Orléans: The Plague Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Materials
• Set-up of the Game
• New Elements / Changes in the Course of the Game
  • Plague cards
  • Events
  • The Corpse tokens
  • The Plague Doctor
  • Indulgence
    • When can you fulfill a condition?
    • Getting new Indulgence cards
  • Scoring
  • Special cases
• Appendix
  • Beneficial Deeds
  • Events
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
  • New Place tiles
  • Indulgence cards
  • Plague cards

Game Materials

In 5 player colors:

• 40 Indulgence cards
• 1 Beneficial Deeds board
• 1 Infirmary (one per player)
• 15 Plague cards
• 26 Hour Glass tiles
• 3 Place tiles
• 46 Corpse tokens
• 5 Plague Doctors

Set-up of the Game

Set up the base game of Orléans as usual, with the following changes:

• Instead of the Beneficial Deeds board from the base game, lay out the new Beneficial Deeds board.
• Put the Hour Glass tiles from the base game back into the box. Instead, use the 26 Hour Glass tiles from this expansion.
• Put the two Hour Glass tiles "Outbreak" and "Victory over Plague" aside. Sort the remaining tiles by letter (A, B, C, and D). Mix each stack and put it on the table, face down. Now assemble the Hour Glass tiles as follows: Place the "Victory over Plague" tile face down on the space for the Hour Glass tiles. Take the 4 top tiles from stack "D" and put them face down on top of that tile. Do the same with the stack of "C" tiles, then with "B," and finally, with "A." Lastly, put the "Outbreak" tile on the top of the stack, which now consists of 18 tiles.
• Place all Corpse tokens on the table within reach of all players.
• Separate the Indulgence cards by their backs and shuffle each pile. Give each player 1 random card with "A" on the back and 1 card with "B". Everybody looks secretly at their two Indulgence cards and puts them face down in front of them. Put the remaining "A" and "B" cards back into the box. Form a face-down pile of the "C" cards, reveal the two top cards and lay them out next to the pile.
• Shuffle the Plague cards and reveal 3 of them. Put the remaining cards back into the box.
• Place tiles: If you have only the base game, remove the Place tiles "Sacristy" and "Gunpowder Tower" and lay out the other Place tiles as well as the three new Place tiles, sorted by category.
• If you have additional Place tiles, remove "Sacristy", "Gunpowder Tower" and "Brasserie" (if available); these Place tiles are never used in this expansion. Then add all your Place tiles to the new Place tiles, separate them by category, and lay out 10 random Place tiles (12 in the 5-player game) for each category.
• Now each player still gets an Infirmary Place tile in their color that they connect to their player board, plus a Plague Doctor figure that they put aside for the time being.

New Elements / Changes in the Course of the Game

The course of the game is the same as in the base game. In the following, we explain the new elements and the changes.

Plague cards

The three face-up Plague cards modify the gameplay. The plague has an impact on Orléans and its inhabitants, so that the conditions for the game can change. There are some conditions that only refer to the beginning of the game, and others that apply throughout the entire game. The cards for the changes of the starting conditions are put aside after they have been executed; the cards that apply throughout the entire game remain face up on the table all the time. All players need to pay attention to adhering to these conditions.

Events

As usual, one Hour Glass tile for the current round is turned over in phase 1, and the respective event is resolved in phase 6. Some Hour Glass tiles are marked with a symbol (a disc icon; see the note below). These events occur at a different time or apply during the entire round. The rule for any event requiring a payment with coins is: If players are not able to pay the complete amount, they have to undergo torture for the shortfall, according to the torture rules of the base game.

Transcriber note: the printed symbol on the marked Hour Glass tiles, and the two symbols on the Plague card text (beginning of the game / entire game), are small icons that do not come through the PDF text layer. The words of the rule are transcribed; the icons are described in words only where the printed text itself describes them.

In addition, the events show the number of Corpse tokens each player has to take from the supply at the end of phase 6 and throw into their bag. In case there are not enough Corpse tokens available, then distribute as many per player as possible, so that everybody gets the same quantity.

Example: The Hour Glass tile shows 2 Corpse tokens. There are still 6 tokens available in the four-player game. Now each player throws 1 token (instead of 2) into their bag. The two remaining tokens stay in place.

The Corpse tokens

Corpse tokens cannot be used for actions. When drawing them in phase 3, you place them on the Market, just as other Follower tiles.

Example: In phase 3, Laura can draw 6 tiles out of her bag, since her marker on the Knights track is in the appropriate position. Now she randomly draws 4 Follower tiles and 2 Corpse tokens. So she has only 4 Follower tiles at her disposal for planning the actions in this round (of course, she can also use other Followers standing on the Market place from the previous round).

