Sevilla 1503 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Game Setup
• Phases of Each Round
  • Reveal New Lots
  • Secret Bidding
  • Rebidding Rounds
  • Collection Phase
  • Preparation for the Next Round
• End of the Game, Boarding and Scoring
  • Boarding
  • Scoring
• List of Auction Cards and Clarifications
  • Officers
  • Crew Members
  • Ship's Boys, Goods and Carpentry
• Clarifications
• Palace Mode
• Rebels Expansion
• 2-Player Mode
  • Setup

Objective

The player who manages to gather the greatest value in goods and crew wins.

Components

• 88 Auction cards:
  • 20 Goods (brown)
  • 20 Carpentry pieces (gold)
  • 20 Officers (blue)
  • 20 Crew members (green)
  • 8 Ship's boys (purple)
• 15 Patron cards (red): 5 Nobility, 5 Church, 5 Crown
• 1 Helm token
• 12 Ship cards
• 10 Ship cards with capacity 1
• 5 reversible Bidding boards
• 85 coins (30 / 20 / 10 / 25 in the four denominations)
• 1 Scorepad
• 5 Coin screens (optional)

Game Setup

1. Shuffle all the cards with the red back to form the Auction Deck. Place it face down in the centre of the table.

2. Take the Ship cards and select all those with the symbol corresponding to the number of players in this game. Sort them from lowest to highest by the number printed on the banner and place them face up forming a deck next to the Auction deck. The ship of lowest value will be visible.

3. Take 2 Ship cards of value 1 for each player and place them next to the auction and ship decks. Return the rest to the box.

4. Each player receives three Patron cards (Nobility, Church and Crown), a bidding board, 5 false coins and the amount of coins corresponding to the number of players:

   • 3 players: 6 coins
   • 4 players: 7 coins
   • 5 players: 8 coins

   After dealing the coins, leave the rest as a reserve next to the decks, within reach of all players. Players who want to play with more false coins than the initial ones may take them from the reserve (with 3 and 4 players).

5. Give the Helm token to the last player who has been at sea.

6. Finally, lay out the lots for the first round of auctions. To do so, cards from the Auction Deck are revealed and the number of lots corresponding to the number of players is formed:

   • 3 players: 4 lots
   • 4 players: 5 lots
   • 5 players: 6 lots

   Each lot is made up of two Auction cards, except the last one. This one is placed at the far right and is made up of one Auction card and a Ship (the first of the Ship deck). In addition, whenever the two Auction cards of any lot share the same type (colour), you add a Ship card of value 1 to that lot. Everything is ready to begin!

The screens are not mandatory during setup. They are included as an aid for players who prefer to manage their coins on the table instead of keeping them in hand during the game. The screens are not needed to hide bids, since the false coins serve the function of bluffing and concealment in the lots.

Phases of Each Round

The game consists of 8 rounds, divided in turn into the following phases:

*When the Ship card deck runs out, the last round begins.

Reveal New Lots

At the start of each round, reveal a new series of lots that will go up for auction (Lot 1, Lot 2, Lot 3, Lot 4, Lot 5...).

Secret Bidding

In this phase, simultaneously, the players assign face down the coins they wish for each lot in the numbered spaces of their bidding board. The lots are read and numbered from left to right, the last one always being the one that contains the ship card. (False coins are never lost. They always return to your reserve when you reveal them. False coins serve to hide your real bids and prevent the other players from guessing how much money you put on each lot.)

Rebidding Rounds

For each lot you will play a rebidding round:

All players reveal the money bid on the first lot. All those who have bid at least 1 coin may take part in the rebidding. (A bid made only with false coins does not allow rebidding.)

The player with the Helm token chooses whether they want to be the first or the last to rebid. If they choose to be the last, the first player to their left who has put at least 1 coin becomes the first with the possibility of rebidding.

To rebid, each player must decide whether to claim an advance from one of their three patrons. The combined value of the coins plus the patron's "advance" must exceed the highest bid. Place the money on the patron card and slide it slightly forward to show the accumulated total to the other players. There is only one chance to rebid per lot. Rebidding is not mandatory. Rebidding can only be done with the patron cards.

If no player bids for a lot, or if several players bid the same amount for the same lot and none wants to rebid, it is discarded.

