FAQ
62 answered questions0 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by alea / Ravensburger or the designers. No official rulings are included in this FAQ.
Common mistakes
- Putting a tile taken from a depot straight into the duchy — it always goes to a storage space first. Ruling · Rule
- Moving everyone on the bridge, or moving when a ship is merely taken — only the player who places a ship moves, one space, on top of the stack. Ruling · Rule
- Giving a castle’s extra action the number of the die that placed it — you choose any number. Ruling · Rule
- Buying two tiles in a turn with monastery 6 — one purchase per turn, with silver or with workers. Ruling · Rule
- Discarding goods to make room for a ship’s haul — goods of a fourth colour stay in the depot. Ruling · Rule
- Building a second building of the same type in one town without monastery 1. Ruling · Rule
- [Shields] Pairing a castle’s extra action with one die to claim a shield — a shield needs both of your own dice as a double. Ruling · Rule
Showing 62 of 62
How are the hex tiles sorted at setup?
By the colour of their backs, into face-down piles beside the board. Ships, castles and mines are all alike, so it does not matter whether those piles are face up. Black-backed tiles only ever fill the black depot; once bought, they go into your duchy on a space of their front colour.
Source: BGG thread
When we deal random duchies, do the team boards (12) and solo boards (13) go in the mix?
No. Leave the team boards and the solo boards out.
Source: BGG thread
Where does the starting castle go on a duchy without a dark green 6 in the centre?
On any dark green space you like. The basic setup puts it on the centre 6 of duchy 1 or 2; the setup for experienced players on the last page of the rulebook lets every player pick the dark green space, and that applies to every other duchy, including the border-post duchies 11.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread, BGG thread
Does the starting castle score as a completed one-space area?
No. Placing it is part of setup, not an action, so it scores nothing. It is only there so you have something to build next to.
Source: BGG thread
May players use different duchies in the same game?
Yes. Only duchies 1 and 2 come in several copies; every other duchy is unique. Some groups first decide between duchies 1–10 and the border-post duchies 11, then deal at random.
Source: BGG thread
Our two black-backed sheep tiles both show 4 sheep. Is that right?
It is a misprint in one print run: the black pair should be one 3-sheep and one 4-sheep tile. The difference barely matters in play.
Source: BGG thread
How does the bridge decide the turn order?
Pieces are never reset. Only the player who places a ship moves, one space toward the city, on top of any pieces already there. At the start of each round the piece furthest along goes first; pieces in a stack play from top to bottom.
Source: BGG thread
Does taking a ship from a depot move me on the bridge?
No. You move only when you place the ship in your duchy.
Source: BGG thread
What happens when all the pieces reach the last space of the bridge?
They stack there: the last player to arrive is on top and plays first, unless someone owns the bridge monastery (27), which keeps its owner on top.
Source: BGG thread
Does every player take a turn every round, or only the starting player?
Everyone. In each of the 25 rounds every player takes a full turn with both dice, in bridge order; the starting player only adds the white-die goods placement before their turn.
Source: BGG thread
Must every new tile touch a tile already in my duchy?
Yes. Each tile you place must be next to at least one tile already placed; the very first one goes next to your starting castle.
Source: BGG thread
My storage is full. Can I take a tile and throw it away at once, or put it straight into my duchy?
Neither. A taken tile always goes to a storage space. If all three are full you must first discard one of the stored tiles, then put the new one in its place. Discarding to deny an opponent is legal, but it costs you a stored tile.
Source: BGG thread
Do I need a die that matches the number of the space to place a tile there?
Yes. The die (after any workers) must show the number printed on the space, and the tile colour must match the space.
Source: BGG thread
Why can't I place a market in a town that already has one?
Each building type may appear only once per town (a connected beige area). Monastery 1 lifts that limit.
Source: BGG thread
How exactly does monastery 8 change workers?
Each worker now moves the die by up to 2 instead of 1. A 4 becomes a 6 with one worker; a 3 still needs two workers to become a 6.