Over the course of the game, more and more Corpse tokens will accumulate in the bag and on the Market. However, you can also get rid of them:

1. After the event has been resolved in phase 6, you may throw all Corpse tokens that are currently on the Market back into your bag (along with the Corpse tokens that you might get as a result of the event). This way, you have made room on the Market again, but that doesn't mean you have gotten rid of the Corpse tokens for good; it might happen that you draw them again right after that, so that they again block your Market spaces.
   • Important: You can either throw all Corpse tokens from the Market back into the bag or none of them.
   • Attention: If there are 6 or more Corpse tokens on the Market, you may (but don't have to) throw Corpse tokens back into the bag (always before phase 3, i.e., before you draw Follower tiles), so that there are no more than 5 Corpse tokens on the Market. This also applies if the "Wake" event is on display. (Only the Market spaces count. If you have the Cemetery, the tile lying there is not included in the count.)
2. You do penance and fulfill the conditions of an Indulgence card (see below). Then you place this card face up next to your player board, and you may put all Corpse tokens that are currently on your Market back into the general supply.

Other possibilities to get rid of a corpse or to get one can also be triggered by events or Beneficial Deeds.

The Plague Doctor

From the second round on (after the plague has broken out) and for the rest of the game, each player gets a Plague Doctor. Of course, the Doctor is the most important person during the plague and is in high demand. The Plague Doctor can replace any other Character (also the Monk), which makes the Doctor a kind of universal joker. Besides this, he is also available in every round in addition to the Followers that have been drawn. That means that, as usual, you draw the number of tiles out of the bag that corresponds to your position on the Knights track (provided you can place the tiles on the Market) and may also use the Plague Doctor. If you carry out an action where you have placed the Plague Doctor on an Action space, you then put him back onto the upper space of the Infirmary. In the next round, he can be placed again. (Any other tiles used during the action are thrown back into the bag, as usual.)

Indulgence

In order to get rid of Corpse tokens lying on your Market places for good, you need to fulfill the conditions of an Indulgence card. To this end, you reveal the card at the moment right when you meet the condition described on it, and then immediately put all Corpse tokens on the Market back into the general supply. Leave the card face up in front of you; it will give you victory points at the end of the game.

What's important is that you may play a card only if you fulfill the condition actively. That means you cannot play a card if you have already met the condition before that. If, for instance, you have already built 5 or more Trading Stations, you can no longer use the card "Build your 5th Trading Station."

If you donate something, you may already own the goods required; you fulfill the condition actively by giving them up. Similarly, if you deliver something, you can already be at the place required; only by delivering the good required do you fulfill the condition. On a pilgrimage, you fulfill the condition actively right when you reach the place. If you are going to build a Trading Station, you fulfill the condition once it has actually been built; it doesn't play a role whether your figure has already been at the place for a while or not.

When can you fulfill a condition?

You can fulfill a condition and play an Indulgence card anytime during your turn. You may also play several cards at the same time; and you may play them even if you have no Corpse tokens on the Market. Playing a card is not considered an action; it is done in addition, before or after your action. You can also fulfill Indulgence cards in phase 6 when you resolve an event (for instance, when the event allows you to draw and thus enables you to reach a place of pilgrimage) and, in doing so, you meet the condition of an Indulgence card.

If you own any Indulgence cards that you cannot fulfill any more, you keep the cards, but you can no longer play them (and so you won't get any points for them at the end of the game). If, for instance, you have the card "Build a Trading Station in Tours," but another player is building their Trading Station there, you can no longer fulfill this condition.

Getting new Indulgence cards

At the beginning of the game, you already got 2 Indulgence cards. You can acquire additional cards anytime. To do so, you have to carry out the Infirmary action that first needs to be activated either through a Monk or through the Plague Doctor. If you use this action, you may take another card: either one of the face-up cards on display or the top card from the face-down pile. Put the card face down in front of you, until you fulfill the condition.

If you take one of the face-up cards on display, you then immediately reveal the top card from the face-down pile and add it to the other face-up cards on display, so that there always are at least 2 Indulgence cards face up on display.

If you take a face-down card, you look at it and put it down next to you. If it is a card you cannot use (because you either have already met the condition or are not able to fulfill it), you put this card face up next to the other face-up cards on display, so that another player can acquire it, and draw a new card from the face-down pile. If you cannot use the new card either, you need to keep it, though.

Note: It can happen that there are face-up cards on display that no player can fulfill any more. Don't remove these cards. Conditions that have already become unfulfillable can become fulfillable again because of an event (e.g., because a Follower tile goes back into the supply). During the course of the game, there can be more than just 2 cards on open display.

