The Red Cathedral - General game info
Red Cathedral
1-4 players, 80 minutes, 10 years and older
AuthorsSheila Santos (io_shei)
Israel Cendrero (israc)
IllustratorsChema Román
Pedro Soto
Published byDevir Games
Online since 2024-05-26
Developed byCraig Chaney (coastliner)
Boardgamegeek227224
Yucata.de owns a license for the online version of this game. A big "thank you" to the copyright owners (publisher and/or author and illustrator) who make it possible to have this game for free online here!
The Red Cathedral - Rules

n the mid-15th Century, to commemorate his military victories, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of the temple that would become known as St. Basil’s Cathedral. Its original design took several decades to complete, and many different teams took part in its construction.


In The Red Cathedral you will take on the role of a team of architects charged with building the cathedral. Each player will build different parts of the monument. Using your influence with the clergy and the different guilds of the city, you will attempt to earn more of the Tsar’s favor than your rivals. When the work on the cathedral has been completed, the player who has earned the most prestige will be the winner!

4
Player Markers
20
Lumber
20
Brick
20
Stone
15
Gold
10
Green Jewels
10
Purple Jewels
1
Market board
4
Workshop boards
8
Resource tiles
28
Workshop tiles
16
Ornamentations
40
Coins
66
Cards
5
Dice
  1. Place the Market board A in the center of the table, making sure to leave space next to it for the Cathedral Construction Site. B
  2. Each player chooses a color and places the following in their own playing area:
    • Their personal Workshop board, with either the basic side (recommended for your first few games) or the advanced side up. C
    • 4 (of their 6) Banners are placed in the Inventory on their Workshop board. The remaining Banners are placed outside the Inventory. D
    • Their 4 Ornamentations 1 Door, 2 Arches, and 1 Cross, are placed in the matching spaces of their Workshop board. E
    The Advanced Workshop side shows a compass on the workbench. They have special rules for the use of Workshop tiles and for unlocking the Ornamentations (here). If you are playing with the Advanced Workshops, use the following setup: Ornamentations are placed in the indicated Workshop tile spaces, four Banners are placed in your Inventory and two Banners are placed in your white Workshop tile spaces.
  3. Place the score markers for each player on the 2 space of the Scoring Track (around the edge of the Market board), with the “+40” facing down. F
  4. Shuffle the Resource tiles and place one randomly in each of the 8 spaces on the Market board. Turn them face up. G
  5. Shuffle the Influence cards for each of the four groups (the Craftsmen’s Guild, the Teamsters’ Guild, the Merchants’ Guild, and the Clergy) separately. Draw one of each and place them in the four spaces indicated on the Market board (it does not matter which position each card is placed in). H
    If this is your first game, we recommend that you use this set of cards.
  6. Take all 5 dice in both hands and shake them. Starting with the space next to the Resource tile that grants , let one die fall randomly into that space. Then drop one die in each of the following spaces, in the direction of the arrows. I
  7. To one side, within reach of the players, create a general reserve for all of the building Materials and Rubles. J
    Resources and Materials

    We use the term Materials to refer to any “physical” objects that are used in the construction, such as bricks or lumber. The concept of Resources (as we use it) includes the Materials, but also Rubles and Recognition Points.

    Lumber
    Brick
    Stone
    Gold
    Green Gem
    Purple Gem
    This icon is equivalent to one unit of any one material.
  8. Take the Building Plan cards that show the number of players in the game and mix them. Draw one at random and leave the rest in the box. This card will show the height for each of the towers that the players will build. Every tower has exactly one base and one dome, but the number of middle sections between each base and dome can vary.
  9. Take the Cathedral cards and shuffle them into three decks: the bases, the middle sections, and the domes. Randomly pull the number of base cards indicated on the Building Plan and place them in the Construction Site, B making sure that the face showing the Building Costs on each card is showing. After that, place the number of middle cards indicated on the Building Plan for each tower above them, and then finish each tower with a dome card. You can now return the Building Plan card and the rest of the Cathedral cards to the box with the others.
  10. Take the Workshop tiles. If the game is being played with less than three players, put all of the tiles that have this icon back in the box. Place the tiles face down on the table and shuffle them well. Then, one by one, turn them face up and place one randomly on each of the Cathedral cards L. Put any leftover tiles back in the box.
  11. You may choose who will be the first player to take their turn however you like. Once that has been decided, the first player will take 3 Rubles. The rest of the players are then given Rubles in clockwise order, receiving 4 Rubles, 4 Rubles, and 5 Rubles respectively.

The game is played in turns. Each player plays their full turn before it becomes the next player’s turn, and the order of play is always clockwise around the table.

The game ends when one player has completed the construction of their sixth Cathedral section. That player gets 3 as a reward and the end of the game is triggered. The other players will have one final turn before the game ends.

Solo Play
If you wish to play the Solitaire Mode, you can find the rules you will need here.

As you can see, the Scoring Track that runs around the Market board counts two different things: Recognition Points (numbers with a beige background) and Prestige Points.

Whenever the game tells you to “gain or lose ,” move your score marker the number of spaces indicated forward or backwards. When you are told that you “gain or lose ,” move your marker to the closest Prestige Point space forward or backwards. At a certain point, the and spaces are equal.

At the end of the game, the player with the most Prestige Points wins.

During their turn, the player must carry out one of these 3 basic actions:

a
Claim a cathedral section
b
Build sections of the cathedral
c
Acquire resources from the market

In addition, at any moment during their turn, a player may decide to execute any of these two optional actions:

  • Lose Prestige Points in exchange for rubles at a rate of 1 for 2 Rubles. They move their score marker back to the previous Prestige Point space and take 2 Rubles from the general reserve.
  • Lose 1 Prestige Point in order to roll the dice from any one space on the board. Move the score marker to the previous Prestige Point space, choose one of the eight spaces on the board and re-roll all the dice there. Players can use this optional action only once per turn.

he builders are assigned sections of the Cathedral to work on and place the scaffolding they need to carry out their work, represented in the game by the Banners. This will allow the towers to grow vertically out of the main structure and allow the construction teams to reach the highest parts of the towers.

