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How about a city with music, with troubadours?

In the 11th century the troubadours rose in southern France, and played their music in the cities. I was thinking of an expansion consisting of 12 tiles, each with a different medieval musical instrument on it:

Dulcimer
Vielle
Tambourine
Drum
Harp
Hurdy Gurdy
Bagpipes
Portative Organ
Psaltery
Lute
Shawm
Cornett

A tile would look something like this (Lute Tile):

(http://www.redpanda.nl/Lute.png)

I'm not sure yet whether the tiles with musical instruments just increase the value of a finished city. Another idea is to deploy a follower on the instrument-circle as Troubadour, and let him travel to adjacent cities with an unoccupied instrument circle.

This idea sounds really interesting.  Have you seen The Jester and the Minstrel expansion?  It doesn't have any tiles like you've described, but the Minstrel has a positive effect on the followers around it while that Jester has a negative effect.  They are designed by Joff and Scott as an alternate use with the Catapult tiles. 

I just looked it up, it's a nice expansion and indeed a bit similar to my idea.

I had another idea about moving the troubadour; when you pick one of the tiles with an instrument on it you may deploy a follower, now called a troubadour, on it. When the city containing the troubadour is finished, the troubadour may remain on that tile for a maximum of 3 turns + the number of turns it takes for the owner of the troubadour to be his turn (the citizens get bored of the artist ;D).
He then may move his troubadour to another city (but not one where he's already been) with a non-occupied music-tile in it (doesn't matter whether it's already finished or not), and deploy it there.

The troubadour gets 1 point per turn that it's in an unfinished city, 2 points if the city is finished.

The problem with this is that you would have to remember quite a few things, I don't feel entirely right about it.

Yeah, I can see where you might run into a problem with trying to remember all that stuff.  It's hard enough for me to remember to give myself a point for the fairy every time!  :)

If you were to use the tile to increase the points of a finished city, I'd say to make it similar to the way the mayors and pennants work.  If there's one instrument in the city, then that's 1 extra point.  If there's two, then both instruments are worth 2 points for a total of 4 extra points, 3 instruments would give an extra 9 points, etc.  So the bigger the band you make, the more extra points you get.  Perhaps have some instruments on the roads as traveling musicians as well. 

That's an interesting idea.  I kind of like that.  I think the total instrument tiles should be limited though so they don't all end up in one city.

Exactly.   So if he's planning on making 12 tiles and then have 6 instruments in the cities and 6 on the roads, then the max would be 36pts.  But then again, what's the probability of 1 player getting all 6 for either one?

I've looked up some other instruments that might be good possibilities.  Some of them might also be easier to draw!  ;)
Rebec
Cittern
Sackbut
Viol
Lyre

A zurna is fun!  It's small, loud and annoying!
(http://www.evansvillefolkdancers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/zurna.gif)

Nice the idea got picked up :) Nice instruments Chris, and neat idea Gwommy about the scoring. I am certainly not blissed with drawing skills, so if somebody could try to draw some tiny instruments and add them to tiles?

I thought about this expansion again, maybe this is a good use of the troubadour tiles (entirely revisited, no need to read my previous ideas):

When placing a troubadour tile (i.e. a city with a instrument icon on it), a player can either deploy a follower as a normal "knight" (somewhere on the city but NOT on the instrument icon), or as a "troubadour" (Yep, on the icon). A troubadour has special properties:

He cannot stay longer than 3 turns in the same city, because the citizens get bored if the same troubadour stays for too long. The player can decide to move the troubadour to another, unoccupied troubadour-tile (in an OTHER city). This provides a new way of getting a majority in a city. He can also decide to move the troubadour back to his stock - it becomes a normal follower again.
He has this choice EVERY turn, but after 3 turns the troubadour MUST move.
When a city with one or more troubadours in it is finished, it results in an extra points (Gwommy's system) for the player who finishes the city. Instead of taking the troubadour(s) back into your stock, they MAY be moved to unoccupied troubadour tiles.