The individual cards are listed and explained in detail in the appendix.

Scoring

Tally your points at the end of the game, as usual. Then add the points shown on the Indulgence cards you have played (on those whose condition you were able to fulfill). Now count your Corpse tokens on the Market and in your bag and subtract 1 point for each corpse.

The player with the most points could best defy the plague and is declared the winner.

Special cases

• Corpse tokens that you draw in phase 3 go onto your Market (until they are removed or thrown back into the bag). But if you draw a Corpse token because of an event (e.g., "Rat Infestation"), a Place tile (e.g., "Bathhouse") or a Beneficial Deed ("Alchemy"), you immediately put it back into the general supply. Further steps might then be omitted.
• Note the special case of "Bathhouse": If you draw a Corpse token, put it into the general supply; the other Character goes back into the bag. If you draw two Corpse tokens, put both back into the supply.
• If you obtain Corpse tokens that need to be placed on the Market (e.g., because of the Beneficial Deed "Grave Robbery") but there is no space left, the tiles that cannot be placed are put back into the general supply.

Appendix

Beneficial Deeds

The new Beneficial Deeds have the same placement rules as in the base game. First and foremost, you may never send out your own four (color-marked) Followers, and one type of Character may never be replaced by a Character of a different type (e.g., due to its joker function). The Plague Doctor can never be sent to a Beneficial Deed!

In the two- or three-player game, you may send Followers only to the Beneficial Deeds in the upper area. With four or five players, all Beneficial Deeds are in play. However, you need to consider that you can send Followers to Alchemy II in the bottom area only when Alchemy I in the upper area is complete.

There is no Citizen tile for completing Alchemy I in the upper area, but there is one for completing Alchemy II in the bottom area (i.e., only in the four- or five-player game). With all the other Beneficial Deeds, the player who completes one obtains a Citizen tile as an additional bonus.

You can send out Characters also if you are not able or willing to use the bonus. When a Deed is completed, the player obtains the Citizen tile even if he doesn't use the bonus for sending the Character out.

• Alchemy: You may send out any type of Characters. After that, immediately draw a Character tile out of your bag and place it on an Action space on your player board or on a Place tile. If this activates an action, you can carry it out in the current round. (This way, actions can be activated and carried out even multiple times in a round.) If you draw a Corpse token, put it back into the general supply; you may not then draw another tile.
• Autopsy: You may immediately put one Corpse token from your market back into the supply. All the other players have to take one Corpse token from the supply and place it on their Market. If you cannot put any Corpse token back, the other players don't have to take any.
• Coinage: Take 2 coins from the supply.
• Storeroom: Take 1 Grain tile from the supply.
• Herbalism: Advance 2 spaces on the Development track.
• Messenger Service: You may move your Trader once either over land or over water, but not take any good while you are doing this.
• Cremation: Either advance 1 space on the Development track or take 1 coin from the supply.

Events

• Outbreak: Put your Plague Doctor on the upper part of the Infirmary; he can be used from the next round on. In addition, take one Corpse token from the supply and put it on a space of your Market.
• Victory over Plague: No event takes place.

A

• Training: Each player may pay 2 coins to advance on a track of their choice, receiving the corresponding bonus (but no Follower tile).
• Harvest: You may return 1 food item (grain, cheese or wine) or pay 5 penalty coins. If you can pay neither 1 food item nor 5 coins, you must undergo torture (see base game). You return food items to the Goods Market.
• Income: Each player gets coins according to their development status (stars). You get 2 coins per star.
• Taking to the Road: Draw a tile out of the bag. If it is a Character tile, immediately place it on an Action space. If you draw a Corpse token, put it back into the general supply.
• Consolation: You may pay 2 coins to buy a face-down Order.
• Indulgence: You may pay 2 coins to buy any one Follower tile – except a Monk. Immediately put the tile back into the bag. Do not advance on the corresponding track.

B

• Bon Voyage: Beginning with the starting player, each player may pay 2 coins to move their Trader across a road or water, getting a good along the way.
• Sabotage: Technology fails. This round, you may not take any actions that have a Technology tile on one of their Action spaces.
• Trading Day: Each player gets 1 coin for each of their Trading Stations.
• Exorcism: Reveal another Indulgence card and put it next to the others in the open display.
• Closing Day: This round, you may not fulfill an Indulgence card. Consequently, you cannot remove any Corpses in this way.
• Rat Infestation: Draw 5 tiles out of your bag. First remove Corpse tokens (if you have drawn any) and put them back into the supply. Then choose one Follower tile (but not one of your own) and put it back onto the gameboard. If you have drawn nothing but Corpses and your own Followers, removal of the Follower tile is omitted.
• Grave Goods: Against a payment of 2 coins per corpse, you may put any number of Corpse tokens from your Market back into the general supply.
• Retraining: Each player may spend a good of their choice to advance on the Development track. Advance a number of spaces equal to the victory point value of the good you spend (i.e., 1 space for grain, 2 spaces for cheese, etc.). If you cannot or do not want to spend a good for this, you must pay a penalty fee of 3 coins, without advancing on the Development track.
• Peasant Uprising: This round (in phase 4), Farmers can replace any Followers, except Monks. In phase 6, you must return all Farmers that are still left on Action spaces designated for other Followers to your bag.

