London Necropolis Railway Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Central Board
  • Player Boards
  • Action Cards
  • London Tiles
  • Railway Tiles
  • Action Discs
  • Staff and Volunteers
  • Coffins and Mourners
  • Money Tokens
  • Crypts
  • Trains
  • Prestige Markers
  • First Player Marker
  • Round Marker
• Setup
• Play Sequence
  • London Actions (Blue Discs)
  • Necropolis Actions (Green Discs)
  • Railway Actions (Grey Discs)
  • Bonus Actions
  • Prestige
  • Turn of the Century
• End of Game
  • Final Scoring
• Tile Reference
• Quick Reference
  • Order of Operations
  • Turn of the Century
  • Final Scoring Summary

Components

Your copy of London Necropolis Railway contains the following components:

• 1 Central board
• 4 3-part Player boards
• 52 Action cards
• 32 London tiles
• 24 Railway tiles
• 65 Money tokens in denominations of £1 and £5
• 48 Action discs (12 each of blue, green, grey, orange)
• 20 Staff pieces (grey)
• 4 Volunteer pieces (white)
• 100 Coffins (25 each of purple, teal, red, black)
• 1 Coffin bag
• 72 Mourner cubes
• 24 Crypts (8 each of brown, yellow, white)
• 4 Trains
• 4 Prestige markers
• 1 First Player marker
• 1 Round marker

Central Board

The Central board in London Necropolis Railway tracks the rounds, holds the Crypts available for purchase, contains the bonus action spaces, and reminds you what happens at the Turn of the Century (after round 6) and at the End of the Game. The dots at the top of the board signify whether it is for a 2p/3p game or a 4p game.

Player Boards

Each player has their own set of boards that encompases the entire London Necropolis Railway system: The London Terminus, The Railway, and The Brookwood Necropolis.

The London Terminus is comprised of three main areas: the station itself, where players will place and flip tiles to increase their income, the storage area for Mourner cubes and Coffins, and the Prestige track which gives instant and ongoing bonuses. The Prestige track also determines the number of end-game points the player will gain for Staff occupying the London station.

The Railway connects the London Terminus and the Brookwood Necropolis. The train starts at London and carries Mourners and Coffins to the Necropolis and then returns along the track to London, at which point the player collects income. Railway tiles can be added and upgraded to increase the capacity to carry Coffins and Mourners. Cards can be played below the Railway board to give single-use boosts to actions.

The Brookwood Necropolis is where Coffins are buried and Mourners gather after arriving on the train. Crypts may be acquired from the Central board and will increase the value of column scoring at the end of the game. Staff are required to bury Coffins in each row. Mourners can be traded in to purchase Crypts from the Central board. Any Coffins that can not be buried (due to insufficient Staff) must be placed in Potter's Field and will count as one point each at the end of the game.

Action Cards

When a new card is placed face up in the card row, the back of the next card in the stack determines which two action discs are placed below it (blue, green, grey, and/or orange).

The front of the card is split into three sections, relating to actions for the London Terminus, the Brookwood Necropolis, and the Railway.

The London Terminus section will always show an icon matching a room on the London board followed by an arrow. This tells you which room on the board you may pay to place or upgrade a tile if you spend a blue action disc.

The Brookwood Necropolis section will have either a Staff symbol, a Crypt symbol, or both, and will allow you to acquire those items if you spend a green action disc.

The Railway section will show a single-use special ability. If you spend a grey action disc, you may tuck the card below your player board and use that ability at any point on this or a future turn.

Any time you take an action with one or more train icons in the far right column, you must move your train along the track that many spaces.

Cards are marked with dots in the upper right corner. When setting up, only include cards with the number of dots for your player count or lower.

London Tiles

Players each have an identical set of 8 London tiles, corresponding to the spaces on the 4 rooms of the London Terminus board. The tiles start to the side of the board and are placed onto the board on their A-side the first time a space is upgraded and flipped to the B-side the second time that space is upgraded.

Rooms can have 1, 2, or 3 tiles on them. You may place multiple tiles on the A-side in a room before upgrading an A to a B, or upgrade an A to a B before placing additional tiles.

Each tile shows which room it belongs to, its location and A/B designation, the benefit you gain when collecting income when your train makes it back to London, the cost to upgrade, and a space to place a Staff for endgame scoring.

