XII Century

Game designer – Adriano Augusto (Copyright Holder)

Game Information
Players ◦ 1 to 5
Duration ◦ 60 – 150 minutes
Age ◦ 14+
Game Category/Mechanics ◦ strategic, competitive, resources management and allocation, global events, roll and write

Game Components
• 5 standard dice (i.e. 5d6)
• 1 town-sheet per player (2 pages each – to be printed, b/w friendly)
• 1 rules summary (optional, can be printed on the back of the town-sheet)
• 1 rulebook (this one)
• 1 pen per player (or pencils if you want to reuse the town-sheets)
• 1 dice organiser sheet (optional)

Game Context
It is the 12th century in England, and it is a tough time to be around!

You are competing to turn a small settlement into the biggest, safest, and wealthiest town in England. Unfortunately, this
is not going to be straightforward; expect fires, plagues, famines, civil wars, water storms, and outlaws’ attacks along the
way, not to mention the recurring king’s wars. Your objective is to endure throughout the 12th century and outperform the
neighbouring towns.

End Game and Victory Condition

The game is played over 10 rounds, each round represents a decade. When the 10th round is completed, the game ends,
the players count their victory points ( ), and the player with the most victory points is declared the winner. Victory points
are earned by increasing your town assets, attracting prominent people to your town, building infrastructures, and
supporting the king wars.

Game Concept – Town Assets

Your town has twelve assets: three basic, five advanced, and four special (discussed later). Figure 1 shows the basic and
advanced town assets as they appear on your town-sheet.

Figure 1. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the basic and advanced town assets.

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Town assets allow you to score victory points, attract prominent people, and build infrastructures. For example, at the end
of the game, each unit of population ( ) is worth 1 victory point ( ); and each unit of strong ale ( ) is worth 2 victory
points ( ).
All the town assets have a minimum amount (MIN), that is 0 for all the town assets, and a maximum amount (MAX) that
varies depending on the asset. For example, the MAX of is 10, while the MAX of food ( ) is 30.

MIN and MAX of the town assets are captured in the town-sheet (see Figure 1). At any time during the game, you must
ignore any added amount beyond a town asset MAX, and you cannot reduce any town asset below their MIN of 0.

Some town assets have a MAX equal to another town asset’s current amount. For example, farms ( ) have MAX = ,
which means that you cannot increase the amount of beyond the current amount of .

At any time during the game, if a town asset's amount falls beyond its MAX, immediately set its amount to the new MAX.
For example, let’s assume you have =10 and = 8 and that a game effect requires you to halve ; then, you set = 5,
and reduce also to their allowed MAX (MAX = ) that is now 5, setting = 5.

NOTE: whenever you are required to halve a town asset, divide it by two and round it down.

In order to increase your town assets you may need to fulfil one or more requirements (always highlighted in red in your
town-sheet), or pay a cost (always highlighted in blue in your town-sheet). Here is a summary of the requirements and
costs for each town asset – they are also printed on your town-sheet, below the name of each town asset (see Figure 1).

( ) Population – no requirements or costs

( ) Food – you cannot increase this town asset if your population is 0 ( ≥ 1)
( ) Stone, wood, and iron supply – you cannot increase this town asset if your population is 0 ( ≥ 1)
( ) Farms – no requirements or costs
( ) Men-at-arms – you cannot increase this town asset unless your town has the blacksmith ( )
( ) Knights – you cannot increase this town asset unless your town has the stables ( )
( ) Strong Ale – you cannot increase this town asset unless your town has the brewery ( ) and your population is not 0( ≥ 1)
( ) Stone Houses – you cannot increase this town asset unless your town has the master builder ( ) and your
population is not 0 ( ≥ 1); also you must pay 1 unit from your stone, wood, and iron supply ( ) for each unit of stone
houses that you increase. For example, to increase from 0 to 4, you must pay 4 ; however, if you have only 3 you
must add only 3 units of

Game Concept – Prominent People

As your town grows, you will become able to attract prominent people
to your town. Figure 2 shows the prominent people that you can attract
to your town.

Each prominent person is worth a certain amount of victory points ( )

at the end of the game (see also Scoring section). Some prominent
people also enable you to build infrastructures or provide you with
battling power (POW).

