Ruins (fan expansion for 7 Wonders)

Expansion for 7 Wonders Expansion for 7 Wonders: Cities Expansion for 7 Wonders: Leaders

Ruins (fan expansion for 7 Wonders) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Material

44 ruin cards
2 new leaders
4 new gods
3 new wonders
6 "reconstruction" tokens
1 rulebook

Game Setup

Like leaders, but before them. Each player takes 4 ruin cards, chooses one and passes the rest to their left, and so on until they have the 4 selected cards. The players play 3 out of 4 (they put them next to or on the wonder according to their ability) and they discard the last one.

Attention: unlike leaders, each ruin is not played at the beginning of each age, but all ruins are played at the same time at the beginning before starting the game.

Once this is finished, start the game normally.

Precision: the expansion Ruins could be played with the basic game only or with the other expansions. You just have to not take the last ruin cards (they have a symbol to know to which expansion they belong to).

New Mechanics

The Reconstruction

The "reconstruction" tokens are put on ruin cards and reverse the effects: the money loss turns into a gain, victory point loss turns into a gain, the additional cost turns into a lower cost, the double loss turns into dividing (rounded to the lower unit) and the cancel effects turn into restoring effects (the red crosses turn into green "V"). These cards do not have a reverse effect, just a canceling effect, except for "flooded metropolis" that allows you to play the last card of each age.

Not a lot of other novelties, most of the pictos are obvious and look a lot like the ones you know, but are applied as malus. The khaki, brownish colour on the coin pictos or on the negative victory point pictos mean that it's a malus that is applied to you, and only you. If an element appears transparent, it means "if you do not have...". The rest of the symbols is explained in the detail of cards.

Do not take "debt" tokens when the effect of a negative victory point ruin card applies. Just add your total penalty of each card at the end of the game and register it with debt and money in the score sheet.

Note: it is not necessary to have the Cities cards to play with Ruins, but it is strongly recommended to use the "debt" tokens if you have them (remember you cannot get into debt voluntarily to play a card).

Ruin Cards (Explanations)

The card names are printed as shown in the source. Where one effect is printed once for several cards, the shared text is kept.

Dusty Remains

You cannot use your basic production.

Burning Shores, Village on Fire, Volcano Eruption

You cannot build the 1st, 2nd or 3rd step of your wonder. Attention: you do not have to build the step either. Put your ruin card on the wonder corresponding location.

Exhausted Quarry, Petrified Forest, Snowy Ground, Buried Mine

Each step of your wonder costs 1 more resource. Attention: this applies, regardless of the number of steps of your wonders.

Precarious Foundations

You have to build a pre-step. Put a card under this one. Attention: does not count as a wonder step.

Decrepit Shop

You start with 3 coins less.

Inhabitable Area

You start with 5 victory points less.

Degraded Villa

Each chain costs 1 coin.

Disreputable Sewer

Discarding a card grants 2 coins less. Note: discarding a card grants you 1 coin and 3 for the player with the wonder "Yeriho" (2 and 4 if you have Berenice as leader).

Destroyed City

Each red card costs 1 coin per shield displayed on it.

Deserted Prison, Desolated Bastion

Each time you have to get 1 "debt/defeat" token, take 2. Note: if there aren't enough tokens, let's just say that each token counts twice.

Ravaged Sanctuary

You cannot play a guild card.

Flooded Metropolis

Neither play the last (normal) nor the penultimate card of each age.

Ransacked House

Each purchase of one or more resources from a neighbour costs 1 coin to the bank. Note that this loss is limited to 1 coin per neighbour per turn.

Submerged City

Remove 1 card placed at the end of each age (not a wonder step). Leaders allowed, but no gods, and, of course, no other ruins!

Sunken Temple

Each card, with at least 1 resource, costs 1 more resource. The free cards stay free.

Invasive Vegetation

-6 victory points if you do not have those 6 colours at the end of the game.

Forsaken Place of Worship

-5 victory points if you play 5 or more cards of the same colour. Note: the power is also applied twice if you have 2 heaps (or more) of different colours (example: 5 red cards and 6 green cards).

Dismantled Empire

-6 victory points if you do not have the 3 manufactured goods at the end of the game (commercial cards allowed).

Collapsed Roof

At the beginning of each age another player randomly selects the card you have to play.

Dilapidated Arsenal

You lose in case of military equality. Attention: this symbol does not count as a shield, not even a half-shield.

Forgotten Hippodrome, Degraded Forum

Each Scientific symbol or direct victory point card to place costs 1 coin (the number of victory points is irrelevant).

Moldy Woodwork

Each loss of coins is increased by 1. This increase is limited to one coin per turn.

Necropolis, Macabre Crypt, Gloomy Cemetery, Abandoned Library, Grounded Ship, Empty Granary, Cursed Cave

At the end of the game each card costs 1 victory point (2 points for leaders).

Burnt Watchtower, Silted Rubble, Scattered Debris

You cannot play a Leader at age I, II or III.

Broken Stele, Demolished Tholos, Dislocated Vault

You cannot play a god at age I, II or III.

Razed Place

Play a god at age I costs 1 more resource, makes you lose 2 coins at age II, and costs 2 victory points at the end of the game.

