game design: shem phillips & s j macdonald

illustration: mihajlo dimitrievski copyright 2023 garphill games

graphic design & layouts: shem phillips www.garphill.com
introduction aim of the game
Scholars of the South Tigris is set during the height of the Abbasid The aim of Scholars of the South Tigris is to be the player with
Caliphate, circa 830 AD. The Caliph has called upon the keenest the most Victory Points (VP) at the game’s end. Points are gained
minds to acquire scientific manuscripts from all over the known by translating Scrolls, increasing knowledge in various areas of
world. Players will need to increase their influence in the House of science and mathematics, influencing the 3 Guilds, and by retiring
Wisdom, and hire skilled linguists to translate the foreign scrolls into Translators after their years of faithful service. The game end is
Arabic. In this Golden Age of wisdom and knowledge, be mindful triggered once all 4 Caliph Cards have been revealed.
not to neglect one in pursuit of the other.

components

100 Opaque Dice 15 Translucent Dice

(40 white, 20 in each primary (5 in each secondary colour)
colour)

80 Influence
56 Workers (20 in each player colour) 48 Scroll Cards 4 Caliph Cards 6 Scheme Cards
(20 white, 12 in each primary
(for Solo Play)
colour)

24 Research Markers
(6 in each player colour)
35 Gold 50 Silver

1 Neutral 4 Player Markers

Marker (1 in each player colour) 28 Action Cards 6 Goal Cards 6 Starting Scroll
(7 in each player Cards
colour)
2
components

10 Starting 10 Resource Cards 1 Caliph Setup 64 Translator Cards 2 Solo Reference

Translator Cards Card (8 Decks of 8 Cards each) Cards

4 Player Boards

1 First Player
Marker
1 Solo Board

4 Bags
(1 in each player colour)

1 Main Board
3
setup
Follow these steps to set up Scholars of the South Tigris:
2
1 Place the Main Board in the middle of the play area.
7
2 Shuffle each Deck of Translator Cards separately (each Deck
features the same character illustration on every Translator
Card). Place each Deck into the indicated space along the top of 3
3
the Main Board so that the artwork lines up.
7
3 Shuffle all 48 Scroll Cards, then place 1 faceup onto each of the
6 spaces of the Map, and onto the top 3 spaces in the House of 1 8
Wisdom. Keep the rest nearby for now.
4
4 Shuffle all 10 Starting Translators and reveal 4. Return the rest
to the box. Place the 4 revealed Starting Translators into their
indicated Room (the white number against a red background at 5
the bottom of each Room and Starting Translator).

5 Shuffle all 10 Resource Cards and reveal 1 faceup below each

Starting Translator. Return the rest to the box.

6 Give each player 1 Player Board and all items in their chosen 6
colour:

• 7 Action Cards
• 20 Influence 8 Place the Neutral Marker on the bottom-centre space of the
• 6 Research Markers Map.
• 1 Player Marker
• 1 Bag 9 Place all Dice, Workers, Gold, and Silver into a Main Supply
within reach of all players.
7 Have all players place 1 Research Marker of their colour on the
“0” space of each Research Track. Their Player Marker should Before moving on to the final steps of setup,
also be placed at the top-centre space of the Map. The stacking randomly determine a player to start the game.
order of Research Markers and Player Markers does not matter. Give them the First Player Marker. This will stay
with them for the remainder of the game.

xx4
setup
Follow these steps to complete setup: 6 Shuffle the 6 Goal Cards and deal 1 to each player, returning
the rest to the box. Players must place their Goal Card on the
1 Decide as a group whether you will play the Casual or Epic right-most space of their Player Board. After doing so, place a
version of the game. For first time players, especially at higher White Worker on the top space. Below that, place the indicated
player counts, we recommend the Casual version. This does not coloured Worker. Finally, place the indicated secondary Die on
change any rules. It just removes a few Scroll Cards from the the bottom space.
Draw Pile to ensure a slightly shorter game.
7 Give each player their Starting Scroll Card. It will
2 Shuffle all 4 Caliph Cards and place them facedown. Also find have the same character illustration on its reverse
the shuffled Scroll Cards set aside during step 3 on the previous side as that on their Goal Card. Return the other
page. Starting Scroll Cards to the box. Players should
place these faceup above their Player Boards.
3 Use the Caliph Setup Card to
prepare the Scroll Card Draw Pile 8 In reverse turn order (counter-clockwise around the table,
for your chosen player count. Scroll starting with the player seated to the right of the player holding
and Caliph Cards should remain the First Player Marker) each player must select a pair of
facedown when doing this. Starting Translator and Resource Card. When it is their turn to
chose, players must place 1 of their Influence on the top-left
Create 6 separate stacks. For the corner of their chosen Starting Translator. After doing so, they
Casual game, the top stack will must collect the Resource Card below it, and step through its
always have 3 Scroll Cards, and listed icons from top to bottom. As each player resolves their
the bottom stack will have a single Resource Card, they should flip it over and place it onto their
Scroll Card. Each of the other stacks Player Board as a Player Aid.
will consist of 2-4 Scroll Cards
based on player count, and 1 random If playing with fewer than 4 players, any unselected Translators
Caliph Card (shuffled together). remain where they are. These are considered to be Neutral
Translators. All Resource Cards below Neutral Translators
4 Once all stacks have been prepared, place them on top of one should be returned to the box.
another to form the Scroll Card Draw Pile, keeping the correct
order outlined above. Place this pile to the left of the Main
Board, alongside the Map.
8 6
5 Place all unused Scrolls Cards somewhere out of reach from
players as a reserve. These Scroll Cards may be needed in
the final Rounds of the game. The Caliph Setup Card can be
returned to the box.

5
resource cards goal cards
When resolving their Resource Card, players must do so in order During setup, each player received a Goal Card with 2 Workers
from top to bottom. The steps are: and 1 secondary Die. This provides some focus for each player.
As players achieve the individual targets of their Goal Cards, they
1 Add the indicated Dice to their Bag. immediately gain the associated reward. This will either be taking
the Worker and adding it to their supply, or taking the secondary Die
2 Draw 4 Dice at random from their Bag into their hand and roll and adding it to their Bag.
them.
The first target is to interact with the
3 Gain the indicated number of Gold. pictured Translator. This could be through
Dispatching, Employing, Translating,
4 Gain the indicated number of Silver. Retiring, or by placing/taking Gold.