To attract a prominent person, you must fulfil some requirements and

sometimes pay a given cost in town assets units. Requirements and
costs are reported below the name of each prominent person in your
town-sheet, as you can see in Figure 2. For example, to attract the
butcher ( ) to your town, you must have the tavern ( ), 5 or more
stone houses ( ≥ 5), and pay 15 units of food (15 ). At the end of
the game, the butcher will be worth 15

NOTE: requirements to attract a prominent person do not have to hold

after you have attracted that prominent person. For example, if you have
attracted the master builder ( ) when your = 5, and then your falls
to 2, you do not lose the master builder.

The army chief ( ) and the war hero ( ) are prominent people that
come with a benefit. In fact, they provide you with an additional battling
power (POW) of 3 and 6 (POW is discussed in the King War section).

Figure 2. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the

prominent people.

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Game Concept – Infrastructures
As the game progresses, you may need to build infrastructures to boost
the town growth and improve your defences. Figure 3 shows the
infrastructures that you can build in your town.

Similarly to the prominent people, each infrastructure is worth a certain

amount of victory points ( ) at the end of the game (see also Scoring
section). Some infrastructures enable you to increase some specific town
assets (as we mentioned in the Town Assets section), or provide you with
additional battling power (POW).

To build an infrastructure, you must fulfil some requirements, and pay a

given cost in town assets units. Requirements and costs are reported
below the name of each infrastructure in your town-sheet, as you can see
in Figure 3. For example, to build the brewery ( ) you must pay 1 and
9 , also you must have 9 or more farms ( ≥ 9) and 5 or more men-
at-arms ( ≥ 5).
NOTE: requirements to build an infrastructure do not have to hold after
you have built that infrastructure. For example, if you have built the stables
( ) when your = 4, and then your falls to 2, you do not lose your
stables.
The town walls ( ) and the barbican ( ) are infrastructures that come
with a benefit. In fact, they provide you with an additional battling power
(POW) of 10 each. However, this POW is useful only when you defend
your town from the Outlaws’ Attack (see Global Events section).
Figure 3. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the
infrastructures.

Game Concept – Special Assets, Special Prominent People, and Special Infrastructures
At a certain point of the game, you will become able to increase special town-assets, attract special prominent people, or
build special infrastructures. They are so-called special because they provide you with bonuses and special abilities (mostly
to manipulate rolled dice), or with a nice stack of victory points, or both. Such perks do not come for free, indeed, it is more
difficult to increase special town-assets, attract special prominent people, or build special infrastructures.

Figure 4. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the special town-assets

Figure 4 shows the special town-assets, as the basic and advanced town-assets they have a MAX, a MIN, requirements, and
costs, but they come with perks.

( ) Monks – whenever you consider town-assets MAXs and requirements, you can count each monk as 2 additional .
For example, let’s assume you have = 5, = 3, and = 1, then the current MAX of would be 7, instead of 5. So
you could increase up to 7 while having = 5
( ) Mercenaries – each of them is worth 3 POW, and you never lose mercenaries (see also King War Section)
( ) Masons – every time you are required to pay to build an infrastructure you get a discount of 1 per mason you
have. For example, if you have = 2, to build the town walls ( ) you would pay 4 instead of 6
( ) Bread – each unit of bread is worth 5 at the end of the game, which is a considerable amount of victory points

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Figure 5 shows the special prominent people and the special infrastructures, like the prominent people and the
infrastructures introduced before, they have requirements and costs. However, each special prominent person and special
infrastructure is associated to two different special abilities or bonuses (divided by a dashed line, see Figure 5). When you
attract a special prominent person or build a special infrastructure, you can pick one of the two associated perks to keep
for the remaining part of the game. When you do that, mark it with an X (as shown in Figure 5). Mind that you cannot
change your choice once taken.

Figure 5. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the special prominent people and the special infrastructures.

All the perks associated to special prominent people and special infrastructures are reported in plain English on your town-
sheet, as you can see from Figure 5. Below, we clarify only few of them.

( ) Sheriff – its abilities permanently alter a die, and you can use them also on the dice that are shared by all the players.
( ) Witch – when splitting a die you are not forced to divide it by two, you can split a die of value 5 into one of value 1
and one of value 4; or one of value 3 and one of value 2. This ability does not alter permanently the value of the split die,
however, you must consider the split die as if you had two physically different dice.
( ) Town court – its abilities permanently alter a die, and you can use them also on dice that are shared by all the players.

Game Concept – Dice Reserve

Figure 6. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the dice reserve.