Fractured Bridge

You can only play gods with different effects.

Leaders

Cyrus

Delete one of your ruin cards.

Nabonidus

Take a "reconstruction" token.

Gods

Centaurus

Age I: take 2 coins and the other players lose 1 coin.
Age II & III: exchange one of your ruin cards with one of an other player.

Cyclop

Your neighbours randomly take an unused ruin card.

Giant

Age I & II: take 2 coins per unbuilt wonder step of your neighbours.
Age III: take a "reconstruction" token.

Manticore

Double your coins, but you have to randomly take an unused ruin card.

Guilds

Renovators Guild

4 victory points for each "reconstruction" token present in the neighbouring cities.

Wonders

Ouroúk (Uruk) - Ziggurat

Basic power: your neighbours have to play their 4th ruin card.

Side A:

Step 1: 3 victory points.
Step 2: 3 coins per unbuilt wonder step among your neighbours.
Step 3: 7 victory points.

Side B:

Step 1: all other players must pay you 1 coin each time they build a stage of their wonder.
Step 2: destroy the last wonder step built by your neighbours.
Step 3: 4 victory points per unbuilt wonder step among your neighbours.

Sinópe (Sinope) - Serapeum

Basic power: at each draft, take an unused ruin card, choose your ruin normally, then discard one and then give the remaining cards to your left neighbour.

Side A:

Step 1: 3 victory points.
Step 2: take a "reconstruction" token.
Step 3: 7 victory points.

Side B:

Step 1: take a "reconstruction" token + 2 victory points.
Step 2: take a "reconstruction" token + 3 victory points.

Túros (Tyre) - Necropolis

Basic power: play one ruin card less.

First side (printed without a letter in the source):

Step 1: 3 victory points.
Step 2: delete one of your ruin cards.
Step 3: 7 victory points.

Second side (printed without a letter in the source):

Step 1: exchange one of your ruin cards with one of the discard (precision: choose your ruin before looking in the discard).
Step 2: 5 victory points.
Step 3: your neighbours randomly take an unused ruin card.

Rules for Team Play

Basic team rules stay unchanged. Your ruins do not apply to your team mate, only to you. But you can decide to do it to increase the difficulty.

Rules for 2 Players

Rules stay unchanged.

Rules for 8 Players

Rules stay unchanged. Note: the 8-player game is mainly intended for the team play variant.

End of the Game

Like in the base 7 Wonders game, the game ends at the end of age III, after the Conflict phase. Each player totals up the points of their civilization, and the player whose total is the highest is declared the winner.

Note: for more simplicity, count the ruin points in the same line of the scoreboard as the debt and coins.

F.A.Q.

Q: Does the debt rule apply if we play Ruins without Cities? A: If you have Cities, but do not want to add too many cards, it's still recommended to use the "debt" tokens. But you can do without, if you prefer.

Q: What happens if you play the flooded metropolis and another card or wonder step that allows you to play the last card (example: Babylon B)? A: Their two effects cancel each other out, it's as if you played normally.

Q: If I have the "destroyed city" card, do all shields cost me money? A: No, only those on the red cards. Those on black cards, orange, leaders, gods or wonder steps cost nothing.

Q: If I have a card that keeps me from building the wonder step 1 or 2, if I then build step 3, and then get rid of my ruin, may I rebuild these steps? A: Absolutely, otherwise removing this ruin has no interest.

Q: What happens if somehow I gain a new ruin that keeps me from building an already built wonder step? A: It is still considered as built, but the power does not apply any more.

Q: Same question if the "precarious foundations" card appears and I have already started building my wonder steps? A: If the wonder is finished, good for you, you'll have no interest in building the foundations. But if your wonder is not finished, you have to build it before the rest of your steps.

Q: I have a wonder with 1, 2 or 4 steps; how does the ruins that keep me from building the steps work for my wonder? A: 1 step: each card could be applied to the single step. 2 steps: the card "Village on fire" (middle step) applied to the 1st or 2nd step and the card "Volcano eruption" (last step) to the 2nd step. 4 steps: the "Volcano eruption" card (last step) applies to the 3rd or 4th step. In any case, you can only play one ruin by wonder step. Also do this even if there is no order for the steps. Example: Boris has the wonder "Rhodes" (B), and the cards "Burning shores", that he can only put on his 1st step, and "Village on fire", that he can put on his 1st or his 2nd. If he plays both those cards, he will have to put "Burning shores" in 1 and "Village on fire" in 2. And his 3rd ruin cannot be "Volcano eruption" because he would be able to play it.

Q: May I use "reconstruction" tokens on the same ruin to double the positive effects? A: No. Only one "token" by ruin.

Q: May I buy or resell your expansions? A: ABSOLUTELY NOT. My expansions are put online in print to play, I make no profit on it. It's not my game, just a personal expansion from the original game by Antoine Bauza.

Q: I have a few ideas of expansions for 7 Wonders, but not enough for something complete, or I do not have the capacity to achieve them. May I present them to you? A: Of course, I always answer everybody, and as quickly as possible. You could leave a message on the designer's website or contact him via email.