Roman influence expansion

[Bietje]

Hi,

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica for an explanation in English for Basilica.
They can be spit in 2 kinds: 'basilica major' and 'basilica minor'. There are only 4 basilica majors, and all are in Rome: St. Peterschurch, St.John of Latheran, Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Paul outside the Walls. All other basilica are 'basilica minor'.

Ranking of the churches
1. Basilica Major
2. Cathedrals (with bishop ahead)
3. Basilica Minor
4. Other churches

I hope this helps.

[CKorfmann]

My wife and I were talking about Basilica mechanics today.  I think it should probably be something that is not to be claimed like the Cathedral (without the Missionary).  It could still be completed in the same manor as Lord of the Manor, but perhaps the reward would just be the bonus points for the cloisters.  Perhaps the person who completes it could get some kind of reward.  10-15 points maybe?  Or, maybe they get the bonus for cloisters and everyone else doesn't, or they get a better bonus than everyone else.  Any thoughts?

[JPutt927]

I definitely agree that it should NOT be claimed, that was my original intent when I thought of it. I personally do not think the cloister bonuses should be exclusive to the person who completes it...as that might be a bit too powerful. However, a minimal reward might be nice. I think 10 points sounds about right. If not, maybe even a little less.

[CKorfmann]

Yeah, that would make it a both more strategic and desirable to try and finish.

[CKorfmann]

OK, here's what we have so far.  The Basilica stands alone on a tile.  The question is, what other features should be on the tile?  I'm thinking perhaps in the middle of a RRRR tile.  There are a couple of cloister tiles like that.  I'm not sure if it needs to be in a city or not.  If so, I would think it should be on a CCCC tile as the Cathedrals are. 

The Basilica is complete when it has two concentric rings of tiles around it just like Lord of the Manor.  The person who places the last tile gets a bonus of some kind, say 7-10 points.  Once completed, the Basilica increases the value of all completed cloisters subsequently played in the game to something like double points or slightly less, 15-18 maybe.  Of course, the cloisters would need to be completed for the bonus and if they remain incomplete at the end of the game, would score the same as usual. 

The Basilica can not be claimed by any follower, though I'm wondering if the Missionary should be able to function with it in some way.  Any thoughts?

On a seperate note, I'm very interested to hear if anyone has any ideas for the functionality of the Forum and Bath ideas proposed by Baron Von Whaley.  I have a few weak ideas, but I'm mostly interested in discussion.  Look alive people! 

[The Missionary]

I would think bath tiles would be in a city, and could negate pestilence somehow, but if pestilence isn't in the expansion, that would be kind of pointless I guess. Maybe the baths and forums could work together in a city, giving a bonus when the city is scored, and would be worth nothing on their own.
Other ideas: you can only play a forum in a city you don't own. You deploy a follower on the forum, but it doesn't effect the city ownership at all. The player with a follower on the forum gets one point per tile on completion of the city, and the city gets a 5 point bonus when scored. More than one forum can be played in a city, but not by the same person.

[JPutt927]

I like that idea for the forum...it's not too bad at all. After thinking about it, a possibility for the bath...a player could place a bath in a city (it doesn't matter if they have ownership of it or not). They could deploy a follower to the bath. Upon completion of the city, the bath owner would get...say...somewhere between 3-5 points for every follower that's within the city. I think that might be kind of cool...

[The Missionary]

Ooh, great idea! I think that makes a lot of sense, and adds another scoring element to large cities with multiple players occupying it. I think that's perfect!

[CKorfmann]

I agree.  I like that bath idea.  I guess that's one down!

I don't know if I've mentioned it before in this thread, but I'd really like to incorporate solazy's Colosseum tile.  I really like that one.  The follower is placed in the arena as a Gladiator.  The tile is an RRRR tile and points are scored for for every complete city that is connected to the arena by a road.  I think it's 5 each and 6 if the big follower is used.

