Catan: Cities & Knights — Rules Manual

CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1)

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.

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CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1) 2

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
Originally released in 1998
Transcribed, organized, and notes by Derek Whaley
1

An expansion for The Settlers of Catan for 3 to 4 players aged 12 and above by Klaus Teuber

Dark clouds gather over the once peaceful landscape. Wild barbarians, lured by Catanʼs wealth and
power, maneuver to attack. Their massive warships loom against the bright orange horizon.

You must be strong! Barbarians attack the weakest targets, and the victim of their onslaught will be the
player who contributes the least to the defense of Catan. Donʼt take any chances! Field your knights!

In Catan: Cities & Knights, you engage in the defense of Catan and compete to build the three great
metropolises of Catan. Each of these magnificent centers is even more valuable than cities and are
safe from the barbarians. You must invest in city improvements, which you acquire using three
commodities of trade: coin, paper, and cloth. If you improve your culture, muster your knights, and
enrich your fine cities, you will be the master of the great realm of Catan!

GAME CONTENT
• 1 “Barbarian Tile” with movement spaces for the Barbarian Ship
2

• 36 Commodity Cards (12 of each commodity)
• 54 Progress Cards (18 of each Progress Card type)
• 6 “Defender of Catan” Victory Point Cards
• 4 development flip-charts (“city calendars”)
3

• 12 city walls (3 of each color, square-shaped)
• 24 knights (6 of each color, circle-shaped)
• 3 metropolis pieces (“Golden City Gates”)
• 3 metropolis chits (one of each color: blue, green, and yellow)
• 2 sheets of knight labels

1
These rules follow those of the 4th edition Mayfair Games release from 2007.
2
Earlier editions included a double-length tile with this chart as well as a six-piece frame to hold the tiles in place.
The frame is not included in The Settlers of Catan.
3
In previous versions, “development flip-charts” were called “city calendars.” The 4th edition rules renamed them to
“development flip-charts” and that naming is retained throughout this document.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
• 1 Barbarian Ship
• 1 Merchant (wooden cone)
• 1 event die (with 3 ships and 3 city gate symbols)
4

• Game Rules & Almanac Booklet

CHANGES FROM THE SETTLERS OF CATAN
Except where noted below, Catan: Cities & Knights (aka “Cities & Knights”) uses all the rules from
The Settlers of Catan (aka “Settlers”). The additional rules include:
• a revised turn order;
• rules for placing and using knights;
• rules for city development and Progress Cards; and
• rules for the attacking barbarians!
These rules contain all the important information that you need to play!

WHAT YOU NEED FROM YOUR SETTLERS GAME
To play Cities & Knights you will need most of the components
from a copy of Settlers. Set aside the following Settlers pieces, as
you won’t need them:
• the Development Cards;
• the Building Cost Cards; and
• the “Largest Army” card.
See Illustrations A and B.
Cities & Knights replace these
components. Use all of the
remaining pieces from
Settlers.

4
Earlier editions included a red die as well. This is now included in The Settlers of Catan.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
NEW GAME PIECES
KNIGHTS
Before you play Cities & Knights for the first time, you will need to label all 24 knight tokens (the
round wooden “disks”). There are 6 tokens of each color.
There are 6 knights per player (color):
• 2 basic knights (1 ring, open helmet)
• 2 strong knights (2 rings, full helmet)
• 2 mighty knights (3 rings, great helmet with crest)
You need to attach 2 labels to each knight of each token with
the inactive symbol (a black and white head). (See Illustration
C.) Label the reverse side of each token with the active symbol
(a color head). Note that the 3 types of knights’ heads
correspond to similar heads on the reverse side of the token.

DEVELOPMENT FLIP-CHART
Before playing your first game, you must separate the spiral-bound pages of the development flip-
charts. Each page of the flip-charts is perforated, so there are 3 parts to each page. Gently pull the
sections of each page apart. When finished, you should have 5 pages, each separated into 3
separate sections.
You use the development flip-charts to track the city
improvements that you purchase. Each page of the
flip-chart shows the building costs of each piece.
Each section is also labeled with the cost to purchase
the next level of improvement. When you buy a city
improvement, you flip the page section matching the
improvement you purchased.
Each section also bears an illustration of the
improvements that you’ve purchased, and a number
of red dice. These red dice tell you when you
acquire Progress Cards. The third improvement in
each category describes the special ability you’ve just earned for that development track.