A normal follower, big follower and Mayor can be deployed as a troubadour.

Finally, a system is needed to keep track of the number of turns the troubadour is in a city. I thought of simple round tokens (the size of the instrument icons) with a note on it. Every turn the troubadour stays in the city, a token is placed under the troubadour. This means that the troubadour MUST move when it has two tokens under it when you begin your turn.

Unlike my first proposal, it is possible for a troubadour to visit (incomplete) cities where he has already been.

Example:
Turn 1 of player A: He places a "big follower" Troubadour in city X.
Turn 2 of player A: The Troubadour stays in city X, he places a "Note token" under the Troubadour.
Turn 3 of player A: He decides (not yet obligatory) to move his Troubadour to city Y that has an unoccupied instrument icon in it. Currently he doesn't have any knights in this city, but after he moves the Troubadour, there is a tie with player B who has two followers in the city. When he moves the Troubadour to city Y, he removes the "Note token" that lay under the Troubadour in city X (think of it as a "reset").
Turn * of player B: She finishes city Y with the troubadour in it. Player A and B both get points, but B gets the Troubadour bonus points. Player A may now decide whether the Troubadour returns to his stock, or travels to an other city with an unoccupied instrument icon. He decides to move his Troubadour back to city X.
Turn 4 of player A: Troubadour stays, he adds a "Note token" under the Troubadour.
Turn 5 of player A: Troubadour stays, he adds a "Note token" under the Troubadour.
Turn 6 of player A: There are two "Note tokens" under the Troubadour, so it MUST move. It could travel to another city, but say there isn't one with an unoccupied icon at the moment, the Troubadour has to return to his stock.

[Edit]
Oh, I completely overlooked Gwommy's suggestion for Troubadours on the road. This is an excellent addition, same rules apply. "Road Troubadours" are allowed to visit cities and vice versa.

[Edit 2]
Haha, I just keep editing. Another idea, when the Troubadour is in a city and wants to move, he should go to a Road. When he is on a road, he should go to a city. Not sure whether this is a good idea, let me know :)

Sounds like a mediaeval Vuvuzela ;D

...Anyway, this week I'll work somewhat on this expansion and post the results.

Ailurus are you still around?  Is something in the works for rule sheets or graphics for this.  This is one of my favorite ideas in the making right now.

I haven't done anything with this since the site was down for that extended period of time. And now that I'm going to back to school, I'm not sure if how well I'm going to be able to pick up momentum to start working on Carcassonne projects again. It still seems pretty quiet here even though the forums have been back up for a while now.

EDIT: Removed an idea that really changes this from where it was going and might become something separate on its own.

Nudge...

Thanks Chris for your PM. Indeed, since it has been rather quiet over here for some time, I forgot to check the topics...

Nice that some people like the idea! Unfortunately, I don't have much time to work on it right now, but please feel free to make a start!
I just re-read the topic, and I like my "revised" version the most (without roads I think, otherwise it would become a bit elaborate I think).

So in short:
Every player should have two "Troubadour" tokens when the game starts (didn't mention this earlier, but I think only one Troubadour per player should be allowed).
When the player gets a Troubadour-tile, he may choose to deploy a follower (normal, big, mayor) as a Troubadour (or just as a normal Knight).
Every subsequent OWN turn, he has the option to either move the Troubadour to another UNFINISHED city, or keep the Troubadour on its place. In this case, at the end of a turn, a token should be placed under the Troubadour.
When an own new turn begins and there are TWO tokens under the Troubadour, it must move. When there are no unfinished cities with a Troubadour-tile, the Troubadour goes back to stock (it is possible that a rather large city is now unclaimed).

Summarized, it has a certain risk factor to place the Troubadour, and adds a nice historical touch :)

I'm not sure yet whether 12 tiles is the right amount, it seems a bit too much. Furthermore, when you pick a Troubadour-tile and place it in an already occupied city, should you be able to place your Troubadour (I would say yes, but then 12 tiles seem too much)? Normally, this is against the rules of course.