To claim part of the Cathedral, a player carries out these steps:

  1. They take any one Banner from their personal Workshop board (possibly opening up a space in their Inventory).
  2. They Claim one available Cathedral card by placing their Banner on top of it. A Cathedral card is available if it does not have a Banner on it and it is either any base card or any other type of card that is directly above another card that already has a Banner on it (from any player).
  3. They take the Workshop tile that is on the claimed Cathedral card and place it in any empty Workshop space on their Workshop board. They have two choices:
    A
    Place the Workshop tile face down . If they do, they will not be able to activate that Workshop later.
    B
    Pay the cost (in Rubles) shown in that Workshop space and place the Workshop tile face up . They will be able to receive the benefit shown on that Workshop tile each time they move the die that matches that Workshop’s color— see “Activate a Workshop Tile” (here) .
  4. If the Workshop tile is paid for and placed face up, the player immediately gains the benefit shown on it.
In this example, we can see that the yellow player has placed one of their Banners on a Cathedral card that has the white die Workshop tile on it 12. The yellow player pays 2 Rubles to place it in their blue Workshop 3. The player obtains resources based on the current position of the white die on the Market board, which is 2 Rubles 4.

If you have chosen to play the game on the advanced side of the Workshop boards, keep the following things in mind:

The game plays the same as the standard game in all aspects except that placing a tile in the Workshop has a fixed cost of 3 Rubles and that the Ornamentations are not available right at the start of the game.

When part of the Cathedral is claimed and the Workshop tile is placed (after first paying the costs), the corresponding Ornamentation becomes available. If the player cannot or does not want to pay to place the tile, the Ornamentation does not become available.

The Banners in the white Workshops are used in the same way as those in the Inventory, and can be taken directly from there. A Workshop tile cannot be placed on a white Workshop space if the Banner blocking it has not been used.

  1. The yellow player is going to claim part of the Cathedral. They decide that the Workshop tile will go in their green Workshop so they can take the Arch there, moving it to the corresponding space on their board.
  2. Then, the player takes a Banner from their Inventory and places it on the Cathedral card to claim it and its Workshop tile.
  3. Finally, when placing the tile on the green space and paying 3 Rubles, the player moves the Arch and places it in its available place on their Workshop board. If they would have taken a Banner from their white Workshop spaces instead, their new Workshop tile could have gone to one of the white Workshop spaces.

nce the scaffolding has been installed, the construction teams can get to work and finish that part of the Cathedral. To do that, they will need construction Materials and, if they have the opportunity, they can add finishings to the work with beautiful Ornamentations.


Each time a player chooses this action, they may deliver up to three Materials to the Construction Site.

Then those materials can be used to Build and/or Decorate the Cathedral. If a section now has all of the required Materials, it is completed and the player is awarded Recognition Points and possibly Rubles. Adding Ornamentations may also award Prestige Points.

Building

The player takes the Materials they want to deliver from their Inventory and assigns them to one or more Cathedral cards that have their Banners on them. There is no requirement that the player finishes a section in a single delivery—simply leave the Materials on the card to show that they have already been delivered. 1

Building a Cathedral Section

A Cathedral section is finished once it has all of the required Materials on it 2. When this happens, the following steps are taken:

  • The Materials are removed and returned to the general reserve.
  • The player gains the Recognition Points and Rubles shown on the card .
  • The card is flipped over so it is showing the finished side. The player’s Banner is left on the card 3.

What happens if a Cathedral section is completed when there are unfinished sections below it?

If, when a section of the Cathedral is completed, there are cards that have not been finished below it in the same tower, the players who have claimed those unfinished sections will be chastised by the Tsar. The player(s) who claimed those unfinished cards immediately lose Recognition Points equal to the number of finished sections above their cards without counting their own completed sections.

In the first picture, the red player has been able to complete part of the Cathedral before the blue player. The blue player is penalized 1 .A Later on, the blue player still hasn’t completed their sections before the yellow player finishes theirs, B so the blue player suffers a penalty of 3 : 1 for the top blue card (which only has 1 completed section above it) and 2 for the one at the bottom (which now has 2 completed sections above it, completed by the red and yellow players).

In this example, the blue player suffers a penalty of 1 when they finish their top section, due to the red player’s completed section but not for the section that blue just completed. A Later, when the yellow player finishes their section, B blue receives a penalty of 2 (due to the red and yellow sections but ignoring the finished blue section).

Decorating the Cathedral

nce a section of the Cathedral has been completed, there is an opportunity for the construction teams to add finishings, installing decorations and other types of improvements.


Each section of the cathedral, once finished, has space to place a single Ornamentation: bases allow the construction of a Door; middle sections allow the addition of Arches, and domes allow the erection of a Cross. Any player can install an Ornamentation on any completed Cathedral section, regardless of who built that section.

To decorate a Cathedral section, the player must deliver the Materials required for the Ornamentation (Door = lumber; Arch = stone; Cross = gold) plus 0, 1, or 2 jewels, which are “set” into the Ornamentation. If jewels are set into the Ornamentation, the player immediately gains:

  • 1 for each jewel set into it, or
  • a total of 3 if 2 jewels of different colors are set into it.

If an Ornamentation is added without any jewels, no Prestige Points are awarded at that time.

Either way, all Ornamentations can generate Prestige Points at the end of the game (in addition to those awarded for any jewels when built), so it makes sense to invest in them even if they are not accompanied by jewels.

Each Material (including any jewels) used for an Ornamentation counts as one Material delivered. Remember that you can only deliver a maximum of three Materials during each Build Sections of the Cathedral action. In this case, when a player sends Materials for a Decoration , all the chosen materials must be sent on the same turn. Unlike parts of the Cathedral, Decorations must be sent and finished in one go.

The yellow player uses their 3 deliveries to decorate a Cathedral dome, creating a Cross with 2 different jewels encrusted in it, which awards him 3 .

