OTTOMAN EMPIRE

INTRODUCTION
Drafting and Bidding Game for 4 Players. 
Modified rules for other numbers of players. 
Historical Theme: The Ottoman Empire. 

GAME STRUCTURE
The game has 2 main parts. 
The first part is a Draft to allocate Stacks of Cards for Bidding. 
The second part is a series of 7 sequential Bidding Rounds. 
Each Round scores Victory Points for the winner of that Round. 
Each Round represents a period of History. 

VICTORY
The player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of the 7 Bidding Rounds is the winner. 

THE DRAFT DECK
This is a common deck composed of 84 Cards. 
Each has a Bid Value of 2-13. 
Lower value cards (2-8) can be used in any Bid Round. 
Higher Value cards (9-13) are limited to use in only one specific Bid Round. 

DUMMY DECKS
Each player gets his own personal 7 card Deck of Dummy cards. 
Each player must include exactly 1 Dummy card in each of his 7 Bids. 

THE BIDDING ROUNDS
There are 10 Bidding Rounds: 
Number:		Title:				VP	 
I		Rise 				11	
II		Expansion			12
III		Apogee				13
IV 		Revolts & Revival		10
V		Stagnation & Reform		9
VI 		Decline & Modernization		8
VII		Dissolution			7


DRAFT SETUP
Distribute the Dummy Decks. 
Shuffle the Bidding Deck
Divide the Bidding Deck into 16 Draft Stacks. 
Each Draft Stack will have 5 Cards. 
The remaining 4 unused cards are returned to the box. 
The Draft stacks are placed face-up in the middle of the table. 
All 16 stacks can be inspected by each player. (allow 10-15 minutes total for this)

THE DRAFT
Assign each player a Rank. 
(Draw high from the Randomizer Deck)
The Available Ranks are A, B, C, and D. 
In the following sequence each player takes any 1 remaining Draft Stack: 
ABCDDCBAABCDDCBA
Each player will be in possession of 4 Draft Stacks (20 cards)

MAKING THE BID
Each player will now have 27 cards with which to bid with (20 Draft & 7 Dummy Bid cards)
Each player will now make 7 Face Down Bidding piles in a row. The leftmost 
pile is for Bid I. The rightmost pile is for Bid VII. 
Each bid pile must contain exactly 1 Dummy card and up to 4 other Bid cards. 
Players will try to assign all their 27 Bid cards into piles. If unable to do this, unused 
cards should be tossed into the box. 

REVEAL THE BIDS
The Bids are revealed one at a time. 
All players flip over their Bid Round I pile. 
The player with the highest Total Bid value wins the Bid and earns 11 VP (per Chart) for 
winning Bid I. Now proceed to Bid Round II and so on. 
If 2 or more players Tie on a bid, each gets the full VP award. 
After each Bid Round, all cards from that Bid are returned to the Box.  

REFORM RULE
After each Bid Round, players may reorganize the cards in their remaining Bid Stacks. 
Allow no more than 5 Minutes for this. 

DUMMY DECKS CARD LIST
Card Name:		Bid Value	Notes:
Decline			-1		-
Orthodoxy		0		-
Reform			1		-
Skill & Loyalty		2		-
Grand Vizier		3		-
Caliph			0		If you win this Bid get an extra 2VP
Revolt			0		Winner of this Bid earns -1 VP


MOUNTAINS
There are 4 Mountain Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

RIVERS
There are 4 River Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

SEAS
There are 4 Sea Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

MILITARY
There are 4 Military Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

SOCIETY
There are 4 Society Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

ECONOMICS
There are 4 Economics Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

GOVERNMENT
There are 4 Government Draft Cards: 
If you use 2 in the same Bid, gain 5 to your Total Bid Value
If you use 3 in the same Bid, gain 9 to your Total Bid Value
If you use all 4 in the same Bid, gain 13 to your Total Bid Value

SUBJECTS
There are 3 Subjects Draft Cards: 
If you lose the Bid gain 1 VP for each Subject card you played this Bid. 

LANGUAGE
There are 3 Language Draft Cards:
For every Language Draft Card you play, you may look at one remaining 
Face-down Bid of one opposing Player. 

CULTURE
There are 3 Culture Draft Cards: 
If you win this Bid, steal 1 VP from one target player for each Culture card 
you played this Bid. 

DISASTER
There are 3 Disaster Draft Cards. 
For every Disaster card played in a Bid, the winner of that 
Bid will get 1 less Victory Point (Minimum of zero)

RELIGION
There are 3 Religion Draft Cards: 
If you lose the Bid, steal 1 VP from the Bid winner for each Religion card 
you played this Bid. 