As this game involves rolling dice, bad and good luck may come and go at any time. To balance the impact of bad luck
(especially in early rounds), each player can access a dice reserve. During your turn, you can use one additional die roll from
your reserve. At the beginning of the game, the dice reserve contains the die values captured in Figure 6. The reserve has
a maximum of 10 slots, because you cannot spend more than a die per turn from your dice reserve, so you cannot store
more than 10 dice in your dice reserve. No abilities of the special prominent people or special infrastructures can be used
on the dice in the reserve. However, the jongleur ( ) abilities will refill the dice reserve if there are enough empty slots.

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Game Concept – Locations
Around your town, there are four locations that can yield or . Figure 7 shows the four locations and the bonuses that
they yield at the end of each round. However, to collect a bonus from a location you must have a minimum influence at
that location by the end of each round. The required minimum influence increases over time, so keep increasing your
influence at a given location if you want to keep collecting its bonus. Your influence at a location never decreases.

Figure 7. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the four locations around your town.

Game Concept – Global Events

A certain number of game rounds will be affected by global events. Global events affect the gameplay and the strategy of
the players, and most of the times they reduce the players’ town-assets, slowing down their towns’ growth.

The table below describes the six global events and their effects.

Global Event Die Value Effect Description (Resolution)

Players must immediately halve their stone houses

Fire 1 During this round, players cannot attract prominent people to their towns.

All the players must immediately halve their population and, if required, reduce any town asset
Plague 2 with MAX =

All the players must immediately reduce their population by 3.

Famine 3 Players farms will not produce any food in the current round.

Civil War 4 All the players must immediately halve their men-at-arms and knights

At the beginning of the round, the players having a total POW less than 5 multiplied the current
Outlaws’ round (a number from 1 to 10), must reduce their and by 5 each, and set = 0 and =0
Attack
5 For example, if there is an Outlaws’ Attack at round 7, the players affected by this global event are
those having POW < 35
Water Storm 6 All the players must immediately halve their farms

Global events determine the difficulty of the game (as explained in the next page), but they also introduce variability and
make each game different. This forces players to change their strategy and decisions every time they play. However, only
for the very first game, we suggest avoiding the use of global events, just to familiarise with the overall gameplay and the
other game concepts.

Now that we covered all the game concepts, let’s see how to play XII Century.

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Game Setup
Print and give one town-sheet to each player. Give a pen (or a pencil) to each player. Each player chooses a name for their
town and writes it on their town-sheet in the appropriate space (see Figure 8). Each player rolls one die, the player who
rolled the lowest value will be the first player of the first round. Give four dice (4d6) to the first player. Each player marks
the first round on their town-sheet (as shown in Figure 8). Now, before starting the game, let’s set the game difficulty.

X
BGG Land C Fi O P
Figure 8. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the town name space, the game rounds and the global events tracks (after setting difficulty to normal).

Game Difficulty
XII Century can be played at different difficulties, varying from very easy to forget-about-it. The game difficulty influences
how quickly and easily the towns grow, the required amount of strategic planning, and what could be a competitive score
at the end of the game. The game difficulty is determined by the total number of rounds affected by a global event.

The table below shows the game difficulties, which rounds are affected by a global event, and good score ranges.

Difficulty How to set it Good Scores

Very easy Do not use global events at all. 100 to 110
Easy Assign a global event to round 9, and 10 90 to 100
Normal Assign a global event to round 7, 8, 9, 10 70 to 90
Hard Assign a global event to round 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 50 to 70
Very hard Assign a global event to round 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 40 to 60
Assign a global event to round 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Forget-about-it Above 30
Assign the Outlaws’ Attack global event to round 1

Once the players agreed on the level of difficulty, they assign the global events to the specific rounds. We suggest two
methods to assign global events. However, players could apply their own method to assign global events to the rounds,
just do not assign the same global event to more than two rounds.

Method 1. The first player rolls one die (1d6) per each round affected by a global event, then lookup the table in the
previous page to match global events to the rolled values. All the players must take note of the global events assigned to
each round by writing the first letter (or first two letters) of each global event in the global events track on their town-sheet
(as shown in Figure 8) – this is useful to remember what’s going to happen later in the game and to plan ahead.

NOTE: in the case you would assign the same global event to more than two different rounds, re-roll. You must allow only
for two rounds (even consecutive) to be affected by the same global event.

Method 2 – only in multiplayers. Taking turns, players choose the global event to assign to each affected round, instead of
assigning them randomly. Remember that global events will affect all the players equally, so it does not matter what global
events will take place during the game, nobody will be in a position of advantage.