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CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1)

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
CITY WALLS
City walls are low, square wooden blocks that you can place beneath your cities. To build a city wall, you pay 2 brick resources to the bank. Each city wall that you have on the board increases the maximum number of cards you can safely hold in your hand when a “7” is rolled on the production dice. Each city wall adds 2 cards to your “safe” hand limit.
You may only build a city wall under a city. You cannot place a city wall under a settlement. If one of your cities with a city wall is reduced to a settlement (by the barbarians), you must also remove that city wall from the board. Also, you may only build 1 city wall under a given city, and you can have a maximum of 3 city walls on the board at any given time.

SETTING UP THE ISLAND OF CATAN
Normally, you play Cities & Knights on a random, variable game board, just like the basic Settlers game.
However, we recommend that you use the prepared board set up shown in Illustration E for your first few games. It’s ideal for your first game of Cities & Knights. This layout provides a balanced production of resources and commodities (most especially grain) that may prove scarce during the game.

Catan: Seafarers Variant: You may use the Catan: Seafarers expansion along with the Catan: Cities & Knights expansion. The best scenarios to use are those that do not involve the exploration of unrevealed portions of the board (such as “The Fog Island”) or many small islands (such as “The Four Islands”), as these types of scenarios may make it too difficult to combat the barbarian army. Scenarios such as “Heading for New Shores” or “The Wonders of Catan” all work very well with the new rules included in Cities & Knights. If you choose to play Cities & Knights with Catan: Seafarers, here are some important rules:
• All rules in Cities & Knights that concern “roads” also apply to “ships.”
• When the barbarians attack, they are assumed to attack all of the islands, counting all cities and knights on all of them.
• Knights may be moved across sea hexes if there are ships and roads already connected.
• You may move a knight (but not place a new knight) on an intersection of sea hexes, if there is a line of ships to that intersection. The knight is considered to be on the ships.
• A knight must always be connected to a settlement or city of its color. If you have a knight at sea, or across the sea on another island, you may not move any ships if they would break this connection (the route is considered “closed”).
• A knight on a sea hex intersection may be used to chase away the pirate in the same manner as chasing away the robber.

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CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1)

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
HEXAGON TILES AND THE BARBARIAN TILE
After constructing the frame, place the hexagonal tiles (hexes) within the frames as shown in the Game Overview. If you are constructing a random board, place the land hexes in the center of the framed area as you would normally. Next, place the “Barbarian Tile” as noted. The Barbarian Ship will move along this track toward Catan. Again, if using a random board, shuffle the harbor tokens and place them normally.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
SETTING UP THE GAME
Sort the Resource Cards into 5 stacks, 1 for each resource. Place them face up near the island.
Sort the new Commodity Cards into 3 stacks, one for each commodity. Place them face up by the
Resource Cards.
Divide the Progress Cards into 3 stacks by the flag color on the back of each card (green, blue,
and yellow). Shuffle each stack separately, and place them face down near the island.
Place the 3 metropolises, the trader cone, the 3 dice
(1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 event die), and the “Longest
Road” card near the island.
Place the black wooden ship on the “Barbarian Ship”
space on the Barbarian Tile. The Barbarian Ship
moves along this track on its way to Catan.
Place the robber on the desert hex.
Each player selects a color and takes all the pieces of that color. Each player receives: 5
settlements, 4 cities, 15 roads (all from the basic Settlers game); 6 knights (2 each of basic, strong,
and mighty knights); 3 city walls; and 1 development flip-chart.

SET-UP PHASE
Once you’ve constructed the board and arranged the pieces, begin the Set-up Phase. Now the
players place their initial settlements, cities, and roads. Each player rolls the yellow and red dice;
the player rolling the highest begins.
Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise around the table, each player places 1
settlement and 1 road (as in basic Settlers).
Then, the second building round begins with the last player to place a settlement. It continues
counter-clockwise around the table (so the first player to place a settlement will be the last to
place). Each player now places 1 city and 1 road, following all of the normal rules for placement
described in the basic game of Settlers (i.e., no city may be placed less than 2 spaces away from all
settlements, etc.).
You receive your first resources immediately after you place your city. You get 1 resource for each
terrain that your city is adjacent to.
Place your development flip-chart in front of you with the first page showing (indicating that you
have not built any city improvements).