5 Gain the indicated Workers. The second target is to Translate a Scroll

from the indicated Guild.
6 Gain any other printed bonus:
The third target for players is to have
• Moving 1 space up the indicated Research Track, also gaining their Research Marker reach level 3 of the
the printed immediate benefit from that Research Track. indicated Research Track.
• Influencing a Guild.
• Influencing a Scroll Card. The 3 individual targets can be resolved in any order. Once a player
• Drawing and rolling 1 more Die from their Bag. has resolved all 3, they immediately flip the Goal Card over and
add it to their hand. This provides a new Action Card, and also a
1 new Action Slot. The new Action Slot allows them to Research or
Translate. If they do not make use of this Action Slot, it allows them
2 to draw a Die to hand when they Rest.
3
4 This Action Card (reverse side of each Goal
5 Card) comes with a pre-printed White Die.
While this does not count as a White Die
6
for scoring purposes, it can be treated as a
White 5 when played. It can be increased to
If the middle and right Resource Cards above are both selected, a 6 by placing a White Worker, and can be
the last step should be resolved by players in the order that they coloured by placing a coloured Worker (see
are selected. This is because the player moving up the Astronomy page 9). A second Die can also be added,
(Blue) Research Track will also be placing an Influence on a Scroll but no Dice may be place on top of the pre-
Card. Other than that, players can resolve their Resource Cards printed Die.
simultaneously.

xx6
colour reference drawing dice
Scholars of the South Tigris deals a lot with colour mixing, and • Any time players draw Dice, or add new Dice to their hand, they
often requires players to “colour” their actions. The game uses all must be rolled.
3 primary colours and all 3 secondary colours. Because of this, we
have taken some additional steps to help aid players with various • Dice must always be drawn randomly from the Bags (players
forms of colour blindness. Here are some key pieces of information cannot choose which Dice they draw).
to pass on to players:
• If players need to draw Dice, but their Bag is empty, return all
• Primary Dice are opaque and secondary Dice are translucent. Dice from their Player Board to their Bag, except those from
The icons for translucent Dice have a smoky texture behind their current action, then continue drawing. If they still need to
them as a reminder. draw further Dice at that point, they simply do not.

• Yellow and Orange Dice have Black pips, while other colours • Players may freely look in their Bag at any point, but may not
have White pips. The Dice icons have thin lines of either Black look inside their opponents’ Bags. Players should always give
or White running through them as a reminder. The numbers on their Bag a good mix after looking inside it.
each Research Track are also coloured in the same manner.
• White and primary Dice are standard 6-sided Dice with numbers
• The Research Tracks, the paths on the Map, and the 3 Guilds 1-6. Secondary Dice only have numbers 4-6 (2 of each number).
(minarets) are all ordered in the same sequence (Purple is always
on the left). In the case of the Map, the colour sequence moves
clockwise around from Purple.

• Each Research Track has its own unique icon to represent it. component restrictions
• Gold, Silver, and Workers are considered to be unlimited. If
they run out, use a suitable replacement.

• White Dice are limited. If a player needs to take a White Die,

and cannot, all other players instead return a White Die to the
Main Supply if possible.

• Primary Dice are limited. If a player cannot take a specific

0 0 0 0 0 0 colour, they may instead return a White Die if possible.

• Influence is limited. If a player needs to place Influence and

It is also worth noting that not everyone is familiar with the colour has none left in their supply, they may instead move 1 of their
wheel. There is a diagram on the last page of this Rulebook to help Influence from a Scroll Card or Guild (not from a Translator).
players remember the sequence, and how primary colours can be
mixed to create secondary colours.
7
gameplay overview work: creating actions
Scholars of the South Tigris is played over an undetermined number Action Cards and Action Slots
of Rounds. Every Round consists of each player taking a single There are a number of factors to consider when deciding which
turn. Starting with the first player, each player will take their turn, Action Card to play, and to which Action Slot to play it. All Action
followed by the next player in clockwise order. This continues Cards have a Rest effect printed against a blue background. This is
around and around the table until all 4 Caliph Cards have been a delayed effect that will only be activated when players choose to
revealed. At this point the current Round is continued, and then 1 Rest. Some Action Cards also have actions printed against a brown
final Round is played. After this, scoring takes place to determine background. These are effects that may be resolved as part of the
a winner. turn in which the Action Card is played.

On each of their turns, players must either Work or Rest. The chosen Action Slot allows players to resolve 1 of the 4 main
actions of the game:
Working allows players to play an
Action Card, along with 1-2 Dice to
take actions.
Recruit Travel Research Translate
Resting allows players to gain income
from Research Tracks, to draw Dice, Some Action Slots provide only 1 main action, whereas others give
and to collect back all their Action players the choice of 2.
Cards.
Action Colour and Value
When Working, players will be using their Dice and Workers to
create a colour and value for their main action. Actions can be any
of the 6 primary/secondary colours, or White. They will always be
work: overview valued between 1-12. Players may underspend their pips, meaning
that their action’s value is always considered “up to” that amount.
When choosing to Work on their turn, players must follow these
steps: 1 Die on its own:
This is an Orange 4.
1 Place 1 Action Card from their hand onto an empty Action Slot Coloured Dice take priority over White Dice:
of their Player Board. Players start with 5 Action Slots, but may This is a Red 5.
unlock 1 more by fulfilling their Goal Card.
2 primary Dice mix to create a secondary colour:
2 Place 1 or 2 Dice from their hand, onto their played Action Card. This is a Green 9.
Secondary Dice take priority over primary Dice:
3 Place Workers to alter Dice, and optionally resolve available This is a Purple 11.
actions in any order.
The player chooses either secondary colour:
Important Guiding Rule: Players can never use Dice on This could be an Orange 9 or a Purple 9.
the same turn that they gain them to their hand.
xx8
work: using workers
Using Workers Workers on Action Cards will be returned to the Main Supply when
Before resolving their main action, players may place up to 2 players Rest (or earlier if they wish). If a Worker is spent as part of
Workers for each Die on their Action Card. Workers can do 1 of 2 an action, it must be spent from a player’s supply, back to the Main
things: Supply. Workers still on Action Cards cannot be spent for these
purposes (once placed, they are no longer part of a player’s supply).
1 Increase the Die to a 6 if the Worker and Die are the same colour.
Action Example
2 Change the Die colour if the Worker and Die are a different In this example, the player placed their Action Card in their Travel
colour. Action Slot, along with a 3-valued Red Die. They have 5 actions,
which they may resolve in any order:

This Red Worker would turn this action to a Red 4. • The main action, provided by the Action Slot is to Travel.