Game Round Overview

XII Century is played over 10 rounds. Each town-sheet has a game rounds track at the top (see Figure 8), when beginning a
new round, always mark it in the game rounds track (as shown in Figure 8). Each round includes three major phases: the
global event phase, the player turns phase, and the king war phase. This section of the rules provides an overview of a
round, showing step-by-step how it unfolds.

1. All the players resolve the effects of the global event assigned to the current round (if any).

2. The first player of the current round rolls two dice (2d6). The values of these two dice will be shared by all the
players during the current round. If the two shared dice have the same value, the first player must increase or
decrease one of the two dice of one value, or re-roll both and repeat this step until the two shared dice have
different values. For example, let’s assume that Jack is the first player and he rolls two 3, then Jack can turn one of
the two 3 into a 4 or into a 2, or re-roll both dice. Jack decides to re-roll both dice, and after re-rolling he gets two
5. Jack decides to stop rolling and he turns one 5 into a 6. The first player should place the two shared dice at the
centre of the playing space, so that everyone can see them (use our dice organiser to facilitate this).

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
 3. Starting from the first player of the current round, each player plays his turn (read Player Turn section, below).

4. Once all the players completed their turns, they resolve the king war phase (read King War section, below).

5. Once the king war phase is over, the players' farms ( ) produce food ( ). Players increases their by 1 unit
per every 2 they have (rounded down). For example, if after the king war phase you have = 5 and = 5,
your farms will produce 2 units of food ( = 7 ).

6. Players collect bonuses from the locations where they have the required minimum influence and from any special
infrastructures they have built (if any).

7. If the current round is not the 10th, the last player of the current round becomes the first player of the next round,
and the next round starts immediately. Instead, if the current round is the 10th, the game is over and the player
with the most victory points ( ) wins (see also the Scoring Section).

Player Turn
A player turn is made of the following five steps that must be executed exactly in this order.

1. Roll two dice (2d6). Now, you have four dice to spend: the two dice you just rolled, and the two shared dice that
the first player rolled at the beginning of the current round, as explained in the Game Round Overview Section.
Additionally, at any time during step 2, a player may spend an extra die from his dice reserve.

For example, Jack, the first player of the current round, rolled a 5 and a 6 at the beginning of the current round, which
are the shared dice. Then, Jack starts his turn and he rolls a 3 and a 1. Now, Jack can spend a 5, a 6, a 3, and a 1.

2. Spend the four dice, one by one, to do one of the following (in any order, even multiple times):
o increase a town asset (basic, advanced, or special) of an amount exactly equal to the die's value spent
o attract a prominent person or special prominent person
o build an infrastructure or special infrastructure
o increase your influence in one location of an amount exactly equal to the die’s value spent
o save in your dice reserve the die’s value spent – only if you have free slots in your dice reserve

Restriction1: when spending your dice, you cannot spend the die with the highest value (out of the four you have
to spend this turn, including any additional die you retrieve from your dice reserve) to increase an advanced asset
( ). However, you can always spend the die with the highest value to increase one of your
advanced assets of an amount up to the die’s value minus 1.

Restriction2: when spending your dice, you cannot spend two dice to increase the same town asset twice in a
single turn, unless stated otherwise by an ability you acquired.

Restriction3: when spending your dice, you cannot spend any die to increase special town assets, or attract special
prominent people, or build special infrastructures. To do that, you must spend dice with a required value. The
required die value is captured in a box next to the special town assets, special prominent people, and special
infrastructures (see Figure 4 and Figure 5). For example, to attract the sheriff ( ) you must spend a die of value 2.
Continuing our example of Jack, he spends his four dice to do the following:
o the die of value 6 to increase
o the die of value 3 to increase
o the die of value 1 to attract a prominent person, the master builder
o the die of value 5 to increase
After that, Jack realises that he would like to get the bonus from a location, so he decides to spend a die of value 3
from his dice reserve to increase his influence at the quarry, in this way, Jack will get the bonus from the quarry till
the end of round 3 (which at the end of round 3 will total 6 ).
Figure 9 shows how Jack’s town-sheet will look like after his first turn.
NOTE: when the amount of a town asset (either basic, advanced, or special) or your influence at one location
changes, cross its last value with the pen and write next to it the new value (as shown in Figure 9). Every time you
attract a prominent person or build an infrastructure, write an X inside the empty box on the left of the victory
points box (as shown in Figure 9). When you attract a special prominent person or build a special infrastructure

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
 tick the ability or bonus you choose (as shown in Figure 5). When you spend a die from your dice reserve cross it
(as shown in Figure 9). When you add a die to your dice reserve write its value in one of the empty slots.