Source: BGG thread
How does monastery 7 add to livestock scoring?
Every livestock tile that scores when you place an animal gives 1 extra point: the new tile and each matching tile in the same pasture. In effect each scoring tile counts one more animal.
Source: BGG thread
Does monastery 2 pay at the end of every phase?
Yes: at every phase end you get a worker for each mine, along with the silver. It is the only monastery that acts at phase end.
Source: BGG thread
Is a castle's extra action tied to the number of the die I used to place it?
No. It works like an extra die showing any number you choose, 1 to 6.
Source: BGG thread
Can I buy from the black depot between placing a castle and using its extra action?
The 2019 rulebook allows the black-depot purchase at any time in your turn, before, during, between or after your actions, and players read "during" as allowing it there. Some still resolve the castle action first; agree before play.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Can I throw goods away to make room when I place a ship?
No. You hold at most three goods colours; goods of a fourth colour that you cannot store simply stay in the depot. Sell a colour first to make room.
Source: BGG thread
What happens to tiles nobody took at the end of a phase?
All hex tiles still on the board go back to the box, including the black depot, and every space is refilled from the piles. Goods tiles in the depots stay. The 2011 edition let groups leave ships, mines and castles out; the 2019 rules remove everything.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
What exactly does monastery 6 allow?
In the 2019 rules: once per turn you may pay 2 workers instead of 2 silver to buy one hex tile, and you may take it from any depot, not only the black one. It is still your one purchase for the turn. Other editions print different versions (the 2011 tile paid silver; the later Special Edition allows only beige tiles), and the English text can also be read as letting silver buy from any depot; agree on the reading before play.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread, BGG thread
With monastery 6, can I buy one tile with workers and another from the black depot with silver in the same turn?
No. You may buy only one hex tile per turn, whichever way you pay.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
Does a one-space castle or mine area score when I fill it?
Yes. Any area you complete scores its size points plus the phase bonus: a single space in phase A scores 1 + 10 = 11. If it was the last space of that colour in your duchy, you also take a bonus tile.
Source: BGG thread
[Tiles] How often can I buy workers with monastery 28?
As often as you like and can pay for: 1 silver for 2 workers each time.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Tiles] Can the crane count for two building-scoring monasteries at the end?
The reply in the thread: the crane counts as one building of your choice, once, so it scores for only one of those monasteries. Another player reads the text more generously; agree before play.
Source: BGG thread
[Border] How do the border posts score?
Connecting two border posts with tiles scores the current phase value (10, 8, 6, 4 or 2). The first player to connect all three also scores the large colour-bonus value (5/6/7 by player count), the second the small one (2/3/4). In the 2019 rules the connection may take any route; the older Monastery Boards required a straight line of five tiles. Whether the second and third connections each score the phase value again was never settled on the forum.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Border] Is there a tile for the border-post bonus?
No. Move your scoring piece by the bonus value and remember who already took the first and second bonus.
Source: BGG thread
[White] Can I use a white castle's action to take 2 workers?
Yes. It works like a die showing the white die's number (workers may change it), so any die action is allowed.
Source: BGG thread
[White] The box says 9 tiles but I find only 8 white castles. What is the ninth?
The yellow monastery tile 29, which scores your white castles.
Source: BGG thread
[Inns] Where can an inn go and what does it do?
On any empty space of any colour, following the normal placement rules, at most one inn per area. It has no effect of its own: it fills the space and counts the area as one space larger when it is completed.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Inns] Is it one inn per colour or one per area?
One per area. Two separate pastures may each hold an inn.
Source: BGG thread
[Inns] Must the inn be the last tile of its area?
No. You may place it at any time, as long as it follows the usual placement rules.
Source: BGG thread
[Inns] Does an inn on a mine space give silver, or an inn in a pasture score animals?
No. An inn copies no tile effect.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Inns] Can an inn make an 8-space area score as 9 spaces?
Unsettled. The 2019 rulebook's table stops at 8 spaces and says nothing more; the original Cloisters rules capped every area at 8, while a later edition prints 45 points for 9. Agree before play.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Inns] Can the town hall place an inn?
