Carcassonne Central

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/CarcDominions-1.png)
Image above courtesy of JPutt927

I thought up a simple 1 tile expansion that sections off four kingdoms of the map.  Can't decide whether to call it Kingdoms, Districts, or Quarters changed to Dominions. But anyways, this tile gets placed next to the starting tile.  The starting player decides how it is placed.  Below is the tile (and token markers):

(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/419677_241920035899025_100002430920059_518016_39121164_n.jpg?dl=1)


Here is how to play it:

To claim a Dominion, you must be the first do achieve one of the following conquests within the corresponding Dominion:

• Cardinals - Complete a cloister within the Dominion (Shrines are okay)
• Market- Deploy a farmer with at least one completed city in the farm within the Dominion (a variant could be you must deploy a Barn that scores one of your farmers thus "completing" a feature so to speak)
• Knights- Complete a city containing at least 3 tiles within the Dominion
• Thieves- Complete a road containing at least 4 tiles within the Dominion

Once a player has completed their first feature in one of the four sections, they claim that Dominion on the map for the entire game. In the chance the feature extends into multiple Dominions, the player claims the kingdom of where the feature was completed in.   No other player may claim a Dominion that has already been claimed by another and each player may only claim one Dominion at a time (except in a two player game, each player can claim two Dominions. To allow a 5 or 6 player game, up to two Dominions can be claimed by up to two players.)  Thinking of making token markers so each player remembers which kingdom they claimed. Thoughts on token markers? The player deploys their follower, the Viceroy, to the corresponding watermark on the Dominions tile to claim their lands. The Viceroy remains there for the entire game.

Now, imagine each road shown on the Dominions tile as an armistice line that continues forever.  Features started and completed on the armistice line is considered neutral and is scored like normal.When a player has claimed their Dominion, they each have their special privileges:

• The Top Left Dominion shows favor from the Cardinals, and therefore cloisters are awarded 3 extra points if the monk belongs to the player who claimed this Dominion.
• The Top Right Dominion is controlled by Knights, and therefore cities are awarded 1 extra point if the knight(s) belong to the player who claimed this Dominion.
• The Bottom Left Dominion is run by the Market, and therefore farms are awarded 1 extra point per completed city if the farmer belongs to the player who claimed this Dominion.
• The Bottom Right Dominion has been taken over by Thieves, and therefore roads are awarded 2 extra point if the thief belongs to the player who claimed this Dominion.

If a follower is placed on a city or road in a kingdom claimed by another player, they run the risk of breaking the peace and losing their life.  If the player who has claim on the Kingdom takes majority of the feature when it is completed, the other player(s) follower(s) are removed from the game.

This also goes for cities or roads that started in one kingdom and crosses any of the armistice lines. The player who's kingdom the city or road is completed in has the chance to take the other follower's life if they have majority.

Having claim over the Dominion allows you to "win" tie breakers of majority instead of sharing the wealth.

However, invading players have a chance to overthrow your Viceroy from your Dominion! In order do do so, one of the following conquests must be achieved within the corresponding Dominions:

• Cardinals- To overthrow, you must win a challenge between a Cloister and a Cloister (Or a Shrine and a Cloister, both instances using the rules from the Shrines) with the player
• Knights- To overthrow, you must take majority and complete a city you and the player both shared
• Market- To overthrow, you must take majority of the farm you and the player shared (At any point during the game)
• Thieves- To overthrow, you must take majority and complete a road you and the player both shared

If you no longer have claim over a Dominion, your Viceroy is returned back to your supply.  The Dominion is now up for grabs again and can be claimed per the rules stated above.

What is everyone's input on this?

This sounds like it could be interesting.  The murderous aspect is especially interesting.  It could make for some tense situations.  Well done on the tile as well.  Did you do the are for it yourself?

I like this. It has merit.
Do the owners of the kingdoms only get the bonus points in their kingdom? Or do they get the bonus points anywhere on the board?

Thanks CK! The castle was cropped and edited from the B, C, & B tokens.  Except for the shield, the other icons were scanned in from cards of another game, Ruse and Bruise (http://riograndegames.com/games.html?id=167) (Which I must say is a very fun card game from RGG). So unfortunately, I can only take credit for photoshopping  ;)


The owners only get the privileges within their own kingdoms, outside of the armistice lines all features are scored like normal for each player.  However, I haven't tested this yet to see if the powers equal out. I am hoping the Cardinal's point system is good enough, since the likelihood of the owner getting every cloister is next to nill... so maybe give a point or two more if the other kingdoms dominate. I assume it will always be picked last, or more likely the last player gets stuck with it hehe.