NOTE: you can always spend a die whose value would increase a town asset beyond its MAX, however, you must
ignore any added amount beyond the MAX. For example, if your = 7, and you spend a die with value 5 to
increase , the final amount of will be 10 (that is its MAX).

/6
/5
/6 /3

/3

/5 X

/3

Figure 9. Extract of Jack's town-sheet after his first turn, as explained in the example.

3. Once you have spent all your dice, making sure that you do not accidentally alter the value of the shared dice.
Give the two non-shared dice to the next player. Then, you must reduce 1 for every 2 (rounded up).
For example, Jack will spend all his 3 because he has 6 .

NOTE: if at this step a player does not have the required food units to pay, the player must reduce their population
until they can pay the required food. For example, let’s assume that at his second round, Jack will have = 9 and
= = 4. Jack should pay 5 , but he has got only 4 , so given that Jack can pay food only for 8 , he must
reduce from 9 to 8, and then pay 4 .
4. At this point, if you have built the market ( ), you can turn any units of into or vice versa.
This is reminded in the town-sheet by the symbol: (captured next to the market)

5. Your turn is now over, and the next player turn starts. Wait until all the players completed their turn, then resolve
the king war phase.

King War
In XII Century, players do not fight each other, however, they have the chance to support the king war. Players supporting
the king war will increase their reputation ( ) atbythe
1 cost of some town assets. Each town-sheet has a reputation track
(shown in Figure 10). When a player supports the king war, they may increase their reputation by 1 or 2 points. At the end
of the game, every two points of reputation (rounded down) are worth 4 . Note that, a player cannot lose reputation.

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
 /2 3 5
Figure 10. Extract of the town-sheet capturing the reputation track of a player who supported the king war three times, twice having the highest POW.

The king war phase is resolved over 6 steps, but most of the steps are resolved only by players supporting the king war.
For the examples in this Section, we assume to have four players: Jack, Tom, Martha, and Mary. The table below shows the
town-assets, prominent people, and infrastructures that the players have at the beginning of the king war phase.
Players Town Assets Prominent People and Infrastructures
Jack = 10; = 5; = 1; = 3; =3

Tom = 10; = 8; = 2; =7

Martha = 10; = 6; = 4; =4

Mary = 10; = 9; = 10

1. Each player takes one die (1d6), which will be used to secretly decide to support the king war or to avoid it.

2. Players who want to support the king war secretly set their die value to 6; while players who want to avoid the
king war secretly set their die value to 1.

NOTE: a player whose current battling power (POW) is equal to 0, must set their die value to 1.

3. All at the same time, the players show their dice revealing their choices.

4. The players who set their die value to 1, choosing to avoid the king war, do not have to perform any other action
during this phase. The players who set their die value to 6, choosing to support the king war, must now calculate
their battling power (POW).

To calculate your POW consider to add the following elements (this information is also shown on the town-sheet):

Each is worth 1 POW; Each is worth 2 POW; Each is worth 3 POW

The army chief ( ) and the war hero ( ) are worth respectively 3 POW and 6 POW

In addition, if ≥ 4, roll one die and add its value to the final POW

In addition, if ≥ 4, roll one die and add its value to the final POW

NOTE: you cannot spend dice from your dice reserve during this phase.

NOTE: in this phase, you must not count the POW yielded by your infrastructures ( ), add their POW
to your total POW only during the Outlaws’ Attack global event (see Global Events section).
In our example, we assume that Jack, Tom, and Martha set their dice to 6, supporting the king war. While Mary was
forced to set her die to 1, because her POW is 0.
Jack, Tom, and Martha now calculate their final POW by adding any additional roll.

Jack has a final POW of 9, because he cannot roll any die (having = 3 and = 3),
Tom has a final POW of 7 plus the value obtained by rolling a die (for having ≥ 4), which we assume to be 1.
Martha has a final POW of 4 plus the value obtained by rolling a die (for having ≥ 4), which we assume to be 5.

5. The player(s) with the highest POW, will increase their reputation by 2 points, while all the other players will
increase their reputation by 1 point.

In our example, Jack and Martha will increase their reputation by 2 points, because they both have a final POW of 9.
While Tom will increase his reputation by only 1 point, because he has a final POW of 8.
NOTE: if only one player supported the king war, that player gets only 1 reputation point.

6. The players who supported the king war must halve their men-at-arms ( ) and knights ( ).

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
 To conclude our example, the table below shows the town assets of the players at the end of the king war phase.