Railway Tiles

Railway tiles allow you to upgrade your carrying capacity for Mourners and Coffins. Instead of playing a card below your Railway board, you may spend a grey action disc with any card to add or upgrade a Railway tile of either type. You may upgrade a Railway tile that already has Mourners or Coffins on it - the pieces remain on that upgraded tile. Fully upgrading a pair of railway tiles provides the bonus depicted in the space between that pair.

Action Discs

Discs come in four colors and correspond to the different actions on the cards: London - blue, Necropolis - green, and Railway - grey. Orange can be used in place of any color. Two discs are placed below each card when it is revealed, determined by looking at the back of the next card in the draw deck.

Staff and Volunteers

Staff (grey) and Volunteers (white) are placed on the London Terminus board to score points at the end of the game. They are placed on the Brookwood Necropolis board to open rows for burial. Rows that have a Staff assigned to them are referred to as Staffed later in the rules.

Staff are aquired through Necropolis actions. You may earn a Volunteer by fully upgrading the middle pair of Railway tiles. A Volunteer functions the same as a Staff but does not need to be paid when collecting Income.

Coffins and Mourners

Coffins come in four colors - purple, teal, red, and black. They are gained when collecting income, placed onto Railway tiles, and buried at the Necropolis. Placing a Coffin on a Necropolis space with a matching color provides a £1 bonus upon placement. Each column's most represented color scores 2 points per Coffin (or more if there is a Crypt).

Mourners are gained when collecting income, placed onto Railway tiles, and arrive at the Necropolis. They are used to acquire Crypts.

Money Tokens

Money tokens come in denominations of £1 and £5.

Money is primarily gained when collecting income (when your train reaches London) and spent mostly on upgrading London tiles and paying for Staff when collecting income.

Crypts

Crypts come in three colors (brown, yellow, white) and are acquired by spending Mourners that have gathered at the Necropolis. Crypts increase the value of the most represented Coffins in a column in the Necropolis to 4, 6, or 8 points each respectively (see Final Scoring).

Trains

A player's train starts at the London Terminus. Over the course of the game the train will move around the track to the Brookwood Necropolis and back to London multiple times. How many spaces it travels per turn is determined by the actions taken on the card.

Prestige Markers

Every player tracks their Prestige level at the bottom of the London Terminus board. As part of any turn, you may discard extra discs matching the next step on the Prestige track to move the Prestige marker one space. You will gain the associated benefit and increase the value of Staff in London for end-game scoring.

First Player Marker

The First Player marker denotes who started the game and does not change hands for the duration of the game. Every player takes the same number of turns, and the game will end with the player to the right of the first player.

Round Marker

A game of London Necropolis Railway is played over 12 rounds. The first player should move the round marker down one space before each of their turns (except for the first turn). Note that there are special events that happen at the end of rounds 6 and 12.

Setup

• A. Place the Central board within reach of all players, on either the 2p/3p side or the 4p side, depending on player count. Place the Crypts on their appropriate spaces, by color. Place the round marker on the space for the first round.
• B. Place all of the Coffins in the Coffin bag.
• C. Give each player 1 set of Player boards, 1 Prestige marker, a set of 8 London tiles, a set of 6 Railway tiles, 6 Mourner cubes, 2 random Coffins from the Coffin bag, 1 Train, 1 Staff piece, 1 Volunteer piece, £10 in coins, and 3 Action discs (1 blue, 1 green, 1 grey).
• D. Make supply piles for the discs, Mourners, Staff, and Money.
• E. Remove cards from the deck if playing with 2 or 3 players. Use the cards that match your player count or below, signified by the dots in the upper right corner of each card. Shuffle the deck thoroughly. Place the deck within reach of all players and flip 3 cards face up in a card row one at a time. After each card is flipped, look at the top of the deck and put those two colors of action discs from the supply below the card that was just flipped.
• F. Each player should do the following:
  • Place the Prestige marker on the first space of the Prestige track on the London section of the board.
  • Stack the London tiles to the side of the London section of the board, with their "A" sides face up.
  • Place one of each type of Railway tile on the marked spaces on the Railway section of the board, with their non-upgraded side face-up. Stack the others nearby.
  • Place 3 of the Mourner cubes on the Mourners Railway tile and the 2 Coffins drawn from the bag on the Coffins Railway tile.
  • Place your Train on the blue London Terminus space of the Railway section of your board, pointing away from you.
  • Place the 3 remaining Mourner cubes on the Mourners space of the Necropolis section of your player board.
  • Choose any row in your Necropolis and place your Staff piece on its designated spot.
  • Place your Volunteer off to the side - you do not yet have access to it.
  • Place your coins and discs near your player board.
• G. Choose one player to go first and give them the First Player marker.