Nice job on the castle image. As you will see in the near future, it's nearly identical to an image I used for my "Treaties and Traitors" expansion.  :)

Thanks JPutt! "Treaties and Traitors" sounds like it could be very similar to Kingdoms, hope not.  In any case, I am excited to see all of your new ones! Especially the Shoppe for obvious reasons  ;)

I like the idea but I'm not a huge fan of a few aspects. First, what is the status of the "line tiles", those tiles that stretch in a cross from the center tile? Are they neutral? Also, perhaps instead of removing the followers, meeples in their own zones should win ties. I feel that would be more balanced and be more in the traditional Carcassonne style. Finally, what is the incentive for people to try and get points in other people's lands? I'd just avoid them if I get more points in my own. You may want to add a conquest option using wood blocks or something (think Agricola).

Thanks for the feedback Whaleyland! If a feature was started and completed on the "line tiles" and did not cross the armistice line, it would be counted as neutral and score with normal rulings.  The feature must start or end in a designated kingdom before reaping the privileges (or attacking). 

I really like your idea of meeples in their own kingdoms win ties! To clarify, are you meaning if a "Cardinal" meeple and another meeple have equal majority, the "Cardinal" meeple (within the Cardinal Kingdom) wins?

Placing your meeple in other kingdoms does not provide much incentive, however my thought would be people will play their tiles anywhere like normal regardless of kingdoms.. There is just more "risk" when doing so (And I know I will not just let someone win a big city or road because its outside my kingdom).  And sometimes, you have no control if a feature crosses the armistice line and then it becomes a race to avoid war.  It would encourage the players to play specific tiles within their kingdom to get extra points, which adds to the fun factor.  I guess we will not know until we get some good test games in, which I am hoping will happen this weekend.  I will report my findings if it happens.

I am curious about this conquest idea? I haven't played Agricola yet (I know), so could you provide more detail?

Carcatronn, how about the name "Dominions"?

Also, maybe instead of tokens indicating ownership of the kingdom the player must invest a follower on the corresponding corner of the kingdom tile to show ownership. That would be a direct method for determining ownership - a player just has to see what color follower is there. Also, it's in keeping with the theme of Carc - you need a follower present for ownership. If multiple players own it then multiple meeples are there.

I like the idea of deploying a follower a lot, thanks Carcking! So should the follower remain there for the game, or should you be able to get him back during the wood phase?

Yes, Dominions it is! :D I can't believe I didn't think of that one.

I think I like the idea of deploying a follower to the corner representing ownership of the kingdom and I think it should remain there til the end of the game.  It should cost you something to get all those bonuses.  Should it be more difficult to accomplish though?  I think it would also be interesting to have some sort of condition that would allow for someone's Dominion to be overtaken. 

Here ya go...  ;D

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/CarcDominions-1.png)

This is perfect JPutt, thanks!  :D

I would say the follower should stay on the dominions tile for the duration of the game...notwithstanding the dragon or plague or tower or some such catastrophy!  ;D

Some possible names for the follower: Baron, Monarch, Despot, Czar, Potentate, Magnate, Overlord, Earl, Duke, Dom, Queen....

My favorite is Queen. I don't believe she has been used in any other fanspansion, has she?

I am struggling with the mechanic of earning the domininion for scoring the first feature in that domain. Does it matter what feature? I can score a two point road and I win the domain? It doesn't seem challenging enough given the potential power the domain can wield. Maybe you have to score at least a three-tile city or something a little more robust than a quick road?

@Carcatronn - I really like where this is going. Nice job and merit freely given!

Agreed, the follower will remain. Maybe the feature being completed must match the Dominion to stake claim? That would make it at least a little more difficult.. Maybe even making the Market Dominion have a completed city in order for a farmer to stake claim?
I like the idea of possible takeovers. But this may sway people away from claiming the Cardinal Dominion if they know another one can be snatched...

Maybe if a player controlling a domain loses majority control of a feature when it's scored in his domain he is ousted from the domain? This could generate some intense majority control battles. Can we brainstorm this concept?

Thanks Carcking! I was thinking about lords for the followers.. If it hasn't been used yet. Don't think Queens has been used, but I can't picture them claiming land  ;)

So was thinking the following for prerequisites:

• Cardinals - Complete a cloister within the Dominion (Shrines are okay)
• Market- Deployer a farmer with at least one complete city in the farm within the Dominion
• Knights- Complete a city containing at least 3 tiles within the Dominion
• Thieves- Complete a road containing at least 4 tiles within the Dominion

If two or more players tie for majority within an unclaimed Dominion, no one takes claim.


I put some thought into this and agree, majority should overthrow the lord from the Dominion to make it more worth playing tiles in other player's Dominions like Whaleyland was bringing up. Having claim over the Dominion only grants you the privileges plus allowing you to "win" tie breakers of majority instead of sharing the wealth.

So this resolves cities and roads, but here is what I thought for cloisters and farms:

• Cloisters- To overthrow, another player must win a challenge between a Shrine and Cloister (and possibly allowing cloister vs. cloister but with the loser also scoring points like normal)
• Farmers- To overthrow, another player must deploy a Barn to remove the Dominion lord or merge in majority of farmers (or merge in a pig plus their farmer)

Any thoughts on the above?

I got it! What about Viceroys?