C

• Malfunction: Each player must discard a Technology tile of their choice, returning it to the supply. If you don't have any Technology tile, the event doesn't count for you.
• Goods Tax: Each player has to pay 1 coin for every 3 goods they have.
• Curfew: This round, you may not move your Trader. (Not even due to "Messenger Service" or other special actions.)

D

• Rat Infestation: Draw 5 tiles out of your bag. First remove Corpse tokens (if you have drawn any) and put them back into the supply. Then choose one Follower tile (but not one of your own) and put it back onto the gameboard. If you have drawn nothing but Corpses and your own Followers, removal of the Follower tile is omitted.
• Arson: Each player loses one Place tile. You may freely decide which one you give up; this tile is removed from the game. If you don't have any Place tile, you can ignore the event.
• Development Tax: Pay taxes according to your current development status. Give up 1 coin for every status (star) you have reached.
• Fast Travel: You may advance your Trader 1 or 2 towns, but not collect any good while you are doing this. This action is optional.
• Wake: At the end of the round, you may not throw any Corpse tokens back into the bag – unless there are more than 5 Corpses lying on your Market. In this case, you may reduce the Corpses on the Market to 5.
• Quarantine: This round, you may not use your Plague Doctor.

New Place tiles

• Cemetery: The cemetery extends the Market by an additional space. However, you may only place a Corpse token there.
• Back Door: With the back door, you can acquire an Indulgence card. You may take either one of the face-up cards on display or the top three cards from the face-down pile, look at them, choose one and shuffle the other two back into the cards of the pile.
• Medicinal Spring: This action can only be activated with the Plague Doctor. To this end, put any one Follower tile (not one of your own and not a Monk) on the right space and, when carrying out the action, send it back into the supply. Then advance one space on the corresponding track and receive the bonus, but not a Follower tile.

Indulgence cards

The printed appendix shows the Indulgence card conditions in a grid, read here row by row, left to right.

• Make a pilgrimage to Vierzon / Sancerre / Le Mans / Chinon / Loches / Étampes / Argenton-sur-Creuze
• Build your 5th Trading Station
• Reach development status 3
• Donate 1 grain / 1 cheese / 1 wine / 1 wool / 1 brocade / 3 coins / 5 grain / 3 cheese / 3 wine / 5 coins / 10 coins
• Get your 2nd Technology tile
• Reach development status 5
• Build 1 Trading Station in Chartres / 1 Trading Station in Montargis / 1 Trading Station in Blois / 1 Trading Station in Tours / 1 Trading Station in Le Blanc / 1 Trading Station in Nevers
• Get your 3rd Place tile
• Advance on the Census track to the first Wine space
• Deliver 1 brocade to Orléans / 1 grain to Vendôme / 1 wool to Briare / 5 coins to Chatellerault / 1 cheese and 1 wine to Bourges
• Get your 2nd Citizen
• Collect 2 Monks on your Market
• Build your 3rd Trading Station that is not located at a river
• Get a Citizen by completing a Beneficial Deed
• Reach the end of a track

Plague cards

The printed Plague card sheet lists the 15 Plague cards in rows of three.

• You may use the farmhouse only when you have left Orléans.
• At the beginning, remove as many Scholars as there are players.
• At the beginning, remove half the Technology tiles from the gameboard.
• You may use the Plague Doctor only from the third round on.
• At the beginning, remove half the Monks from the Monastery.
• Immediately remove the second Hour Glass tile.
• Pay 1 coin at the beginning of each round in which at least 1 Corpse is lying on your Market (or on the cemetery if you have this Place tile).
• You may not place any Technology tile in the village.
• Every time you build a Trading Station, pay 1 coin.
• You may use the Town Hall only when you have reached the 3rd star on the Development track.
• At the beginning, each player puts 2 Corpses from the supply on their Market.
• At the beginning, each player removes 4 of their Trading Stations.
• You may not place any Technology tiles on Place tiles.
• At the beginning, each player puts 1 Corpse from the supply on their Market.
• The money bonuses on the Development track are omitted.