Tolerance Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
• Set-up
• Card Anatomy
• Playing the Game
  • The Deal
  • The Play
  • End of Trick Scoring
    • Scoring Example
• End of Round Royal Execution and Scoring
  • End-of-Round Royal Execution
  • End of Round Scoring
  • New Round
• Using the Score Sheet
• End of Game Scoring and Winning
• Almanac
  • Loans
  • Prevailing Religion
• Role Descriptions
• Effects Explanation
• Card Effects Summary
  • Nobles
  • Clergy
  • Townsfolk
  • Peasants
  • Wild

Overview

Tolerance is a thematic trick-taking game for three to five players which follows these tumultuous years as Britain cuts adrift from the Catholic church, carving out a new national church, the Church of England, with the monarch as its supreme head. The Reformation also led to the unforeseen redistribution of wealth and land and allowed a resurgence of a 'middle class' of non-ennobled merchants. For the vast majority of the people, the peasants, however, life was miserable, unfair, and filled with little prospect of improvement. The faith that something better awaited after the hard toil on Earth was for some the only spark of hope.

The game is played over three rounds, spanning the reigns of Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth I, and King James I, with each round covering the reign of one of these influential monarchs.

To mark the shifting religious allegiances:

• During Mary's reign (round 1) all prevailing religion cards are considered to be Catholic.
• During Elizabeth's reign (round 2) all prevailing religion cards are considered to be neither Catholic nor Protestant.
• During James' reign (round 3) all prevailing religion cards are considered to be Protestant.

During the game each player assumes the role of a character with their own motivations and scoring goals. There are seven of these unique fictional characters each constructed to represent the ideals and views prevalent during the time. Bertram the Balanced is the name given to the symmetrical role used for the basic game where all players have the same goals.

The Role descriptions can be found in the Almanac section on pages 11-12.

Contents

73 cards - 14 each of four Suits and 17 Wild Suit which includes three Monarch cards and 2, 1 Plague cards (you may play with one or both of these Plague cards).

5 Player Boards, containing scoring tracks (identical).

1. Living Catholic Pile
2. Living Neutral Pile
3. Living Protestant Pile
4. Deceased Catholic Pile
5. Deceased Neutral Pile
6. Deceased Protestant Pile
7. Suit Order Reminder
8. End of Round Reminder

7 Role Cards (two sided). Each card has one side showing the Basic symmetric scoring (Bertram the Balanced). This is intended for the easy, or learning game where all players have the same Scoring goals. On the reverse is a unique Role which adds extra variety for the advanced game. Each of these Roles have unique Scoring goals for each of the three Reigns and for the End Game Scoring.

1 Pad of Score Sheets

Set-up

Each player takes a Player Board, a Score Sheet and a Role Card. For the first game it is recommended that all players choose the symmetric side of the Role Card (Bertram the Balanced). For later games players may either choose Roles or deal them out randomly. Return unused Roles to the game box, they will not be needed this time.

Hidden Agendas (optional): When all players are familiar with the game, you may choose to keep your Roles secret so that players don't know their opponents' goals and agendas. (Players are free to look at their own Role Card at any time, of course.)

Card Anatomy

1. Religious Affiliation

   • Catholic (tree symbol)
   • Protestant (cross symbol)
   • Prevailing (red circle symbol)

2. Rank - Card value (1-14)

3. Suit

   • Nobles (blue shield)
   • Clergy (praying figure)
   • Townsfolk (wheel)
   • Peasants (hops)
   • Wild (wild symbol)

4. Piety Value (eye symbol)

5. Money Value (coin symbol)

6. Effect / Guild Membership

   • Kill (skull)
   • Condemn (gallows)
   • Convert (praying hands)
   • Collect Taxes (chest)
   • Collect Piety (strongbox)

Playing the Game

The Deal

For each round, set aside the Monarch cards, and shuffle the 69 Suit cards. When playing with 3/4/5 players, count out 35/47/59 Suit cards, add the Monarch card for the current round to these cards, and shuffle this deck. Set the rest of the unused cards aside until the next round.

Deal 12 cards to each player (should be all of them).

