Lord of the Manor (formerly Castles)

[Scott]

For a while now I've been wanting to add castles to cities. Not quite sure what the purpose will be. Cities already get a bonus for both number of tiles and number of pennants from the cathedral tile. The only thing I can think of that hasn't been given a bonus yet is the Mayor. Perhaps a castle tile can double the Mayor's strength? Could possibly also make the city worth one more point to farmers, though that might be too confusing for farmer scoring.

[Joff]

Where did you get the picture from. It's great.

[Scott]

The castle image is from The Count expansion.

[Bixby]

How about, a meeple on the Castle tile CANNOT be evicted by the princess, eaten by the dragon, or captured by a tower? I mean, after all, hey, it is a castle.

[Scott]

Would that be in addition to doubling the strength of the mayor, or instead of?

[Novelty]

How about, a meeple on the Castle tile CANNOT be evicted by the princess, eaten by the dragon, or captured by a tower? I mean, after all, hey, it is a castle.

Add to that cannot be sent to the gallows and the stocks!

[Cappy]

Scott, I'd sure like to see castles outside of cities as well. Particularly for the graphics, but this would change your rules also.

The idea that a meeple in the castle can not be moved against his will seems sound. Is there any penalty (checks and balances, you know) to placing a meeple in a castle? Does a castle meeple "fill the tile"?

Also, might I suggest fewer trees and more buildings inside the castle. Right now it feels more like a palatial estate than a castle. I do like where this is headed. Heck, it works just as an artwork variation of a city tile!

[Scott]

There's a castle on the grass... a grastle?

I'm not a castle expert, but from what I've read, it was common for a castle to be situated behind an outer wall, and within the outer wall was where the servants and subjects lived. (Much like the Count expansion.) I suppose there may have been some castles by themselves somewhere. Some day I want to go to Europe and see for myself.

If castles could appear outside of cities, I would definitely need to change the rules, and I'm concerned it would turn into another cloister-type. Or maybe castles on the grass have their own rules? The king of the castle owns the farm upon which the castle is situated and receives the farming points instead of the player whose farmers/barn are in the field. Muhahaha! It would be possible to adapt this to castles inside cities too, though that would make me guilty of what I was earlier accusing Joff of doing: one-tile city stealing. Then again, meeples inside cities are knights, so as nobility they would not be completely shafted. Maybe the points are divided between castle and city meeples...

I'm a little scared to try modifying the castle image. I have some graphics skills, but not much.

[Scott]

After reading up on serfdom on Wikipedia, I've decided that both types of castle tiles will have the same effect: points for the city or farm are divided equally between the baron and the knight/farmer. In the case of an odd number of points, the leftover point goes to the baron. Since farms aren't scored until the end of the game, the baron on a "grastle" is stuck until end of game too. The baron and his serfs are safe from the dragon and towers. I'm also combining my "feed the dragon" with this variant.

Now I'm ready to make a Word document.

[Scott]

Made a new castle on the grass tile to better match the castle in a city tile. (see above)

Modified the castle in a city tile to look better in general. (see way above)

Here's the first draft of the rules document:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mzz05iej4jy

Tiles document, with images scaled to correct size for printing:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zznamkojnkk

[Cappy]

Towards integrating the castle onto the tile graphics, you might add some of those black lines representing shadows, the hashing you see on buildings in cities. Just lay them into your existing drop shadow.

[Scott]

Well spotted.

New tiles sheet:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjydmiddmwt

[Novelty]

Those look good!

[Scott]

Deadline for feedback on this expansion is end of Friday. The final version will be published on Saturday along with the others on my list.

[Novelty]

My comments...

If the dragon lands on a tile containing an occupied tower, the follower on the tower may feed one of his prisoners
to the dragon to save his own life. The eaten prisoner is then returned to its owner for future use. If the follower on
the tower has no prisoners, he is eaten by the dragon as usual.

I think you need to explain what the following terms mean

* dragon lands
* occupied tower
* the follower on the tower may feed (the follower or the player who the follower belongs to?)
* eaten prisoner
* city points

I don't think the terms in bold are mentioned anywhere in the official rules, and it may be confusing.

Also, how exactly does the following actions happen?  Maybe examples are needed.
"The baron is protected from the dragon and towers by his castle, and he extends this protection to his serfs."
What does this mean in game terms?  Does that mean the baron cannot be removed by the dragon?

"The baron cannot be seduced by the princess, though his serfs are not safe from her feminine wiles."
OK, again so what does that mean in game terms?  Does the princess confer the +1 or does she not???

"A baron on a farm remains on his castle until the end of the game."
How can a baron be on a farm?  Isn't a baron a follower in a castle?  If a follower is on a farm, isn't that a farmer???

"the follower on the tower may feed one of his prisoners to the dragon to save his own life."
Feed is ambiguous - what does it mean in real actions?  Or are you suggesting that the follower can shove a prisoner down the throat of the wooden dragon meeple?  And which one of his prisoners?  Those that were captured by this specific tower?  Or any that was captured by the follower's player?

"he is eaten by the dragon as usual."
I'm still trying to picture the wooden dragon meeple eating another meeple...

Also, what if you aren't playing with P&D?  What if you aren't playing with Tower?

"and the player with the majority of serfs receives the other half of the city points."
So If I have no serfs in City A, but 10 serfs in City B, which means I have a majority of serfs, I get half the city points (whatever those are) for City A, eventhough I have no serfs in that city?

"If two or more players tie for majority of serfs, their half of the city points is divided equally among them. If the castle is not occupied by a baron, the serfs become freemen and receive full points."
But if they are tied, do they still receive half?

Also, how does the farm castle interact with Barns???

I think you have quite a bit of rewrite ahead of you...