Troyes is a strategy game in which you represent a rich family from the Champagne region of France, using your infl uence to recruit and supervise individuals from the three prominent domains: military (associated with the color red in every aspect of the game), religious (white), and civil (yellow).

Each domain offers different benefits: The military permits you to fight with greater efficacy against invasions. The clergy focuses on completion of the cathedral, and education of the peasants and the military. The peasants toil to fill your coffers.

Object of the Game

The citizens of the city provide a work force, represented by dice. You use the work force in different ways: to perform various activities supervised by your tradesmen, to build the cathedral, to grapple with unfortunate events, or even to recruit new citizens. Each of these actions requires utilization of one group of 1 to 3 dice.

In your actions, always regard the goals of the famous character that inspires your family. This individual is one of several very influential people whose principles have helped make the city what it is today!

In fact, if you can figure out whose principles the other families follow, you can maximize your own fame, because each family will be scrutinized by all of these famous figures.

The player who has garnered the most fame, in the form of victory points, will win the game!

Components

• 1 game board
• deniers in denominations of 1, 5 and 10
• 56 citizens
• 9 Activity cards
• 90 cubes
• victory point tokens
• 24 dice in 4 different colors
• 8 wooden discs
• 1-page appendix
• 16 Event cards
• 6 Character cards
• 1 Start Player card
• 4 Player Aid cards

Setup

Place the neutral citizens, the dice, the deniers, and the victory points (VPs) beside the board, forming the general supply. Each player chooses a color and starts with:

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  1 District marker that he places on one of the 5 pictures of a small gray disc drawn on the city square. Each player chooses the district of the city square closest to his position around the table: this district belongs to him.

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  5 deniers (your deniers are visible during the game). 1 Influence marker that he places on space 4 of the influence track.

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  4 citizens with 4 players (5 with 3 players, 6 with 2 players); they form each player's personal supply (place the remaining citizens in the general supply). Each player has a maximum of 12 citizens at his disposal during the game.

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  One randomly selected Character card, which he keeps secret (2 Character cards with 2 players).

• 20 cubes (the number of cubes is unlimited; if a player runs out, he can use something else to supplement his cubes).

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  Sort the Activity cards by color and by the round number during which they enter the game (the number on the back of the cards).

  For each color, without looking at the cards, place face-down: a 1 card on the first space of the appropriate color, a 2 card on the second space, and then a 3 card on the third. Stow the unused cards in the box (don't look at them).

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  Form 3 decks of Event cards: 1 red, 1 white, and 1 yellow. The number of Event cards in the red deck determines the number of turns in the game: for 4 players, place 6 cards in it (5 for 3 players, 4 for 2 players).

  Stow the unused cards in the box. The player who last read a history book receives the start player card.

Initial Placement

This initial placement only happens one time, at the beginning of the game.

Each player places the citizens from his personal supply on the 3 principal buildings on the game board (Palace, Bishopric, and City Hall). To place a citizen, simply put it on an empty space in one of the 3 buildings. Once a citizen is placed, it is not moved again during the initial placement.

The 1st round of placement starts with the start player, and ends with the last player, going clockwise. The 2nd round of placement starts with the last player, and ends with the first player, going counterclockwise. The subsequent placement rounds continue in that alternating fashion until each player has placed all the citizens from his personal supply. At the end of the initial placement, the gray neutral citizens are placed on each remaining empty building place (except in a 2-player game, in which the neutral citizens are placed at the beginning of the phase).

Special Placement With 2 Players

With 2 players, place the neutral citizens before initial placement. Place them as shown here:

Game Play

A game lasts 6 rounds with 4 players (5 rounds with 3 players, 4 rounds with 2 players). The first 3 rounds each comprise 6 phases. Thereafter, each turn comprises 5 phases:

Phase 0: Reveal the Activity cards

In the first 3 rounds, for each color, reveal the Activity card color whose number corresponds to the current round: thus 1 new Activity card of each color becomes available in each of the first 3 rounds.