The yellow player is using all 3 deliveries for Ornamentations, creating a Door (paying 1 lumber) with a jewel set in it (which gives them 1 ) and a Cross (paying 1 gold) that does not grant them any immediate points.

In this example of combined building and decorating, the yellow player is getting ready to complete a middle section of the Cathedral . They decide to build, using up one of their deliveries for the missing gold . This allows them to complete their section, earning 4 and 2 Rubles and, furthermore, the green player is penalized and loses 1 . Since it is still possible to make 2 more deliveries this turn, yellow decides to use them to build an Arch with 1 jewel (1 delivery of stone and another for the jewel), which they then place on the section they just completed for 1 additional which is awarded immediately.

fundamental part of construction is having all of the required Materials at the moment you need to use them. Everything you might need is available in the Market. Furthermore, your relationships with the different Guilds will help you complete your job and are crucial to becoming the most famous and appreciated architect!


Resource management and the use of the Market are the heart of The Red Cathedral. To visit the Market, a player must follow these steps:

  1. Announce which Market die they are going to use.
  2. Move that die around the Market board in the direction of the arrows exactly the same number of spaces as the value it shows.
    • Optionally, if they use the white die or the die that is their own color , they may spend Rubles to move it additional spaces, at a rate of one Ruble for each extra space (which can result in a total movement that is greater than six spaces).
    • Important: A die cannot end its movement on a space that is already occupied by three dice. In other words, the maximum number of dice that can be in each space is three. If the moving die would end up in a full space, the player must choose a different die to move or—if it is the white die or their color—they may pay to increase its movement.
  3. The die remains on the space it reaches after moving.
  4. The player now performs any Market actions that they want to take, based on the space they moved to.
  5. Finally, they roll all of the dice that are in that space and then put them back in that space.

The yellow player decides to move the yellow die. It shows the number 3, so they move it three spaces, landing on the same space as the blue die. Since the yellow player is moving the yellow die (their color), they could spend Rubles to move it further, but they do not want to do so this time.
Market Actions

Once the die has completed its movement, the player may perform any or all of the following actions. They may perform each action only once, but they may be performed in any order the player wishes .

1Obtain Resources from the Market

The player takes the resources shown on the Resource tile next to that space from the general supply, multiplied by the number of dice in that space (as a maximum: the player may take a smaller amount if they wish).

Resources are limited to the quantity in the general supply. If any of them run out, any action that would award that Resource has no effect until the supply is replenished.

After moving the yellow die, the player performs the “Take 2 Bricks” action twice (because there are 2 dice in the space) and gets 4 bricks. Since yellow is the player’s color, they could have paid 1 Ruble and instead landed where the red die is to obtain 4 Lumber.
The Inventory

Every time a player gets Materials, they must put them in their Inventory zone. Each Inventory initially has six open spaces, which can hold one Material each. Players can increase the size of their Inventories by claiming sections of the Cathedral.

Important: If you obtain Materials but there is no open space for them in your Inventory, you cannot discard those already in your Inventory to make space. You can only keep Materials that you have enough space for.

2Use influence

Players can use their influence with the four groups on the board—the Craftsmen’s Guild, the Teamster’s Guild, the Merchant’s Guild, and the Clergy—to perform a variety of actions. Each group is assigned a quadrant (representing the seasons of the year) on the Market board, which includes two Market spaces. The quadrant where the chosen die’s movement ends determines which of these groups can be influenced that turn.

When a player influences a Guild or the Clergy, they may perform one of the two actions shown on that group’s card. Some of these actions require a cost and others do not. Actions marked with the lightning icon only allow the player to perform that action one time this turn, while those with the infinity icon can be performed as many times as the player wishes. For more details, see the Influence Actions Chart (here).

To continue the example from before, after obtaining bricks, the player decides to use the Merchant’s Guild action to exchange 2 of their recently obtained bricks for 1 green jewel.

If the player has a Workshop tile assigned to their Workshop that matches the die they moved this turn, they may immediately obtain the benefit shown on that tile.

When this player moves the blue die, they can also receive resources from the space the red die is located in at that moment (2 lumber, in this case). If they move the yellow die, they gain 1 .
Some Workshop tiles provide resources, while others show one of the five dice colors. When you activate a Workshop tile that shows a die, you gain the resources shown on the Resource tile next to the space that die is sitting in. You only get these resources once , regardless of the number of dice in that space.
White Workshop spaces

The White Workshop space on each player’s Workshop board has two spaces where Workshop tiles can be placed. If a player moves the white die on the Market board and has two tiles assigned to it in their Workshop, they may only choose one of the two to activate that turn (you cannot use both).

Remember: After completing your actions in the Market, you must roll all of the dice in the space you landed on.

As soon as any player has completed their sixth Cathedral card , and the Recognition Points provided by that card have been awarded, they gain 3 additional for bringing an end to the game. Then, the other players will each have one final turn before the final counting of points is performed.

At this time, all players must move their score counters back to the closest lower Prestige Point space. If the player is already on a Prestige Point space, they do not move.

Important: If a player goes beyond 40 Prestige Points, flip their score counter so it shows the “+40” side and continue counting from the beginning of the track.

The yellow player must move back to the 14 space. The green player will remain on the 18 space.
Additional Scoring

On top of the Prestige Points earned during the game, players will add:

  • 1 for every 5 Materials and Rubles that they return to the general reserve at the end of the game.
  • A number of based on their contributions to each of the towers.

The total value of a tower is 2 for each section that is completed, plus 1 for each Ornamentation on it. Any sections that are not completed are not counted at all in the final scoring.

Each player counts the number of Banners and Ornamentations of their color they have on the completed Cathedral cards in that Tower.

The player with the highest total receives the full value of that tower.

The player with the second highest total receives half of the total value of the tower (rounding down for half points). The next player after them receives half of that, and so on.

If there is a tie for any position, add up the Prestige Points for the positions of the tied players and divide them evenly between them (rounding down). If a player does not have any Banners or Ornamentations in a tower, they receive no points for that tower.