Here are my thoughts.  I agree on the follower and the big follower, but I don't really swallow the Mayor.  If he wasn't already a specialized figure, I could see it.  I think it could be argued that the cart would be more appropriate than the Mayor, though I'm not necessarily advocating that.

I like the musical note tokens placed under the Troubadour.  It works...

I think I also like Gwommy's idea of exponentially compounding score for multiple troubadour symbols in the city.

One thing I think we need to work out is how they effect the city.  Am I correct that you have them counting toward the majority?  I guess it makes sense, but I could also see them not counting toward the majority and just trying to make sure they close the city and score (via Gwommy's method) before they get kicked out.  

I wouldn't be too quick to throw out symbols on the roads.  I think that would work just fine.  

As for number of tiles, I would definitely stick with 12, maybe even 15 if you use roads.  If not, 6-8 I guess.

Hmm yep, I agree with you on the Mayor. Now I think of it, it would be a bit ridiculous for a Mayor to leave his own city ;D. So I would say, just the normal and large followers. Since there always is some confusion about the cart, let's not include it in the rules.

About the tokens: simple round ones, or like the Cloth/Wood/Grain tokens? The latter option might be confusing.

The main advantage of a Troubadour should be for its "owner", that is, the possibility to claim the majority in a city (that answers one of your questions). Therefore I think it should be allowed to place a Troubadour in an already occupied city. The Troubadour symbols (i.e. the musical instruments) could count as a bonus, sure.

At first I liked the Troubadours-on-the-roads idea, but now I don't see it happening: should a Troubadour move to a next city via a road, or is it just his choice to either go to an unfinished road or unfinished city?

Yes, something simple would be best.  Round or maybe even square.  Square might be easier for people to make at home.

Well, in that case, than I think the bonus for the symbol itself should be minimal at best.  Being able to add a follower to a city is a pretty big bonus by itself.  

Yes, if the Troubadour would be allowed to factor into the majority for a city, than roads would not be necessary.

Bump...

Good point. I think the tokens should have the same shape as the pictures on the tiles (like the one with the Lute in my first post).

Perhaps just three points per Troubadour in your city, when you finish it?

Ok, just in a city then. It also works better with my original story line:

To entertain the inhabitants of the cities in the surroundings of Carcassonne, the Troubadours travel to each village, town and city. However, after some time the people get bored with the Troubadour. Therefore, he/she keeps moving...

Please add/change some parts to this background story, writing pieces of text which are pleasent to read are not my strongest point ;D

So what is a basic rules outline for this as currently settled on?  With so much discussion I'm a little lost on what is decided and whats still up for debate.

Loganmann, there are just 5 posts since your first reply in this topic, these are the changes/new ideas :D

Yesterday I was telling one of my flatmates about this expansion, he proposed to use a tambourine as tile-icon. I just made something in Blender (3D creation suite), would a small version of this tambourine be a decent tile-icon?

(http://redpanda.nl/Tambourine2.png)

Furthermore, I was thinking about one general troubadour icon, instead of 12 different instruments (like the Lute). I like this latter option more, but I'm afraid I cannot draw those instruments myself. Unless somebody else would like to try some, maybe we should think of just one icon?

As nice as it would be to have 12 different icons, I am inclined to agree that one icon would be easier as well as probably more appropriate.  I actually like the lute icon (or one similar) much better than the tamborine and think it also most appropriate.  

Oh, I should have said "watermark" instead of "tile icon", a little confusing indeed. So, I designed the tambourine to be the watermark, the icon for all 12 tiles has yet to be designed.
About the lute, I found a picture of a lute on Google, edited it with GIMP et voila ;).

Yeah, that makes a difference for sure.  ;)  I'm not convinced they need a watermark if they all have an icon, but I suppose it's appropriate. 