Players Town Assets Prominent People and Infrastructures

Jack = 10; = 5; = 1; = 1; =1

Tom = 10; = 8; = 2; =3

Martha = 10; = 6; = 4; =2

Mary = 10; = 9; = 10

Scoring
At the end of the game, players calculate their final score by adding all the victory points ( ) yielded by their town-assets
(basic, advanced, and special), by their prominent people (including special ones), by their infrastructures (including special
ones), and by their level of reputation. The player with the most victory points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player
with the highest POW (calculated by including all the elements yielding POW) is the winner. If still tie, the victory is shared.

Final Score = ( from all the town assets) + ((level of / 2)by*4)

1 +( from attracted prominent people) + ( from built infrastructures)

Solo Mode
When playing solo, no rules are altered, but (1) you must skip the king war phase; (2) you must pick an objective (from the
list below) to achieve before the end of the game. You win the game if you achieve your objective. The difficulty of the
game will affect the difficulty of achieving the selected objective, however, the objectives have their own complexity as
well. In the list, the objectives are ranked from the simplest to the most complex.

Available Objectives –
o Attract the wealthy merchant ( ) and end the game with 20 , 20 , and 80 or more
o Attract the miller ( ) and end the game with 10 , 10 , 3 , and 80 or more
o Build the cathedral ( ) and the monastery ( ) and end the game with 10 , 10 , and 80 or more
o Build the town walls ( ), the barbican ( ), and the castle ( ) and end the game with 10

NOTE: remember that you will always be the first player of the current round, apply the rules accordingly.

Solo Mode Arcade –

If you do not like to pursue a specific objective, you can play XII Century in solo mode arcade. If you want to do so, try to
beat the Good Scores listed in the Global Events section, and challenge yourself increasing the difficulty of the game.

Beginner Tips
o is the most important town asset but maxing it out immediately can be expensive and useless. Increase gradually.
o and are the only town assets (except special ones) that you never accidentally lose, invest in them wisely.
o Low-value dice are best spent to attract prominent people and build infrastructures, try to always have a prominent
person or an infrastructure that you can attract or build when you will roll a low-value die.
o Locations can be a great investment at the beginning of the game, and they pay back slowly throughout the game. Try
to increase your influence in at least one location in your first round.
o Low-value dice are your best friends if you have fulfilled the requirements to increase the special town assets, or
attract the special prominent people, or build the special infrastructures.
o Play your first game with very easy difficulty.
o Always check the requirements and the MAX of a town asset before increasing it.

Requirements, Costs, and Greyscale Printing

The town-sheets required to play XII Century can be printed in greyscale, however, recognising requirements and costs
may become difficult. A simple way to recognise them is to look at where the numbers stand.

Icons without numbers around are always requirement, for example:

Costs are always written as a number in front of an icon of a town asset, for example: 6 , 9 , 5

Math expressions of equality ( = ) or greater than/equal to ( ≥ ) are always requirements, for example: ≥ 6, = 10

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
Acknowledgements
This game was designed for the 5th Roll and Write Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek.com. Major thanks go to the
organisers of the contest and the community of BoardGameGeek. Then, to my amazing play testers: Solomia Prokopiv,
Volodymyr Leno, and Fabrizio Manara. Finally, to whoever had the will to try this home-made game and provided any
feedback either positive or negative, I truly hope you had fun!

© Adriano Augusto - This document can be distributed (as hard-copy or soft-copy) without editing for non-commercial purposes.
 TOWN NAME GAME ROUNDS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
GLOBAL EVENTS

DICE RESERVE 2 3 4 5

TOWN ASSETS (spend one die to increase an asset's amount of the die value - max one die per asset per turn)
you cannot use the highest-value die (among those rolled) to increase an advanced asset's amount, if you want to do so, reduce the die's value by one

POPULATION 1

0 MAX = 10
BASIC ASSETS

each

FOOD (at the end of each turn pay 1 every 2 rounded up)

≥ 1 0 MAX = 30
STONE, WOOD, and IRON SUPPLY

≥ 1 0 MAX = 30

FARMS (at the end of each round, increase 1 per every 2 rounded down)