Example of Tower Scoring for Four Players

Tower 1: Number of to award: 7 (3 completed sections + 1 Ornamentation). Green has 1 banner + 1 Door and gets 7 . Yellow and red tie for 2nd and 3rd place (3 and 1 ) so their 4 are split between them, with 2 going to each of the two players.

Tower 2: 5 for the blue player and 2 for the yellow player.

Tower 3: Points to be awarded: 12 . Blue gets 12 ; yellow gets 6 ; green and red get 2 each.

Tower 4: Points to be awarded: 10 . Green gets 10 ; red gets 5 and yellow gets 2 .

Tower 5: Points to be awarded: 9 . 9 for blue; 7 (4+2+1) to be shared among yellow, red, and green, with 2 for each.

Tower 6: 9 . 9 for red; 4 for green (since the cross is green’s); and 2 for blue.

The player with the greater presence in the tower (more Banners and Ornamentations) gets all of the points granted by that tower and the other player, if they are present in that tower, gets one third of the total instead of half (always rounding down). If they are tied, neither player gets any points for that tower.

In the example:

  • Tower 1: green 8 .
  • Tower 2 : yellow 6 , green 2 .
  • Tower 3: yellow 8 , green 2 .
  • Tower 4: green 5 , yellow 1 .

The player with the most Prestige Points is the winner!

If there is a tie, the tied player with most completed sections wins. If the tied players have completed the same number of sections, the one with the most Ornamentations placed will be the winner. If the are still tied, then the players share the victory.

van Yakovlevich was the architect chosen by the Tsar to design his great cathedral. By direct order of Ivan the Terrible, he will be the one who personally directs one of the construction teams. Nevertheless, your team will also take part in the job. Will you be able to do such brilliant work that it dazzles the Tsar even though you are in direct competition with the architect in charge of the construction?


Setup

Set up the game as you would for two players. Place both score counters on the Scoring Track and set the six Banners and the Ornamentations of the other color to the side. This will be the color used by Ivan Yakovlevich for his building team. You will not need his Workshop board.

Take the Workshop tiles that are only used in games with 3-4 players that have the die action icons. You will have five, one of each color.

Shuffle the five Solitaire cards and lay them out in a line. This is the order that Ivan will carry out his actions. Then, mix up the Workshop tiles that you pulled out and randomly place them face up in the spaces indicated on the Solitaire cards. Place five of Ivan’s Banners on top of the “Claim a Cathedral Section” Solitaire card. Place Ivan’s Ornamentations at the end of the row.

Then, with the remaining Banner, immediately perform a Claim a Cathedral Section action for Ivan, claiming the Cathedral base card that grants the most Recognition Points. If there is more than one card worth the same number of points, Ivan will choose the tower that is farthest to the left. Remove the Workshop tile that was on the base card claimed by Ivan from the game. Now the game starts with you playing your first turn.

Gameplay

Play your turn in the normal way, choosing one of the three available actions. Then it will be Ivan’s turn. Continue alternating turns in this way until you or Ivan have finished their six parts of the Cathedral . Regardless, as soon as the end of the game is triggered, no player will get the 3 bonus, but the other player will still get one final turn.

Ivan's Turn

During Ivan’s turn, look at the row of Solitaire cards and find the one furthest to the left that has a face-up Workshop tile. First, move the die shown on that Workshop tile as if Ivan was performing an Acquire Resources from the Market basic action, and then flip the Workshop tile face-down . If this would move a die to a space that already has three dice, do not perform this part of Ivan’s turn.

Ivan will not gain any Resources from this action, but he may still obtain a Recognition Point (either because he lands on a Market space that grants it or because the Influence card gives him a ). In this case, update his score counter. After the die moves (if possible), perform the action indicated on that Solitaire card.

If, at the start of Ivan’s turn, all of his Workshop tiles are face down, carry out these steps before taking Ivan’s turn as normal:

  1. Iván will place one Ornamentation on a built card, if he can, following this criteria and order:
    A
    What Ornament to place? The order in which to place them is Door - Arch - Arch - Cross. Once the Door is in place, then the next to be placed is one of the Arches, and so on.
    B
    Where to place it? Ivan will try to decorate a card constructed by the player (if there are more than one, you chose which one). If that is not possible, he will choose one of the cards built by him (if there is more than one, you chose which one).
    C
    If this is not possible, ignore this step, even if there are other Ornamentations that can be placed. If Ivan has placed an Ornamentation, he gets 1 . He doesn’t have to pay any Materials to place them.
  2. Then, take all his Workshop tiles, mix them up again, and place them one by one on the cards face up to prepare for his turn.

Actions Performed by Ivan
Recognition
Ivan immediately obtains 4 .
Inventory
Place 4 Materials of any type on this card. The Material type does not matter, simply take Materials from the pile that has the most.
Transport
Place all of the Materials from Ivan’s Inventory on top of his Construction card.
Claim a Cathedral Section

If he still has any Banners, put 1 on a Cathedral card according to this order of preference:

  1. On a card directly above a section claimed or built by you.
  2. On a base.

If neither of these conditions can be met, the player chooses which card Ivan claims.

If the Workshop tile on that card grants , Ivan gets that . Either way, any tile that he obtains is discarded.

Construction

Place all of the Materials on top of this card on the Cathedral sections under construction by Ivan. When Ivan takes this action, he does not need to match the specific resources indicated on the Cathedral cards. The only thing he must respect is the number of Materials required. (For example, if a section requires 2 lumber, 1 brick, and 1 gold, for Ivan it requires any 4 Materials). If that section is now completed, Ivan receives the that would normally be awarded.

To determine which card will receive the Materials, look from left to right, bottom to top. The first card claimed by Ivan that you find will be where the Materials are placed.

If Ivan has more Materials than are needed, the extras are placed on the next Cathedral card he is building. For example if the current card only needs 3 Materials to be completed, and Ivan has 4 to place, the 1 remaining will go to the next card.

