“Welcome to Rome” the eunich said as you enter the official's ante chamber, “We have been expecting you and have prepared the Senate for your arrival.” Lucius Quintellius will be here within the hour with your requested documents...

Patron is a card game where each player takes the role of a freedman, a class without oblique power, but very energetic and ambitious. You will seek to control the correct mix of Senators from various classes, affluent locations with vast prestige and resources and the laws of Rome itself.

Setup

Shuffle all the cards of Patron deck together and choose a starting player. Draw cards appropriate to the number of players, and choose one to play and discard the rest. In a 2 player game, draw three cards. In a 3 player game draw two cards. In a 4 or 5 player game draw two, but players also have the option of playing the top card of the discard pile instead of drawing.

Playing the Game

When playing a card, you must do that action stated on the card, but only if can: i.e. if a card requires you to sacrifice a Patrician and you don't have one, you may ignore the effect. In a 4 or 5 player game, do not mix sacrificed cards with the discard pile. A sacrificed personality is removed from the game.

Each player draws and plays in a clockwise fashion until there are no cards left to draw and the game is over. If there is only one card left the last player must play this card as their final card. Then each player tabulates their total.

Determining a Winner

The player with the most points at the very end of the game wins. Many cards are worth variable points based on the number of symbols, locations, agendas or personalities that player has.

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