Roman Road and Temple (July 2009 Collaborative expansion)

[Novelty]

This is a 2 tile expansion based on the original ideas by Jabberwocky:

Roman Road

I propose a single piece, a stretch of a single straight road going across the square, but with a major caravan drawn traveling along it and perhaps an obelisk or arch or some other imposing signpost. This piece is The King's Road. The rules of this piece are as follows:
1) Once this piece is in play, all further road tiles drawn must attach to the King's Road if there is any legal way for them to do so unless that piece would cap an end the road. If the piece would cap the road, it is the player's choice whether to cap the King's Road or not.
2) Any player who extends the King's Road may add a meeple to claim the road, even if the road as a whole is already claimed.
3) If an Inn appears along the King's Road, the King's Road scores partial points at the end of the game even if it is not capped (score 1 pt per tile).

This results in lots of meeple traveling this major highway, a highway that has a strong potential to get very long.

Graphicwise, there'll be an image along the road as suggested by Jabberwocky.  (I would prefer a big black obsidian pillar like a miniature Washington memorial in D.C., but that will be up to whoever is making the tile.)

Roman Temple (formerly Parthenon)

Parthenon: As the cathedral is to the cloister, so the Parthenon is to the shrine [aka cult place]. Like a cathedral, the Parthenon adds one point per tile to the value of a city. But if both the Parthenon and a cathedral are in the same city, they cancel each other out. (If anyone has a better name for this tile, please suggest it. I stayed away from mosque and temple because neither of those were the pagan religion of the cult. The Parthenon isn't either, but it is from a religion more cult-ish by today's standards than the other two.)

Graphic wise, the Roman Temple will look like a Greek Temple with marble columns and such.

Discuss!

[JPutt927]

In regards to the road, I really like the thought of having a caravan moving along it. As far as having a pillar or monument of some sort...is there some significance to the black obelisk you mention? I'm just curious...

[Novelty]

A caravan will be "lost" in the picture especially if you put a meeple on the road.  A black obelisk will stand out more, although it might still get lost.  There is no significance to the black obelisk really, other than the fact that I think a black signpost will stand out.  (That and I still have fresh memories of TF:RotF Egyptian and Jordanian scenes in my head.)  We can always compromise and have both

Black obelisks were also used in the middle east - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Obelisk

Edit: Also, a black obelisk will be easier for me to draw

[JPutt927]

I'm certainly willing to draw the tiles. I personally think a caravan AND the obelisk you mention will work together quite nicely on the tile. And about that obelisk, how big of one are you envisioning? Possibly in relation to a person...

[Novelty]

And about that obelisk, how big of one are you envisioning? Possibly in relation to a person...

I really have no idea.  Whatever looks good I suppose

I'll draw up the rules sometime this week as well.  Hopefully it'll be easy.

[meepleater]

Sounds interesting, but I hate the idea of 'forcing' tile placement...

[Novelty]

Sounds interesting, but I hate the idea of 'forcing' tile placement...

You don't have to play with it if you don't like it I guess.  Besides, Hog roast was winning 3-0 until about 24 hours ago   Who knew this expansion will tie with Hog Roast...

[meepleater]

Sounds interesting, but I hate the idea of 'forcing' tile placement...

You don't have to play with it if you don't like it I guess. 

Not that I don't like this expansion, I just wonder if there is any alternative, e.g. add the tile to one of YOUR roads OR the roman road (or maybe an opponants road or the roman road). But I do like the sound of this...

[Novelty]

Not that I don't like this expansion, I just wonder if there is any alternative, e.g. add the tile to one of YOUR roads OR the roman road (or maybe an opponants road or the roman road). But I do like the sound of this...

You can play it your way as a variant.  The original idea was from Jabberwocky, and I'm loathe to change his basic concept without his agreement (which is a bit disrespectful to him - of course, tile images and names are OK to be changed in my book , and he has quite liked what has been done to his expansions so far).

[meepleater]

Well,  I still look forward to this one coming out....

[Novelty]

Here's the draft version of the rules, minus the tiles.  I'm still wondering if there should be examples in there.  Comments and Proofreading welcomed!

[meepleater]

Looks good:

Point 3, you've referred to it as the 'King's Road' but everywhere else in the document (except footnote 1) as the roman road.

If a cathedral and roman temple are in the same city, they cancel each other out when the city is completed. What if they are both in a city that is incomplete? Does the player still score 0 points, or are *all* the effects cancelled out and the player scores partial points?

[meepleater]

I had another idea for an expansion to this expansion (I could try it after LOTR and monasteries)- roads with special icons that DON'T need to be placed on the Roman Road 

I'll see how this turns out first.

If you do want examples, I'll be happy to give them a shot, although Joff seems to be best for that sort of thing...

[Novelty]

If a cathedral and roman temple are in the same city, they cancel each other out when the city is completed. What if they are both in a city that is incomplete? Does the player still score 0 points, or are *all* the effects cancelled out and the player scores partial points?

"However, if the completed city also contains a Cathedral in addition to the Roman Temple, then the effects of both the Cathedral and the Roman Temple cancels each other out"

"If a city with a Roman Temple has not been completed at the end of the game, it scores no points during the final scoring."

Those 2 statements in the rules should answer your question (but I'll place a footnote anyways just to clarify it more).

[meepleater]

So is that a yes or a no? I find that rather confusing...