Note: each guild has three associated cards, and each card has two choices. The numbers 1-3 shown below indicate the card that the choice will appear on. (This is important for identifying which cards were chosen in a fully customized game configuration. See the hints for handling for more details.)

Craftsmen's Guild

Sell any 1 Material for 1 Ruble.

Buy 1 of the indicated Materials for 1 Ruble.

Sell 1 of the indicated Materials for 1 Ruble.

Buy 1 Material of any type for 2 Rubles.

Sell 1 of the indicated Materials for 2 Rubles.

Buy 1 of the indicated Materials for 2 Rubles.
Teamster's Guild

Pay 1 Ruble to deliver 1 Material to the Construction Site. It can be used to build and/or decorate.

Obtain 1 Ruble.

Pay 3 Rubles to deliver 2 Materials to the Construction Site. They can be used to build and/or decorate.

Pay 2 Rubles to switch the positions of any 2 Resource tiles in the Market.
Merchant's Guild

Exchange 2 of the same Material in your Inventory for any 1 Material.

Exchange 1 Ruble plus 1 Material from your inventory for 1 of any other Material.

Exchange 4 of the same Material in your inventory for any 2 Materials.

Activate 1 of your Workshop tiles.
Clergy

Obtain 1 .

Pay 3 Rubles to obtain 1 .

Discard 3 different Materials to obtain 1 .

If you have completed at least 1 Cathedral section of each type, you get 2 .

o ensure that the construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral moves forward at a good pace and becomes the work of art that it is destined to be, the very best specialists and craftsmen must be found who can carry out the creation of a work worthy of the Tzar.


To do that, the building teams send their contractors out to hire the best employees they can find in the cities around Moscow.

This expansion includes the main module, called The Contractors, and 10 new Guilds. It also has 6 new Building Plan cards and 1 card for playing in Solitaire Mode.

Some of these new Guilds can only be used with The Contractors module, but most of them can also be used with the basic game by itself. A few will need additional playing pieces, but those will be explained in detail in these rules.

In order to play The Red Cathedral with the Contractors module, set up the game as you normally would, but with the following modifications:

  1. Remove the Resource tile that grants 1 Recognition Point from the board and put the Resource tile from this expansion that grants 1 Permit in its place.
  2. Add the Specialists’ die (the black die ) to the other 5 dice and set them up as usual, starting at the Permit tile.
  3. Remove these two Workshop tiles and add those that grant 1 Permit or allow a player to activate the Specialists’ die. Be sure to include the tiles with the 3 and 4 players + if they apply.
  4. Set the Grand Duchy of Moscow board alongside the Market board. Place the 24 Specialist tiles in the bag and draw 5 of them, which are placed face up on the spaces of the Grand Duchy of Moscow board.
  5. Mix up the 6 City tiles and place 1 randomly and face up at the top of each of the Cathedral’s towers. Place the remaining City tiles face down (showing the X) on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board on their corresponding cities. You cannot send Contractors to those cities at any time during the game.
  6. Each player receives 1 Permit (leave the rest near the board) and a Workshop board extension for the Contractors that is added to the lower part of their own board. They also receive 6 Contractor pawns that are placed on their extension. This board extension is also where you keep any Permits you may have during the game (maximum of 6). This board extension may be used when playing with the Advanced Workshops as well as the normal mode. When playing the basic mode, place the two extra Banners on top of the Inventory.

The Contractors adds a fourth action to the 3 actions in the base game. This new action lets you send a Contractor to hire Specialist workers in the most important cities around Moscow, who will help you carry out the most complex tasks and thereby increase your recognition as an architect. When you send your Contractor to a city (including Moscow itself) to hire Specialists, you will need Permits and money. Using these subcontracted workers has repercussions over the length of the game: every time you complete one of the Cathedral’s towers, it triggers a scoring in that city and closes off the possibility of hiring more workers there.

a
Claim a cathedral section
b
Build sections of the cathedral
c
Acquire resources from the market
d
Hiring
The Specialist Tiles and the Specialists' Die

The new die for the Specialists works just like the colored dice for each player and the white die. This means that you can pay money to advance it additional spaces.

When you perform the Acquire Resources from the Market action and move the black die, you can use the effects of your Specialist tile as if it were a Workshop tile.

Each Specialist tile can only be used once. When you use your Specialist tile, you get the bonus shown (for further details, see Specialist Tiles). Then you must place the tile face down next to your board so it shows one of the 6 tools.

At the end of the game, you will get 1/2/4/7/11/16 Prestige Points for each group of different tools you have. Specialist tiles are one use only.

Example: With this combination, Jorge gets 5 Prestige Points at the end of the game: 4 for the group of 3 tools and 1 point more for the tool that is on its own.

For example: The cities of Smolensk and Ryazan are not available so no more Contractors can be placed in them.

here are 6 cities on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board that may or may not be available for you to hire Specialists. Unavailable cities will be covered with a tile showing a red X, to indicate that Contractors cannot be placed there. In order to hire Specialists, you must have money and Permits.

When you choose this action, follow these steps:

  1. Move the Contractor that is farthest to the left on your board to an available city on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board. Then pay as many Permits from your supply as there are Contractors in that city (counting the Contractor you just placed plus any other Contractors of your color and any other colors).
  2. Moving a Contractor may unlock a bonus on your board, which you must apply immediately.
  3. Pay 2 Rubles and choose 1 of the 2 available Specialists next to that city. If you already have a Specialist on your board, you must discard it face down without activating its ability to make space for the new tile. Important: You may decide not to pay the 2 Rubles and simply discard the new Specialist and remove it from the game instead.
  4. Finally, place a new Specialist tile in the empty space.

In this example, the yellow player will get a Material of their choice upon sending their third Contractor.