Play Sequence

The game takes place over the course of 12 rounds, with each player taking one turn in clockwise order starting with the first player. Between rounds 6 and 7, every player will take one free action of their choice (see Turn of the Century). At the end of the game, every player will either take one final income or one final delivery, depending on the location of their train.

If you are the first player, be sure to move the round marker before each of your turns (ignore this on the first turn).

Each turn follows 4 distinct steps:

1. Choose a card. There will always be three cards to choose from. When you take a card, you will also take the discs below it and add them to your supply. Flip a new card into the empty space and place new discs below them based on the back of the next card in the deck.

   Example: Sadie takes the middle card with the green and orange discs. She flips the card on the top of the deck into that spot and sees that the back of the next card shows a grey and a green disc. She places those below the new card.

   Choose your actions. Take 1, 2, or 3 actions (in any order) from the chosen card provided you have the required Action discs to do so. Each action requires a disc of the associated color, which is discarded to the supply. Orange discs are wild and can be used for any color.

   Bonus Action. As a free action, you may claim one of the spaces on the Bonus Actions board. Each Bonus Action space can be claimed once per game with each color disc, and the disc stays on the space for the rest of the game. Orange may be used more than once per column.

   Prestige. Once per turn you may discard Action discs matching the next step on your Prestige track to increase your Prestige by 1. This will increase the value at the end of the game for any points you have earned by fully upgrading and Staffing tiles on the London section of your board.

2. Move your train. After completing all actions, move your train along the track as indicated to the right of each action you took. You will move your train for each action you activate on that card - this could be 0, 1, or 2 spaces per action. If you have the Tender installed in your Railway (see Railway Actions), you may discard it to move additional spaces for each card you have installed below your player board (including itself). Note: you do move when installing a Railway card, but not when using an installed one. Prestige actions may also affect your movement, with either an immediate or ongoing bonus.

   Example: Oscar chose this card and spent blue and green discs to take the London and Necropolis actions. After he has completed his actions, he moves his train forward 4 spaces on the track.

3. Station Management. If your train ends on or past either the London station (blue train space) or the Necropolis station (green train space) you carry out the management step of the respective station. Note: it is possible to pass both stations in one turn, in which case you would do the management actions of the first station you passed followed by the second.

   London: Income. Look at all of the printed amounts of Mourners, Coffins, money, and discs showing on your London board, including any tiles that you have upgraded and any spaces that you have not. Take them into your supply. Load as many of the Mourners and Coffins onto your Railway cars as will fit, leaving the rest in the "Waiting" areas on your London board. Finally, pay £2 back to the supply for each Staff in your employ, no matter where on your boards they reside (London or Necropolis). If you have the Crew Car (see Railway Actions) installed below your Railway board, you may discard the card and pay £1 per Staff instead. Any staff that you cannot fully pay are discarded - you may choose from where. If you remove one from a Necropolis row, you may not place any more Coffins in that row until the Staff is replaced and the Coffins in that row WILL NOT SCORE at the end of the game if it is not Staffed.

London Actions (Blue Discs)

Each London action corresponds to a room in the London Terminus (Mortuary, Chapel, Office, Lobby) which will determine your income (money, Mourners, Coffins, Action discs) when your train ends its movement on or past London. Some rooms have multiple upgradable tiles. A London action can be used to place a tile or upgrade a tile by flipping it. Only fully upgraded tiles with Staff on them at the end of the game will count as multipliers for Prestige during end-game scoring. Pairs of fully upgraded tiles will also score points at the end of the game (see Final Scoring).

