Gloria Romae

In this Match, the players are wealthy aristocrats, charged with rebuilding Rome by Nero after the Great Fire. Each player must use their limited resources in concert, as no player is capable of completing any significant amount of work alone, but each player must attempt to use other players’ labour against them, while giving away as little of their own as possible, to achieve their goals as expeditiously as possible - just remember, pecuniam non olet.

Goals

Each player receives six goals in their thread, which share a common framework:

1. Ensure a particular Wonder is completed.
2. Be the majority contributor of a particular Strategic Building
3. Be the majority contributor of a particular Public Building
4. Be the patron to a certain group of clients.
5. Ensure a particular pair of Strategic and Public Building is completed.
6. Have either the most or second most money remaining at the end.

The player that completes the most goals will win the Match, while the player that has the most uncompleted goals will lose. In the event of a tie, the wealthiest player wins ties.

Denarii and Cards

Each player begins with 120 denarii, and 16 cards, 4 copies each of Cards A, B, C, and D. Each card can be used for multiple purposes, and each card must be assigned for one of the 12 phases of the Match (corresponding to one month each), with 4 leftover. There will be Wonders, Strategic Buildings, and Public Buildings equal to the number of players available to be built. Wonders will require six resources, Strategic Buildings will require five resources, while Public Buildings will require three resources. There will also be one Client Group available per player, which can be patronised by any player after fulfilling their condition. The cards are shown below;

Each card shows its resource at the top - Wood, Stone, Brick, and Gold respectively. Below, each card lists the Clients, Wonder, Strategic Building, and Public Building associated with that card, in that order.

Using Cards

A card may be used, broadly, for three purposes. First, it can be used to gain its listed resource. Second, it can be used to recruit the Client group listed on the card. Third, it can complete construction phases of one of its listed buildings. A Wonder requires the resource listed on the previous card (Catacombs needs Wood, Coliseum needs Stone etc.), a Strategic Building requires the resource listed on the same card (Amphitheatre needs Wood, Forum needs Stone etc.), and a Public Building requires the resource listed on the next card, so a Statue requires Wood, a Solarium requires Stone, etc.

Gaining Resources

When using a card to gain resources, the player will use denarii to purchase the desired amount. Buying a single resource costs 12 denarii, but each additional one purchased after costs 2 less. So buying a total of 4 resources costs a total of 36 (12+10+8+6). There is a maximum of 7 resources that may be purchased per action.

Patronising Clients

When using a card to patronise a Client, the player must have fulfilled the requirement of that Client, listed as an "if" clause in the card gallery at the end of this rules post. Then, they must spend 15 denarii to patronise that Client. Each player has one particular Client they are trying to patronise, but you may patronise other Clients, to prevent other players from achieving their goals - each Client may only be patronised once. Each Client also gives a benefit that you may seek to obtain.

Completing Constructions

When using a card as a construction phase, the player will spend any number of the appropriate resources, up to a max depending on type (4 for Wonders, 3 for Strategic Buildings, and 2 for Public Buildings). If sufficient resources have now been contributed, that building is built - any further attempts to build that building are wasted. The player(s) that spent the most resources for a building are considered to be the majority contributor(s). Completing any structure will help people achieve their Goals. Public Buildings have no further effect. Strategic Buildings give a bonus to the majority contributor(s) of that building. Wonders give a bonus to all players that contributed at least one phase to the Wonder.

Playing the Match

The players will have 72 hours to plan their game. They will make a single submission for this Match, in which they will order their 12 cards, and state for what purpose they are playing each card (Such as: In January, I use Card B to purchase 3 Stone. In February, I use Card C to contribute one resource to the Coliseum etc.). This submission will also contain a “Tiebreaker Bid” - each player will choose how many denarii they wish to spend to win ties. The players will be ordered from highest bid to lowest (ties here broken at random). This is used if two or more players try to perform an action with limited slots, such as two players trying to patronise the same Client on the same month, or both attempting to contribute the final resource(s) to a structure. The player that is highest on the list will perform the action - the other player’s action is wasted.

Further, this submission must include the choice that will be made whenever a Client, Strategic Building or Wonder that requires a choice to be made is contributed to. For example, if a player submits a card attempting to patronise the Labourers, they must select which Public Building to build.

Conclusion

Once all players have submitted their lists of cards, we will evaluate the events of the game, and the player with the most completed goals will only win 1 Token of Life. The player with the most uncompleted goals will be the Elimination Candidate, and choose one of the other two players to join them in the tenth Death Match.

Garnets

During the Match, players may elect to spend any number of Garnets. Each Garnet spent is worth 1 additional denarius at the start of the Match.

Card Appendix

These images explain what each Client, Wonder, and Strategic Building do;

Important clarification: All building or client effects cannot be retrospective. They can't change what has happened in the past, they can only affect future months after the building is completed or the client is patronised.