• Their first Retiree (Translator

Cards tucked below their Player
This Blue Worker would increase this action to a Board) allows them to spend any
Blue 6. 1 Worker to move up 1 space
on the Mathematics (Purple)
The White Worker would turn the left Die to a 6 and Research Track. Their second
the Yellow Worker would make it Yellow. The Red Retiree is not an action, but rather
Worker would increase the Red Die to a 6, resulting increases the sum of their main
in an Orange 12 (Yellow 6 + Red 6). action by up to 4.
The Blue Worker would turn the left Die to a 6, • Their Action Card has 3 small
resulting in an Orange 10, since secondary colours actions to resolve, consisting of
take priority over primary colours. drawing and rolling 2 Dice at
random from their Bag, and gaining
The first White Worker would change the Blue Die any 1 Worker. Note that these are
to White and the other White Worker would turn it all separate actions.
to a 6. This would result in a Yellow 9, since the
right Die would be a White 6. For example, this player used their Action Card to gain a Red
Worker, placing it immediately on their Die. They then took a Red
This Yellow Worker would turn this action to a 10 Travel action, thanks to their Red Worker and Retiree. After this
Yellow 5. they drew 2 Dice from their Bag, then spent a Worker from their
supply to move up 1 space on the Mathematics (Purple) Research
Track.
Important Rule: Players cannot use 2 coloured Workers on a single
Die to create a secondary colour.
9
work: recruit
When taking the Recruit action, players will either be Employ
Dispatching or Employing 1 Translator from the top section Choosing to Employ a Translator will cost players between 0-4
of the Main Board. The colour of this action does not matter. Players Silver. This cost is determined by the available Room where they
are only concerned with the value of their action. place the Translator along the bottom of the Main Board. Each
Room has 3 features to pay attention to:
Each adjacent pair of Translators requires a minimum action value
to Recruit. Players only have access to the top Translator Card on 1 Silver cost for placing a Translator.
each Deck.
2 Immediate effects from placing a Translator.
For example, with a 4-valued action, players would only have access
to the 4 left Translators. With a 7+ they can access any of them. 3 Gold the Translator will need before Retiring.

1
2

Dispatch
Other than the action’s value, Dispatching a Translator is a free
action. To Dispatch a Translator, simply resolve the effects in the
top-right corner of the Card, then move the Translator Card to the
bottom of its Deck. After selecting which Translator to Employ, players must pay the
cost of the Room where they wish to place them. After doing so,
• If a Translator has multiple effects, they may be resolved in any the Translator Card should be flipped over. Note that players do
order. not gain the Dispatch effects when Employing a Translator. Instead,
they must resolve the immediate effects of the chosen Room. The
• If a Translator has a cost shown above a downward pointing final step is to place 1 of their Influence on the top-left corner of the
arrow, that cost must be paid before gaining any of the rewards Translator Card to mark that they were the player who Employed
shown below the arrow. them.

Dispatching this Translator allows players to If all Rooms are full, players cannot take the Recruit action to
spend any 2 Workers to gain 2 Gold from the Employ Translators.
Main Supply.

xx
10
work: travel
When taking the Travel action, players will be moving There are 2 types of Spots where players can end their movement.
their Player Markers in a clockwise direction around the
Map. How far they move is determined by their action’s The White Spots are smaller actions, such as gaining
value. The colour of their action is not vital. However, it can provide Silver or drawing Dice.
players with a small benefit if they cross over the path matching
their action’s colour. The Black Spots are places from where players can
Deliver Scroll Cards to the House of Wisdom.
There are 12 steps around the Map, shown by the circular Spots. It
is mandatory to move at least 1 step when taking the Travel action. Regardless of which Spot they stop on, players may also gain the
However, with a 12-valued action, it is possible for players to do benefit of Influencing a Scroll Card (primary colours), or gaining
a full loop, ending back where they started. Each Travel action 2 Silver (secondary colours) if they cross over the path matching
consists of moving to a single Spot and resolving the effects of that their action’s colour. This benefit may be resolved before or after
Spot. resolving the rest of their Travel action.

Since players may always underspend their pips, it is possible for For example, the Red player has chosen to Travel
players to move fewer steps than their action value allows. There is with a Green 6 action. They can move up to 6
no blocking on the Map. Multiple players may have their Markers spaces, but want to make sure they pass over the
(including the Neutral Marker) on the same Spot without any Green path to gain 2 Silver.
consequence.
They decide to move just 5 spaces. In total, they
gain 2 Silver, gain 1 primary Die into their hand,
and also draw 1 Die at random from their Bag.

Delivering Scroll Cards

The main reason players will want to Travel is to Deliver Scroll
Cards to the House of Wisdom. The cost to do this is always 4
Silver. There is a reminder of this on all 9 Card spaces in the House
of Wisdom.

When Delivering a Scroll Card, players must place it into an

available Card space in 1 of the 3 Guilds (columns). Guilds must
always be filled from top to bottom. Each Guild features 1 of the
secondary colours on its Minaret. It is important for players to know
that the Guild colours are not a requirement for Delivering (players
don’t need a Green action to Deliver to the Green Guild).

If all 9 Card spaces in the House of Wisdom are full, players cannot
use the Travel action to Deliver Scroll Cards.
11
work: travel
To Deliver a Scroll Card, players must follow these steps in order:
2
1 Move to a Black Spot on the Map.

2 Pick up the Scroll Card adjacent to that spot and place it into the
chosen Card space in the House of Wisdom.

3 Pay 4 Silver to the Main Supply.

3
4 Gain 1 or 2 Influence (as indicated on the Card space) in the 4
Guild where the Scroll Card was placed. 5

5 Gain 1 Gold. Also gain 1 White Die to Bag if the Scroll Card
was placed into the lowest row.

6 Move up 1 space on the Research Track of the Scroll Card’s

type (shown by the icon in the bottom-right corner of each
Scroll Card).

7 Draw and reveal the top Card from the top of the Scroll Card 6
Draw Pile. If a Scroll Card is revealed, place it into the empty
space on the Map. If a Caliph Card is revealed, follow the
instructions on page 19.

Blue is Delivering a Hebrew Physics (Red) Scroll Card to the Green

Guild for 4 Silver. They gain 2 Influence in the Green Guild, 1 Gold,
1 and move 1 space up the Physics (Red) Research Track.

Alternatively they could have Delivered to the Purple Guild, but

2
that would only let them add 1 Influence to that Guild. They could
not have Delivered to the Orange Guild, as there were already 3
Scroll Cards present.

xx
12
work: research
When taking the Research action, players will usually be Research Tracks
moving their Research Markers up 1 of the 6 Research There are a number of ways that players can move up the Research
Tracks, and gaining Silver. Tracks throughout the game. The Research action is just 1 of those
ways. The following rules apply, regardless of how players move up
There are 4 options available when taking this action, as printed the Research Tracks:
along the top of the Research Tracks on the Main Board:
1 Moving onto transparent spaces (odd numbers) are immediate
1+ benefits that may be resolved (they are almost always beneficial
to resolve).
This option can be any colour and requires a value of at least 1.
It allows players to gain any 1 Worker and 1 Silver from the 2 Moving onto coloured spaces (even numbers) have no
Main Supply. immediate benefit. They only take effect when players Rest.

