The Red Cathedral FAQ
95 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Game Setup
- Do the different middle sections and domes work differently, for example which can take a window?
- Can players use the basic and advanced workshop sides in the same game?
- On the advanced board, can both Arches sit together or be stored in the Workshop?
- On the advanced board, do I have to use banners from my inventory before those on the white workshops?
- What are the two banners kept outside the inventory for?
- How many Rubles does each player start with?
Resources, Inventory and the Market
- Are gold and gems materials, and are Rubles materials too?
- Do Rubles go in my inventory?
- How do I increase my inventory size?
- Can I discard materials to make room when I gain more than my inventory holds?
- May I take fewer resources than the Market or a tile gives me?
- How many resources do I get when my die lands on a space that has other dice?
- Can I pay Rubles to move the white or my own die extra spaces, even a full lap?
- Can I choose to move a die fewer spaces than its value?
- Can I move my die again after paying Rubles for extra spaces?
- Can I do the three market actions in any order, and each more than once?
- When the die I moved matches one of my workshop tiles, do I get the tile in addition to the normal space bonus?
- When a workshop tile shows a die, do the dice in that space multiply what I gain?
- Does a workshop tile activate on the space my die started on or the one it ended on?
- If both white workshop spaces hold tiles, can I use both when I move the white die?
Claiming Sections and Workshops
- Do I pay anything to claim a Cathedral section?
- Can I claim a section now and pay for its Workshop tile later?
- When I pay and place a Workshop tile face up, do I get its benefit immediately?
- On the advanced side, what happens if I cannot or will not pay the 3 Rubles for a Workshop tile?
- On the advanced side, if a white workshop space still has its banner, can I place a Workshop tile over it?
Building the Cathedral
- How do the three deliveries of a Build action work, and can I decorate in the same action?
- Can one Build action send materials to several sections or ornamentations?
- Can I deliver a material that a card doesn't require to get rid of it?
- If I deliver the final material to a section, does it complete automatically?
- Can one material from the Teamsters' Guild both build and decorate?
- How much do I lose when a section is completed above my unfinished section?
- Do I take a penalty for my own unfinished section when I complete a section above it myself?
Decorating the Cathedral
- Can I decorate a section that another player built?
- Does the Cross have to go on the tallest tower?
- Do I have to add jewels when I decorate?
- How much Prestige do jewels on an Ornamentation score?
- Do the Ornamentation and its jewels count toward the three-material delivery limit?
- Can I add jewels or finish a decoration on a later turn?
- Can I send decoration materials to a section before it is complete?
- Do jewels stay on an Ornamentation and count for majority?
Influence, Guilds and Optional Actions
- Can I use both options on a guild card in the same turn?
- Can I do part of an infinity action, take another market action, then continue?
- Can a Craftsmen's Guild use mix different materials or both buying and selling?
- Which Workshop tile can the Merchants' Guild activate?
- When can I use the optional actions to trade Prestige for Rubles or a re-roll?
- Can I spend Prestige to re-roll dice after the end-of-action roll has already happened?
- Can I spend a Prestige Point while my marker has not yet reached the first Prestige space?
- When I lose a Prestige Point, which space does the marker move to?
The Scoring Track
End of the Game and Final Scoring
- If I complete my sixth section, do I finish my turn?
- How are leftover Rubles and Materials scored at the end?
- How is a tower scored at the end of the game?
- Do I score in a tower where I have only Ornamentations and no Banner, or only an unfinished section?
- How are tower points split when players tie?
- How do towers score in a two-player game?
- Do I drop to the closest Prestige space before or after adding the final scoring points?
- How is a tie for the win decided?
Solitaire Mode
- How many Rubles do I start with in solo mode?
- Does Ivan ever hold or gain Rubles?
- After Ivan moves his Workshop die, are the dice in that space re-rolled?
- If Ivan's die cannot move because the target space holds three dice, does his card still happen?
- How many Recognition Points does Ivan score when his die lands on a space?
- Who decides which section Ivan claims when his priorities do not settle it?
- In what order does Ivan place materials on the Cathedral?
- What happens to Materials Ivan cannot place, and do they score at the end?
- Does Ivan use jewels on his Ornamentations?
- In what order does Ivan place Ornamentations, and what if the Door cannot be placed?
- Does Ivan lose Recognition when I complete a section above his unfinished one?
- Does tower scoring still apply at the end of a solo game?
The Red Cathedral: ContractorsExpansion
- When does Ivan discard Specialist tiles in Contractors solo play?
- When Ivan goes to Moscow with Contractors, which Specialist tile does he take?
- Does Contractors change solo play?
- Do I need the base game to play Contractors?
- Which Workshop tiles are removed in Contractors setup?
- When does the Foreman give its extra awards and penalties?
- Can a Diamond replace any material, including in Ornamentations?
- When do I declare what a Diamond stands for?
- Where do Diamonds come from?
- Are Permits materials, and do they count at the end?
- Do unused Specialist tiles score at the end of the game?
- What happens to a new Specialist tile if I don't pay the 2 Rubles to hire it?
- Does a Specialist's bonus apply when I use the black die?
- What does the black-die Workshop tile give?
- Can a Documentalistas contract be used more than once per turn?
- After a tower is completed and its city scored, can ornaments still be added?
- On the advanced board, must the Yellow Grinch be unlocked before I use its ornament removal?
- Does a Wholesaler's "any market action twice" ability trigger other guilds or Workshop tiles again?
- Does activating a resource tile through a Wholesaler multiply by the dice there?
- Can the Wholesaler's pay-1-Ruble market action be Use Influence or Activate a Workshop Tile?
- Must I use a Reinforcement tile in the turn I get it?
- When a Master Builder ability takes materials from a flipped card, can I take more than it shows?
- What do Workshop tiles cost on the Contractors promo card?
- What does the -2 under the black die space mean?