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
TURN OVERVIEW
The player who placed the last city takes the first turn. Each player, going clockwise around the
table, performs the following actions, in the order listed:
• You must roll all 3 dice.
• The results of the event (symbol) die are resolved.
• Progress Cards may be drawn (depending on the result of the event die).
• All players produce the commodities indicated by the red and yellow dice.
• You may do any or all of the following in any order:
o Trade resources and/or commodities with the bank and/or players.
o Build roads, settlements, cities, knights, city walls, and/or city improvements.
o Activate, promote, and/or perform actions with your knights.
o Play any number of Progress Cards.
Note: The “Alchemist” Progress Card can only be played before the dice are rolled. It is the
only Progress Card that can be used before the dice are rolled and the results resolved.

DICE ROLLS
Each player begins his turn by rolling all 3 of the dice. The result of the dice will
determine not only which terrain hexes produce resources and commodities, but
also what actions the barbarians will take, and if any Progress Cards are drawn. The
effects of the die roll must be resolved in a specific order:
• First, use the white event die to determine what event takes place that turn. If
the ship symbol is showing, then move the Barbarian ship 1 space closer to
the island of Catan. The ship follows the track on the Barbarian Tile. The
ship begins its journey on the space illustrated with the ship. The barbarians
attack when the ship reaches the last space. (See “Attack of the Barbarians.”)
• If the event die shows one of the three city gate symbols (blue, green, or yellow), then all
players may be eligible to draw a Progress Card. To be eligible, a player must be able to
match the number rolled on the red dice with one of the red die icons showing on his flip-
chart in the section that matches the color of the city gate rolled on the symbol die.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
Example: See Illustration H. The event die shows a yellow gate, and the red die shows the number “1.” All those players who have purchased at least the second level yellow city improvement (the trading house) are eligible to draw a yellow Progress Card.
Beginning with the player whose turn it is, and continuing clockwise, each eligible player draws the topmost card from the Progress Card stack that matches the color of the city gate showing on the event die. Keep your Progress Cards secret from your opponents until you play them.
You may never have more than 4 Progress Cards in your hand. (See “Progress Cards.”)
• Add the red and the yellow dice together to determine which hexes produce resources and commodities for all players. All hexes whose number matches this sum produces 1 of the appropriate resources for each settlement adjacent to it. Production for a city bordering a producing hex depends on the type of terrain that is rolled. See Illustration J.
6

As in basic Settlers, any hex that is occupied by the robber does not produce any resources or commodities. Also, if a “7” is rolled on the dice, no hexes produce: instead, the player who rolled the seven must move the robber and may be able to steal 1 card from any opponent who is adjacent to the robber.

6
Resource Production Variant: Players may choose to either collect one resource and one commodity or two of the same resources from their cities (as in the basic Settlers game).
Example: Mike has a city beside a mountains hex with a “6” number token on it. Karen rolls a “6.” Mike can now choose to either collect 1 ore card and 1 coin card, or 2 ore cards.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
The robber cannot be moved until after the barbarians reach the island of Catan for the first time.
Until the first invasion, when a “7” is rolled, each player must check if he
7
is holding too many
cards as normal; but the robber remains in the desert and you do not steal a card from another
player. The robber may also not be moved through the play of any Progress Cards (like the
Bishop) or knight actions until after the first invasion.
8, 9

TRADING & BUILDING
In Cities & Knights, you are allowed to build and trade any number of times and in any order.
You do not need to finish all of your trading before you begin your building. All of the rules from
Settlers apply to trades made in Cities & Knights (with the addition of Commodity Cards).
Progress Cards may never be traded at any time.
All of the basic rules for building remain in effect. The cost of roads, settlements, and cities
remains unchanged. There are, however, 2 new items that you may elect to build during your
turn. Also, you may no longer purchase Development Cards.
The 2 new items are city walls and knights.