4+ 3 Gaining movement beyond 7 on a given Research Track does

not move a player’s Research Marker. It instead immediately
This option requires a colour and a value of at least 4. At the cost earns them either 1 Influence in a Guild or 1 Gold, as shown at
of 1 Gold, players may move their Research Marker 1 space up the top of each Research Track.
the Research Track matching the colour of their action. They
also gain 2 Silver from the Main Supply.
3
8+
This option requires a colour and a value of at least 8. It allows
players to move their Research Marker 1 space up the Research
Track matching the colour of their action. They also gain 2
2
Silver from the Main Supply.

10+
1
This option requires a colour and a value of at least 10. At
the cost of 2 Gold, players may move their Research Marker
2 spaces up the Research Track matching the colour of their
action. They also gain 2 Silver from the Main Supply.

13
work: translate
When taking the Translate action, players will be paying When Translating a Scroll Card, players must do the following steps
Gold to the available Translators in the Rooms along the in order:
bottom of the Main Board. They will need to use 1 or more
Translators to take a Scroll Card from its original language into 1 Target a Scroll Card currently in the House of Wisdom. The
Arabic. Guild where the Scroll Card sits must match the action’s colour.

For this action, the colour matters, but the value does not. The only 2 Place 1 Gold onto each Translator that is needed to forge a line
Dice requirement is to have an action matching the colour of the from the Scroll Card’s language, to Arabic. If there are multiple
Guild where the target Scroll Card sits. To be clear, a Green action ways this could be achieved, the player decides.
of any value for the Green Guild, etc.
3 Pay 1 Silver to the owner of each Translator used. Players pay
Some Scroll Cards will take more effort to Translate than others. no Silver for their own Translators. Neutral Translators have
This is because languages are broken down into 3 tiers (Arabic is no Influence on them. To use a Neutral Translator, players
tier 0). must pay 1 Silver to the Main Supply. If players cannot pay the
required Silver to use an opposing or Neutral Translator, then
There is a reminder of these tiers they cannot use them to Translate.
on the Player Aids (backside of
Resource Cards). 4 Take the Translated Scroll Card and place it above their Player
Board.
• Tier 1 is Persian and Syriac
• Tier 2 is Greek and Hebrew 5 In either order: Move up 1 space on the Research Track of the
• Tier 3 is Chinese and Sanskrit Scroll Card’s type (shown by the icon in the bottom-right corner
of each Scroll Card). Resolve any immediate effects printed in
While these tiers exist, there are also some Translators who can skip the middle of the Scroll Card.
a tier. This Starting Translator can go straight from Greek to Arabic.
6 Slide up Scroll Cards in the House of Wisdom to fill empty
There are even other Translators who can speak spaces if needed, and Retire any Translators that have met their
multiple languages in the same tier, such as both Gold requirement (the number of Gold indicated above their
Greek and Hebrew. Room).

Players can forge a line of Translation by any

sequence they wish. The only guiding rule is that In this example, the Blue player
they cannot use the same language twice during a could Translate this Persian
Translation action. Scroll Card by placing just 1
Gold on their Persian/Arabic
For example, they cannot go Greek > Sanskrit > Greek > Syriac > Translator.
Arabic (using Greek twice).

xx
14
work: translate
Retiring Employed Translators Retiring Neutral Translators
Translators Retire when they have met their Gold requirement (the Any time a Neutral Translator Retires, return the Gold on them to
number of Gold indicated above their Room). Follow these steps the Main Supply and return the Translator Card to the bottom of
when a Translator Retires: their Deck.

1 All Gold on the Translator is returned to the Main Supply.

1 1
2 The Influence is returned to the owner’s supply.

3 The owner of the Retiring Translator must tuck the Translator

Card under 1 of the 4 brown Action Slots of their Player Board.
Retirees can never sit below the black Action Slots.

4 Pay any Retirement cost: If this is their first Retiree under a

specific Action Slot, there is no cost. For all future Retirees
under the same Action Slot, there is a cost. This cost is to either
pay 1 Silver to the Main Supply or to gain 1 White Die to their
Bag. This cost must be paid for each Retiree already present
under that Action Slot. If there are 2 or more Retirees, players 2 2 2
can do any combination of spending Silver or gaining White
Dice. In this example, Red is wanting to Translate a Hebrew Scroll. There
are a few options for forging a line. Here are 2 they are considering:
Important Rule: Translators only Retire at the very end of the current
player’s turn. This is even true if a Translator Retires during a Rest 1 The fastest line (the fewest Gold required) is to use their
action. own Hebrew/Syriac Translator, then Yellow’s Syriac/Arabic
Translator.
In this example, there is no cost for tucking a Retiree under the
Recruit or Translate Action Slots. For Research, they would have 2 The second option is to use their own Hebrew/Syriac Translator,
to pay the Retirement cost once (1 Silver or gain 1 White Die). For then their other Translator who can go from Syriac to Persian.
Travel, the Retirement cost would have to be paid twice. Lastly, they can use the neutral Persian/Arabic Translator.

They decide to pay the extra Gold to take option 2. This is because
it allows them to use their other Translator, who is only 1 Gold away
from Retirement. Also, if they took option 1, they would be allowing
Yellow’s Translator to Retire.

15
rest
Rather than Working on their turn, players may instead choose to After the Neutral Marker has moved, a Scroll Card may be discarded
Rest. The only requirement for Resting is that players must have at or placed into the House of Wisdom. There are 2 questions to ask:
least 1 Action Card on their Player Board.
Does the Scroll Card adjacent to the Neutral Marker have an
When choosing to Rest, players must Influence on it?
follow these steps, as shown on their
Player Aid: Yes: The newly revealed Scroll Card will be discarded or placed
into the House of Wisdom.
1. Reveal Bottom Scroll Card
Draw and reveal 1 Card from the bottom of the Scroll Card Draw No: The Scroll Card adjacent to the Neutral Marker will be
Pile. If a Scroll Card is revealed, follow the steps outlined below. If discarded or placed into the House of Wisdom, and the newly
a Caliph Card is revealed, follow the instructions on page 19. revealed Scroll Card will be placed where the other Scroll Card
was on the Map.
If a Scroll Card is revealed, move the Neutral Marker a number of
steps clockwise around the Map, skipping over all White Spots. The Are any of the Guilds in the House of Wisdom empty (having
number of steps it moves is equal to the VP value printed in the top- no Scroll Cards in them)?
right corner of the revealed Scroll Card.
Yes: Following the rules above, either the newly revealed Scroll
In the example below, a 3VP Greek Scroll Card was revealed. This Card or the Scroll Card adjacent to the Neutral Marker will
causes the Neutral Marker to move 3 steps. be placed below the empty Guild. If multiple Guilds have no
Scroll Cards below them, place the Scroll Card below the left-
most empty Guild.