0 MAX =
MEN-AT-ARMS (worth 1 POW each)
ADVANCED ASSETS

0 MAX =
KNIGHTS (worth 2 POW each)

0 MAX =
STRONG ALE 2

≥ 1 0 MAX = 10 each

STONE HOUSES 1

1 ≥ 1 0 MAX = 10 each

you can increase special assets only by spending a die of value 1

MONKS (only for assets' MAXs and requirements, 1 counts as 2 ) 2

=1 2 0 MAX = 2 each
SPECIAL ASSETS

MERCENARIES (worth 3 POW each) 2

=1 2 ≥ 5 0 MAX = 2 each

MASONS (when building an infrastructure, pay 1 less per each ) 1

=1 1 ≥ 8 0 MAX = 3 each

BREAD 5

=1 3 0 MAX = 3 each

you can spend one die to increase your influence at one location of the die value - max one die per location per turn
at the end of each round, collect the bonus from all the locations where your influence is higher than or equal to the MIN influence for that round

LOCATIONS game rounds > 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 bonus

GRASSLAND your influence > 0

1 or 1
MIN influence (at each game round) > 1 2 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 6
FARMLAND your influence > 0
2
MIN influence (at each game round) > 3 3 5 5 7 7 9 9 11 11
QUARRY your influence > 0
2
MIN influence (at each game round) > 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 10 10 10
FOREST your influence > 0
2 or 2
MIN influence (at each game round) > 4 4 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12
 PROMINENT PEOPLE INFRASTRUCTURES
spend one die to attract one (cost in blue) (requirements in red) spend one die to build one (cost in blue) (requirements in red)

MASTER BUILDER INN

≥ 4 1 3 3 ≥ 8 5
BLACKSMITH STABLES

≥ 4 1 2 4 ≥ 3 3
WEALTHY MERCHANT MARKET ( )
≥ 8 ≥5 8 6 ≥ 10 ≥ 5 ≥ 7 5
BUTCHER TAVERN

15 ≥5 15 1 9 ≥ 7 10
PRIOR MONASTERY

≥ 6 4 8 1 10
BISHOP CATHEDRAL `
= 10 6 25 = 2 20
ARMY CHIEF (worth 3 POW) BREWERY

= 10 3 1 9 ≥ 9 ≥ 5 2
WAR HERO (worth 6 POW) TOWN WALLS (worth 10 POW)

= 10 ≥3 7 6 3 6
EARL BARBICAN (worth 10 POW)

= 10 ≥7 15 10 5 9

SPECIAL PROMINENT PEOPLE (after attracting one, select one special ability from the two available on the right)
to attract one, spend one die of the value shown in the left box of the special prominent person (requirements in red)

MILLER if = 3 you do not pay at the end of your turn

=2 = 10 1 treat dice of value 2 as of value 4 when spent to increase

SHERIFF once per turn, you can increase the value of a die by 1

=2 = 10 ≥ 5 1 once per turn, you can decrease the value of a die by 1 or 2

WITCH you can spend two dice to increase the same asset in one turn

=1 = 10 2 you can split one die's value to increase two different assets

JONGLEUR add the following dice to your dice reserve: 1, 2, 2, 4

=1 = 10 0 add the following dice to your dice reserve: 1, 1, 1, 5

SPECIAL INFRASTRUCTURES (after building one, select one special ability from the two available on the right)
to build one, spend one die of the value shown in the left box of the special infrastructure (cost in blue) (requirements in red)

