Monastery

Monastery Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

The Tiles

There are 53 tiles in total, used to build the monastery.

A tile is either finished (built) or under construction.

If a finished tile has as many monks on it as the value shown in the scoring circle at its top left, it is fully occupied.

A tile under construction is fully occupied when every numbered box on it holds a monk.

Example: The scoring circle of the Chapel shows a value of 3, so the Chapel is fully occupied once 3 monks are there.

The Abbey

The Abbey is the large tile; it forms the center of the monastery and works in almost every way like all the other tiles. Up to three tiles can be laid against each of its two long sides, and up to two against each of its two short sides.

The Prayer Board

The Prayer Board shows a Latin sentence from the Lord's Prayer. The prayer sentence is divided into four color-coded sentence parts.

"Deliver us, we beseech thee, from all evils. Amen."

The box also contains:

4 sets of 5 monks, each set a different color
4 screens, each a different color, each carrying a letter track that displays one sentence part of the prayer in the matching color. Letters can be placed on these tracks during scoring.
The monastic hour-disc, used to show the current hour of the day (round)
20 blessing markers (referred to simply as "blessings")
A cloth bag for holding the tiles during play
36 letter tiles

Setup

Place the Abbey in the middle of the table.
Each player draws a monk to determine their color. Players then sit clockwise around the table in the following order: Red - Blue - Green - Yellow. This seating order must always be followed.
Each player:
- takes the screen of their color and stands it up in front of them, with the letter track facing forward,
- takes all the monks of their color,
- places one of their monks on the Abbey,
- places one of their monks on each of the four colored cross symbols on the Prayer Board,
- takes the secret passage tile of their color and places it behind their screen.
All tiles are placed in the cloth bag. In games with fewer than four players, the unused secret passage tiles are removed from the game beforehand; they are not used.
The Prayer Board is laid out within easy reach for all players, at a sufficient distance from the Abbey, and all letter tiles are placed on their corresponding spaces, large-letter side up (i.e., the yellow tile borders are visible). No letters are placed on unused sentence parts of the prayer.

Example: In a 2-player game, Blue and Green play. The two red and yellow sentence parts (the rows with the red or yellow cross) are not used and take no part in this game.

The game begins with Matins (Morning Prayer), and the player whose sentence part is highest on the Prayer Board is the first Abbot of the monastery. He takes the hour-disc.

Sequence of Play

The hour-disc shows the current round of play. It always sits in front of the current Abbot, who is responsible for turning the pointer one hour space clockwise at the end of each round.

In each round, the current Abbot is the start player, and the other players then follow clockwise in turn order.

Study and Toil Rounds

Study and Toil rounds always consist of Laying Tiles and Movement, followed by Scoring.

Laying Tiles and Movement

The start player may lay one (1) new tile (from behind his screen) and move his monks. The other players then follow in turn and do the same, until every player has completed their Laying Tiles and Movement step.

Scoring

The start player uses his monks to gain points, then he collects letters and monks and receives blessings. The other players then follow in turn and do the same, until every player has completed their scoring.

During scoring, monks may use the effects of symbol tiles.
During scoring, all fully-occupied tiles under construction are turned over to their finished side.

Prayer Hour Rounds

In the Prayer Hour rounds, all praying monks return to the Abbey and are stood upright there again, then the next Abbot is chosen and the players draw new tiles.

The Night Round

In the Night Round, all monks who are in the monastery return to the Abbey.

Laying Tiles

In his Laying Tiles and Movement step, a player may lay a new tile. He takes one of the tiles from behind his screen and extends the monastery with it. The new tile may be laid at any point during the Laying Tiles and Movement step, i.e. before, after, or during movement. The orientation of the tile does not matter - the names on it do not all need to be readable from the same direction.

The new tile must be laid with its under-construction side face up (the numbered boxes are visible).
The new tile must be laid so that at least one side is adjacent to a finished tile, or to a fully-occupied tile under construction.
- Tiles are "adjacent" when they touch side to side. Tiles that only touch corner to corner (diagonally) are not adjacent.
The new tile must be connected to at least one other tile by a path or gateway.

Restrictions

A tile may never be laid so that it creates a "dead end" (i.e. a path runs into the "empty" side of another tile).
Field and Garden tiles have gateways. A gateway is an "optional" path and may be laid so that it connects to a path or gateway, or so that it runs into the "empty" side of another tile.
A grey Study tile and a brown Toil tile (each identifiable by the color of its numbered box or number circle) may never be laid adjacent to one another. They may, however, be laid corner to corner, i.e. diagonally to one another.
- The Abbey counts as a grey Study tile. Brown Toil tiles may therefore not be laid adjacent to the Abbey.
- Path tiles and Livestock tiles are neither grey nor brown, and so may be laid adjacent to both grey and brown tiles. Put another way, grey and brown tiles may be laid adjacent to Path tiles and Livestock tiles.
The number of Path, Field, and Garden tiles in a group is limited in each case.
- Maximum FOUR Path tiles may be in a group.
- Maximum FOUR Field tiles may be in a group.
- Maximum TWO Garden tiles may be in a group.
- This restriction applies equally to finished tiles and tiles under construction.
To count as a group, each tile must be adjacent to at least one other tile of the same type. Path tiles must also be connected to one another (so that a monk could walk from tile to tile). In other words, adjacent but unconnected Path tiles do not form a group.