No: Following the rules above, either the newly revealed Scroll
Card, or the Scroll Card adjacent to the Neutral Marker will be
discarded. Discarded Scroll Cards are returned to the box.

2. Gain Income
After the bottom Card from the Scroll Card Draw Pile has
been fully resolved, the Resting player then gains income
from all Rest icons on their Player Board.

These must be resolved from left to right, moving across their Player
Board. All effects are mandatory, unless they have a cost associated
with them. In those cases, players may choose not to pay the cost
to avoid resolving the effect. If they cannot pay the cost, then they
cannot resolve the effect. Costs may include paying Gold, Silver, or
Workers, or gaining White Dice to their Bag.
xx
16
rest
When harvesting Research Tracks, players only harvest the single
highest space that their Research Marker has reached. Players
only harvest the coloured spaces (even numbers). If their Research
Marker is on an odd-numbered space, they harvest the space below
1 2 3 4 5
it.

The Red Player would gain any 1 Worker when harvesting the
Physics (Red) Research Track in the previous example, even though
they are on an odd-numbered space.

Notice in the last example that players only harvest Research Tracks
if they play down the associated Action Card on a previous turn.
They will always harvest the Astronomy (Blue) Research Track,
1 since that is printed on their Player Aid.

5 If players need to draw Dice, but their Bag is empty, return

all Dice from their Player Board to their Bag, then continue
4
drawing. If they still need to draw further Dice at that point,
they simply do not.

In this example, the Blue Player would do the following: The position of where players place their Action Cards is also an
important decision to make, since they must always be resolved
1 Harvest the Physics (Red) Research Track, gaining any 2 from left to right. Forward planning is needed!
Workers.
3. Return all Used Dice to Bag
2 Gain 1 White Die to their Bag. This is mandatory since there’s The Resting player takes all Dice still on their Player Board
no cost attached to it. (excluding the Die on their Goal Card if it is still there) and places
them into their Bag.
3 They may gain 1 White Die to their Bag to gain 1 Gold. This is
optional. 4. Return all Action Cards to Hand
The Resting player places any Workers on their Action Cards back
4 Harvest the Philosophy (Yellow) Research Track. Because they into the Main Supply, and returns all Action Cards to their hand.
are on level 1, they can still only harvest from level 0. At the
cost of 1 Silver they may gain 1 primary Die to their Bag.

5 Harvest the Astronomy (Blue) Research Track, topping up the

Dice in their hand to 5. They do this by drawing Dice at random
from their Bag and rolling them. Any Dice still in their hand
may also be optionally rerolled. 17
influence
Throughout each game, Influence may be used in 1 of 4 ways. 3 Influencing Guilds
Any time players need to resolve the effect of this icon,
1 Employing Translators they may place 1 Influence into 1 of the 3 Guilds. If
Influence is used to mark who owns each Translator. the icon shows a single colour, their only choice is to place an
Influence into the indicated Guild.
Other than placing Gold on Translators when taking the
Translate action, Gold can also be placed or taken off If a Guild has no Influence, the first player to place an Influence
Translators whenever this icon’s effect is resolved. When placing there takes control of the Guild. This is indicated by placing
or taking Gold this way, it is always between the Translator and their Influence in the outlined space at the top of the Minaret.
a player’s supply (not the Main Supply). The cost of taking or Later players will place their Influence in the open area below.
placing Gold is always the same: 1 Silver from the player taking
the action must be paid to the owner of the Translator. This Any time a player has more Influence in a specific Guild than
Silver cost is spent to the Main Supply for Neutral Translators the current controlling player, they take control of the Guild.
(those without Influence on them). Players never pay Silver for When losing control, the Influence that was at the top is moved
their own Translators. down to the open area below, and the new controlling player
moves their Influence up to the outlined space.
2 Influencing Scroll Cards
Any time players need to resolve the effect of this icon,
they may optionally place 1 of their Influence onto a
Scroll Card on the Map or in the House of Wisdom. Each Scroll
Card can only ever have 1 Influence on it.

While on the Map, any player wanting to Deliver a Scroll Card

with an opponent’s Influence must pay that player 1 Silver. After
doing so, the Influence is returned to their opponent’s supply,
and they continue Delivering the Scroll Card as normal. When
players want to Deliver a Scroll Card with their own Influence, In this example, Blue controls the Purple Guild. Red only needs
they do not need to pay any additional Silver (they still pay the 1 more Influence there to take control. No player controls the
usual 4 Silver to Deliver). Their Influence remains on the Scroll Orange Guild. The first player to place there will take control.
Card as it is Delivered to the House of Wisdom. Red controls the Green Guild. If Blue adds 1 more Influence
there, they still won’t take control, as they need at least 4
While in the House of Wisdom, any player wanting to Translate influence to beat Red’s 3 Influence.
a Scroll Card with an opponent’s Influence must pay that
player 1 Silver. After doing so, the Influence is returned to their 4 Influencing Caliph Cards
opponent’s supply. When players want to Translate a Scroll When Caliph Cards are revealed, the players controlling each
Card with their own Influence, they do not need to pay any Guild will move 1 Influence from the Guild they control to 1
additional Silver. of the available spaces on the revealed Caliph Card. Influence
placed on Caliph Cards will remain there until the game’s end.
xx
18
caliph cards
Caliph Cards can be revealed when players take the Deliver action Caliph Events
or choose to Rest. If revealed from a Delivery, players must fully Other than the first revealed Caliph Card, each Caliph Card will
resolve the Caliph Card before revealing another Card from the top trigger a small event. These are:
of the Scroll Card Draw pile. It is possible for 2 Caliph Cards to be
revealed back to back from a single Delivery. If revealed from a 1 Gold from the Main Supply is placed onto each Starting
player Resting, do not draw any further Cards from the bottom of Translator (including any Neutral Translators). For each
the Scroll Draw Pile. Starting Translator that has already been Retired, its
owner gains 1 Silver from the Main Supply.
Regardless of how they are revealed, Caliph Cards should always be
immediately resolved following these steps: A Neutral Translator is added to the left-most
empty Room. If there are already 10 Translators
1 Place the Caliph Card into the left-most empty Caliph Card in play, this event is ignored.
space in the top-right corner of the Main Board.
For the last 2 events, the Neutral Translator being added should be
2 Resolve any event tied to the Caliph Card space. the top-most of the 3 pictured Translators that is not already present
in a Room. If all 3 of these Translators are already in Rooms, the top
3 The players controlling each Guild will move 1 Influence pictured Translator is added.
from the Guild they control to 1 of the available spaces on the
revealed Caliph Card. Guilds are always resolved from left to Caliph Rewards
right: Purple, Orange, and then Green. When moving Influence to Caliph Cards, players must place their
Influence onto 1 of the remaining unselected spaces.
When moving Influence, players must move it from the open
area of the Minaret if possible. They only move it from the top • The top space is always 3VP at the game’s end.
outlined space if it is their last Influence in that Guild. • The middle space is always 1 VP at the game’s end, and either
a specific secondary Die added to Bag, or any 1 primary Die
In the example on the previous page, Red would keep control added to hand.
of the Green Guild. • The bottom space is either Retiring a
Translator at the cost of gaining 1 White Die
4 As each Guild is being resolved, players with at least 1 to Bag, or instead gaining 1 Gold. If selecting
Influence in a Guild which they do not control, gain a to Retire a Translator, it must be 1 of the 2
small consolation. This will either be a Worker of their choice, pictured Translators. These are Retired from
1 Silver, or 1 Gold, as shown along the bottom of each Minaret. the top section of the Main Board. Players
only have access to the top Translator Card
Control of Guilds should also be reassessed at this point. If a on either Deck. To prevent potential timing
player gains control of a Guild, they still gain the consolation issues, players must set this Retiree aside,
from not controlling it during step 3. If a player loses control and only tuck them under their Player Board
of a Guild, but 2 or more players are tied for taking control, at the end of the current player’s turn.
no player takes control. Someone will need to take the lead by
adding more Influence on a later turn. 19
end of game scoring
The game end is triggered when all 4 Caliph Cards have been Each player adds up their Victory Points in the following areas:
revealed. At this point the current Round is continued, and then 1
final Round is played (the player seated to the right of the player 1 VP from their Dice Sum (see previous column).
holding the First Player Marker will have the last turn). If in these
final Rounds, the Scroll Card Draw Pile runs out, bring in the Scroll 2 VP printed on Retired Translators under their Player Board.
Cards that were placed aside in a reserve during setup. These will
form a new Scroll Card Draw Pile. Players should still draw a Card 3 VP from any Guilds they control, plus VP from any Influence
from this Draw Pile when Resting or Delivering. they have on the top and middle spaces of Caliph Cards.

