Rulebook.

author: Tor Andersson <tor@ccxvii.net> 2023-06-05 02:17:26 +0200
committer: Tor Andersson <tor@ccxvii.net> 2023-07-16 13:06:00 +0200
commit: 64b8441e2650f8e527c6834ced4aeb2bde7de77b (patch)
tree: 8506df3c219930db87a0735ab34d602188c35589 /info/rules.html
parent: feae2da9bdc11437415b684d9d872b7b262c1a6f (diff)
download: field-cloth-gold-64b8441e2650f8e527c6834ced4aeb2bde7de77b.tar.gz
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+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<title>Field of the Cloth of Gold - Laws of Play</title>
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/fonts/fonts.css">
+<style>
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+</style>
+
+<body>
+<main>
+
+<img src="rb-cover.jpg" alt="[Field of the Cloth of Gold]">
+
+<img src="rb-banner.jpg" alt="">
+
+<p>
+<img align=left style="margin:0 0 0 -10px" src="rb-i.png" alt="I">n June 1520, at Balinghem, there met the
+young and glorious Kings of England and of
+France in a grand and splendid celebration of
+their mutual friendship and admiration. There
+were great feasts and opulent amusements,
+conspicuous expressions of deepest and sincerest
+piety, and fierce tournaments. Each King outshone the
+other in turn, so that the world might be astounded at the
+wealth and power of each kingdom. So many tents and
+raiments were made of precious cloth of gold, that the
+field is so named.
+
+<p>
+In this game, two players briefly assume the roles of these
+divine majesties. If you are afeared of the weight of the
+crown, and all its worries, fear not: this amusement only
+requires you revel in the greatness of your kingdom, not
+to rule it.
+
+<h2>
+Equipment
+</h2>
+
+<img align=right src="rb-tiles.jpg" style="margin:0 0 0 12px" alt="[tiles]">
+
+<p>
+Enclosed with these Laws of Play shall be also found:
+
+<ul>
+<li> a small board, made of fine canvas;
+<li> seven tokens of wood, three red and
+three blue, and one white (the last,
+called "the Dragon");
+<li> tiles numbering fifty and four, in
+blue (beasts), red (tournaments),
+gold (cloth of the same), white (piety),
+and green (jewels).
+</ul>
+
+<p>
+Mark well, the board contains not only
+seven oval spaces - six of which are
+associated with square tile spaces, and
+one the Dragon - but also a Track of
+Scoring. This Track is divided five times
+into rows. The row a player's token
+occupies upon this Track determines both
+the tiles they might gain by Secrecy, and
+the Points they might gain upon the game's conclusion.
+
+<h2>
+Preparation
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+First, place the board of canvas upon the table, and each
+player be given three tokens of their chosen color. Each
+player places one of these on the Track of Scoring, at "0".
+
+<p>
+Second, place the fearsome Dragon upon the space that
+bears its mark.
+
+<p>
+Third, reserve the six green jewels. The other tiles should
+be shuffled in such a manner as to not reveal them. You
+may wish to borrow a small sack or goblet for this
+purpose. Call this collection of hidden tiles, the
+Darkness. Each player draws two tiles from the Darkness
+into their Hand, known only to the player who holds
+them. The six jewels are plunged into the Darkness.
+Then, the eldest player must draw and place one tile for
+each square space on the board.
+
+<p>
+Play begins with the youngest player, or the player who
+last lost the game.
+
+<h2>
+Hands and Courts
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Players possess tiles in their Hand, and also their Court:
+
+<ul>
+<li>
+Tiles in their Hand are known only to them, and
+they must conspire to Reveal them, thus placing
+them in their Court.
+<li>
+Tiles in their Court are known to both players, and
+these tiles may be Scored.
+</ul>
+
+<p>
+Players gain new tiles either through Secrecy, or as a Gift:
+
+<ul>
+<li> Tiles gained through Secrecy are placed in their Hand.
+<li> Tiles gained as a Gift, in their Court.