Would somebody like to work on the artwork of this expansion? We just need a fitting icon for the Troubadour tiles, and an icon for the tokens. Whether or not we'll use the watermark, we can discuss later.

Is there anything unclear about the rules? Additions or comments are always welcome!

I've personally, privately asked a few people, but have had no takers yet.

Something like this simple icon might just work:

(http://www.redpanda.nl/TroubadourTile.png)

I'm still not sure whether to include the roads to the Troubadour's domain. The idea remains the same, however: each player can place one Troubadour, which travels from city to (road or) city. This is an opportunity to gain the majority in a city (or on a road).
Furthermore, some bonus points for the one who finishes a city (or road) with one or more Troubadours in it: 2 or 3 points per Troubadour (from multiple players)? Or something like Gantry's plan?

Once the city (or road) with the Troubadour in it is finished, it returns to the supply of the player, becoming a normal meeple again. Later on, a normal meeple can again be deployed as a Troubadour (no Large meeple or Mayor, this would give too much advantage I think). For an example (where both tokens are used), see the first page of the topic.

Ok, to be done:
- Write a nice background story about Troubadours entertaining inhabitants
- Find nice tiles to add to this expansion (preferably tiles that are considered useful but are rare in the official expansions)

I really like where this is going.  Personally I like that first Lute graphic you used more then the notes on your last post...but whatever you feel works best then go for it.

I agree, I much prefer the lute as well.

an attempt

(http://www.thesaurus.co.nl/images/car/troubarour01.jpg)

I like it.  Good job!

I had a voice teacher who used to tell me, "That's really good, but if you want it to be great we have to get picky."  So, to get a little picky, I think it might look even better if you were able to mute it a little bit to more closely match the lines on the rest of the tile.

i see what you mean, had another go at it, it's the best i can do though..  ;)


(http://www.thesaurus.co.nl/images/car/troubarour02.jpg)

Super.  I think it looks great!  The difference is better.

Very nice indeed! I say, let's find a couple of interesting tiles and add this icon :D

ok !

i've been re-reading this thread and i add just some loose thoughts based on my own busking experiences  ;)
maybe smt can be used in terms of rules or what not. But maybe this is beyond what was intended with the troubadour expansion. Nevertheless i'll post it as ideas.

- roads should be included i think. as a musician tends to travel constantly a troubadour should before entering a new city be on a road first somehow.
- when busking you need a permit, maybe before entering a city something ought to be worked out there.
- the aim is to get money to travel on. In carc language that should be points. After so much points earned the troubadour moves on. Maybe use your note tokens to be placed on vacant city tiles (of the city where the troubadour is active) each tile representing an area/distict where the troubadour has performed. Each token 1 point, 1 token to be laid down per turn for as long as a) there are vacant city tiles to place a note token, b) no new lute tile is drawn, the troubadour must then leave the city. Give lets say 10ea note tokens per player, the player that finishes a city gets the tokens (also when not occupied by that player). furthermore: when 2 troubadours are occupying a city, they compete obviously for the uncovered citydistricts, when there are no more tiles vacant to place a note token, no points in that city can be scored.

Some questions:
- would a big follower count as 2 troubadours when occupying a city?
- can there be more troubadours in one city?
- why leave a city after 3 turns? You might want to consider the troubadour must travel on when drawing a new lute tile only.

how scoring would be with all this i wouldn't know, as said these are just loose thoughts to have the expansion back on track maybe..

Thanks for your input!


I agree, but there might be no road that leads from the city in which the Troubadour resides. Seems a little random to move the Troubadour to a road in this case (only logical road would be one which leads to a new city containing a Troubadour icon).


Thanks for adding a new word to my vocabulary, didn't know the meaning of "busking" ;D. To the point, I don't think one needed a permission in those times (nowadays you really need it though, at least in our country). Furthermore, the expansion shouldn't become too complex I think.