Round	Monarch	Prevailing Religion
1	Mary	Catholic
2	Elizabeth I	None
3	James I	Protestant

The player who was most recently involved in religious activity chooses the starting player (they may choose themself). On subsequent rounds, the player with the fewest Victory Points chooses the starting player. In the case of a tie, the tie is broken in favour of the first player clockwise from the starting player of the previous round.

The Play

Each round consists of 12 tricks.

For each trick, the starting player leads a card. The Suit of the card led determines the Suit of the trick. If a Wild Suit card is led, the player must declare which Suit the Wild card is representing and this becomes the Suit of the trick. The Wild card cannot be declared as a Suit in it's own right and must be stated to be one of the other four Suits.

Each other player in clockwise turn order must either:

• Play a card of the same Suit, if they have one. If they have no cards of the Suit led, they are free to play any card.
• Play a Wild Suit card instead. If so they must declare the Suit for it. They may choose the leading Suit but are not obliged to.

NOTE: A player may always follow with a Wild card even if they could otherwise follow Suit.

The highest card of the Suit led, which includes a Wild card declared to match the lead Suit, wins the trick.

NOTE: A Wild card does not have to be declared as following Suit, but then it cannot win the trick.

The winner of the trick takes the cards in the trick, applies any End of Trick effects, and then places the cards in their respective scoring stacks around their Player Board. Prevailing religion cards default to the prevailing religion, thus should be placed in the Catholic pile on round 1, the Neutral pile in round 2 and the Protestant pile in round 3. This means there should only be cards in the Neutral pile during round 2.

The winner of the trick then becomes the starting player for the next trick.

NOTE: Cards won in a trick are kept in piles on a player's board such that only the topmost card on each pile is visible to all. A player may only look at cards on their own board.

End of Trick Scoring

After each trick you have won, you must apply any End of Trick effects (see Effects Explanation). These should be resolved in order of Rank, highest (14) to lowest (1). Within this order, identical rank cards should be resolved in Suit order of Nobles, Clergy, Townsfolk, Peasants and Wild. In this instance the Wild Suit should be treated as its own Suit.

No card can target itself for a Kill effect, but when collecting Taxes or Piety the card will include itself if it is appropriate.

End of Trick effects only affect cards within that trick.

Scoring Example

In a four player game, Marcus wins the following trick and must now resolve each card's effect: Bailiff (10, Wild), Unluck (5, Wild), Catherine de Medici (9, Nobles) and Preacher Gilbert (10, Clergy).

Starting with the highest numbers he looks at the 10s. As Clergy is earlier in the suit order than Wild, Preacher Gilbert comes first. Gilbert tries to convert the lowest Piety Protestant to Catholic. As there are no Protestants in this trick there is no effect.

Next the Bailiff triggers and claims taxes from the four listed suits. There are no Townsfolk or Peasants to tax but the Bailiff must include himself as a Wild, so he, the other Wild and the Nobles are taxed. Marcus claims -1, plus -1, plus 3 money for a grand total of 1 coin.

Next Catherine de Medici (9) acts and collects Piety from Nobles and Clergy. She collects 6 Catholic Piety from Preacher Gilbert and 4 Catholic Piety from herself for a total of 10 Catholic Piety.

Marcus records the collected coins and Piety on his score sheet.

Lastly Unluck (8) acts. (Editor's note: the printed example says "8" here, but the Unluck card in the example image is rank 5, and the card reference lists Unluck as rank 5; the rank 5 reading is consistent with the trick order described.) She must kill the card with the highest Money value which is poor Catherine.

If Unluck had not been last to act he may well have been able to kill a card of lower rank who hadn't acted yet. In this case that other card would not get to do its effect. (This can sometimes be tactical if the other card's effect would be detrimental.)

At the end of Unluck's action the cards are placed on Marcus' Player Board tableau. Bailiff and Unluck will go into the Living Catholic, Neutral or Protestant area depending on the round, Preacher Gilbert to the Living Catholic area, and Catherine de Medici to the Deceased Catholic area.

Each of these cards will score Victory Points for Marcus at the End of the Round as according to the specific scoring conditions on his Role card.

Note: Preacher Gilbert will score an additional 1 point of Catholic Piety at the End of the Round simply for being a living Catholic.