  1. Shei wants to hire a Specialist in Suzdal, so she moves the Contractor on the far left of her board to that city.
  2. To do so, she must pay 5 Permits (there are now 5 Contractors there). She also gets a Material of her choice.
  3. Then she must choose between tiles A or B. She decides to take A. She pays the 2 Rubles it costs and places the tile on her Workshop board extension.
  4. Not shown Finally, she takes a tile from the bag and places it in the space that was left empty.
Hiring in Moscow

When it is available, hiring Specialists in Moscow allows you to choose any of the 5 Specialists available. With regard to the other effects and costs, everything works just as it does in the other cities.

During setup, you placed a City tile at the top of each of the towers. When a tower is completed, you must follow these steps:

  • Move the City tile to the matching city space on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board, and place it face down with the X showing. This indicates that Contractors can no longer be sent there to look for Specialists.
  • City points Each player who has Contractors in that city gains Recognition Points equal to the number of Banners of their color in that tower multiplied by the number of Contractors they have in that city.

Once this has been done, the game continues as normal.

Shei (green) has just finished the middle section of a 3-card tower, thereby closing off the city of Suzdal. She places the City tile with the X showing on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board. Now, no more Contractors can be sent there. When scoring the city of Suzdal, Isra (yellow) gets 1 Recognition Point (1 Contractor x 1 Banner in the tower) and Shei (green) gets 4 Recognition Points (2 Contractors x 2 Banners). Jorge (red), despite having an Ornamentation there, does not get any points because he has no Banners on the tower. Likewise, Jose (blue) does not receive any points since he does not have any Banners on the tower. Moscow, on the adjacent tower, is not scored until Isra (yellow) has completed the dome card.

Permits are a resource that is not stored in your inventory, but are instead kept in the space reserved for them on your board extension. [On Yucata, permits are shown in the header of the player section.] Permits are used to hire the best professionals in the most important cities of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. They can be obtained in the Market in the same way as other resources, thanks to the corresponding Resource tile.

Additionally, at any moment during your turn you can lose 1 prestige point and obtain 1 Permit.

When awarding points at the end of the game, your Permits are counted together with your Rubles and other Materials.

If a player completes their sixth Cathedral card (triggering the end of the game) and a tower at the same time, the city points are counted first as they would be normally. Then, the player who triggered the end of the game adds 3 Prestige Points to their score. At the end of the game, if there are still any towers that have not been completed, the cities associated with them are not scored.

he construction of the Cathedral has led to an increase in the city’s population to match the offer of employment. The new Guilds that have been established can help you with the more complex tasks of building.

Each new Guild is made up of 3 cards that may be combined with new game pieces. For all intents and purposes, they work just like any of the Guilds from the base game. Some cards from these Guilds can only be played when using The Contractors module, but most can be played regardless of whether you are using The Contractors or just the base game. The cards that can only be used with The Contractors are marked with this icon so they can be identified quickly.

Setup

All of these Guilds come into play in the same way: You will use a Guild card for the merchants, craftsmen, and teamsters from the basic game, and replace the Clergy card with the Guild from the expansion you wish to use instead.

Additional pieces: 15 Diamonds

Diamonds are stored in your inventory in the same way as any other Materials. When you pay or spend Materials (regardless if it is for a Cathedral section or Ornamentation), Diamonds can take the place of any other Materials in any amount. This means that for a section that needs 2 Bricks and 1 Wood, you could use 3 Diamonds instead.

During the setup of the game, take the Diamonds and place them with the rest of the building Materials to create a supply.


Buy 1 Diamond for 1 Ruble.

Buy 2 Diamonds for 3 Rubles.

Exchange any 3 Materials for 2 Diamonds.

Pay 1 Diamond to obtain 2 Permits.

Artisans allow you to activate Workshop tile actions (not Specialists).


Activate 1 of your Workshop tiles.

Pay 1 Ruble to activate 1 Workshop tile in another player’s Workshop.

Pay 2 Rubles to activate 1 of your Workshop tiles twice.

Pay 2 Rubles to activate 2 different Workshop tiles in your Workshop.
Additional pieces: 1 Foreman Piece

Foremen grant players money and recognition as they move about assessing the state of the projects being done on the Cathedral. During setup, place the Foreman under the tower that is farthest to the left.

When you have to move the Foreman, it always moves from left to right, with 1 move for each tower. The tower where the Foreman ends his movement will be the tower he evaluates. When he reaches the tower farthest to the right, he will continue his movement starting from the left again, as though he were walking in circles around the construction site.

The Foreman provides additional awards and penalties. He has got his eye on you! When a section is completed in the tower the foreman is at, the player who completed that section is granted 1 additional Recognition Point, and for completed sections above unfinished sections belonging to other players, the penalty is 2 Recognition Points per card (instead of just 1).


Move the Foreman 1 or 2 towers and receive as many Recognition Points as you have Banners in this new tower.

Move the Foreman 1 or 2 towers and receive as many Rubles as you have Banners in this new tower.

Move the Foreman 1 or 2 towers, then choose another player’s color and receive as many Recognition Points as that player has Banners in this new tower.

Move the foreman 1 or 2 steps, then, choose another player’s color and receive as many rubles as that player has Banners in this new tower.
Additional pieces: Components from The Contractors module.

The Contractors allow you to obtain resources based on the Specialists’ die or to obtain benefits based on where your Contractors are on the board.


Obtain the resource or resources from the Market space the black die is in. This benefit is only obtained once regardless of the number of dice that are in that area.

Obtain as many Permits as you have Contractors on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board.

Obtain as many Rubles as there are Contractors belonging to you on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board.

Obtain as many Rubles as there are Contractors belonging to 1 other player of your choice on the Grand Duchy of Moscow board.

Wholesalers allow you to carry out more actions in the Market every time you acquire resources.


Pay 1 Ruble and carry out any market action once.

Pay 2 Rubles to carry out any market action once and also obtain 1 Material of your choice.

Pay 3 Rubles to carry out any market action twice (the same action 2 times).

Pay 4 Rubles to carry out any 2 different market actions.

Managers give you greater flexibility when acquiring and using basic construction Materials for the Cathedral.


Obtain 1 Material of one of the indicated types.