Path, Field, and Garden tiles laid as part of a group earn extra points during scoring.

Exchanging

Instead of laying a tile, a player may exchange a tile. He simply draws a tile from the bag and swaps it for one of the tiles behind his screen, or places it directly back in the bag.

Every exchange means that the player has one more tile than the other players.

Every unlaid tile counts as minus points at the end of the game.

Movement of the Monks

Each player always has at least one monk in the monastery. A monk may either be standing upright or praying (leaning forward, half reclined).

In this step, a player has twice as many movement points available as he currently has upright monks in the monastery.

Example: A player has four upright monks in the monastery, so he may use a maximum of 8 movement points.

Praying monks do not affect the number of movement points.

Example: A player has three upright monks in the monastery and two praying ones, so he may use a maximum of 6 movement points.

A player may distribute his movement points among some or all of his upright monks, entirely as he sees fit.

Example: The red player has 8 movement points. He could move one of his monks 5 movement points and another 3; the other two monks could then no longer move.

Praying monks may never move.
Movement points need not be fully used; unused points are lost and cannot be saved.

Monks move from tile to tile, either along connected paths, or via a gateway to a path or gateway connected to it. Moving from one tile to an adjacent tile costs 1 movement point.

The Abbey counts as 1 tile for movement.

Occupied Tiles

A monk's movement may not end on a fully-occupied tile.

Any number of monks may be in the Abbey; it is never fully occupied.

During his movement, a monk may pass over:

any finished tile
any fully-occupied tile under construction.

If a monk moves onto a tile under construction that is not yet fully occupied, he must stop and be placed on one of the still-empty numbered boxes; he may not move any further in this Laying Tiles and Movement step.

If a monk begins his Laying Tiles and Movement on a tile under construction, he may only leave it if it is not fully occupied. No monk may leave a fully-occupied tile under construction.

If a monk begins his Laying Tiles and Movement on a tile under construction, he may move onto an unoccupied numbered box of that tile for free (i.e. he pays no movement points for this).

Encouragement

At the end of his Laying Tiles and Movement step, a player may place any number of blessings from his own supply onto one or more tiles under construction. The first player to move one of his monks onto such a tile receives all of the blessings on that tile. This may, in some cases, be the same player who placed the blessings there.

Scoring

During scoring, a player first receives points, with which he then collects letters and monks from the Prayer Board.

Through his monks, a player earns points in three ways: by building, by prayer, or by toil. However, each monk can earn points in only one of these ways during a given scoring.

Building

For all fully-occupied tiles under construction, a player receives as many points as are shown in each numbered box on those tiles where his monks are standing.

Example: The under-construction Kitchen is fully occupied. The red player has one monk each on the box marked 3 and the box marked 1, giving him 4 points. A green monk stands on the box marked 2, so the green player receives 2 points in his scoring.

A fully-occupied tile under construction is turned over to its finished side during a scoring, but only after all monks on that tile have received their points.

Example: The red player has two monks on the Workshop, which is now fully occupied. The red player receives a total of 3 points and turns the tile over.

In the Kitchen example above, the red player receives his points during his scoring. The tile, however, is only turned over after the green player has also received his points during his own scoring.

When a tile is turned over, all monks are first removed from it, then it is turned over - taking great care that its orientation remains unchanged - and afterward the previously removed monks are placed back on it.

A monk involved in building a tile in this way can do nothing else during this scoring, be it prayer, toil, or the use of a symbol tile.

Fields, Paths, and Gardens

When a monk finishes building a Field, Path, or Garden, the player receives one point for a Field or Path tile, and two points for a Garden tile. If such a tile belongs to a group, the player also receives points for all other finished adjacent tiles in that group.

Example: A monk finishes building Field C. The player receives 3 points.

A player can receive a maximum of four points this way (from four Fields or four Paths, or two Gardens).
Tiles under construction that belong to a group earn no points during a scoring.

Example: Paths A and B are finished, Paths C and D are still under construction. A monk finishes Path D, earning only 1 point for it. Later another monk finishes Path C; that player receives 4 points for it.

Prayer

A player may, during each of his own scorings, call one of his monks to prayer. This monk must be alone on the tile, and is immediately placed in a forward-leaning, half-reclined posture; in return, the player receives as many points as shown in the scoring circle of that tile.