Each Tile has an A-side and a B-side. The tile must be placed A-side up when first played, and can be flipped to its B-side the next time an action is taken. With rooms that have multiple tiles, they are also numbered to match. Always place a tile on the matching space on the board.

When placing or flipping a London tile, always pay the cost in red on the space you are replacing (on the board when placing the A-side, on the A-side when flipping to the B-side).

A complete tile reference can be found in the Tile Reference section.

Necropolis Actions (Green Discs)

There are two actions that can be taken at the Necropolis.

1. Hire Staff. You may hire 1 Staff for £2, which must immediately be assigned to a Necropolis row or assigned to London. Once Staff are assigned to a space they may not be moved (but may be removed when collecting income).
2. Build Crypt. Crypts are built by the pooled resources of Mourners that have collected at your Necropolis. You may spend Mourners to build a Crypt of your choice (that you can afford) from the Crypt board. You may supplement Mourners at £3 per Mourner if you are short for the Crypt you want. You must immediately choose which column to assign it to and it may not be moved or changed for the rest of the game. Crypts act as scoring multipliers based on their color at the end of the game (see Final Scoring).

Railway Actions (Grey Discs)

Every Railway action can either be used to install a card below your Railway board (to a maximum of 3 cards) or be discarded to upgrade your train's capacity. Upgrading capacity can be done by adding a Mourners tile, a Coffins tile, or flipping an already placed tile over. Completing a pair of fully upgraded tiles (1 Mourners / 1 Coffins) grants a player one of the following benefits for free, depending on which pair is completed:

• 2 orange discs from the supply
• 1 Volunteer
• 1 white Crypt

Installing cards below your Railway board gives you single-use abilities to be used on your current or any future turn. After you activate a card, discard it. You may have multiple copies of the same card installed, but you may only use one per turn.

• Caboose: Discard to use Mourners on train when building a Crypt
• Crew Car: When collecting income, discard to pay £1 per Staff instead of £2
• Dining Car: When delivering Mourners to the Necropolis, discard to gain £2 for each completely filled Mourner car on your train
• Tender: Discard for 1 additional train movement for each card currently installed below your Railway board.

Bonus Actions

In addition to your card action(s), you may spend one action disc to take one bonus action. Each bonus action may be taken with each of the indicated colored action discs once per game (so each action can be taken once with blue, once with green, and once with grey - orange may be substituted for any color and may be used any number of times). Once an action space has been used, it cannot be used again for the rest of the game.

The actions from left to right are:

• Take £2
• Take £1 and move your train one space
• Take £1
• Move your train one space

As usual, any train movement must happen after all card actions have been completed. Any money earned may be used at any point during your turn.

Prestige

In addition to your card action(s), you may also spend action discs to increase the Prestige of your London Terminus. This has two benefits. It increases the value of occupied spaces in the London Terminus at the end of the game and gives you either an immediate or ongoing bonus to your train movement. You may only move up one step on the prestige track each turn, and all immediate movement is taken at the end of your turn. Ongoing bonuses to movement happen even if you do not take any actions that give you movement on your turn.

The Prestige track steps, from the first to the last, are:

• Pay a disc: Move train one space at end of this turn. London Staff = 3 pts each at end of game.
• Pay a disc: Move train two spaces at end of this turn. London Staff = 5 pts each at end of game.
• Pay a disc: Increase train movement by 1 (ongoing). London Staff = 10 pts each at end of game.
• Pay a disc: Increase train movement by 2 (ongoing). London Staff = 15 pts each at end of game.
• Pay a disc: Take white Crypt, immediately place it. Retain +2 train movement. London Staff = 20 pts each at end of game.

Turn of the Century

At the end of round 6, each player in turn order may choose one action to do for free - no money needs to be spent, nor action discs discarded.

Action options are:

• Place or upgrade any London tile
• Place or upgrade a Railway tile
• Hire a Staff
• Build a Crypt (still requires spending Mourners)

Trains do not move as a result of any action taken. After all players have completed their free action, continue the game as before, starting with the first player.

End of Game

At the end of round 12, any players with their train on or past the London station but before the Necropolis station may move their train to the Necropolis and deliver all Mourners and Coffins. Any players with their train on or past the Necropolis station but before the London station may move their train to London and collect their income (including paying all Staff).