At the end of the final Round, players take any Gold still on their 4 VP from the final positions of their Research Markers on each
Employed Translators and add it to their own supplies. of the 6 Research Tracks:

Dice Sum • 5VP for each Research Marker at level 7

Before adding up Victory Points, all players should reveal all Dice • 4VP for each Research Marker at level 6
belonging to them. This means all Dice in their supplies, on their • 3VP for each Research Marker at level 5
Player Boards and in their Bags. Players need to work out the Sum • 2VP for each Research Marker at levels 3-4
of their Dice. This is done by deducting their total White Dice from • 1VP for each Research Marker at levels 1-2
all their coloured Dice.
5 VP from each of the Scroll Cards above their Player Board. If
The player with the lowest Dice Sum places their Player Marker players have Scroll Cards that score from the same condition
(from the Map) on the lowest space of the black banner at the top of (such as the same coloured Dice, or Scroll language), they each
the Main Board. The player with the next lowest Dice Sum places score the full amount that they qualify for. In this way players
their Player Marker on the next lowest space and so on. can double/triple down on certain scoring conditions.

Based on where their Player Marker sits, players may The player with the most total VP is the winner! If tied, the tied
gain some Victory Points for how well they built their player with the most Employed Translators still on the Main Board
Dice Bag. If multiple players have an equal Dice Sum, is the winner. If still tied, the tied player with the most Workers
they still place their Player Markers on the banner, remaining in their supply is the winner. And if still tied, all tied
filling the lowest spaces first, but share the Victory players share the victory.
Points from each space among the tied players. The
order of how tied players’ Markers are placed does not
matter. Need some help tallying up the scores? Download our free
Garphill Games Companion App for Android or iOS.
For example, if both players were tied in a 2 player game, they would
each gain 1VP. Likewise, if 3 players were tied for 1st place in a 4
player game, they would each gain 4VP (6+4+2 divided amongst 3
players), and the 4th player would still gain 0VP.

20
xx
solo play
Setup
Set up Scholars as you would for a 2-player game, with the following
changes:
4

1 Give your opponent the Solo Board instead of a Player Board.

After selecting your Starting Translator and Resource Card, 6
2
select a difficulty from those provided on the back of the Solo
Board. Follow the steps as listed for the chosen difficulty on
the Solo Board. If your oppponent gains a starting Scroll Card,
it can be a random Scroll Card from the reserve (its face does 5
not matter). Place it facedown above the associated language 1
as printed across the top of the Solo Board, without any further 3
effect.
Gameplay Overview
2 Place 1 of their Influence in the correct “Dice Sum” space in the For the most part, the solo game plays very much like the multiplayer
cutout, as referenced under the chosen difficulty. Keep the rest game. Unless stated otherwise, all rules remain the same.
of their Influence nearby in a supply.
You win the game if you score higher than your opponent. Ties
3 Rather than placing their Research Markers on the Main Board, don’t count!
keep them nearby the Solo Board. Your opponent does not need
their 7 Action Cards or Bag. Your turns function exactly the same. On your opponent’s turn you
will either be revealing a Scheme Card or resolving a Rest action
4 Place their Player Marker on the left-most space of the Resource for them.
Track running along the top of the Solo Board.
If, at the start of their turn, your opponent has either 3 faceup Red
5 Shuffle the 6 Scheme Cards to form the Scheme Card Draw Pile Scheme Cards, or 3 faceup Blue Scheme Cards, they will Rest. If
and place it facedown on the left-most Card space of the Solo not, they will reveal a new Scheme Card. This means that they will
Board. always Rest after revealing between 3-5 Scheme Cards.