A monk cannot pray on a tile still under construction, or on a tile that has only just been finished.
A monk sunk in prayer can be stood upright again no earlier than the next Prayer Hour round. Until then, the praying monk can neither move, nor gain further points from prayer or toil, nor use the symbol of the tile.
A monk may use the symbol of the tile before sinking into prayer.
Other monks may move onto or across a tile with a praying monk on it, but may neither toil there nor use the symbol of the tile.

Toil

If he is not currently building or praying, a monk may earn 1 point for his toil simply by standing on a suitable tile.

During a Study round, every finished grey Study tile yields 1 point to each player who has at least one monk there.

Anyone with at least 1 monk in the Abbey also receives 1 point for it during a Study round.

During a Toil round, every finished brown Toil tile yields 1 point to each player who has at least one monk there.

Toil points are awarded per tile per player. If a player has more than one monk on such a tile, he still only receives 1 point for it.

A monk cannot toil or study on a tile where another monk is praying.
A monk may use the symbol of the tile as well as toil or study there.

Collecting Letters and Monks, and Receiving Blessings

After determining his points, the player now uses them to collect letters, monks, and blessings.

The costs for letters and monks are shown at the top edge of the Prayer Board; the number shown there applies to the column beneath it. A player may collect any combination of letters and monks with his points (as long as he can pay for them with his points).

Example: The red player can spend 7 points. He takes a 3-point monk and two 2-point letters.

Letters and monks may be taken from anywhere on the Prayer Board, not only from the player's own sentence part.

A player may also take another player's monk and place it in the Abbey (sometimes a clever tactical move). The monk, of course, still belongs to the other player.

If a player does not use all of his points, he receives blessings for the remainder.

Unused Points	Blessings Received
1 to 4 points	One blessing
5 to 9 points	Two blessings
10 to 14 points	Three blessings
15 points and more	Four blessings

Players keep their blessings hidden behind their screen. Each blessing is worth 1 point and can be used during a later scoring to help collect letters and monks.

Unused blessings contribute to determining the winner at the end of the game.

If a player is due blessings and the supply is exhausted, every player must immediately place one blessing into the supply, and then the player receives his blessing. A player with no blessings cannot place one into the supply either.

Placing Monks and Letters

Monks newly collected from the Prayer Board are placed immediately into the Abbey.

Letters newly collected from the Prayer Board are placed immediately onto a corresponding empty space on any letter track.

Anyone placing a letter on their own letter track places it large-letter side up (yellow border visible).

Anyone placing a letter on another player's letter track (to deny them points at game end) places it small-letter side up (black border visible).

For every letter a player places on another player's letter track, he immediately receives a blessing.

Completed Sentence Part

As soon as a player's sentence part is complete (every space on his letter track is filled), his costs for collecting letters and monks are reduced. The costs at the bottom edge of the Prayer Board then apply to him, with the number shown there applying to the column above it.

This cost reduction takes effect immediately, even during a scoring.

The Prayer Hour Rounds

During a Prayer Hour round, three actions take place:

All monks currently praying return to the Abbey and are stood upright there.
The next Abbot is chosen. The next Abbot is the player who now has the most monks in the Abbey. This may be the same player as the previous Abbot. In case of a tie, the previous Abbot chooses one of the tied players as the new Abbot, but may never choose himself. It also counts as a tie if no one has a monk in the Abbey.
Each player draws as many tiles from the bag as shown on the hour-disc (three tiles at Matins, two tiles at Sext (Midday Prayer), one tile at Vespers (Evening Prayer)).

The Night Round

During the Night Round, all monks must gather in the Abbey, no matter where in the monastery they are or what they are doing.

Nothing else happens during the Night Round.

Game End and Victory

The game ends when one of the following conditions occurs:

The last letter has been taken from the Prayer Board, completing the last sentence part.
It is no longer possible to lay any further tiles.
It is the Night Round of the second day.

The current round is always played to completion.

It can happen that a player is no longer able to collect any more letters in the final round.

Each player then determines the value of his testament:

Every large letter of his own sentence part counts for 3 testament points.
Every unlaid tile behind his own screen counts as a number of testament minus points equal to the value shown in its circle.
- Livestock tiles have no value and therefore count as zero.
Every blessing of his own counts for 1 testament point.

The player with the most testament points wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied player whose sentence part is lowest on the Prayer Board wins.

The Livestock Tiles

The three Livestock tiles - Beehive, Carp Pond, and Dovecote - work differently from the other tiles.

Livestock tiles are always laid immediately finished-side up.

Livestock tiles have no paths, and so must always border "empty" sides or gateways; furthermore, they cannot be entered. No one receives points for a Livestock tile.