Hmm I didn't think about that one, but yes, let's say it's a musical duo!


Yes, if there are multiple Troubadour icons in one city, there can be multiple Troubadours in it.


The original idea was that the inhabitants of the city get bored with the same Troubadour if he/she stays too long. For strategic purposes, this rule makes placing a Troubadour a bit of a gamble, since you have to remove it pretty soon.

I agree to not make it too complicated, there is an expansion using the connecting road method, i just cant remember which one..
anyway, i was probably editting when you replied, you might have missed the edit, i'll add it here:

the aim is to get money to travel on. In carc language that should be points. After so much points earned the troubadour moves on. Maybe use your note tokens to be placed on vacant city tiles (of the city where the troubadour is active) each tile representing an area/distict where the troubadour has performed. Each token 1 point, 1 token to be laid down per turn for as long as a) there are vacant city tiles to place a note token, b) no new lute tile is drawn, the troubadour must then leave the city. Give lets say 10ea note tokens per player, the player that finishes a city gets the tokens (also when not occupied by that player). furthermore: when 2 troubadours are occupying a city, they compete obviously for the uncovered citydistricts, when there are no more tiles vacant to place a note token, no points in that city can be scored.

Ok I like the new mechanism, but I'm not sure whether the placement of a Troubadour remains enough of a gamble...

Indeed, the follower (normal or big) can be placed as a Troubadour in a city or on a road (on a tile which contains a Troubadour icon, to be precise) which might already be occupied by someone else. This is a rather big advantage for the newcomer, so he/she is only allowed to stay temporarily.

As an example:

Say, player A has built a large city, occupied only by player A himself (normal follower). Player B has tried to connect his smaller city to this larger city, but player A is cunning enough not to allow this. Then, player B picks a city tile with a Troubadour on it, and deploys it such that it is adjacent to the big city from player A. Although this city is already occupied by player A, player B is allowed to place a Troubadour. He chooses to place his large follower as a Troubadour (in fact it represents two Troubadours), so now player B has the majority in the city!

According to the original rules, player B can only stay for a maximum of 3 turns. After this, he has to move on. If the city isn't finished by then, player A once again has the majority in the city.

Okay well that's what i understood from your previous posts, so there's no change there.

Point is, any player can always place a city tile in a cunning way. Meeple it big aiming to attach two city parts. Plus in that case stay for as long as this has been accomplished. Tower influence to capture another follower not taken into account here.
To me it seems a missed chance to have a troubadour used for that purpose alone. Mind you; i like the idea of outnumbering a knight in a city with a troubadour, but while its there in the city it could as well earn you some points, hence the idea of note tokens on city tiles.

I suppose i think the basic idea for the expansion is too good to just use it for a gamble aming at controlling a city in 3 turns. To me it seems there can be much more play in there.

 :D

Ok, I've been re-reading the topic and I came up with these new rules. I had some difficulties translating them from my scratch paper (in Dutch), so please ask if something isn't clear ;D

The Troubadour

Placement:

• If you deploy a follower (knight) on a city tile, and this tile contains a Troubadour Icon (anywhere on the tile), the knight becomes a Troubadour. Mutatis mutandis for roads.
• After the tile is placed, you are allowed to deploy a follower (Troubadour) on it -- even though there might already be a follower from somebody else on the city or road, you may place one yourself.
• Only your normal followers and your big follower have sufficient musical qualities to become Troubadours. A big Troubadour counts as two normal followers, as usual.
• Players can thus have multiple Troubadours, and multiple Troubadours can reside in one city or on one road.