Phase 1: Income and salaries

Each player receives a fixed income of 10 deniers. Then, he pays the salaries of his citizens in the Bishopric (1 denier per citizen), and in the Palace (2 deniers per citizen). The citizens in City Hall cost nothing.

If he cannot pay the salaries for all his citizens, he pays what he can, then loses 2VP (a player with no VPs loses nothing).

Phase 2: Assembling the workforce

Each player rolls the dice to which he is entitled: one yellow die per citizen located in City Hall, one white die per citizen located in the Bishopric, one red die per citizen located in the Palace.

Each player then gathers his dice on his district of the city square, being careful to maintain the face-up values that he rolled.

Next, the start player rolls the dice associated with the gray citizens placed on the 3 buildings, and places them on a district of the city square not belonging to any player (the gray district). The dice represent the workforce of the citizens of the city, and they enable the players to execute their actions.

Phase 3: Events

Each turn, two new events enter the game. Reveal the top red Event card from the deck and place it in the event queue, to the right of those already menacing the city. That card will call for a second card, either white or yellow, indicated by the symbol on the red card. Place the second card at the end of the event queue.

The Event cards in the queue take effect from left to right, beginning with Marauding. There are 2 types of events:

• military events are indicated by black dice: the start player takes a black die into his hand for each die represented on the cards. These black dice represent the enemies attacking the city,

• various events whose effects are indicated on the card, and explained in detail in the annex.

If a player cannot totally execute an event, he does as much as he can, and then loses 2 VPs (a player with no VPs doesn't lose anything).

After resolution of the events, the start player rolls the black dice that have accumulated. The start player must counter the highest-valued black die with one or more dice from his district: the total value of the chosen dice must be equal to or greater than the value of the black die.

The dice chosen by the player to counter the black die are discarded, along with the black die. Then, the player to the left of the start player must counter the next-highest black die in the same manner, and so on until all the black dice have been countered (as a result, it is possible that the start player will have to contend with several black dice).

If a player's dice do not allow him to beat the black die he's up against, he discards it without losing a die, but loses 2 VPs.

Important:

• when combating black dice, the value of red dice is doubled,
• a player can use dice of different colors to counter a black die,
• a player can counter several black dice at once: the highest-valued one, plus any others he chooses,
• a player gains 1 point of influence for each black die he counters,
• it is possible to use Influence points before countering black dice (see Infl uence),
• it is not possible to buy other player's dice to counter black dice.

Notes : The Marauding event is always present; it never leaves play. The cards remain in play until they have been countered by the players. The number of cards menacing the city is not limited: Continue the queue off the board if necessary.

Phase 4: Actions

Beginning with the start player, then going clockwise, each player can either utilize his workforce to carry out one action, or pass.

This round of the game ends once either there are no more dice available, or all the players have passed (see End of the round). Each action requires using a group of 1 to 3 dice of the same color, and those dice come from one or more of the city square's 5 districts.

A die coming from the district of another player must be purchased from that player, who cannot refuse the transaction. Pay the bank to use the dice in the gray neutral player's district. You don't pay to use your own dice. After dice are used, they are discarded to the general supply.

The cost of a die depends on the number of dice the player is using for his action:

• if he is using 1 die, it costs him 2 deniers (if it belongs to another player),
• if he is using 2 dice, each die from another player costs him 4 deniers,
• if he is using 3 dice, each die from another player costs him 6 deniers.

The cost of the dice depends on how many dice are required for the action, so it is important to put together the group of dice before paying the different players.

The players must choose one of 5 actions, or pass:

1. Activate one Activity card from the city,
2. Construct the Cathedral,
3. Combat the Events,
4. Place a citizen on a principal building,
5. Use agriculture,
6. Pass.

1. Activate one Activity card from the city

You may use a group of1 to 3 dice to assign a portion of the workforce to the activity described on one of the available Activity cards. The yellow dice permit you to activate a civil card; the white dice, a religious card; and the red dice, a military card.

In order to activate an Activity card, a player must possess a tradesman who can direct the citizens' work. Two situations can arise:

A. You Don't Have A Tradesman On The Card.

You must first hire a tradesman by paying the amount in deniers indicated in the upper-left part of the card. Place a citizen of your color on a free space on the card to act as the tradesman.

