right, the White player must downsize his Castle.
The Castle is destroyed on the three game boards and the control cube on the Age of Reason board is removed (the Red player had started to renovate the Castle). The Keep replacing the downsized Castle is rippled to the Age of Faith board and to the Age of Reason as a ruin.
When a building is downsized on the Age of Might board, the time shadow of the downsized building is only rippled if the building present on the Age of Faith board is identical (same type, same value) and belongs to the same player.
A downsized building might create the division of a domain.
b. Dividing a Domain
Whenever a building is destroyed or downsized following the junction of two domains, it is possible that a domain might become divided.
Each of the new domains must respect the Rule of Hierarchy that might require the Downsizing of Military and Religious buildings. If the Hierarchical rule is not respected, the downsized building will be in priority that of the player who provoked the separation or the player they choose if they are not concerned by the violation of the Hierarchical rule.
Example: 1- The Green player constructs a Hamlet and makes a junction between two domains. The two Keeps do not respect the Rule of Hierarchy. The domain to the left is more powerful militarily speaking than the domain to the right. The White player must downsize her Keep.
2- The Keep is downsized to a Watch Tower and consequently creates a separation of the domain. The two Monasteries in the domain to the right, no longer respect the Rule of Hierarchy. The Green player is not concerned by this rule violation and will decide which of the two Monasteries must be downsized.
2.4. Populating a Civil Building on the Age of Reason Game Board
It is forbidden to construct any building at all on the Age of Reason game board. A player can still use Construction Cards to populate existing buildings.
A player might in this manner use several Civil Construction cards in order to place Control cubes on a Civil building.
It is possible to place Control cubes on Civil buildings that already house Control cubes from different players.
The maximum number of Control cubes that might be placed on a tile corresponds to the value of the building: 1 cube maximum on a Hamlet, 3 on a Town and 5 on a City.
When a Town is upgraded into a City and it is subsequently rippled onto the Age of Reason board, the Cubes that were already placed on the town are kept and placed on the City.
Example: The Red player uses two Civil Construction cards in order to add a Control cube on the Hamlet and another on the Town. The White player uses two Civil Construction cards on their turn to place two Control cubes on the Town.
2.5. Renovating a Military or Religious Building on the Age of Reason Game Board
It is forbidden to construct a Military or Religious building on the Age of Reason game board. A player may still use the corresponding Military or Religious Construction cards to renovate existing ruins.
To do that the player must spend a card corresponding to the type of building to be restored (Military or Religious) in order to place one of their Control Cubes on that ruin.
One Control Cube is necessary in order to renovate a Keep or Monastery.
Two Control Cubes are necessary in order to restore a Castle or Abbey.
Whenever a building is renovated, the control cubes are immediately removed and the tile is turned face up.
A Castle or Abbey can be restored using Cubes from two different players.
The renovation of a building increases the value of its domain during the Age of Reason.
Example: The Red player uses a Military Construction card to add a Control cube on the Keep and a Religious Construction card to add a Control Cube to the Abbey. The Keep is restored. It is turned face up and the Cube is removed. The Abbey remains a vestige ruin. Any player may pay to add a cube and complete the renovation.
III- Pocketing Domain Earnings on the 4th and 7th Game Turns
On the 4th and 7th turns, each player pockets income from domains at the end of their individual turn. A player cannot pocket earnings from the boards if he or she does not have at least one Adventurer there (and then).
On the Age of Might board, if the player controls the most prestigious Military building on a domain, he or she pockets its Civil power in Ecus: meaning the sum of the values of all Civil buildings present on the domain. The player pockets these revenue taxes from all the domains under his or her control.
Example: On the Age of Might board: the Red player pockets 7 Ecus for the domain with the Keep and 4 Ecus for her Watch Tower domain.
On the Age of Faith board, if the player controls the most prestigious Religious building on a domain, he or she pockets its Civil power in Ecus: meaning the sum of the values of all Civil buildings present on the domain. The player pockets these donations from all the domains under his or her control.
Example: On the Age of Faith board: the Green player pockets 6 Ecus for his Abbey domain.
On the Age of Reason board, if the player possesses the majority of Control cubes in the Civil buildings on a domain, he pockets the Military and Religious power of the domain. This means the sum of the values of all Military and Religious buildings present. The player pockets revenue from all domains under his or her control. If several players have equal numbers of Control Cubes on a same domain, each player will be eligible to collect these taxes and tithes.
Example: On the Age of Reason board: the White player pockets 5 Ecus; 2 Ecus for the renovated Keep and 3 Ecus for the vestiges of the Abbey and the Monastery, all this thanks to her three Control cubes populating the domain.
IV- Draw 4 Construction Cards
At the end of their turns, the player discards any Construction cards that were not played and draws 4 new ones. These cards shouldn't be shown to other players before they are played.
If there are no more cards in the draw pile, the discard pile is shuffled and turned over to make a new draw pile.
End of the Game
The game is over after the last player has collected revenue from his or her domains on the 7th turn. Each player counts up their Ecus and the richest player is declared the winner.
Credits
Translated from the original French, which is the only language this closing note was printed in (the rest of the rulebook is officially trilingual French/English/German):
We would like to thank Mr Phal and Manuel Rozoy for their strong contribution, the game library of Boulogne-Billancourt as well as the members of the jury of the annual game designers' contest, Olivier Arneodo during our participation in the JSP project, the players of the game library of Magny-les-Hameaux and the joyful band of testers of l'Ancora.
And special thanks to Jean-Claude Adelmand for his invaluable help, to the polyglots Jutta, Sophie, Sébastien, Kurt, Alberto and Heike, and to Lili, our champion "beta tester"...