Pay 1 Material of your choice from among those indicated to obtain 1 Recognition Point.

Obtain 1 Ruble.

Pay 1 Gold to obtain 3 Rubles.

Obtain 1 green jewel or 1 purple jewel.

Pay 1 green jewel and 1 purple jewel to obtain 1 Prestige Point and 2 Rubles.
Additional pieces: Components from The Contractors module.

Lawyers help you acquire more Permits for your Contractors or to exchange them for benefits.


Obtain 1 Permit.

Pay 1 Permit to deliver 1 Material.

Pay 2 Permits to obtain 1 Prestige Point.

Pay 1 Permit to obtain 1 Material of your choice.
Additional pieces: 15 Contract cards

Archivists allow you to draw 3 Contract cards and keep 1 of them to score at the end of the game or provide you with benefits in exchange for Recognition Points. During setup, take the Contract cards, shuffle them, and place the deck face down near the Archivist’s Guild.

Contract cards grant you additional Prestige Points based on their objectives. Contract cards are scored at the end of the game, but always before all the other end-of-game scoring. You cannot have more than 3 Contract cards: If you already have 3 cards when you draw, then you can discard one of those already held and place it on the bottom of the deck. Keep your Contract cards secret from the other players until the end of the game.


Pay 2 Rubles to draw 3 Contract cards and keep 1. Return the other 2 to the bottom of the deck.

Pay 1 Recognition Point to choose any Market area and obtain the resource or resources for that area multiplied by the number of dice there.

Pay 1 Recognition Point to carry out any 1 action of any of the other 3 Guilds.

Pay 1 Recognition Point to activate 1 Resource tile and obtain the resource or resources that it shows.
The Contract Cards:
Return 2 Wood to the supply to obtain 2 Prestige Points. If you have claimed at least 3 sections in the same tower (whether they are completed or not), you obtain 3 Prestige Points. If you have 6 face-up Workshop tiles in your Workshop, you obtain 3 Prestige Points.
Return 2 Stones to the supply to obtain 2 Prestige Points. For each tower where you have NO presence (Banners/Ornament.), you obtain 2 Prestige Points (4 points in 2-player games). For each Ornamentation you have that is NOT built, you obtain 2 Prestige Points.
Return 4 Rubles to the supply to obtain 2 Prestige Points. If you have completed a section of each type (base, middle, and dome), you obtain 2 Prestige Points. For each Ornamentation you have built on THE OTHER PLAYERS’ Cathedral sections, you obtain 1 Prestige Point.
If you have built all of YOUR Ornamentations, you obtain 2 Prestige Points. Return 2 Bricks to the supply to obtain 2 Prestige Points. If you have 3 Ornamentations of any type in the same tower, you obtain 3 Prestige Points.
For each Ornamentation you have built on YOUR OWN Cathedral sections, you obtain 1 Prestige Point. Return 1 jewel and 1 Gold to the supply to obtain 3 Prestige Points. For each tower where you are present (Banners/ Ornamentations), you obtain 1 Prestige Point (2 points in 2-player games).
Additional pieces: The Cathedral cards that were not included in the game

Master Builders allow you to use the Cathedral cards that were not used in the game. During setup, take all these extra cards and shuffle them to create a single deck. After resolving the action, place the Cathedral card in a discard pile. If this deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile and create a new deck.


Pay 2 Rubles to draw 1 card from the Cathedral deck and obtain 2 Materials of your choice from those required on the drawn card.

Pay 3 Rubles to draw 2 Cathedral cards and obtain 2 Materials of your choice from those required on 1 of those cards and 1 resource from the other card.

Pay 1 Recognition Point to obtain the Rubles from 1 section you have under construction (you still receive the full value when the section is completed.)

Pay 1 Ruble to obtain half of the Recognition Points from 1 section you have under construction, rounded down (you still receive the full value when the section is completed).
Additional pieces: Reinforcement tiles

Brick makers convert Bricks to award extra benefits during the game by adding reinforcements to the Cathedral or by exchanging favors.

During setup, take all the Reinforcement tiles and place them face up next to the Market board. When a Reinforcement tile is acquired, you can use it at any time during your turn, but you can only use one Reinforcement tile per turn. Once used, the tile is returned to the box.


Pay 2 Bricks and choose 1 of the available Reinforcement tiles. If there are no more tiles left, then this action cannot be performed.

Pay 1 Brick to deliver 1 Material to the Construction Site.

Exchange 1 Brick for 2 Rubles.

Exchange 1 Brick for 1 Recognition Point.
Reinforcement Tiles:
Obtain 5 Rubles. Carry out any 1 action of any of the 4 Guilds. Activate 1 of your Workshop tiles.
Deliver 1 Material to the Construction Site. Obtain 3 Recognition Points. Do not pay the cost to place a Workshop tile during a Claim a Cathedral Section.
Obtain 2 Materials of your choice. Obtain the corresponding resource or resources from the Market for 1 die of your choice.

Obtain what is shown on the tile: Materials, Rubles, Permits, or Recognition Points.

Return the Material shown to the supply and obtain the indicated number of Prestige Points.

Pay the indicated Material to obtain 3 Recognition Points.

Activate 2 of your Workshop tiles once each, or activate the same tile twice. Discard 1 of your Ornamentations that has not been added to the Cathedral and obtain 3 Prestige Points. Return the Ornamentation to the box. Pay up to 5 Rubles to obtain an equal number of Recognition Points.
Obtain 1 Material of your choice and deliver 1 Material. You can do these two things in the order that you prefer. Activate 1 Resource tile of your choice and obtain the resource or resources it shows. Perform a Claim a Cathedral Section action.

bviously, Ivan Yakovlevich’s influence can be seen in the team of contractors involved in the construction of Saint Basil’s. He is able to show his side as a fierce competitor both at the building site as well as in the search for specialized workers.

Setup

Set up the game as you would normally for a 2-player game along with The Contractors expansion. In addition to the normal solitaire setup, you must add the Contractor card for Ivan and the tile showing , for the black colored die.