Each time a player wins a lot, they pay the coins to the bank, turn over the patron they used in the rebid (if they used one), and receive the cards won:

• If they win a Ship card (regardless of its capacity), they place it face up in front of them.
• If they win cards from the Auction Deck, they accumulate them face down in their play area forming a pile of cards (they may look at the cards they have won whenever they want).

Players who do not win a lot return the money and the patron assigned to that lot to their reserve. The patron card remains available for the following rebids of this round.

Collection Phase

Once all the lots of the round have been assigned, the collection phase takes place. In this last phase of the round each player receives money equal to the sum of the values of the Patron cards that they did not turn over during the rebids. (At the end of the last round, collection also takes place.)

Preparation for the Next Round

Players place face up the Patron cards that they had face down, and the Helm token is given to the player who won the last Ship card. You can now reveal the next series of lots.

End of the Game, Boarding and Scoring

Boarding

When the eight rounds of the game have finished, all players board the Goods and Crew that fit in their ships. Add up the capacity of all ships (number printed on the banner), then organize the Auction cards obtained during the game and board those that contribute the most points, taking into account the limited capacity of the fleet.

• Each Goods card takes up half a space.
• Each Character (Ship's boys, Crew members and Officers) takes up 1 space.
• Each Carpentry card (4 different pieces) takes up a quarter of a space.

If players have more Goods and Crew than capacity in their ships, they must discard those that cannot be boarded.

Scoring

Once the eight weeks of preparation are finished, we count the value of our fleet before its departure for the Americas.

• Each card indicates the points it gives or can give by fulfilling different objectives/requirements.
• Every 4 coins in the player's reserve grant 1 victory point.
• The player with the most victory points is the winner.
• In case of a tie, the tied player with the most money wins. If the tie persists, the victory is shared.

List of Auction Cards and Clarifications

The cards of Sevilla 1503 have synergies and combinations that grant valuable VP (victory points) to the players who gather and board them. As a hint for the first games, keep in mind that the goods cards (brown) combine with most of the crew cards (green), and that the officer cards (blue) combine with each other and with the crew cards.

Officers

• Administrator (2x): Grants 3 VP for each Storekeeper (Bodeguero) card boarded.
• Chief Pilot (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Ship card (capacity 1 included).
• Chaplain (2x): Grants 3 VP for each Friar card boarded.
• Lieutenant (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Crew member card boarded.
• Rancher (2x): Grants 3 VP for each Butcher card boarded.
• Captain General (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Officer card boarded.
• Governor (2x): Grants 3 VP for each Soldier card boarded.
• Admiral (2x): Grants 4 VP if you have at least 4 different Officer cards boarded.
• Boatswain (2x): Grants 2 VP for each Ship's boy card boarded.
• Treasurer (2x): Grants 4 VP if at the end of the game you have ten coins or more.

Crew Members

• Storekeeper / Bodeguero (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Oil card boarded. Your Oil cards do not take up space in your ships.
• Friar (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Wine card boarded. Your Wine cards do not take up space in your ships.
• Soldier (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Armament card boarded. Your Armament cards do not take up space in your ships.
• Master (Maestre) (2x): Grants 4 VP if you have at least 4 different Crew member cards boarded.
• Carpenter (2x): Grants 4 VP if you have at least one complete Carpentry set boarded.
• Butcher (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Livestock card boarded. Your Livestock cards do not take up space in your ships.
• Scribe (2x): Grants 4 VP if you have at least 1 Ship's boy, Officer, Crew member and Goods card boarded.
• Surgeon (2x): Grants 1 VP for each Ship's boy card boarded. Your Ship's boy cards do not take up space in your ships.
• Diver (2x): Acts as a wild card to complete Carpentry sets. Each Diver replaces one missing piece.
• Cook (2x): Grants 4 VP if you have at least 1 Goods card of each type boarded. *There are 4 different ones.

Ship's Boys, Goods and Carpentry

• Goods (20x): There are 4 different Goods cards (5 copies of each). Each provides 1 VP if boarded and takes up only 1/2 space. In addition, the different goods combine with some characters, making them even more valuable.
• Ship's boys (8x): Ship's boys do not provide points by themselves and take up 1 space. Combine them with the Boatswain, the Surgeon and the Scribe so that they score.
• Carpentry (20x): There are 4 different Carpentry cards (5 copies of each piece). If you manage to gather a set of 4 different pieces and board it, it grants 8 VP. It takes up 1 space in the fleet.