Ok, now the Troubadour is in place. Rules:

• Every turn you are allowed to place 1 (or 2?) note tokens in the city or on the road your Troubadour is on. You should place these tokens adjacent to your already existing own tokens. The first token should be placed on the tile your Troubadour is on.
• If the entire city or road is filled with note tokens, the Troubadour should move as soon as it's your turn. This is only possible if there is an unoccupied Troubadour tile somewhere on the board, which is part of an unfinished city or road. If there isn't such a place, the Troubadour returns to your stock. Exception: As usual, you first have to deploy a tile. If you can deploy this tile to the city or road in which the Troubadour resides, the Troubadour may stay.
• When a new Troubadour tile is placed without a Troubadour on it, then the Troubadour with the least number of tokens should immediately move there. If multiple Troubadours share the same least number of tokens, then the Troubadour whose turn is first should move.
• In your turn, you are allowed to move your Troubadour(s). However, there is an extra condition. A Troubadour from a city should move to a road, and vice versa. Again, this new place should of course contain a Troubadour Icon, and should be part of an unfinished city or road. You can also put a Troubadour back in your stock.

About the tokens:

• If your Troubadour moves, you remove his/her note tokens from the city or road and place them in your stock again.
• If someone finishes a city or road while there are note tokens in it (and thus there are still Troubadours), this person gets as many points as there are tokens. The tokens are returned to their owners.

Every player has 10 Note Tokens.

Some additional rules regarding other expansions:

• You can also deploy a Troubadour when using a portal.
• The dragon doesn't eat the tokens.
• When a Troubadour is removed by the dragon or with a tower, the tokens return to their owner. I think it would become a little messy if your captor (tower) would also capture your tokens.
• It is allowed to place a Troubadour on a bridge.
• A Troubadour cannot reside in a castle, since the castle would obscure the Troubadour Icon and possible tokens.
• When using the mini-expansion The Plague, you cannot place tokens on tiles which already hold Plague Tokens. Furthermore, if a Plague Token is placed on a tile which holds a Note Token, this token goes back to his owner.
• When using Crop Circles, you can also add a Troubadour if there is an unoccupied Troubadour Tile (i.e. with a Troubadour Icon on it)
• When using the newest mini-expansion The Follower/The Phantom, you could in theory place 2 Troubadours at once, if there are 2 separate cities or road on the tile.

Couldn't think of more additional rules, if you have one, please add it!

tokens:

(http://www.thesaurus.co.nl/images/car/token.jpg)

I like the tokens, nice work Trebuchet! Merit point well deserved :D. What do you think about the new version of the rules?

TODO: Find useful tiles for this expansion. I think 12 tiles would be a good number. Furthermore, most of them should have both a city and road on it (because the Troubadour icon is valid for the entire tile). I'll look into it today, but as always, any contributions are surely welcome.

Thank you!


In general i don’t quite understand now what the purpose is of a troubadour. It doesn’t seem to do a lot for me according to these rules. I prefer to see the troubadour earning a player points by allowing that player to place tokens on vacant city (or road) tiles once a troubadour tile is part of a city (or road). Each one token is one point. At the same time, for as long as the troubadour is present in the city –
#1: up until a new troubadour tile is drawn or
#2: up until all tokens are out of players’supply, or
#3 when no more vacant tiles are left to place a token there
– the troubadour can be outnumbering knights in the city or thiefs on a road. An advantage in aiming to complete that city (your initial idea). If you can make the token placement optional, then the troubadour can stay even longer and #3 can thus be influenced by simply leaving tiles un-tokened (earning no more points in these turns).

So, i’d say there should be more focus and a good description on the use of tokens in your rules. Maybe other boarders have any ideas?


I’d stick to one token per turn.


This is okay, pretty much like the wagon movement, you might want to consider adjacent as well.


Sounds good. Q. Can a player lay a token in that same turn?


That’s ok i suppose, but you might want to keep that simpler. Have the player who draws a troubadour tile always move there if he/she has a troubadour active already, regardless the number of tokens left.

Q: what happens to the tokens that were placed already?  Are they left behind to become available for anyone completing city (or road)? eg. once someone is out of tokens he can get some back only by completing (another players’) city. Or you can leave them till the end of the game where they are, or the player can take them off when finishing road/city and lay them aside until the game is over earning points for the most tokens taken. Many posibilities here to choose from.