7
These rules have retained the masculine form for the neuter pronouns, as originally written in the Mayfair Games
rules document. Its continuation within this document is not meant to offend anyone but was retained in order
to maintain the proper transcription from the original rules.
8
Aggressive Robber Variant: Experienced players may want to skip this rule to make the game more
challenging. Instead of waiting for the barbarians to invade, the robber can be moved immediately when the first
“7” is rolled. Progress Cards and knights can also be used to move the robber before the barbarian invasion.
This rule was officially adopted after the release of the 3rd
edition to help players establish themselves during the
initial turns of the game.
9
Easy Start Variant: Many players, especially those new to the game, find it difficult to get started if a lot of “7”s
are rolled and/or the barbarians strike too early. For these players, or those players who wish a friendlier game,
use these rules:
• If any player rolls a “7” on his first two turns, he should re-roll. Continue rolling until a result other than “7”
is obtained. Beginning with the first player’s third turn, all of the normal rules for rolling a “7” apply.
• Do not roll the special die during the first two turns of each player. The Barbarian Ship does not move, and
no player draws any Progress Cards during this time. Starting with the first player’s third turn, roll all three
dice and resolve them normally.
This variant is designed to give all players a chance to get “rolling” at the beginning of the game without being
handicapped by an early attack by the barbarians or by rolling a lot of “7”s.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
CITY WALLS
To build a city wall, you must pay two brick resources to the bank. The city wall (square wooden
token) is placed under any city you own on the board. There are three restrictions on the
placement of city walls:
1. You may only build city walls under cities, never settlements.
2. You may only build one city wall under each city.
3. You may never have more than 3 city walls at one time.
Each city wall you control increases the maximum number of cards you safely hold in your hand
when a “7” is rolled on the production dice. Each city wall adds 2 cards to this limit.
Example: If you have 2 cities, each with a city wall, you may safely hold up to 11 cards in
your hand without having to discard half of them when a “7” is rolled.
If the barbarians pillage your city (i.e., reduce it to a settlement), the city wall is also destroyed.
You must remove the city wall from the board.

KNIGHTS
Knights are represented by the round wooden tokens. Each
knight token is labeled on both sides. One side—showing the
symbol of a knight’s helmet in black and white—is the inactive
side. An inactive knight may not perform any actions. The
other side of the token, which depicts the helm in color, is the
active side. The type of helmet and the number of rings
indicate the strength of the knight.
Note: See Illustration K. The open-face helmet and single ring
denotes a “basic knight.” The full helmet surrounded by a pair
of rings indicates a “strong knight.” The full helm adorned with
the glowing sun and trio of rings represents a “might knight.”
When you wish to “hire” a knight, you must pay 1 wool and 1
ore to the bank. This allows you to take a basic knight (open
helm/one ring) and place it on the board. Always place your newly-built knight with its inactive
side up. You may place your knight on any unoccupied intersection connected to your roads.
There are 2 special purchases you can make once you have a knight.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
Activating a Knight
In order for a knight to take an action, he must first be activated. To activate a knight you must
pay one grain to the bank. Then you may turn the knight token over to the active side, which
depicts the helm in color. The strength of the knight does not affect the cost to activate it. It costs
only one grain regardless of whether it is a basic knight or a mighty knight. A knight may be
activated on the same turn that it was built. But, a knight may not perform an action later on the
turn it was activated.

Promoting a Knight
You can increase the strength and effectiveness of your knights by paying additional resources.
The cost to promote a basic knight to a strong knight or a strong knight to a mighty knight is one
wool and one ore. When you promote a knight, return the old knight token (which may be
repurchased later), and replace it with a token showing the next higher strength of knight. The
new, stronger knight must be placed in the same location as the knight you have promoted. The
status of the knight, active or inactive, is not changed when you promote a knight. You may
promote a knight on the same turn that it was originally built, or on any later turn. A knight may
only be promoted once per turn. You may only promote a strong knight to a mighty knight after
you have purchased the third level politics (blue) city improvement (the “Fortress”).

PLAYING PROGRESS CARDS
During your turn, after you have rolled the dice, you may play any number of Progress Cards in
any order. You may play them between other actions taken during your turn. When you play a
Progress Card, resolve all of its effects, then place it, face down, under the progress stack of the
matching color. For more information about Progress Cards, see “Progress Cards.”