Instead, a player receives a blessing for every tile adjacent to a Livestock tile. This blessing is received immediately when the tile is laid (i.e. during the Laying Tiles and Movement step, not during scoring).

Example: A player lays the Beehive so that it is adjacent to two tiles. The player immediately receives two blessings.

It does not matter whether the adjacent tiles are finished or under construction; another Livestock tile may also be adjacent.

The Dual-Purpose Tiles

The three dual-purpose tiles - Garderobes, Infirmary, and Refectory - count as both Study and Toil tiles.

Dual-purpose tiles may be adjacent to grey Study tiles as well as to brown Toil tiles. Put another way, grey Study tiles and brown Toil tiles may be adjacent to dual-purpose tiles.

A player with at least one monk on a dual-purpose tile receives 1 point during both a Study round and a Toil round.

The Secret Passage Tiles

Secret passages allow faster movement. A monk may move from anywhere in the monastery onto his own secret passage tile for just 1 movement point. During the Laying Tiles and Movement step, a player may move any number of his monks this way.

A secret passage cannot be used if a monk is praying on it.

The Prison Cell Tile

Immediately after a new Abbot is elected, he may lock a monk in the Prison Cell. This unfortunate monk may belong to any player and need only be in the Abbey at that moment. He is immediately placed in the Prison Cell to pray (without receiving points for it).

The disgraced monk must remain in the cell until the next Prayer Hour round, at which point this unruly character returns to the Abbey along with all the other praying monks.

If the Prison Cell is fully occupied, no further monk can be locked up there. Even if only one monk is imprisoned and another is merely "visiting," the tile still counts as fully occupied.

In every other respect, the Prison Cell tile functions like a normal, standard tile.

Symbol Tiles

Every symbol tile has a specific effect that a player may use if he has at least one of his own monks there. A player may use any number of symbols during his turn, but each particular symbol only once per turn. The effects of symbol tiles take place during scoring, with the exception of the Brewhouse.

If monks belonging to several players are on a symbol tile, all of those players may use its effect during their own turn.

Monks may use the effect of a symbol tile and, at the same time, earn points for prayer, study, or toil on that tile. However, a symbol tile cannot be used if it has only just been finished this turn, or if a monk is already praying there.

The Chapel - If a player has one of his monks pray here, he receives double the usual points for it (i.e. 6). A maximum of three monks may pray in the Chapel, but no player may have more than one of his own monks pray there. The rule that a monk must be alone on a tile to pray there does not apply to the Chapel.

A monk may not study in the Chapel if a praying monk (or several) is there.
It still remains true that a player may only call one of his monks to prayer during his own scoring.

The Scriptorium - A monk studying here during a Study round brings 1 additional point (2 in total).

The Library - Anyone with at least one of his monks here may swap the positions of two letters on the Prayer Board. After the swap, the tiles are turned over so that the small letter is visible (black border). A letter swapped this way cannot be swapped or turned over again while it remains on the Prayer Board. The letter can, however, still be placed on the player's own letter track large-letter side up, as usual.

The Workshop - Anyone with at least one of his monks here draws a tile from the bag, then must return one of his tiles to the bag (this can be the one he just drew).

The Stables - Anyone with at least one of his monks here may lay one of his tiles, exactly as during the normal Laying Tiles and Movement step.

The Abbot's House - Anyone with at least one of his monks here may call for the immediate re-election of the Abbot. The election is held as usual, except that now not only the monks in the Abbey count, but also all monks in the Abbot's House.

The Brewhouse - The Brewhouse is not used during scoring, but as follows: anyone with at least one of his monks here may, during a Prayer Hour round, stand any number of his praying monks upright wherever they currently are, instead of moving them to the Abbey. Anyone with at least one of his monks here may, during a Night Round, leave any number of his monks wherever they currently are instead of moving them to the Abbey. He may also stand his own praying monks upright, regardless of their current location.

The Almonry - Anyone with at least one of his monks here receives a blessing.

The Farm - A monk working here during a Toil round brings 2 additional points (3 in total).

Variants

The Four-Player Team Game

The normal game is designed for individual players, but there is no reason not to play as teams sometimes. The usual rules apply, with the following changes:

The red and green players form one team, the blue and yellow players the other.
Players may also use their partner's secret passage, in addition to their own.
Anyone placing a letter on their partner's letter track places it large-letter side up. He receives no blessing for it.
At the end of the game, each player counts his own testament points (as usual), then the partners add their points together. The team with the most points wins.

The Simple Game

Monastery is not a complex game, but for less experienced players it can be advisable, for their first game, to play without the effects of the symbol tiles.

The Vow of Silence

As an optional rule, players may agree that talking is only permitted during Prayer Hour rounds. As soon as the Abbot turns the pointer to the next round, silence must be observed.