This expansion is not a complete game, but must be played with Princes of Florence.

We think it will appeal to those who are experiences with the basic game and want more from the game. We do not recommend players try the expansion until they have played the basic game.

The expansion adds 6 special character cards which players can bid on in a second part of the auction phase. Thus, the auction phase has been split into two phases: the original auction phase and special character auction.

Setup

Follow the original preparation rules with the following addition:

• Place the 6 special character cards face-up separately near the board.
• Place 600 Florins on the Banker card.

Game Play

Other than the auction and use of the special character cards, the rules for playing Princes of Florence with this expansion are the same with two exceptions:

Players cannot exchange prestige points for money. The only ways to get money now are with the new Banker card or by completing works.

Special Character card Auction

The starting player begins the special character auction by placing his playing marker on one of the bidding spaces on the special character card he want to buy (he may also pass if there is no card he wants to bid on). He may select any of the bidding spaces he wants.

The space he chooses is his bid for the card. Most cards have 13 bidding spaces marked from 3 to 15. Each number represents a bid of 100 Florins. The Banker card is the exception. It has only 6 bidding spaces, from 0 to 5.

A player may not make a bid he is unable to pay!

Example: Valerie places her marker on space 6 of the Merchant card. She is bidding 600 Florins to buy the card.

Bidding continues clockwise around the table with players placing their markers or passing. When a player is the first to place his marker on a card, he may place it on any of the bidding spaces on the card.

If the card he wants to bid on already has another player's marker, he must place his marker on a higher number than the othe player's marker. As there may only be one marker on a card, after a player places his marker on a card with another marker, he returns that marker to the other player.

If the player's marker is already on a card when it is his turn to bid, he has won the auction for that card. He pays the price of his bid to the bank (except for the banker, see below) and takes the card and his marker, placing both in his play area. He places the character card face up.

When a player passes, he cannot later enter the bidding for a special character card in this game round. The special character card auction ends when all players have passed or have bought a card.

Using a Special Character Card

The players keep their special character cards face-up in their play areas until the use them. The Banker is used immediately; the Cardinal, Muse, and Princess may be used anytime during the action phase; and the Merchant and Professor may be used anytime until the beginning of the next special character auction.

When a player uses a card, he returns it the special character card area near the board. When a player uses a card immediately (or before the end of the auction of the special character cards), he places if face-down to indicate that it may not be bought again in this round. If a player does not use the card when the next special character card auction begins, he must return it then to the special character card area near the board.

Special Character Card Descriptions

Banker: The banker is one of only two ways for players to get money - the other is by completing a work. As mentioned in "Preparation", the players place 600 Florins on the card to start the game. When no player buys the banker in a round, the players add 100 Florins to the card. When a player buys the banker, he takes the money from the card minus his bid.

He then returns the card, placing 600 Florins on it. If a player still has the banker at the end of the game, he may exchange his money for prestige points at the rate of 200 Florins = 1 PP.

Example: in the first round, no player bought the bank, so the card now has 700 Florins on it. In the second round Donald wins the auction for the card for 200 Florins, pays 200 Florins to the bank, and takes the card and its 700 Florins. Leter, he returns the card to its place near the board and places 600 Florins from the bank on it for round 3.

Cardinal: The cardinal gives the player one extra action (3 instead of 2) in the action phase. It does not remove the restrictions with regard to only one freedom and one prefession card, however.

Example: Anna wins the auction for the cardinal and builds a University, introduces religeous freedom, and completes a work by a mathemetician in the action phase.

Merchant: The merchant offers the player two option, from which he can take one, but not both:

• the player can take the item he bids on in the next auction (not special character auction!) for no cost or
• the player scores as many prestige points as their current rank on the fame track.

The player has until the end of the auction of the next round to decide which option is better. Of course, he could choose the prestige point option at any time. If the player still has the merchant during the next auction (not special character card auction!), he participates in the auction as though he did not have the merchant. If he wins the auction, he then decides whether to take the object for free or to pay for it and take the prestige points.

Example: Stephen (gray), now in 4th place, chooses to add 4 PP to his score, moving him from 4th place to 1st place!

Muse: The muse increases the work value (WV) of every work the player completes in the action phase of this round. The amount of the increase for each Work is the number of the round (1-7).

Example: Scott uses the muse in round 6 to add 6 points each to the work values of the works he completes using the poet and the philosopher.

Princess: The princess allows a player to complete a Work in the action phase without playing a prefession card. This is an action. Using the princess to complete a Work increases its work value by 3 for each landscape (even duplicates), by 32 for each builder, by 2 for each building, and by 1 for each prefession or recruiter. The princess is not a prefession! Also, you may not use a bonus card when completein a Work with the princess.

Example: Todd has the princess, 2 forests, a lake, a laboratory, a library and 3 profession cards and completes a Work with a work value of 16.

Professor: The professot allows the player to take one prestige card or one bonus card for free. The player may do this immediately or anytime he wants until the start of the next special character card auction.

To get the free card, the player chooses which kind of card he wants and then draws the top-most five cards from that card stack. He looks at the five cards, chooses one to keep, placing it face down in his play area, and places the other four face-down under the stack.

Example: Ken has the professor and decides to go for a bonus card. He draws 5 bonus cards from the stack, chooses to keep the one that add bonuses for each building in his pricipality, and discards the others face-down under the stack.

Continue Reading