CITY
There are 3 City Draft Cards: 
For every City card you play get +3 to your Bid Value Total in 
the NEXT Bid Round. OR you may randomly draw any 1 card from the 
Box (if there are any), and put it in one of your remaining piles if 
possible. (Limit this action to 1 Minute. Also note, this may be an extra 
Dummy card, which is ok to place) 

POLITICS
There are 3 Politics Draft Cards: 
If you play a Political Draft Card, negate all Bid Value Draft Combo Bonuses 
played by other players this Bid. 


CARD NOTATION
BV = Bid Value
RU = Rounds this card can be used on
A = Card can be used in any Bidding Round

DRAFT DECK CARD LIST
BV 	Card Name			RU		Notes:
2	Persian				A		Language					
3	Arabic         			A		Language		
4	Turkish				A		Language		
5	Tigris				A		River
6	Euphrates			A		River			
7	Danube				A		River	
8	Nile				A		River	
9	Sultan Bayezid I       		I		-	
10	Battle of Nicopolis		I		-	
11	Battle of Kosovo       		I		-
12	Sultan Osman I			I		-
13	Osman’s Dream			I	  	-	
2	Ottoman Architecture		A		Culture
3	Ottoman Cuisine			A		Culture
4	Ottoman Music			A		Culture		
5	Taurus				A		Mountains
6	Caucasus       			A		Mountains		
7	Balkans				A		Mountains
8	Atlas				A		Mountains			
9	Silk Road			II		-
10	Battle of Chaldiran		II		-
11	Sultan Selim I			II		-
12	Mehmed the Conqueror		II		-
13	Conquest of Constantinople	II		-
2	Serbs & Albanains       	A		Subjects
3	Armenians & Greeks		A		Subjects
4	Crimean Khanate			A		Subjects	
5	Red Sea				A		Sea	
6	Mediterranean			A		Sea
7	Aegean				A		Sea
8	Black Sea			A		Sea	
9	Siege of Malta			III		-
10	Siege of Vienna			III		-
11	Siege of Nice			III		-
12	Battle of Mohacs       		III		-
13	Suleiman the Magnificent       	III		-
2	Inflation			A		Disaster
3	Civil War			A		Disaster
4	Stagnation			A		Disaster
5	Slavery				A		Society
6	Mosaic of Cultures		A		Society
7	Metropolitan Diversity		A		Society
8	Ottoman Court			A		Society
9	Koprulu Era			IV		-
10	Jelali Revolts			IV		-
11	Long War			IV		-
12	Battle of Lepanto       	IV		-
13	Battle of Vienna       		IV		-
2	Balance of Power       		A		Politics
3	Military Alliance       	A		Politics
4	Peace				A		Politics
5	Naval Power			A		Military
6	Sekban				A		Military
7	Janissary Corps			A		Military
8	Sipahi Cavalry			A		Military 	
9	Tulip Era			V		-
10	Mahmud II			V		-
11	Treaty of Kuchuk Kainraji       V		-
12	Treaty of Passarowitz		V		-		
13	Treaty of Belgrade		V		-
2	Bursa				A		City
3	Adrianople			A		City
4	Constantinople			A		City
5	Jewish Refugees			A		Economics
6	Spice Trade			A		Economics
7	Men of the Pen			A 		Economics
8	Tributary Principalities       	A		Economics		
9	Congress of Berlin		VI		-
10	Russo-Turkish War       	VI		-
11	Crimean War			VI		-
12	Treaty of Paris			VI		-
13	Tanzimat Period			VI		-
2	Judaism				A		Religion
3	Christianity			A		Religion
4	Islam				A		Religion
5	Millets				A		Government
6	Military Administration        	A		Government
7	Sultanate of Women		A		Government
8	Civil Administration		A		Government
9	Ethnic Nationalism		VII		-
10	Sick Man of Europe		VII		-
11	First Balkan War       		VII		-
12	World War I			VII		-
13	Young Turk Revolution		VII		-



VARIANTS WITH MORE OR LESS PLAYERS
Variable:			2 Player       	3 Player       	5 Player
Number of Draft Piles		12		12		20
Cards per Draft Pile		7		7		4
Stacks Drafted per Player       6		4		4
Draft Cards per Player		42		28		16
Max Draft Cards per Bid		8		6		3
2 Player Drafting Order: ABBAABBAABBA
3 Player Drafting Order: ABCCBAABCCBA 
5 Player Drafting Order: ABCDEEDCBAABCDEEDCBA

DESIGNERS NOTES
The possibility of adding more Draft cards (and Categories) is still on the Table, but 
I would need some feedback. 
Cards of 2-4 Level I call Ability cards. 
Cards of 5-8 Level I call Combo cards. 
Cards of 9-13 level I call Period cards. 

LINKS
Wikipedia