If I understand correctly a player can move a troubadour always. In that case you have a #4.
Again, what happens to the tokens left behind and in case you don’t want them used for scoring you have to specify more what are they for exactly.

Ok, so the Troubadour would earn 1 point for each Token he/she places on the city or road? I was thinking of the Tokens like the Grain/Wine/Cloth Tokens, same rules (the one who finishes the city or road gets the points).


Hmm indeed, if the player must place a Token each turn (for each Troubadour he/she has on the board, that is), that would be a good alternative for my original "3 turns and then get out". I like it, that way you can't have much Troubadours at the same time.


Yes, even more if we say the player must place a Token each turn.


I think the Troubadour should take back his/her Tokens as soon as it moves (that's the main reason for the strict rules for the placement of these tokens).

About the placement of a new Troubadour tile, I changed my mind. I think the Troubadour with the most Note Tokens should move to the new tile (if and only if the current player doesn't deploy a Troubadour himself ofcourse).

---

Ok, I hope some other people will share their thoughts on this expansion!

Okay that's fine ofcourse  :)  I wasn't aware of you wanting it that way. Certainly if the player must place a token, that's actually quite exciting, he wouldn't barge out of placing a tile to a big city once he outnumbers other players and still has to finish the city / road to get his points earned. I like it.

However, if it would perfectly match with this rule


and this


leaves me wondering still . :D

The aspect of this I find most intriguing is the short term gamble the troubadour gives to taking over or sharing in a feature.

My two pennies worth is that anything that emphasizes this would be positive.

"I can get in on a feature and if I can still be there when it closes my gamble has paid off."

so on that note:) I'd say that the thing about being played out after 3 turns was good.

as an example aside can I put my builder in to the city I have only my troubadour in then when it is mover to the next feature my builder gets evicted and can then re-join the troubadour on his road?

what is your thinking about returning to a feature

placing notes is free doesn't cost a wood move, like plague fleas. I'd stick to only one and I'd say only regular followers with no duets or phantom backup vocalists would limit the power of muscling in (although alternatively you might put the "phantom troubadour" on the city and the real on the road?)

If I could do this or if I had multiple troubadours how then do I distribute the note tokens unless each troubadour plays to their own tune, rather than me being able to ignore some of my troubadours and just concentrate on the tactically best placed one?




what about if I can get . . . say . . . 3 note tokens down before the feature closes, I qualify for an encore?
or
maybe I need to get my troubadour in and it is like a mayor and only worth as many notes as I can place in the feature?


and    how can you tell your note tokens from mine, are mine in my colour?


just some thoughts

alternatively you could introduce a random element like a 6 on a die or some such to evict the troubadour, then you could have a varying increase in tokens.

Yep, the builder may join the Troubadour in a city or on a road.


Perhaps the possibility to move whenever you like it, isn't a good idea after all. As you already point out, the Troubadour can then go back to his old place in one turn, so other players only have a very short time to prevent this from happening (by deploying (one of) their own Troubadour(s) there).


Indeed, maybe the large followers are too powerful, but I like the phantom Troubadour, the last part of that sentence is exactly what I had in mind ;).


Since the tokens are all adjacent to each other, starting with the Troubadour tile. Also since you know with what number of Tokens you start (10, or perhaps 8 is better to shorten the stay of the Troubadour).

troubadours move for free, builders are a support unit, so the power play mechanic, for builder turns, that you get with the wagon, can also be implemented with the troubadour, I don't think this is a bad thing, just a thing :)

by encore I was thinking about earning the chance to stay on the board after scoring a feature, but I can see how that might be too much.

and when two troubadours are in the same feature and their tokens start to mingle is when you will need to be able to differentiate between them.

have you thought about the pied piper?
maybe a follow on expansion, where the troubadour can lead other meeples out of a feature:)