+</ul>
+
+<h2>
+Flow of Play
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+On a player's turn, they must move one of their two
+tokens into an empty oval space - that is, a space that
+holds no tokens, nor the Dragon. On their first and
+second turns, they must move their tokens onto the
+board, and thereafter they must choose one token to
+move from one space to an empty one.
+
+<p>
+After moving the token, the player takes the tile associated
+with that space, and presents it as a Gift to their rival.
+
+<p>
+Then, the player resolves the action for that space completely.
+(Hark ye the chapter below, called The Actions.)
+
+<p>
+If the player moved their token from the Dragon's space,
+move now the Dragon back to the space bearing its
+terrible visage.
+
+<p>
+Finally, if any empty oval space on the board has no tile,
+a tile is drawn from the Darkness and placed face-up
+within the empty tile space. Mark! A new tile is drawn
+only when an oval space is empty of both token and tile.
+To do otherwise is a foul corruption of this splendid and
+winsome entertainment. A pox upon those who dare.
+
+<p>
+Then, play passes to the rival player.
+
+<h2>
+The Actions
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+There be seven actions, each tied to an oval space, arranged
+ as follows.
+
+<p>
+First, the Dragon: this moves the Dragon to any empty
+oval space, excepting one that the moving player token
+has immediately vacated. The tile for the space that now
+ holds the Dragon is the Gift for the rival player.
+
+<p>
+Second, Secrecy: this gains tiles from the Darkness to the
+player's Hand. The number of tiles thus gained is
+ dictated by the row they occupy on the Track of Scoring.
+
+<p>
+Third, Gold (Cloth of Gold): Reveal all Gold tiles from
+your Hand, placing them in your Court. If your Gold
+tiles number greater than your rival's, score 2 Points
+upon the Track of Scoring. If the number is equal, or
+lesser, then no Points are awarded. Note well that no
+ tiles are Removed when taking this action.
+
+<p>
+Fourth, Blue (Banquets and Feasts): Reveal all Blue
+tiles from your Hand, placing them in your Court. If the
+Blue tiles in your Court number only one, score 1 Point;
+if they number two, score 3 Points; if they number three
+or greater, score ye 6 Points. Never can you score more
+than 6 Points in a single action. Upon scoring, all Blue
+tiles in your Court are Removed from the game.
+
+<p>
+Fifth, White (Godliness and Piety): Reveal all White
+tiles from your Hand, placing them in your Court. For
+each White tile, score 1 point. Upon scoring, all White
+ tiles in your Court are Removed from the game.
+
+<p>
+Sixth, Red (Tournaments): Reveal all Red tiles from
+your Hand, placing them in your Court. Then, both
+players shalt compete in displays of manly violence: both
+at the same time score 1 point for each Red tile in their
+own Court. Note well that the rival player does not
+Reveal new Red tiles, but only scores for those already
+present. Upon scoring, all Red tiles for both players are
+Removed from the game. Then, each player (beginning
+with the acting player) takes new tiles via Secrecy, as if
+ they had taken the action of that name.
+
+<p>
+Seventh, Purple (Collections): Reveal all tiles from your
+Hand, placing them in your Court. A collection of four
+tiles, one of each type save jewels, is deemed a Set, and
+for each Set, score 2 points. Mark: no tiles are Removed
+ when taking this action.
+
+<h2>
+End of the Contest
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+If the last tile is drawn from the Darkness, or if one or
+both players achieve a Score of 30 Points or more, the
+game is ended immediately. Each player shall then score
+additional points for Jewels and Gold.
+
+<ul>
+
+<li>
+For Jewels, count their number in your Court, and
+then for each Jewel, score ye that number of points.
+Imagine three Jewels: then each Jewel scores three, a
+comely sum of nine.
+
+<li>
+For Gold, each tile in your Court scores the points
+emblazoned upon your row of the Track of Scoring.
+
+</ul>
+
+<p>
+The player with the highest score wins the game. If their
+scores be the same, the player with the greater number of
+White tiles in their Court is the winner. If these be the
+same, the player with the greater number of tiles in their
+Court, of all types, wins, and if this does not resolve it, the
+two majesties do share victory.