Yes: the town hall places any tile from your storage.
Source: BGG thread
[Trade] Must my die match something to get a trade route bonus?
Only to sell: the die must show the goods' number. The bonus then depends only on whether a sold tile's colour matches the trade route space it lands on.
Source: BGG thread
[Trade] How do sold goods go onto the trade route?
One by one, from left to right, one tile per space. Each tile that matches its space's colour gives that bonus at once, in that order.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Trade] Do I still get the silver coin and the VP for selling?
Yes. Trade route bonuses come on top of the normal sale rewards.
Source: BGG thread
[Team] Can I place tiles on my partner's half of the team board?
Yes. The duchy is shared: you may place tiles from your own or the shared storage anywhere on it, always next to a placed tile.
Source: BGG thread
[Solo] How many VP does a sold goods tile give in the solo game?
2, as in the 2-player game.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Solo] What does completing a colour mean in the solo game?
Covering every space of that colour on your duchy. Then, instead of a bonus tile, you take a black-depot tile and place it directly in your duchy. Completing a single area still scores its size and phase points as usual.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread, BGG thread
[Solo] Do the single blue spaces on duchy 13A each count as a one-space area?
Yes, each lone river space is an area of size 1.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Solo] How do I expand into another region?
Place a ship on a river space of that region (the die must match as usual); from then on you build next to that ship just as you built next to your starting castle. To reach a river space that touches nothing you own yet, you still have to build up to it.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Solo] When do I move the target marker?
Every time your counter reaches or passes it: the counter goes back to 0, the marker moves 5 spaces down and you take a free action as if you had placed a castle. Expect to do this several times in a winning game.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Solo] Does a monastery score again if I add matching tiles later?
No. Solo monastery points are counted once, when you place the monastery.
Source: BGG thread
[Solo] Can I still sell goods with a die?
Yes, selling works as usual. What changes is placing a ship: it clears the other depots' goods and lets you trade 5 goods for a black-depot tile.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Are the shields only for the solo game?
No, they are a module for any player count.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Do I pay for my shields after the last phase?
Only if you want to keep them for final scoring. A shield you do not pay for is removed and scores nothing.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Can a castle's extra action or a trade route bonus pair with one die to make doubles for a shield?
No. A shield needs both of your own dice showing the same number (workers may change them), and you take it instead of both actions.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread, BGG thread
[Shields] Can I spend workers on both dice to make a pair?
Yes: turning a 1 and a 4 into two 6s with workers is allowed.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] With shield 2, how many workers do I get when an opponent takes several?
One worker per occasion, however many the opponent gets. The German rules spell this out.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Shields] Does shield 1 make my pastures one big area for completion points?
No. It joins the pastures only for livestock scoring; each pasture still completes and scores as its own area. A reply from alea quoted in the thread says the same.
Source: BGG thread, BGG thread
[Shields] Shield 13 doubles my shields' points. Which points?
The points printed on each shield, not what other shield effects earned.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Can shield 6 copy an opponent's bridge monastery (27)?
No. A later printing of the rules says the bridge cannot be copied.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] If I don't pay for a shield, where is it removed from?
From your duchy, out of the game. Shields left on the board are never refilled.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] With monastery 3 and shield 9, how much silver does a sale give?
2 silver from the monastery for the sale, plus 1 silver per tile sold from the shield: selling 2 tiles gives 4 silver.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Can shield 16 change both of my dice?
No, one die per turn.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Does the tile from shield 14 or 15 still have to touch my other tiles?
Yes. It goes straight into your duchy but follows the normal placement rules.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Does shield 7 double bonus tiles I took before I had it?
No, it works only from the moment you take the shield.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] Can a shield go on a white castle?
No. White castles are beige buildings; shields go on dark green castle tiles.
Source: BGG thread
[Shields] With shield 3, what does tribute cost?
Still 1 per shield, but each one may be paid with a worker or a silver coin, in any mix.
Source: BGG thread