The citizen must come either from your personal supply (if you don't have any, you must hire one for 2 Influence points - see Influence), or from any location on the board (Activity cards, or the principal buildings, or even expelled citizens lying on a building).

Once the tradesman is hired, the player must put together a group of dice to activate the Activity card.

B. You Already Have A Tradesman On The Card.

In this case, you neither pay nor place a tradesman on the card: you just immediately put together a group of dice to activate the Activity card.

Two types of Activity cards can be used:

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  Cards with an immediate effect: the effect of the card is applied immediately.

  The activation cost, in the lower-left corner of the card, determines the color of dice required to activate the card, as well as the number of times the effect can be used (this number is equal to the value of the group of dice, divided by the number under the division bar, rounded down to the nearest whole number).

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  Cards with a delayed effect: these cards can be distinguished from those with an immediate effect by the hourglass icon in the lower-right corner of the card.

  When you activate this type of card, place the cubes of your color on the card's illustration. The number of cubes placed is defined by the activation cost. Each cube can be used later in the game during one of your actions, but an action can be modified by only one cube (two cubes can never modify the same action). It is not possible to use a cube to counter black dice in the Event phase.

Remarks:

• If you don't have a tradesman on the card, and you can't hire one, then you can't activate the card.
• At the end of the game, the tradesman will yield the VPs indicated on his space. . A single player cannot place 2 tradesmen on the same Activity card.
• If all the spaces are occupied, a player can place a tradesman on the card's illustration, but it won't earn any VPs at the end of the game.
• If you hire a tradesman, you are required to activate the card at least once. . If a tradesman gets moved to another Activity card, his space is freed up, making it available for the other players. Other citizens already on the card cannot be moved to the newly freed space.

2. Construct the Cathedral

You may use a group of 1 to 3 white dice to work on constructing the cathedral. Each die allows you to place 1 cube on the same-numbered construction site of the cathedral.

This construction site is divided into 3 levels: the bottom row corresponds to level 1, the 2nd to level 2, and the 3rd to level 3. You must respect this construction rule: In order to place a cube on a space in a level, the same-valued space in the lower level must exist (note: there's only one cube per space).

You immediately gain 1VP and 1 Influence point per cube that you place on the spaces numbered 1 to 3, and 1VP and 2 Influence points per cube that you place on the spaces numbered 4 to 6.

3. Combat the events

You may use a group of 1 to 3 dice to combat the events threatening the city. The activation cost shown on the left side of an Event card defines:

• the type of dice you must use to combat the event,

• the number of cubes that the player may place on the card (this number is equal to the value of the group of dice, divided by the number under the division bar, rounded down to the nearest whole number).

  Place your cubes on the small banners on the card, starting with the one in the upper-left. For each cube placed on a card, you immediately gain 1 Influence point. It is impossible to place cubes on multiple cards in a single action without activating certain military Activity cards.

  The number of banners defines the number of cubes required to counter the event (it is impossible to place more cubes than there are banners). Once the event is countered:

  Note: When the Marauding event is countered, the VPs are distributed as indicated above, but nobody takes the card. The cubes are removed and the event is available again to receive new cubes in future actions.

• the player who placed the most cubes earns the larger VP reward (the upper one). In the case of a tie for first place, the tied players divide the VPs for 1st and 2nd place (rounded down to the nearest whole number) and any lower-ranked players earn nothing.

  If a player is the only one with cubes on the card, he gains the total VPs of both ranks The neutral player's cubes are considered in determining majorities, and the neutral player can deprive players of VPs,

• the player who placed the second-most cubes earns the smaller VP reward. In the case of a tie for second place, the tied players divide the VPs for 2nd place (rounded down to the nearest whole number),

• the players retrieve their cubes and put them in their personal supplies,

• the player who placed the most cubes takes the event card (if it is the neutral player, the card is discarded). In the case of a tie, the tied player who placed cubes on the card first wins. The cards gained can grant you VPs at the end of the game when the characters' missions are evaluated.

