Rules

Object of the Game & Winning Conditions

The Object of the Game is to have fun.  

Winning conditions vary from game to game, depending on the roles distributed.  Each player's role card has an objective.  The objectives award victory points for completing various tasks.  At the end of the game, all players will reveal their mission cards.

Players tally their victory points from the personal objective on their role card, the community objectives on other players' role cards, and any victory points on placards that they control.  The greatest score wins.

Game Start

Establish the play area, including different locations for each university tableau, one research play station, two competition play stations, and the "bank." 

Games with larger player counts may elect to play with teams.  Each university may have up to three players.  (It is strongly recommended to keep teams as similarly sized as possible.)

Shuffle the missions deck.  Each university will receive one mission card.  

Players report to their university for the first night phase.

Resources

Robes and Rivals has three main types of currencies: scholars, ideas, and money.

Scholar and idea tokens come in three different classes: basic (white), intermediate (green, orange, and purple), and advanced (black).  This color scheme very roughly mirrors various martial arts' belts, where white belts are novices while black belts indicate mastery.  In all cases, advanced tokens may be substituted to pay for basic or intermediate resources of the same type, and intermediate resources may be substituted to pay for basic resources of the same type.

Money is in the currency of Florin.

Game Flow

Robes and Rivals shifts between two main phases: the day phase and the night phase.  During the production phase, players report to their university play area where they can produce on all tableaus they control in that area.  During the action phase, players report to one of three action zones.  After completing the tasks in that action zone, players may interact with each other and may move to or from any play area.

Night Phase

All players report to their university for production.

As a team, players may operate their university tableau.  To produce, players must have what is on the left side of an arrow to acquire what is on the right side of an arrow.  Solid black arrows may only be used once during a production phase.  Arrows with both black and white chevrons may be used in either the production phase or the action phase.

Each university starts with a colorful card that they may elect to use on their tableau.  Either side is valid.  Throughout the game, universities may gain more cards through research, competitions, purchases, and trade.  To gain the card's ability, it must be included on the university tableau (and covering an open space.)   Unused cards have no production.

Players on teams must decide how to distribute resources to each other and which play stations to attend.  

Day Phase

During the action phase players may exchange any resources with each other.  (The only things that players may not trade are control of city tableaus, which are permanent.)  There are no assigned values for scholar tokens, idea tokens, money, or stocks -- simply whatever bargain players agree upon.

Research Station

Players who report to the research station may report to one of five play areas: research, politics, publishing, and competition (there are two competition areas).

Conduct Research

Players pay a researcher to rolle three idea dice.  If any dice thrown match their researcher, then they keep the research idea tokens.  If no tokens match their player token, then they receive money.  (White scholars collect 5 Florin, while Green/Purple/Orange scholars collect 20 florin.)

Each player may conduct research up to five times, discarding a meeple each time.

Players may trade idea or meeple tokens at this station.

Politics Station

Conference Realignment

Players may decide to establish a new conference.  To do so, all willing participants must sign a sheet of paper affirming that they are creating a conference.  Conferences are capped at two universities at the start of the game; additional technologies may unlock larger conferences.  The conference move will go into effect

Politics

Players at this table will receive an event bulletin at the beginning of the round.  Players may decide to act on the event as a group, as a conference, or as an individual university.  Impacts of the event will vary, and sometimes there may be unintended consequences to those actions.

Conference Income

Players may collect income shown on all university tokens in their conference.  After conference income is collected, then conferences will adjust as per conference realignment rules.

Competition

Players who report to a competition play station must compete in that sport and conduct politics.

Competition

Players compete in events by throwing 1d6 and adding bonuses for resources bid.  Players simultaneously bid resources shown on the competition tableau.  For each token bid, players may throw dice or add points to their thrown dice total.  

Once all players throw their dice, players compare scores with all other players in their conference at the play station.  The players rank themselves from greatest value to lowest value.  In case of ties, players roll a single die to break ties.  

The player with the greatest score overall draws a competition card.  

The player with the greatest score within each conference draws a bonus card for each university in their conference, selects one to keep, and passes the remaining cards to the next highest value.  This card draft continues until the player with the lowest value collects a card.  Players immediately take the resources on the prize card.

Publishing

Players with enough idea tokens to pay for a technology on their university's tech tree may go to the Publishing table and share their successes.  Players are encouraged to name their research as if they were journal article.  Once a player announces their research, all other players are required to applaud (although it may be a quiet applause.)   Players then may exchange their idea tokens to advance their tech tree.

Each university may give up to one technology to another university each round.  Each university may receieve up to one technology from another university each round.

Each round, a best paper award will be awarded to the best presentation.  This player will receive a bonus from a facilitator.

Sabbatical 

After the final play station completes its activities, set a timer for three minutes.  All players may congregate, trade resources with one another, and develop plans to work together during the next round.  After the timer goes off, all players return to their university.

End of Game

After seven rounds of play, players skip the sabbatical phase and immediate jump to end game scoring.

All players reveal their missions one-at-a-time, including the group goals.  Players total their victory points on their tableau, their personal mission card, and all other players' group missions.  The greatest score wins.

Combining with Oligopoly

Robes and Rivals may be integrated into the Oligopoly game.  Here are some quick rules clarificaitons:

Production

During the production phase, you may use amenity icons from your city's tableau.  Each player may individually operate up to one corporation.

Researching Corporation and City Cards

Players may elect to research cards with white backgrounds.  These cards may not be used on a university tableau; instead they may be traded to city players and corporation players.  

Diplomas

Each university starts with three diplomas.  These diplomas may be traded with other players.  If a corporation player has a diploma, then they may use one space from your university tableau -- no matter where they are located.

Campus HQ Card

The physical location of your university exists at the "campus HQ" card within a city.  It must be in play on a city's tableau.

Moving your campus

In the unlikely event that you want to move your campus, then you must pay one resource of every color (labor, idea, and resource token).  If you are the final HQ to move from a city, then that city is annexed by your destination city.  (The Oligopoly players will know what this means.)