+
+<h2>
+Credits
+</h2>
+
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<img src="rb-credits.jpg" alt="Game Design: Amabel Holland. Layout: Mary Holland.">
+
+<h2>
+2023 Edition Notes
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+I've always been fascinated by the Field of the Cloth of
+Gold, and had for some time thought about how I might
+make a game of it. In February of 2020, I realized that
+June would mark the quincentennial, so if ever there was
+a time to do the game, it was then. To release it in June,
+we would need to take it from start to finish – design,
+playtesting, art, layout – in only two months.
+
+<p>
+That probably doesn't seem like a lot of time, but you'd
+be surprised what can happen in a couple of months.
+When I started the project, I was certain that I was a cis
+man named Tom Russell. And that's the name that was
+on the box when it was released in June. But by that
+time, I already knew the name was a lie.
+
+<p>
+The summer of 2020 was a complicated, messy part of
+my life. I wouldn't be out as trans until October. I didn't
+start using the name Amabel publicly until the following
+March. In that period, we released five boxed games with
+the old name on it – a name that I knew was wrong.
+
+<p>
+I didn't really feel the need to change the name on those
+boxes, or indeed any boxes released before the cracking
+of my egg. I very much wanted to honor the weird sad
+woman who didn't know she was a woman, who thought
+"I'm not a tomboy, I'm a tomgirl" wouldn't get old. And I
+wanted to honor the messiness of that early transitional
+period. Except…
+
+<p>
+Except that of all of those five games, I really wish that
+Field had the right name on it. It's easily one of my most
+popular and successful designs, and one with a much
+broader appeal than my angry abrasive political games.
+It'd be an easy game to recommend to people I meet who
+aren't knee-deep in The Hobby, if not for the fact that it
+has the wrong name on it.
+
+<p>
+Mary told me, "well, we can just change it then", and I
+knew that, but I'm stubborn and lazy, and if I changed
+this one, why not those, et cetera. But then, in December
+of 2022, our printer sent us a new counter template.
+
+<p>
+What happened is that he had identified a potential issue
+with the existing template for ¾" counters, and so made
+a new template that would avoid it. I would then need to
+layout the counters again for all games using ¾". And
+one of these was Field. So, okay, might as well change
+the name on the box while we're at it.
+
+<p>
+Back in 2020, Field was designed for ¾" counters, as
+they are larger and more appealing than our standard ⅝"
+counters. A halfsheet of ¾" gave us 54 counters arranged
+(on the old template) in four blocks of twelve and one
+block of six. To prevent colors bleeding from one counter
+to the next, each block needed to be of a single color.
+And so I assigned each of my four tile types a block of
+twelve. This left a block of six, which I gave to gold –
+that's why there were eighteen of those tiles.
+
+<p>
+That's been a source of complaint over the years. When
+folks bounce off the game, invariably it's because of the
+endgame scoring, and how often that can decide the
+game. Mostly I roll my eyes at that, because, yeah, that's
+the game – that's part of the decision space you need to
+plan and adapt for. But at the same time, eighteen gold
+tiles does make it harder to do that. So, when I was
+laying out the counters on the new template, I decided,
+on a lark, to try only twelve gold, and added six new
+Jewel tiles.
+
+<p>
+I liked it a lot! It adds some spice to the game without
+detracting from its essential nature. In fact, I think it's
+likely I would have thought of something like this if I had
+had more than two months, or if I had been the person I
+am now.
+
+<p>
+The person whose correct name is at last on this box,
+and is thanking you for buying it, whether for the first
+time or the second.
+
+<p>
+Amabel Holland
+<br>
+January 11, 2023
author	Tor Andersson <tor@ccxvii.net>	2023-06-05 02:17:26 +0200
committer	Tor Andersson <tor@ccxvii.net>	2023-07-16 13:06:00 +0200
commit	64b8441e2650f8e527c6834ced4aeb2bde7de77b (patch)
tree	8506df3c219930db87a0735ab34d602188c35589 /info/rules.html
parent	feae2da9bdc11437415b684d9d872b7b262c1a6f (diff)
download	field-cloth-gold-64b8441e2650f8e527c6834ced4aeb2bde7de77b.tar.gz