[CKorfmann]

OK this is the second of two ideas we're collaborating on in December.  A significant amount of work has been done on some of these ideas already.  Here's what we have so far:

• 12 tiles +/- (probably more + than -)
• Probably including the Roman Road and Temple expansion (more than one?)
• Possibly including JPutt's Chariot Race tiles
• Probably including solazy's Coliseum tile
• A Basilica tile(s)
• A Roman Forum tile
• A Roman Bath tile

So let's talk about it.

[loganmann1]

• Probably including the Roman Road and Temple expansion (more than one?)

When you say more than one I assume you mean of the temple, cause isn't the idea of the roman road that its the one special road on the board that must be added to.  If you have 3 or 4 you would lose the advantage that mechanic can gain you I'd think.  Unless you somehow control having only one unfinished roman road at a time and the others must be put back and a tile redrawn until its finished.
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As for some of the other ideas:

What does solazy's Coliseum do or where could I find the rules for it to look at?

I really like the idea of a Basilica that ups points of all cloisters but isn’t claimed in and of itself but just gives points for completion.

And I really like the Roman Bath idea of getting x amount of points for each follower in the city.
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In addition I’ll throw out the idea of having several temples/statues/monuments dedicated to various roman gods that each grant a different special bonus to the owner. Like Temple of Minerva (godess of wisdom and industry) adds 2 extra points to a city for each trade good counter in it.  Or Fountain of Neptune (god of the sea and of horses) lets wagons move over a neighboring completed feature to an incomplete feature it touches ie fast horses. 

I believe there are 12 major gods all together.  That would be a lot of individual icons and blessings to remember so I don’t know how many you’d do.  They could be spread out on roads, cities, and fields to add variety to what and where they can be placed.

Perhaps the bonus only goes to the player who drew it (or they have to claim it with a meeple) until whatever feature they are on is completed and then either the bonus is gone OR the bonus is now universal, as is the roman influence on all of culture today.  And actually if you did that then maybe instead of the 12 gods (or however many you do) there is just a Fountain of Neptune, Temple of Minerva, Statue of so and so, etc.  Just 3 or 4 unique monuments to the gods that grant a bonus to the claiming player until some given condition is met (like completion of its feature) and then the bonus is universal.

Just brainstorming but theirs my two cents.

 (Hmm…maybe a variety of temples like this idea is what CKorfmann meant by his “more than one”)

[meepleater]

I like the idea of having monuments to the various roman gods, it fits the roman theme- but would such monuments really be found in France? I'll be happy to work on some/ all of the tiles.

[loganmann1]

I like the idea of having monuments to the various roman gods, it fits the roman theme- but would such monuments really be found in France? I'll be happy to work on some/ all of the tiles.

It was their religion.  I'd think a statue here or there honoring a this god or that is not to far fetched.  But if we want to avoid that we could do the same mechanics simply with differnent types of Roman architecture.  Aquaduct, gymnasium, arena, theater, etc.  Baths and forums could be on that list but they are already under discussion for some pretty interesting rules of their own.

[CKorfmann]

When you say more than one I assume you mean of the temple,

Yes, that's what I meant, sorry it wasn't more clear.  Since there are two cathedral tiles and this is in essense the opposing feature, I thought there might be two of them used. 

What does solazy's Coliseum do or where could I find the rules for it to look at

Here's the short version since I can't find the link right now.  The tile has an arena which looks kinda like the Roman Coliseum with roads on all for sides.  When you put a follwer on it (as a gladiator) you get 5 points for every completed city at the other end of each road.  This is where road branches could be really beneficial.  If you choose to use your large follower, you get 6 points per completed city... something like that.  :-]

Aquaduct, gymnasium, arena, theater, etc.

I forgot we did talk a little about the Aquaduct and Amphitheatre as well.  I like those ideas, but they'll take some work to figure out. 

I like the idea of having monuments to the various roman gods, it fits the roman theme- but would such monuments really be found in France? I'll be happy to work on some/ all of the tiles.

No offense, but I'm not really feeling the statue thing in France either.  I guess I could be persuaded though if there is a concensus. 

[loganmann1]

No offense, but I'm not really feeling the statue thing in France either.  I guess I could be persuaded though if there is a concensus. 

None taken.  I'm just throwing out ideas.