After setting up the cards and tiles, place all of Ivan’s Contractors next to the card that performs the hire action as shown in the image.

Place Ivan’s marker next to the City tile above the tower where Ivan claims his starting section. Then, place one of Ivan’s Contractors in that city without obtaining any Specialist tile.

Ivan starts out with a slight advantage: Place Ivan’s score marker in the space that shows 3 Prestige Points. Place your own marker according to the usual rules. Remember that you will be the starting player with 3 Rubles and 1 Permit.

Playing with Ivan and The Contractors

The solitaire game plays in the same way as normal, with the exception that Ivan performs one more action. When Ivan carries out the hire action, place 1 of his Contractors on the city matching the tile Ivan’s marker is currently located next to. Ivan does not turn in any Permits in order to perform this action. He simply places 1 of his Contractors there.

After placing the Contractor in the city, take both of the available Specialist tiles. Ivan does not perform the tiles’ actions unless he can obtain Recognition Points without paying anything. Then flip them over and put them to one side to make up part of Ivan’s score at the end of the game. At any time, if Ivan has 2 Specialist tiles with the same tool, both are returned to the bag and he loses them.

It is Ivan’s turn. After moving the green die, he must place a Contractor in the city of Smolensk. After placing the Contractor (A), he obtains the 2 tiles available in Smolensk: Flip them over and place them in his scoring area (B). Since he now has 2 tool tiles of the same type, those 2 tiles are both returned to the bag (C).

Moving Ivan’s marker: Every time you or Ivan claim a new section, Ivan’s marker must be moved to that tower.

Important: If Ivan places a Contractor in Moscow, he does not obtain any tiles, but instead gains 1 Prestige Point

Ivan just claimed a section in the tower with the Vologda tile, so Ivan’s marker is moved there. Later, you claim a section in the tower corresponding to Smolensk, so his marker is moved there.

The scoring of cities when a tower is completed works just as it does in the multiplayer game (see here).

hieves and swindlers were also present during the construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral. Instead of placing a Clergy card, place a random card from the Thieves’ Guild.

The Thieves' Guild

Contraband
Pay 1 Ruble to receive resources for any 1 of the dice on the Market board without moving it. (This means you receive the resources for the space it is already in.)

Switch
Exchange 1 Material from your Inventory for 1 from the Inventory of another player. The other player involved cannot refuse.

Bribe
Hand over 3 Rubles to another player: Their score counter drops to the previous Prestige Point space and yours is increased to the next Prestige Point space.

False Plans
If you have any Workshop tiles assigned to your Workshops, you may exchange 1 of them for any other Workshop tile that is still in the Construction Site. The tile is not activated when this exchange is made.

hese 4 special new Workshop tiles allow you to perform more powerful actions every time you visit the Market.

During setup, starting with the last player and finishing with the first, each player chooses 1 of these tiles. If there are any extra tiles, they are returned to the bag.

During the game, instead of placing the tile you obtain normally when claiming a Cathedral section, you can discard the one you just obtained and place your special Workshop tile. The cost is not the usual cost: instead, the cost is equal to the number of available spaces in your Workshop: if you have 6 empty spaces (i.e., you are going to place your first tile), it will cost you 6 Rubles to place it. If you have only 2 spaces free (i.e., you have already placed 4), it will cost you 2 Rubles, and so forth.

Obtain 1 Diamond. (Its function is the same as described in the Jeweler’s Guild.) Obtain 1 Material of your choice and 1 Ruble.
Activate the Market die of your choice. Activate any 1 of the 4 Guilds as usual.

In order to avoid endless loops, the fourth Workshop tile above in some cases will not allow you to activate an Artisan or Merchant guild card that activates a Workshop tile.

Appendices
Base Game
Contractors Expansion

As with most games on yucata.de, you are allowed to choose your player colors under the Settings menu. However, since your player color is associated with dice on the market board, you will notice the die colors changing accordingly. Furthermore, the die colors are associated with the workshop slots on the player board, so some of those elements might move around when you change colors as well. Gameplay is not affected.


There are a limited amount of resources available in the game. This section above the market board shows how many resources of each type remain.


The numbers that appear at the bottom of each tower makes it easy to see at a glance which player is leading the race to contribute the most to that tower, which is important in the final scoring.

In this example, each of the two players has contributed two items to the tower. The red player has completed the bottom section and added the cross ornamentation. The yellow player has completed the top section and added the door ornamentation.


One of the invitation options allows you to fully customize the guild cards for the game. For each of the three standard (always included) guilds, you can pick which card to use, or you can specify to use a random card. You can also choose which fourth guild to use, and choose a specific or random card from that guild too. Choose the card with a question mark to specify a random card.

When you see an invitation for a fully customized game, interpret the options specified by the inviter as follows:

  • If any of the standard guilds is set to "Random", that guild does not appear in the invitation descripiton.
  • If the chosen fourth guild has no corresponding number, then the card from that guild will be chosen randomly.
  • A value between 1 and 3 next to the guild name specifies which card the inviter has chosen for that guild. You can look in the guild sections above to find details about that card. Look for a circled number in the top right corner of the description for each guild choice.

For example, the invitation string "(Merchants 1, Archivists)" means the game will include:

  • A random craftsman card
  • A random teamster card
  • Card 1 from the merchants, which has the 2-for-1 and 4-for-2 trades.
  • A random archivists card


The header of each player section shows how much recognition a player has earned in the game so far. It also shows in parenthesis how much recognition the player would have including anticipated end game bonuses. You can click on this number to see further scoring details. These details are all reported in terms of recognition, even for the anticipated end game bonuses (which are normally computed as prestige).

During the game, these scoring details include estimates for most end game bonuses. However, they do not include the scoring for the contract cards used with the Archivist guild, since those cards remain hidden from other players until the end of the game.

The end game summary reports the player scores in terms of prestige instead of recognition. You can see more information about the relationship between recognition and prestige here.

 
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