6 Place the 2 Solo Reference Cards nearby.

7 Give yourself the First Player Marker. You can play either the
Casual or Epic version of the game.

8 Do not give your opponent a Goal Card. They do not select

a Starting Translator or Resource Card. Instead, all Neutral In this example they just revealed their 3rd Blue Scheme Card,
Translators belong to your opponent, but there is no need to indicating that they will Rest on their next turn.
place Influence on them.
21
solo play
Scheme Cards Resting
Each Scheme Card will be either Blue or Red in colour, and have a When Resting, follow these steps:
number of icons:
1 Reveal the bottom Card from the Scroll Card Draw Pile and
Silver Value resolve just as you would when you Rest.
First Action + Scheme Card Colour
2 If they have a majority of Blue Scheme Cards,
move the Influence on the Solo Board 1 space
Second Action to the right. If they have a majority of Red
Scheme Cards, move it 1 space to the left. If it
cannot move, it stays where it is.
To reveal a Scheme Card, draw it from the top of the Scheme Card
Draw Pile and place it faceup in the left-most empty Card space on 3 Gain benefits based on how many Scheme Cards they played.
the Solo Board. Then follow these steps:
If these icons are visible they Influence 1
1 Move their Player Marker along the Resource Track a number Guild.
of spaces equal to the Scheme Card’s Silver Value. Do not move
their Marker if the value is 0. If they are at the right-most space, If these icons are visible they Influence 1
simply wrap around to the left and keep moving from there as Scroll Card.
needed. Every time they wrap around, place 1 of their Research
Markers on the left-most empty outlined space, if possible. If they have played 5 Scheme
Resolve the printed effect being covered. This will be gaining Cards before Resting, they
Influence in a specific Guild, or placing 1 Gold from the Main will Retire 1 of the 2 pictured
Supply onto the left-most neutral Translator if possible. Translators from the top
section of the Main Board.
2 If they are able to resolve the First Action, they will do so. If Which Translator they Retire is determined by whether they
they are unable to resolve the First Action, they will instead have played a majority of Blue or Red Scheme Cards.
take the Second Action. They will never do both. They are only
able to resolve the First Action if the indicated condition is true. 4 Shuffle all played Scheme Cards back into the Scheme Card
This will be checking if there are a certain number of Employed Draw Pile.
Translators (regardless of ownership) or a certain number Scroll
Cards in the House of Wisdom. Gaining Silver
Any time they would gain Silver, instead move
their Player Marker 1 space along the Resource
Track for each Silver gained. This includes when you pay to use
Neutral Translators, or when interacting with a Scroll Card that they
have Influenced. Your opponent never pays any Silver or Gold costs.

22
xx
solo play
Resolving Scheme Cards For these first 3 Scheme Cards, check to see if
Over the course of the game, your opponent will take actions that there are 5, 6 or 7+ Employed Translators. If there
require it to focus. The position of their Player Marker on the are, they will resolve the Top Action. This may be
Resource Track dictates the following focuses: gaining Silver, placing Gold, Influencing Scrolls, or
Influencing Guilds.
1 Language
1 If there are not enough Employed Translators, they
2 Translator will instead Employ a Translator, and sometimes also
gain Silver after doing so.
2 3
3 Colour
Use their Translator focus when Employing a
In this example, the language focus is Greek, the Translator focus is Translator, while trying to avoid Employing any
the pictured Greek man, and the colour focus is Green. duplicates across all Rooms (regardless of ownership).
If all 6 Translators are already Employed, they will just Employ
Any time they need to focus, but what they are looking for is not using their original focus despite them being a duplicate.
available, they look for the next focus to the right, wrapping around
back to the left of the Resource Track if needed. Do not move their They place the Translator into the right-most available Room with
Player Marker when refocusing like this. the same Silver value as their Target Sum. If there are no Rooms
matching that value, add 1 to their Target Sum and check again. If
For example, if they were told to look for a Greek Scroll Card, but their Target Sum is 4 and they cannot find a Room, start back at 0
could not find one, they would instead look for a Hebrew Scroll and keep ascending from there as needed.
Card. If they could not find that, they would look for a Persian
Scroll Card, and so on. Since your opponent owns all Neutral Translators, there is no need to
place their Influence on them. They ignore all costs and immediate
The sum value of the 2 most recently revealed Scheme Cards (or effects from Rooms.
the only faceup Card if there is only 1) dictates a value between 0
and 4. This is the Target Sum, which is required when Employing
Translators.

The Target Sum

provided from In this example, the AI has a Target Sum of 2. Assuming these were
the last 2 Scheme the only Rooms available, they would place their Translator into the
Cards shown here right-most Room. This is because their Target Sum would increase
is 3. to 3 and of the 2 Rooms costing 3 Silver, they would select the right-
most Room.

23
solo play
For these last 3 Scheme Cards, check to see if there
are 3 or 5+ Scroll Cards in the House of Wisdom . If 2 1 3 4
there are, they will Translate.
1 4 3 2
Use their language focus when Translating a Scroll
Card. If there are multiple options available, they
will decide between those options by selecting the
Scroll Card that is in the lowest row in the House of
Wisdom. If there are still multiple options, they will The 3 left Translators are all Neutral for these examples, while the
decide between those options using their colour focus. right Translator belongs to the solo player.

After Translating a Scroll Card, place it facedown 1 2 The Purple numbers show the order of how they would
above the matching language printed on the Solo 3 4 place Gold from Translating a Persian Scroll Card.
Board. Then place up to a number of Gold from the Main
Supply as indicated by the Gold icon below the language on x 1 2 The Red numbers show the order of how they would place
the Solo Board. 3 4 Gold from Translating a Greek Scroll Card.

They will aim to place the required number of Gold, while never The AI ignores all Icons on Scroll Cards. When Neutral Translators
placing more than 1 Gold during the same Translation action on a Retire, place them in a pile nearby the Solo Board.
single Translator. When placing Gold, follow these steps:
If there are not enough Scroll Cards to cause them to Translate, they
1 Place onto Neutral Translators who can speak the Scroll Card’s will instead Deliver a Scroll Card to the House of Wisdom, and
language, moving from right to left across the Main Board. sometimes also gain Silver after doing so.

2 Place onto your Translators who can speak the Scroll Card’s Use their language focus when Delivering a Scroll Card, looking
language, moving from left to right across the Main Board. You clockwise around the Map, starting from the Neutral Marker. While
receive 1 Silver for each. they do not move the Neutral Marker, they act as if they would have,
just like you moving your Player Marker. As such, they won’t target
3 Place onto Neutral Translators who cannot speak the Scroll the Scroll Card adjacent to the Neutral Marker, unless they do a full
Card’s language, moving from right to left across the Main loop around the Map.
Board.
When Delivering their chosen Scroll Card, they will aim to place it
4 Place onto your Translators who cannot speak the Scroll Card’s into the highest row in the House of Wisdom. If there are multiple
language, moving from left to right across the Main Board. You options available, they will decide between those options using
receive 1 Silver for each. their colour focus. After Delivering, they will gain either 1 or 2
Influence in the Guild where they Delivered, just as you would from
Delivering. This is indicated on the Scheme Cards, as they ignore all
Icons printed on the 9 Card spaces in the House of Wisdom.
24
xx
solo play
When Influencing a Guild they will focus on a Guild where no When Retiring a Translator and gaining a White Die,
players have any Influence. If there are multiple options available, Retire the Translator with the highest VP. If tied, Retire
they will decide between those options by selecting the Guild where the left Translator. Rather than gaining a White Die from this, move
they have no Influence. If there are still multiple options, they will the Influence on the Solo Board 1 space to the left. Place the Retired
decide between those options using their colour focus. Of course, if Translator with the rest of the Retired Neutral Translators.
an icon specifies which Guild to Influence, they will simply place
in that Guild. If they would gain any consolation rewards, use the reference
on the left of the Solo Board to determine what they gain. If
When Influencing a Scroll Card they always focus on the House of they would gain Silver, move their Player Marker as normal.
Wisdom first. They will only look to the Map if all Scrolls in the
House of Wisdom already have Influence on them. In the House of They gain Gold or Silver as normal from the 2nd Caliph Card event.
Wisdom they will use the same focus rules as when Translating. On
the Map they will use the same focus rules as when Delivering. Dice Sum
The final position of the Influence on the Solo Board provides them
Influence on Scroll Cards with a Dice Sum for you to compete against.
There are some changes for how Influence works on Scroll
Cards in the solo mode. If your opponent has an Influence
on a Scroll Card that you want to interact with, you still need to
pay them. Doing so will move their Player Marker 1 space on the
Resource Track. In this example they have a Dice Sum of 3.