Note: If a gap is formed by eliminating an event card, shift any cards right of the case of a tie, the tied player who placed cubes on the card gap leftward to fill the gap.

4. Place a citizen on a principal building

Unlike the other actions, you always use exactly one die to place a citizen on one of the principal buildings. You take one of your citizens from your personal supply (if you don't have any, you must hire one for 2 Influence points - see Influence) or one of yours already on the board, and place it on the principal building corresponding with the color of the die you have chosen.

A red die grants access to the Palace; a white die, the Bishopric; and a yellow die, City Hall. The value of the die shows the location inside the building where the citizen is placed. Find the small picture of a die showing the same value that you rolled.

Your citizen will go there, as detailed below: At City Hall and the Bishopric, the new citizen is placed on the first space of the matching row. If the row is filled with other citizens, they are shifted one space to the right.

If that pushes a citizen out the right end of the row, lay the expelled citizen on the illustration of the building (More than one player can have a citizen lying on the illustration). In cases where there is an empty space, citizens fill the space as they are moved to the right. At the Palace, the new citizen goes on the matching space. If there was already a citizen there, the old citizen is expelled and laid on the illustration of the Palace.

Important: If you already have a citizen lying on a building's illustration, nobody can expel your citizen from that building; however, you will retrieve your expelled citizens to your personal supply at the end of the round, so this small protection is only good for the current round.

This also means that if placing a citizen would eject a color already lying on the building, nobody can place a citizen there.

5. Use Agriculture

The Agriculture activity allows you to gain some money, thanks to the toil of the peasants (a group of1 to 3 yellow dice).

This activity does not require a tradesman. You gain a number of deniers equal to the total value of the group of dice, divided by 2 (rounded down to the nearest whole number).

6. Pass

If you do not wish to execute any more actions this round, while there are still dice in the city square (in any district) pass and receive 2 deniers, which you place in your district.

During the remainder of this round, you can't take any more actions, but each time the turn comes around to you, another denier is added to your district.

Phase 5: End of the Round

The game round ends after a player's action if:

• all the players have passed (there are deniers in each player's district) or
• there are no more dice in any of the districts of the city square. The players retrieve the deniers from their districts. Citizens

lying on buildings return to their owners' personal supplies. Unused dice are returned to the general supply. The start player passes the Start Player card to his left-hand neighbor, and the following round commences.

Influence

Before countering a black die, or executing an action, you may spend your influence points in various ways, in addition to your main action:

• 1 point: you may reroll 1 die from your district (it is forbidden to reroll anyone else's dice - even the neutral player's - even after purchasing them),

• 2 points: add a citizen from the general supply to your personal s.upply,

• 4 points: you may turn over 1 to 3 of the dice of your district (it is forbidden to turn over anyone else's dice - even the neutral player's). The chosen dice are turned to show the opposite face, keeping in mind that the sum of two opposite sides of a die is always equal to 7. The dice turned over may be of different colors. It is possible to execute several of these actions in any order.

Note: You may never have more than 20 Influence points: any earned beyond that are wasted.

End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the round during which the fi nal red event card enters the game.

In addition to the VP tokens gained during the game, each player:

• gains 1 VP per un-countered event card on which he has a presence (included the Marauding),
• gains the VPs indicated on the spaces occupied by his citizens on the Activity cards,
• loses 2 VPs for each of the 3 levels of the cathedral on which he has no cubes,
• reveals his Character card. Each Character will evaluate all the families, checking their performance on the character's mission. For each Character card in the game, award each player

VPs according to the Character card's criteria. Because each character rewards all the players, it is very important to try to figure out which characters the other players have.

Similarly, it is important to bluff a bit in order to misdirect the other players. If they can't figure out your character's mission, they are going to have a hard time getting VPs by satisfying it!

The winner is the player with the most VPs.

Note: During the game, VPs are hidden. In order to maximize suspense during the fi nal tally, for each type of scoring, each player should make piles of 10 VP in front of himself. This also makes it very easy to compare the players' scores.

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