CYCLADES: DEVELOPMENT Expansion for the Age of Conan Board Game

 
This is an expansion for the Age of Conan Strategy Board Game that introduces a new set of game components, represented by tokens and cards from the Cyclades Board Game. The tokens are used to represent buildings and a metropolis. The cards represent priests and philosophers.

The Age of Conan board game actually consists of three mini-games incorporated into an overall game. This expansion adds more complexity to the game, and involves developing players’ home provinces.




 This Expansion was designed to be used with my Cyclades: Mythology Expansion rules. However, you can also use it on its own, in which case you should simply ignore the section about using Priests against Mythological Creatures.

You can either print this page out or copy and paste it into a Microsoft Word document if you like. However, you may NOT use it for commercial purposes.

Components

I originally designed this expansion for use by people who owned both the Age of Conan and the Cyclades games. If you do not have the Cyclades game, you can use substitutes for the tokens and cards that are required. All other components are those used in the Age of Conan game.

You will need four each of the Temple, University, Fortress and Port tokens from the Cyclades board game. These are used to represent the four kinds of buildings that can be built by players – Great Temples, Academies, Grand Fora and Royal Palaces. You also need four Metropolis tokens and sixteen each of the Priest and Philosopher Cards.

Setting Up

None of the new components are placed on the board at the beginning of the game. They can only be brought into play by a player using a Court Action.

Monumental Buildings

A player can place one of the four building tokens on the board by using a Court Action. If he uses a Court + Conan Die, he can also take a Conan action along with the Court Action. If he uses a Wild Die, he does not get a Conan Action, and the Die is used up for the construction of the building. The player must pay a fee of four Gold Tokens for each monumental building he constructs, although this amount can be reduced once the player has drawn Philosopher Cards. He may then place the token representing the building he wishes to construct in his home province. Buildings can only be placed in a player’s home province. Each player can only build one of each type of building.

Each Court Action can only be used to build one monumental building. If a player wishes to build a second building, he must wait another turn and use a second Court Action to do so, if another Court + Conan or Wild Die is available. If a player uses a Court Action to construct a building, he cannot also draw any Strategy or Kingdom Cards with that die.

Monumental Buildings can only be built in a player's home province.

Academies

An Academy represents an educational establishment, similar to the one established by Plato in Athens. Academies are indicated by the University tokens from the Cyclades game. 

 Once a player has constructed an Academy, he can use it to recruit Philosophers.  

Great Temples

A Great Temple represents a magnificent temple building, like the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Great Temples are indicated by the Temple tokens from the Cyclades game.

Once a player has constructed a Great Temple, he can use it to recruit Priests. 

Grand Fora

A Grand Forum represents a collection of administrative and commercial buildings, like the Roman Forum (known in ancient times as the Forum Magnum), which serves as the focus of public life in the capital of a player’s home province. Grand Fora are indicated by the Fortress tokens from the Cyclades game.

A Grand Forum increases the income from a player’s home province. In an Age Change Phase, a player earns two additional Gold Tokens for having a Grand Forum. This is in addition to the five Gold Tokens that he would normally gain for the home province.

Royal Palaces

A Royal Palace represents a magnificent palace building. Royal Palaces are indicated by the Port tokens from the Cyclades game.

A player can only establish a Metropolis in his home province after he has built a Royal Palace there.

Metropolises

Each player can establish one Metropolis, which represents the expansion of the capital of his home province. A Metropolis is indicated by a Metropolis token from the Cyclades game. 

A player who has already buildt a Royal Palace in his home province can use a Court Action to establish a Metropolis there. If the player uses a Court + Conan Die, he can also take a Conan action along with the Court Action. If he uses a Wild Die, he does not get a Conan Action, and the Die is used up to establish the Metropolis. The player must pay a fee of ten Gold Tokens, and can then place a Metropolis token on the board. This amount can be reduced if the player holds any Philosopher Cards.

Philosopher and Priest Cards

Philosopher and Priest Cards represent individuals who can be recruited by a player once the appropriate monumental building has been constructed.

Philosophers

Philosophers can be recruited once a player has built an Academy. A player can recruit a Philosopher by using a Court Action. The player can then do one of the following: -

-          Draw one Philosopher Card and one card from the Strategy Deck. 

-          Draw one Philosopher Card and one card from the Kingdom Deck. 

-          If the player also has a Great Temple, he can draw one Philosopher and one Priest Card.

When a player draws a Philosopher Card, he must immediately put it face up on the table next to his Play-on-the-Table Cards. He does not have to pay any Gold Tokens to do this. A player can have a maximum of four Philosopher Cards in play at any time.

Philosophers help reduce the cost of constructing other buildings. For each Philosopher Card that a player has in play, the cost of constructing a building is reduced by one Gold Token. However, the minimum cost of constructing a building is one Gold Token, even if a player has enough Philosopher Cards to reduce the cost to zero.

Philosophers also reduce the cost of establishing a Metropolis. For each Philosopher Card that a player has in play, the cost of establishing a Metropolis is reduced by one Gold Token. A player with the maximum of four Philosopher Cards in play will therefore only have to pay six Gold Tokens to establish a Metropolis, instead of ten.

Priests

Priests can be recruited once a player has built a Great Temple. A player can recruit a Priest by using a Court Action. The player can then do one of the following: -

-          Draw one Priest Card and one card from the Strategy Deck. 

-          Draw one Priest Card and one card from the Kingdom Deck. 

-          If the player also has an Academy, he can draw one Philosopher and one Priest Card.

When a player draws a Priest Card, he must immediately put it face up on the table next to his Play-on-the-Table Cards. He need not pay any Gold Tokens to do this. A player can have a maximum of four Priest Cards in play at any time.

A Priest can be used instead of a Sorcery Token to reroll the results of a die roll during a Military or an Intrigue Contest. When a player uses a Priest in this way, he must remove one Priest Card from play, and return it to the deck. The player can always recruit another Priest to replace the lost one by using another Court Action to do so on a future turn.

If you are also using my Cyclades: Mythology Expansion rules, Priests can be used to aid a Character who starts an Action Contest against a Mythological Creature. For each Priest Card that a player has in play, he may reduce the number of contest dice rolled by a Mythological Creature in an Action Contest. A player who has the maximum of four Priest Cards in play can therefore reduce the number of dice rolled by a Mythological Creature to just one. Players can only use their Priests against a Mythological Creature if it is being attacked by a Character who is currently under their control.

Final Scoring

In the final scoring at the end of the game, each player who has established a Metropolis is awarded two Empire Points for the Metropolis.