Also both the Bailiff and Unluck will score 1 Catholic Piety on Round 1, when they are considered to be Catholic, and 1 Protestant Piety on Round 3, when they are considered to be Protestant. On Round 2 they are neither so score nothing. (See Almanac: Prevailing Religion)

End of Round Royal Execution and Scoring

After the last trick is played and collected the End of Round effects trigger, and then the End of Round Scoring. This can be done player by player to check accuracy of scoring and allow for a narrative if desired, or alternatively, to speed up play, when players are familiar with the game it can be performed simultaneously. It is done in the sequence shown on the Player Board.

End-of-Round Royal Execution

Each Monarch card has an additional Royal Execution symbol, which happens if the Monarch is still alive at the end of each 12 tricks (round). The Monarch must now execute (kill) one card in ANY player's tableau.

This can, obviously, only effect cards from the current round, because any previous rounds will have been scored and returned to the deck.

End of Round Scoring

Now score for the cards collected in your tableau.

Collect End of Round Taxes (money): Score exactly 1 money (not the money value of the card) for:

• Mary I: Each Living card in your Catholic pile.
• Elizabeth I: Each Living card in your Neutral pile.
• James I: Each Living card in your Protestant pile.

This is automatic and does not require a Collect Taxes symbol to be present.

If, at this point, you have less than zero money, you must take a Loan (see the Almanac section on pages 11-12).

Collect End of Round Piety (piety): Score exactly 1 Piety (not the piety value of the card) of the respective type for each Living card in your Catholic and Protestant piles.

This is automatic and does not require a Collect Piety symbol to be present.

Piety Scoring Example: Marcus will probably have won another trick or two and will now have a number of cards arrayed around his tableau. Piety scores for the four cards from the previous example will be 1 Catholic Piety for Preacher Gilbert (just for being a living Catholic). Catherine de Medici would also have scored 1 Catholic Piety if she were not now deceased. The Bailiff and Unluck will each score 1 Catholic Piety if it is round 1, 1 Protestant Piety if it is round 3 and nothing for round 2. This is because the prevailing religion symbol counts as the religion of the Monarch of the round and round two has no Prevailing religion.

Repay Loans: You may repay a Loan for 5 money. (See Loans which are explained later in the Almanac section on pages 11-12).

Score Victory Points (star): Your Role Card shows how many Victory Points you are now awarded for each category:

• Living Cards:
  • Suits: Nobles, Clergy, Townsfolk, Peasants, Wild.
  • Guildmembers: For owning at least one and for owning the most or joint most.
• Deceased Cards:
  • Catholics and Protestants.

Total each of these sections separately and if your Victory Point total is less than zero at the end of any total, treat it as zero. Victory Points cannot finish any step of the scoring sequence below zero.

The green scoring bars are only applied at the end of all three rounds (see below for End of Game scoring).

New Round

Once all End of Round scoring is complete, if it is not the final round, repeat the process as explained earlier under 'The Deal'.

Using the Score Sheet

The Score Sheet is where you record your progress.

1. Continuous Tallies. Ongoing Piety and Money amounts. Note that you start with 5 money.
2. Pennants. Whenever any of your totals reach a full multiple of ten, mark the respective pennant as gained. Pennants do not get lost again if the totals subsequently drops below the multiple.
3. End of Round Scores. Calculate your score for each of the End of Round categories and mark them in the boxes for the respective Monarch's reign. The 'collect' boxes are just reminders that you should now collect the relevant Piety and Taxes.
4. End of Game Scores. Calculate your final scores for your collected Piety and Money using the Pennant multipliers on your Role Card. Then add up all your Victory Point total for a Final Total.

End of Game Scoring and Winning

After all three rounds are played and scored, finish the game by applying the End of Game scoring, which is the green section at the bottom of your Role Card.

You score additional Victory Points for Money and both Piety scores equal to the number listed on your Role Card multiplied by the number of Pennants you have checked off on your Score Sheet (red, black or orange) by reaching 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 points. If you haven't reached 10 your multiplier is zero, and so you don't get any victory points for that portion. 69 is the maximum amount you can have in any tally, so 6 is the maximum Pennant multiplier. Add your three Pennant bonuses to your current Victory Point total.

If you have a Loan token score minus 3 Victory Points.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner.

If players are tied the winner is the one with the highest combined Piety.

In the unlikely event the winners are still tied, it is a joint win.