Clarifications

Can I rebid in the rebidding phase with more than one patron for a lot? No. Rebids with patron cards are made by selecting one of those available at that moment. It is not possible to combine them to increase the rebid.

Do I have to bid with all the available coins and for all the lots? No. You can manage your coins as you wish and bid for the lots you want. It is advisable not to leave empty gaps on your auction board so as not to give information about your interests to your rivals. You can use false coins and fill the lots that do not interest you to hide your intentions.

May I look at the face-down coins I have placed on a lot during the blind bidding phase and rebidding? Yes. At any time the player wishes.

If a card would allow fulfilling the requirements of two others at once in the final scoring after boarding, does it score for both? Yes. Cards are not mutually exclusive. For example: a Chaplain (crew-green) grants 3 VP for each Friar and the Lieutenant (officer-blue) grants 1 VP for each crew (green) card. If the player has a Friar card on their ships, the Friar triggers both the 3 VP of the Chaplain and the VP of the Lieutenant.

(Translator's note: the example is transcribed as printed; the card list elsewhere in the rulebook places the Chaplain among the Officers.)

Is it necessary to group the cards I have won and want to board by placing them under my ship cards or assigning them in some other way? No. When we refer to "boarding", it is a matter of comparing the total capacity of your fleet with the total weight of your crew and goods. It is not relevant "where" each card is boarded as long as, in general, the weight is less than or equal to that of the ships.

Palace Mode

Palace mode includes five emblematic buildings of the city that were key in the expansion and history of 16th-century Seville. Each of these buildings grants a unique, asymmetric ability to the player, which they can use to take the victory.

Shuffle the reversible boards and deal one to each player. Return the surplus ones to the box. Carry out the rest of the setup in the usual way.

• El Alcazar: The value during the rebidding phase of your patron card "Royalty" (Crown) is four coins. During the collection phase it grants three coins.
• Atarazanas: All your ship cards have one additional point of capacity.
• El Arenal: Once per round you may take one of the cards of a lot you have just won, except the ship card, and place it at the bottom of the auction deck. If you do, draw the top card of the auction deck and add it to your won cards.
• El Puerto: When another player wins a ship card of capacity 1, they must pay you one coin or give you this ship.
• Casa del Comercio: At the end of each round you may exchange one card from your reserve for two coins.

Rebels Expansion

This expansion adds a new type of crew distinguished by its black background and new mechanics. Shuffle them into the auction deck to begin a new game.

• Padlock: This icon indicates that, at the end of the game, the card must be boarded on one of the ships in the fleet of the player who owns it.
• Deal: This icon indicates that, when the card is won at auction, the player who obtained it has the option of adding it to their won cards or immediately giving it to a rival of their choice.

Cards:

• Mutineer (Amotinado): Must be boarded at the end of the game. Grants 5 VP if the player controls the helm at the end of the last auction round.
• Rogue (Pícaro): Must be boarded at the end of the game. Counts as a Crew (green), Officer (blue) or Ship's boy (purple) card for scoring purposes with other boarded cards.
• Stowaway (Polizón): Must be boarded at the end of the game.

2-Player Mode

This game mode is additional to the basic mode. Keep in mind that the complete rulebook is not detailed here, and it is recommended to play at least once with three or more players before reading this section.

Setup

Carry out a three-player setup in the usual way. The third bidding board acts as a "false player". This AI only has four coins during the game and has no patron cards.

At the start of the game and of each round, give the false player the four coins indicated in the corner of the ship card visible at that moment. Shuffle them face down and place them, randomly, on each of the spaces of its board, covering lots 1 to 4. This will be the false player's blind bidding system during the eight rounds.

• The false player never rebids in the rebidding phase as it has no patron cards.
• The false player never obtains cards, since the lots it "wins" are discarded. Nor does it win the Helm token. In that case the helm remains under the control of the same player.
• The false player never obtains victory points at the end of the game.

The rebidding phase proceeds in the usual way, revealing the players' bids together with those of the false player. The player who holds the helm may speak first or yield the word to their rival. If neither player outbids the false player's bid for a lot, it is left deserted and discarded.

The false player's coins will change as the capacity value of the ships changes (2, 3, 4 and 5). Check it before starting each round.