MILL at the end of each round, increase 1 per every 3

=2 4 1 ≥ 7 1 you pay 1 less to increase

GRANARY during Famine do not reduce your

=2 4 = 10 ≥ 9 5 at the end of each round get 2

TOWN COURT once per turn, you can turn a die of value 2 into one of value 4

=1 6 = 10 1 once per turn, you can re-roll a die of value 3 or below

CASTLE worth 20 POW

=1 30 = 10 30 score an additional 1 per each

REPUTATION (can be increased only after the King War phase) 4

0 every 2
sum the POW of these assets and people add additional POW by rolling add infrastractures POW for Outlaws' Attacks
POW calculation
1d6 if ≥ 4 1d6 if ≥ 4
GAME OVERVIEW and USEFUL INFO (read this first)
We recommed having at least one player that has read the full rules because this sheet doesn't provide subtle rules' details or info about solo-modes
To setup, print and give a town-sheet (2 pages) to each player, then roll 1d6 to assign a global event to round 7, 8, 9, 10 (see Global Events below)
The game's objective is to grow your town by increasing the amount of town assets, attracting prominent people , and building infrastractures
When you increase a town asset, write down the new amount in the space below the name of the town asset , and cross the previous amount
When you attract a prominent person or build an infrastructure, write an X in the box next to the name of the prominent person or infrastructure
To increase a town asset , or attract prominent people , or build infrastractures , you may need to fulfil requirements and/or pay a cost
Requirements are highlighted in red. Example: ≥ 6 (population must be greater than or equal to 6); or (you must have built a market )
Costs are highlighted in blue. Example: 6 (you must reduce your food amount by 6)
Costs for increasing a town asset must be paid per increased unit, and they are not a 1-time cost
All the town assets have a maximum amount (MAX) , at any time during the game you must ignore any added amount beyond the MAX
A town asset's MAX may be set equal to another town asset current amount, example MAX = (MAX equal to the current population amount)
If at any time during the game a town asset's amount falls beyond its MAX (e.g. after a global event ), immediately set its amount to the new (lower) MAX
Whenever you are required to halve a town asset amount, divide it by two and round it down. NOTE: a town asset's amount cannot be negative.
GAME ROUND (steps must be executed exactly in the following order: a1-a8)
a1. The game runs for 10 rounds, each town-sheet has a round tracker at the top, when beginning a new round, cross it in the round tracker
a2. The first player of the round rolls 2d6, the values of these two dice will be shared by all the players during the current round
a3. If the two shared dice have the same value, the first player must increase or decrease one die, or re-roll both and check again this step
a4. Starting from the first player of the round, each player plays his turn (see Player Turn below)
a5. Once all the players completed their turns, the players resolve the King War (see King War below)
a6. The players collect the bonuses yielded by their farms, mill and granary (if built and applicable), and locations (refer to the notes on the town-sheet )
a7. If the current round is not the 10th, the last player of the current round becomes the first player of the next round, and the next round starts
a8. If the current round is the 10th, the game is over, the players count their Victory Points ( ) and the player with the most Victory Points wins
PLAYER TURN (steps must be executed exactly in the following order: b1-b6)
b1. Roll 2d6, you have now four dice to spend: those you just rolled and the two shared ones (see steps a2. and a3. above)
b2. Spend one die to increase a town asset OR to attract a prominent person OR to build an infrastructure OR to increase your influence at one location
b3. Repeat step b2. until you have spent all the four dice available (be careful not to accidentally alter the values of the two shared dice)
NOTE: between step b2. and b3. you can decide to spend one die (and only one per turn) from your reserve and cross it OR/AND store one die into your reserve (spending it)
b4. Reduce 1 for every 2 - if unable, reduce until you can pay the required food (this is also reminded in the town-sheet )
b5. If you have built the market ( ) you can turn any amount of into or viceversa ( )
b6. Your turn is over, wait until all the players have completed their turns, before resolving the King War phase
KING WAR (steps must be executed exactly in the following order: c1-c3; then, only the players supporting the King War must execute steps c4-c8)
c1. Give each player one die in order to secretly decide to support the King War OR to avoid the King War
NOTE: players whose POW is equal to 0 cannot support the King War
c2. Players secretly set their die value to 6 if they want to support the King War OR secretly set the die value to 1 if they want to avoid the King War
c3. All at the same time, the players show their dice to reveal their choices
c4. All the players who decided to avoid the King War must not take any further action in this phase
c5. All the players who decided to support the King War execute steps c6-c8
c6. Players calculate their POW, excluding the POW yielded by their infrastructures (see town-sheet instructions)
c7. The player with the highest POW increases their REPUTATION by 2, the other players increase their REPUTATION by 1
NOTE: if only one player supported the King War , that player gets only 1 REPUTATION
c8. The players must halve their men-at-arms and knights
GLOBAL EVENTS (global events determine the game difficulty, do not use global events if this is the first time you play XII century , read the full rules for more info)
There are six global events , each of them is associated to a die value (in brackets) and its effects are triggered at the beginning of the affected round
To set the game difficulty to normal, assign a global event to round 7, 8, 9, and 10
Write the first two letters of the global event in the global event track of each player town-sheet; all the players are affected by the same global events
(1) Fire . Players must immediately halve their stone houses During this round, players cannot attract prominent people to their towns
(2) Plague . Players must immediately halve their population (and also reduce accordingly the town assets having MAX = )
(3) Famine . Farms don't produce food this round (skip step a6.), players must immediately halve their farms and reduce population by 3
(4) Civil War . Players must immediately halve their men-at-arms and knights
(5) Outlaws' Attack . Players whose POW is less than 5 * current round (1 to 10), must set =0 =0 and reduce by 5 each
(6) Water Storm . Players must immediately halve their farms