Almanac

Loans

If, at the end of any scoring section, including an End of Trick score, your money falls below zero, you must take out a Loan. Take a Loan Card to indicate this and return your money total to 1.

You may only take one Loan Card per round, no matter how indebted you are. When you are holding at least one Loan Card your money cannot fall below zero.

If you wish to return the Loan Card(s) you must repay 5 money per Loan Card, during a future End of Round scoring phase. You may pay off several at once.

If you still have a Loan Card at the end of the game you subtract 3 Victory Points from your final score.

Prevailing Religion

Each monarch inspires a prevailing religion. Any card showing the prevailing religion symbol (red circle) defaults to the religion of the round, which is Catholic for round 1 and Protestant for round 3. This applies in every instance, including scoring, so when adding a prevailing religion card to your tableau you should add it to the appropriate section for the religion of the round.

Round two, Elizabeth I, has no strong religious bias and so prevailing religion cards are considered to have no religious affiliation, and in this case are added to the Neutral section of your tableau.

Converted cards, however, overrule any religious affiliation, including the prevailing religion.

Role Descriptions

Ned is a devout Protestant from a merchant family. He tries to connect with the nobles but is aware that the future lies with the Guilds. Ned is not a violent man but is, nevertheless, willing to employ some extreme measures to try to curb the spread of Catholicism.

Pierre is a nobleman with hard line Catholic views. He sees himself doing God's Good Work with every dead Protestant. For him the Guilds represent an unwanted liberalism and he prefers to rely on the conservative nobility.

George comes from a rural noble line of zealous Catholics. He sees the value of peasants as a commodity. With Protestant views spreading, the clergy offer welcome salvation and absolution. He is ready to do whatever it takes to protect the papal faith against heretics.

Juba bought his freedom from slavery and with arduous toil created a small merchant house. As a heathen, he is unconcerned about the finer differences of faith, yet the Protestant views allowing free trade are closer to his liking. He sees that townsfolk and the Guilds are the future of the world and that death and violence are avoided whenever possible.

Margaret is a noble scion with Catholic views. She is a kind soul, averse to killing anyone and sees the value of any faith. She has no interest in worldly possessions, but prefers to help those in need - all to support the faith.

Gregory the Yeoman is a farmer from a rural area. He dislikes trusting those of higher status and believes that only kinsmen and rural folk can truly be relied upon. He tries to follow the law and the prevailing religion, but prefers to put his faith in more tangible things: money. Faith may earn you a better spot in heaven, but only money puts food on the table in the midst of winter.

Patchwork is the dissident who represents those who were forced to turn to lawless acts to sustain themselves. Every death is a source of gain for this highwayman. Allying with the Guilds decreases the likelihood of getting caught, but too many connections can be dangerous.

Bertram the Balanced (for the basic symmetric game) follows the faith endorsed by the crown and supports only government sanctioned violence. During the reign of Mary strong peasant support and weak Guilds are desired. During Elizabeth's reign nobles are the key, but the most powerful Guilds also have a use. And while James reigns the emphasis lies on the strength of the Guilds.

Effects Explanation

NOTE: Any effects that targets a "highest" or "lowest", targets all cards which are tied for the position.

• Royal Execution (Royal Execution symbol): This End of Round effect targets and kills one card on any player's tableau. Only the Monarchs have this effect.
• Collect Taxes (chest symbol): Collect the money value of each living card in the trick of the specified type. If there is no specified type mentioned on the card, collect from ALL living cards in the trick. Note that some Clergy will be negative figures (Clergy are of the opinion that they have to be paid!)
• Collect Piety (strongbox symbol): Collect the piety value of each living card in the trick of the specified type. If there is no specified type mentioned on the card, collect from ALL living cards in the trick. You must distinguish between Catholic and Protestant piety and collect and score them separately depending on which cards they came from. Cards with no religion, such as a prevailing religion card during Elizabeth I's reign, score nothing.
• Condemn (gallows symbol): Targets the card of the specified religion with the lowest piety value. If the piety value is lower than the condemning card's piety value, the target is killed. If the piety value is the same or higher, there is no effect.
• Convert (praying hands symbol): Targets the card of the specified religion with the lowest piety value. If the piety value is lower than the converting card's piety value, the target is Converted. When the converted card goes to the tableau, place it in the new Affiliation's area.
• Kill (skull symbol): Kills the listed number of specified cards (moving them to the bottom cemetery section of the Player Board). If there is no specified type mentioned on the card, kill any card or cards.
• Number (1): Indicates the number of cards affected. If there is no number it affects ALL relevant cards. IF there are no relevant cards then there is no effect.