If your opponent wants to interact with a Scroll Card that you have Final Scoring
an Influence on, you can either let them, gaining 1 Silver from the Your opponent scores Victory Points for the following:
Main Supply, or you can deny them. When denying them you must
pay 1 Silver (but don’t move their Player Marker) to have them 1 VP from their Dice Sum.
move to the next available Scroll Card. You can do this multiple
times, so long as you can afford to. However, you can never fully 2 VP printed on all Retired Neutral Translators.
deny them the action.
3 VP from any Guilds they control, plus VP from any Influence
Resolving Caliph Cards they have on the top and middle spaces of Caliph Cards.
When your opponent needs to select an option on a Caliph Card,
look for the colour majority on their Scheme Cards. If they have 4 VP from each of the Scroll Cards above their Player Board.
an equal amount, the most recently played Scheme Card breaks the
tie. If they have a majority of Blue Scheme Cards (or no Scheme • Chinese scores a set number of VP
Cards), they will take the highest available option. If they have a • Sanskrit scores from Retired Neutral Translators
majority of Red Scheme Cards, they will take the lowest option. • Greek scores from their Translated Scroll Cards
• Hebrew scores from Research Markers on the Solo Board
Rather than gaining coloured Dice, move the Influence • Persian scores from Neutral Translators still in Rooms
on the Solo Board 1 space to the right. • Syriac scores from their Influence on Minarets 25
card appendix

Gain 1 Silver. May spend 1 Silver to gain 1 Gold.

Gain any 1 Worker. May spend 1 Silver to place 1 Influence any

Guild.

Gain 1 White Worker and may Influence 1 May spend 2 Silver to Destroy up to 2
Scroll Card. White Dice.

May Influence 1 Scroll Card. May spend 1 Gold to move up 1 space on a

primary Research Track.

May place 1 Influence in the indicated May spend 1 Gold to gain 3 Silver.
Guild.

May Destroy 1 White Die. May spend any 1 Worker to move 1 space
up the indicated Research Track.

May gain any 1 primary Die to Bag. May spend any 1 Worker to draw up to 2
Dice at random from the Bag.

May gain the indicated primary Die to Bag May spend any 2 Workers to Destroy 1
or gain the indicated Worker. White Die and gain 1 primary Die to hand.

May draw 1 Die. May spend any 2 Workers to gain 1 Gold

and 1 Silver.

Increase the main action’s value by the May gain 1 White Die to Bag to gain 2
indicated amount (never beyond 12). Silver.

May place 1 Gold on a Translator or take 1 May gain 1 White Die to Bag to gain 1
Gold off a Translator. Gold.

26
xx
card appendix

May take the indicated action instead of the

main action from this Action Slot. This player gains an additional 2VP if they have
4-6 Retirees, or 4VP if they have 7 or more
For example, if this Translator was tucked under the Deliver Retirees.
Action Slot, a player could either Deliver or Translate.

May treat White Dice and the indicated

primary Dice as if they were the same. This player gains an additional 1VP for each
Scroll Card they have Translated of the indicated
For example, a White Die could be treated as if it were Blue, or a languages.
Blue Die as if it were White. In either case, both Blue and White
Workers could increase the Die to a 6.
This player gains an additional 1VP for each
Scroll Card they have Translated of the indicated
All players have this Starting Scroll Card. At the language, including this Scroll Card. Immediate
end of the game, they turn every 2 Silver into effect: Harvest the indicated Research Track.
1 Gold. They score 1VP for every 2 Gold they
have, and lose 3VP if they have 6 or more
White Dice. This player gains an additional 2VP if they have
reached level 4-6 on the indicated Research
Immediate effect: Employ (paying any Room Track, or 4VP if they have reached level 7.
cost) or Retire the pictured Translator. If they
Retire them, they also gain a White Die to Bag.
This player gains an additional 1VP for each
Research Track where they have reached level 3
This player gains an additional 1VP for each or higher. Immediate effect: Move up 1 space on
secondary Die they have of the indicated colour. a primary Research Track.
They also gain 2VP if they have 4 or more of the
indicated primary Die. Immediate effect: Gain
the indicated secondary Die to Bag. This player gains an additional 2VP if they have
2-3 influence in the indicated Guild, or 4VP if
they have 4 or more Influence. Immediate effect:
This player gains an additional 2VP if they have Gain 1 Influence in the indicated Guild
1-3 White Dice, or 4VP if they have no White
Dice. Immediate effect: Destroy a White Die.

27
iconography

Gain a White Die to Bag Influence a Scroll Card Employ a Translator

Destroy a White Die from Bag, Influence indicated Guild Dispatch a Translator
hand, or Player Board
Influence any Guild
Gain any 1 primary Die to Bag Retire/Retired Translator
Silver
Gain any 1 primary Die to hand Employ/Employed Neutral
Translator
Gold
Gain the indicated primary Die to
Bag Recruit
Place 1 Gold or take 1 Gold from a
Gain the indicated primary Die to Translator
hand Travel
Increase any primary Research
Gain the indicated secondary Die Track
to Bag Research
Randomly draw 1 Die from Bag to Increase any Research Track
hand Translate
Increase Research Track of the
Top up Dice in hand to action’s colour
4 indicated limit by drawing Increase main action by up to the
Dice at random from Bag Increase the indicated Research indicated value (never beyond 12)
Track
White Worker Place 1 Gold on each Starting
Gain Income from the indicated Translator
Research Track
Worker of indicated colour
Each Retired Starting
Final position on the indicated Translator earns 1 Silver
Worker of any colour Research Track
(including White)

Not controlling a Guild during

Caliph visits Physics Chemistry
Sum of coloured Dice
minus White Dice Mathematics Philosophy

Rest Astronomy Biology

28