After reviewing everyone's input and feedback, I have updated the first post with a new set of rules.

I think Viceroy is perfect. It's origin is middle french and it literally translates as deputy to the king. Perfect!

I would be careful to stay away from any components that are not in the basic game such as shrines and barns. I like the idea of the cloister to cloister challenge though. That can be accomplished without borrowing from an expansion. I like the idea of straight competitions for the dominions.

Have you eliminated the rule for "killing" a defeated follower from the game when the Viceroy takes a majority?

Thought you might like that!  ;D  I agree, Viceroy fits the bill.


Yeah I thought about it more and updated the rules on the first post; possibly including components from expansions for variant rulings only. Updates should be italicized and the rules taken out from before have been stricken ... I think the conquests adds more balance in lieu of executing the meeple with majority. But it would be nice to still try to add it in somehow..

Wow  :o

Haven't checked a couple of days and there it is: another nice expansion in the making! Things are moving fast lately!  :)

Tested Dominions out today with 5 players in a couple playthroughs with much to report. Our first game took awhile for a Viceroy to get deployed, which the Knights Dominion was claimed first. After it was claimed, everyone's goal it seemed was to overthrow this Viceroy which turned out to never score another city within the Dominion before the end of the game

(http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/421280_243451832412512_100002430920059_521054_597057666_n.jpg?dl=1)

Our second game received two Viceroys early on, within the Cardinal and Market Dominions. No others were claimed due to cities merging and roads getting cut off. The Cardinals didn't score any points after being claimed and the Market scored at the end like normal, and seemed to be the more sought at Dominion when it combined three Dominions with farms. The Market Viceroy was overthrown near the end to claim the points.

(http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/431294_243451652412530_100002430920059_521053_1536406293_n.jpg?dl=1)
(http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/429999_243451379079224_100002430920059_521052_2137740111_n.jpg?dl=1)

The dilemma of the Viceroy majority winning on a tie came up in the farms. When the opponent took majority with two Meeple, the other player would have had to deploy a total of three Meeple to get any points. This rule had to change for the Market to be fair.  So to be more consistent with the other Dominions, the majority privilege has been removed for all Dominions.

Now with the overthrowing conquest, this will now become a variant ruling as half the people playing enjoyed it while the other half found it distracting from the rest of the game causing more incomplete features and too much focus on waging war. So for the normal rules, once a Dominion has been claimed, the Viceroy is in place for the remainder of the game.  The following are updated rules we have found to be necessary:

• Update to the Thieves Dominion - must be the first to complete a three tile road with majority.
• In order to claim a Dominion, your Meeple must be within the Dominion. This makes the most sense instead of allowing a feature to pass over the armistice line that included your Meeple to claim the land.
• Upon completing the feature that allowed you to claim Dominion, you receive the bonus points immediately instead of waiting until the next completed feature.
• With the Market Dominion, the player who has claim may only receive the bonus points on completed cities inside of the armistice line. All farms that connect into this Dominion is scored like normal

Now with the conquest of overthrowing a Viceroy as a variant rule, which I personally prefer playing with, a new rule has been added where the player who successfully took majority immediately swaps out the Viceroy since this is the only way the Market Dominion can be played. And to be consistent, all Dominions will follow this ruling. I also was thinking possibly allowing multiple Dominions to be claimed by the same individual regardless of players, but will have to play test this to see if it works.

Thanks for the report and photos.  Merit for you.  Sounds like it's coming along.

Tested out the updated rules to Dominions today with 3 players and added Inns & Cathedrals to the mix.  The game worked out perfectly, all three players claimed a Dominion.  We had a Viceroy in the Knights and Market Dominion right away, with the Thieves Dominion half way through.

(http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/421049_244650868959275_100002430920059_524210_1164849433_n.jpg)
(Notice the Large "Crystal" Followers on the left)

The point system worked for all three Dominion's, just about equal bonus points.  The Knights Viceroy scored 3 points extra, the Market Viceroy scored 5 points extra, and the Thieves Dominion scored 4 points extra.  

With this test game, the basic expansion rules are complete.  I will try to make an official download later this week hopefully, with optional "Conquest" variants being added later on after more testing.

I had not stopped to read it all, I really like the idea, congratulations.

The first drafted rules and tiles are complete!  I added a special alternate starting tile I hope you will all enjoy  :D

Dominions (http://www.mediafire.com/?giu9a1ia1zduv)

Variant Conquest rules will be coming later, which will include an overthrowing variant and more.

A rule question:

does the Cardinal-Dominion-player have to complete a cloister to get 3 points bonus or does he only have to score for the cloister - the same for Thieves Dominon and roads and the Knights Dominion and cities.
In other words: Do you get the Dominions Bonus even if another player completes your feature, but the player with privilege scores?

Good question. The viceroy does not need to complete the feature to receive the privilege points. Even if another player completes a feature that scores points for a viceroy (within the respective Dominion), the viceroy still receives the privilege points.

However, I was planning on changing this ruling in one of the variant conquests  :)