When looking for "highest value" or "lowest value", only living targets are checked. If there is a higher value in your cemetery area, it is ignored.

Card Effects Summary

Cards not listed have no effects.

Nobles

• 1 Lawyer: Collect Taxes from all cards with the current monarch's religion.
• 2 Executioner: Collect Piety from Nobles and Peasants.
• 4 Standard Bearer: Collect Taxes from Clergy and Townsfolk.
• 5 Humble Alain: Kill all Catholics.
• 6 Guy Fawkes: Kill all Protestants.
• 8 Valiant Knight: Kill one Noble or Peasant.
• 9 Catherine de Medici: Collect Piety from Nobles and Clergy.
• 10 Earl Cecil: Collect Taxes from Nobles and Clergy.
• 11 Duke of Guise: Kill ONE Protestant of your choice.
• 12 Francis II: Collect Taxes from Protestants.
• 13 Gaspard de Coligny: Kill ONE Catholic of your choice.
• 14 Henry of France: Collect Taxes from every card.

Clergy

• 1 Vicar Filemon: Convert lowest Piety Protestant to Catholic.
• 2 Vicar Longleaf: Convert lowest Piety Catholic to Protestant.
• 3 Vicar Penance: Condemn lowest Piety Catholic.
• 4 The Hermit: Convert lowest Piety Protestant to Catholic.
• 5 Vicar Bottomsly: Collect Piety from Protestants.
• 6 Father Crossroad: Collect Piety from Catholics.
• 7 Father Highhall: Condemn lowest Piety Protestant.
• 8 Father Eggert: Convert lowest Piety Catholic to Protestant.
• 9 Father Humbolt: Condemn lowest Piety Protestant.
• 10 Preacher Gilbert: Convert lowest Piety Protestant to Catholic.
• 11 Preacher Lamb: Collect Piety from one card of your choice.
• 12 Bishop Marcus: Collect Taxes from Clergy and Townsfolk.
• 13 Cardinal Charles: Collect Taxes from Townsfolk and Wild.
• Collect Taxes and Piety from all cards.

Townsfolk

• 6 Apothecary: A Guildmember.
• 8 Alluring Witches: Collect Piety from Nobles and Peasants.
• 9 Carpenter: A Guildmember.
• 10 Innkeeper: A Guildmember.
• 11 Master Tailor: A Guildmember.
• 12 Merchant Lord: A Guildmember.
• 13 Merchant Matriarch: Collect Taxes from Nobles and Townsfolk.
• 14 Mayor: Collect Taxes from Townsfolk and Wild.

Peasants

• 9 Ploughman: Collect Piety from Peasants.
• 10 Parish Priest: Collect Piety from every card.
• 12 Village Reeve: Collect Taxes from Peasants.
• 13 Elder Council: Collect Piety from Nobles and Peasants.
• 14 Manor Lord: Collect Taxes from Peasants.

Wild

• 1 Plaguebearer: Kill one card of your choice.
• 2 Tax Collector: Collect Taxes from Nobles and Clergy.
• 3 Satyr: Kill the highest suit value card(s).
• 4 Medical Scholars: Collect Piety from every card.
• 5 Unluck: Kill the highest Money value card(s).
• 6 Bailiff: Collect Taxes from all cards except Clergy.
• 7 Witch Hunters: Kill ONE Catholic of your choice.
• 8 Bandits: Kill ONE Townsfolk of your choice.
• 9 Ravisher: Kill the highest Piety value card(s).
• 10 Bailiff: Collect Taxes from all cards except Clergy.
• 11 Inquisition: Kill ONE Protestant of your choice.
• 12 Courier: Collect Taxes from Townsfolk and Peasants.
• 13 Flagellants: Collect Piety from Catholics.
• 14 (all three Monarchs): Royal Execution. Kill one card of your choice in ANY player's tableau.