A couple of years ago, my girlfriend and I were passing a small shop selling a huge array of boardgames. I used to be a fanatical role-playing gamer, and so we wandered inside. The game we bought that day was
Citadels, a strategy game of city building and bluff. We were hooked from the first game, and soon, I started thinking about ways to expand it.
Just to start this blog off, I've selected a few of my ideas for extra
District Cards. These ones have special characteristics. I have found some entertaining to play, and others were on occasion overpowering, such as the Pirate's Cove. If you visit the site, and have any comments on play balance, please let me know!
Future posts will include my selection of new
Character Cards, other general
District Cards, my new
Land District Cards, and a new system I developed for
Citizens of your growing citadel...
So, here are the rules for my
new District Cards. Initially, none of these cards were connected to a particular character, except for the Exchequer and Merchant's Guild, but I have thought of some obvious links, which will help to reduce the power these District Cards can provide.
Sorceror's Tower (Purple 6)This card costs 6 gold coins to build in your city. I didn't initially think of this, but I think you can use the card's special power only when you hold the
Magician,
Witch or
Wizard characters.
If you are the
Magician (or similar) character, you may 'cast a spell' over one opponent of your choice. You may
either remove one Character from play that round, or make one Citizen Card disappear from another player's city.
I haven't yet thought of what this power will cost you.
Thieves' Guild (Purple 6)This card is associated with the
Thief Character, although they have no colour of their own. Its special power works only when you hold the Thief Character.
If you are the
Thief, you may ask any other player to look at one of the cards held in their hand. If you wish, you may take that card and place it into your own hand! You will still have to spend gold coins to place it into your own city, however.
This is my favourite new card, and seemed to go down well with my friends, who all found it well-balanced.
Assassin's Guild (Purple 6)This card is accociated with the
Assassin Character, although they have no colour of their own. It's special power only works when you are the Assassin Character.
If you are the
Assassin, you may remove an
additional Character from play in your turn, upon payment of 3 gold coins. This card thus doubles the power of the assassin.
An alternative or additional power might be that you may remove a Citizen Card from an opponent's city by paying their worth in gold coins.
Pirate's Cove (Purple 6)This card is associated with the
Navigator Character, if he is in play.
You may build this card in another player's city! It's value will
NOT be counted in your score at the end of the game, but it holds a special power for you. From then on, in each round, that player
must pay you 1 gold coin in tribute until the end of the game. They may refuse to pay if they hold the
Warlord Character in that round. If you hold the
Navigator Character in any round, the tribute is doubled to 2 gold coins.
You may build the Pirate's Cove in your own city, to claim the 6 points for your own score, but from that point, you may not select the
Merchant as your Character again, since they fear the pirates will steal their merchandise...
This card went through a lot of rule changes, and caused a few rows about interpretation...
Merchant's Guild (Green 5)This card is associated with the
Merchant.
In any round where you are the
Merchant, you may recieve an additional gold coin
in addition to the coins you collect in your Action, the extra coin for being a Merchant, and any coins for Green Districts in your city.
Exchequer (Yellow 5)This card is associated with the
King or
Emperor.
In any round where you are the
King or
Emperor, you may recieve an additional gold coin
in addition to the coins you collect in your Action and any extra coins for Yellow Districts in your city.
