Castles & Cathedrals

A strategic empire builder with a living chronicle | 2 to 8 players | Ages 10+ | 45 to 90 minutes

Rulebook version 2.0

What Changed From v1

Version 2 replaces the hex grid with Realm Charters (square map tiles with irregular provinces) and adds the Chronicle Deck: Sagas, Lords, Quests, Events, and Threats. Core economy, castles, cathedrals, protection, and scoring are unchanged from v1 unless noted. See the separate Chronicle Deck manifest for all 100 cards.

The Premise

The year is whatever the Saga says it is. Each game, the Chronicle Deck deals you a different Age, a different Lord to play, and secret ambitions to chase, while Threats out of folklore stalk a realm map that has never existed before and never will again.

Components

Building the Realm

Shuffle the Charters and deal them face down, then flip and connect them edge to edge in a rough rectangle, rotating freely. River and road exits always align because they sit at fixed edge positions.

Provinces are the irregular shires drawn on the Charters. Two provinces are adjacent if they share any border, including across Charter edges. Rivers and roads are features, not borders: provinces can span them.

Setup, in Order

1. Build the realm as above.
2. Reveal the Saga. Its rule governs the whole game. Read it aloud.
3. Draft Lords. Deal each player 2 Lord cards. Each keeps 1, face up, and returns the other to the box.
4. Deal Quests. Each player takes 2 Quest cards, secret. Both can score.
5. Place starting castles. In reverse turn order, each player places a castle on any Field at least 3 provinces from every other starting castle. That province is theirs.
6. Take starting resources: 2 Stone, 2 Timber, 1 Grain, 1 Gold.
7. Shuffle Events into a face-down deck. Threats wait in a separate stack.

The Round

At the start of each round, the first player flips an Event. Read it aloud; it applies to everyone for the round (or resolves instantly). If it summons a Threat, place the Threat's standee on its lair province per its card.

Then each player takes a turn:

1. Harvest (automatic). Each of your provinces produces 1 of its resource, 2 with your castle. Apply Event, Saga, and Threat modifiers.

2. Two actions, any combination:

Trading remains free and unlimited: 3 identical resources for 1 of your choice.

3. End your turn. When the last player finishes, check end conditions and begin a new round with a new Event.

Cathedrals (unchanged)

Canon Law: no cathedral may begin adjacent to another, any owner. Two per house maximum. Diocese: each completed cathedral scores 1 endgame VP per adjacent province you own.

Omens

Every Chronicle card carries one omen: ⚔ Sword, ⛪ Spire, or 🌾 Wheat. When a rule says "flip an omen," reveal the top card of the Event deck, read its omen, and discard it. This is the game's only randomizer beyond shuffling. No dice ever.

Threats

A Threat occupies its lair and inflicts its torment on the realm until slain. Threats are never players' allies and never move (except where a card says otherwise). Slaying is an action: pay the cost, own an adjacent province, take the reward and the lair. If two Threats would occupy the same province, the new one takes the nearest legal alternative. Unslain Threats are worth nothing to anyone; some torments get worse the longer they stand, so the realm has a shared interest someone will eventually price in.

Game End and Scoring

Trigger at the close of any turn: any player at the VP threshold, 32 VP at 2 players, 34 at 3, 36 at 4 (4 less under The Twin Thrones saga), or 4 completed cathedrals realm-wide (5 at 5+ players). Finish the round, reveal Quests, then score:

Tiebreakers: most Faith, then most provinces, then most Quests completed.

Playing Solo: The Adversary

The digital game seats an artificial opponent, the Adversary, in any chairs you leave empty. It plays by exactly these rules: no hidden resources, no peeking at your Quests or the dice. It drafts a Lord that suits the revealed Saga, keeps its own two Quests secret until the end, and rolls the same d20 you do. Its moves appear in the Chronicle log as it makes them, so you can learn its habits by watching.

Three tempers are offered. The Steward plays plainly and suits a first game. The Marshal plans its turns and punishes an open flank. The Adversary itself plans furthest and means to win. Choose the temper on the setup screen; a rematch keeps it.

Scaling Notes for 5 to 8 Players

Bigger realms mean longer rounds, so three adjustments keep pace: harvest simultaneously at the round's start instead of per turn, raise the cathedral end trigger to 5, and deal 3 Quests keeping 2 (more direction, faster decisions). Expect 90 minutes at 8 players. The digital version sidesteps downtime entirely with async turns.

Designer's Notes

The Chronicle Deck is the product strategy as much as the game design. The box is a platform; expansions are pure card packs that slot into the five existing types with zero new rules overhead. Cards teach themselves: every effect is printed in full on the card, so a new pack never touches this rulebook.

The Charter map is the identity strategy. Irregular provinces photograph nothing like a hex game, scale by adding tiles, and give Threats, rivers, and roads a geography worth fighting over.

Playtest Checklist v2

1. Does the Saga visibly change opening strategy? (Players should reference it when drafting Lords.)
2. Are any Lords auto-picks? (Track pick rates; The Dowager and The Merchant Prince are the suspects.)
3. Do Quests leak? (If players can guess your Quests by turn 3, objectives need more overlap in behavior.)
4. Are Threats slain promptly or ignored? (If ignored, raise their VP or worsen torments.)
5. Event whiplash check: do instant-VP Events (Tournament, Census, Saint's Day) decide games? If so, cut them to 1 VP.
6. At 6+ players, does simultaneous harvest hold the table together?