Each player may then, in reverse turn order, hire one Staff or purchase one Crypt.

Final Scoring

You will score points from how well you've upgraded your London Terminus and increased its Prestige and how well you've filled the Brookwood Necropolis with Coffins and Crypts.

London:

Multiply the value you reached on your Prestige track by the number of Staff you've placed on the London board.

Score 10 points for fully upgraded pairs of tiles as indicated on the London board, whether or not they are Staffed.

Necropolis:

Score 10 points for each completely filled row.

For each column, determine which color Coffin is the most represented. Count the number of that color in the column and multiply that value by 2 if there is no Crypt at the top of the column. If there is a Crypt, adjust as follows: a brown Crypt increases the multiplier to 4, a yellow Crypt increases the multiplier to 6, and a white Crypt increases the multiplier to 8.

Each Coffin placed in Potter's Field is worth 1 point.

Convert any unused Mourners at the Necropolis at the rate of £2 per Mourner. Mourners and Coffins in London or on your train are not worth any points.

Every £5 is worth 1 point.

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most white Crypts built wins. If still tied, the player with the most total Crypts built wins. If there is still a tie, those players share the victory.

Example: Edie looks at her London board. She has 2 pairs of fully upgraded tiles for 20 points. She has increased her Prestige to level 4, so all of her Staff at London are worth 10 points each. She has Staff on 4 spaces, so she scores 40 points.

Edie then looks at her Necropolis board. She has 3 completely filled rows, for 30 points. She then looks at each column. There is a yellow Crypt in column 1 and she has 3 teal Coffins there, so this column scores 18 points. Column 2 has a white Crypt and 4 black Coffins, so it scores 32 points. Column 3 has no Crypt and no color is represented more than twice, so it only scores 4 points. Column 4 has a brown Crypt and 4 purple Coffins in it, but since there is no Staff on the bottom row only 3 of them count, for a total of 12 points. Column 5 has a white crypt but no color is represented more than once, so it only scores 8 points.

Her 4 remaining mourners convert to £8. Combined with her remaining £2, that's another 2 points.

Final Score (20+40+30+18+32+4+12+8+2): 166 points

Tile Reference

• Mortuary 1A: Gain £2 and 1 Coffin. Pay £3 to upgrade.
• Mortuary 1B: Gain £5 and 1 Coffin.
• Mortuary 2A: Gain 4 Coffins. Pay £2 to upgrade.
• Mortuary 2B: Gain 6 Coffins.
• Chapel 1A: Gain £3 and 2 Mourners. Pay £2 to upgrade.
• Chapel 1B: Gain £5 and 2 Mourners.
• Chapel 2A: Gain 3 Mourners and 1 Coffin. Pay £3 to upgrade.
• Chapel 2B: Gain 6 Mourners and 3 Coffins.
• Office 1A: Gain 1 disc and 2 Mourners. Pay £3 to upgrade.
• Office 1B: Gain 2 discs and 2 Mourners.
• Lobby 1A: Gain £2 and 2 Mourners. Pay £2 to upgrade.
• Lobby 1B: Gain £4 and 2 Mourners.
• Lobby 2A: Gain 2 Mourners and 1 Coffin. Pay £2 to upgrade.
• Lobby 2B: Gain 4 Mourners and 1 Coffin.
• Lobby 3A: Gain £2 and 1 Coffin. Pay £2 to upgrade.
• Lobby 3B: Gain £4 and 1 Coffin.

Quick Reference

Order of Operations

1. Choose a Card
   • Choose your Actions
   • Optional - Bonus Action
   • Optional - Prestige Track
2. Move your Train
3. Station Management
   • London: Income
   • Necropolis: Deliver

Turn of the Century

At the end of round 6, all players take a free action. Do not spend coins or discs. Do not move trains.

Options are:

• Place or upgrade a London tile
• Place or upgrade a Railway tile
• Hire a Staff
• Build a Crypt (still requires Mourners)

Final Scoring Summary

London:

1. Prestige Track x London Staff
2. 10 points per room tile pairs

Necropolis:

1. 10 points per filled row
2. Per column, 2/4/6/8 x number of most represented Coffin color
3. 1 point per Coffin in Potter's Field
4. £2 per Mourner
5. Every £5 is worth 1 point