COMMODITIES
In Cities & Knights, we’ve added 3 new “refined” materials to the game. As in Settlers, we refer to
the 5 basic materials (lumber, wool, grain, brick, and ore) as “resources.”
The 3 new materials (cloth, coin, and paper) are called “commodities.” In many ways, the
commodities are treated the same as resources, but there are also some ways in which they differ.
Here are all of the details about commodities:
• Commodities are produced only by cities, and only in forest, pasture, and mountains.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
• Commodities, when produced, are added to your hand of Resource Cards. They count toward the robber limit when a “7” is rolled. They may be stolen by the robber, or lost as a discard.
• The parchment icon symbols (i.e., cloth, paper, and coin) on Commodity Cards are surrounded by two-colored borders (brown and green, grey and blue, and yellow and light green respectively). Both Commodity Cards and Resource Cards have the same card backs (i.e., the 5-terrain map).
• Commodities may be traded in all the same ways as resources. You may trade them freely with other players. You may exchange 4 of the same commodity for 1 of any resource or commodity you choose. If you have a settlement or city on a 3:1 harbor, you may trade 3 of any commodity for 1 of any resource or commodity you choose. You may also trade 4 of any resource for 1 of any commodity (3:1 at a harbor; 2:1 if you have the matching specific harbor).
• You need commodities to acquire city improvements.
• Some Progress Cards specifically mention “resources” or “commodities.” These cards can only affect the type of raw material they specifically mention.

CITY IMPROVEMENTS
One of your most important considerations as a prince of Catan is the continued improvement of your cities. This improvement is made possible through the use of Commodity Cards. You are able to improve your cities in three areas of development: trade (yellow), politics (blue), and science (green). You may purchase improvements in all 3 areas even if you own only 1 city.
Your city improvements are tracked with your development flip-chart. Your flip-chart is divided into 3 separate parts, 1 for each of the 3 areas of development. Each section has 5 pages, which correspond to the 5

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levels of improvement that you can acquire in each area. At the beginning of the game, your flip-
chart begins opened to the first page, so you have no improvements.
The various improvements are represented by important buildings that can be constructed in your
cities such as a market, a cathedral, or a library. The cost of a building is shown in the lower right
corner of each flip-chart page.
Example: See Illustration M. The Market costs 1 cloth. Pay 1 cloth and flip the Market
section of your development flip-chart.
The first improvement in each area always costs 1 commodity of the matching type. The second
improvement in each area costs 2 of that commodity. The cost of each subsequent improvement
is again increased by 1.
There is one restriction on the purchase of improvements, however. If you have no cities on the
board (because the barbarians have pillaged your last city), you may not purchase any city
improvements until you have built at least 1 city. (See “Attack of the Barbarians.”)
Each improvement increases your chance of being eligible
to draw Progress Cards. Each improvement shows a picture
of the improvement. Above that picture is a row of red dice.
Each die shows a number. When the event die roll shows a
city gate, you may draw a Progress Card of like color—but
only if the number on the red die matches one of the dice
pictured on that color’s section on your development flip-
chart. A higher level of improvement increased your chance
to draw Progress Cards.
Example: See Illustration N. If you have built the
market improvement, it shows 2 red dice. If the event
die rolls the yellow city gate, and the red die shows a “1”
or “2,” then you may draw a yellow (i.e., trade) Progress Card.
In addition, when you build a third improvement in each area,
you receive a special ability. You are able to use this ability for the
remainder of the game, even if other players also achieve the third
level of improvement (in which case they also get the advantage)
or if you purchase improvements beyond the third level. The
advantage that you gain from each color of improvement is
different:

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
• Counting House (yellow): You may trade commodities (of the same type) 2:1 for any
commodity or resource. You may make this trade only during your turn, as if you were
using a harbor. This special trade advantage does not include resources, only the three
commodities.
• Fortress (blue): You may promote strong knights to mighty knights after you have built
the Fortress. You must still pay to promote the knights normally.
• Aqueduct (green): If, when the dice are rolled for production, you do not receive any
resources or commodities, you may take any one resource of your choice from the bank.
You may not, however, use this ability when a “7” is rolled.

THE METROPOLIS
In addition to their other advantages, you need to build city improvements if
you are going to have a metropolis. A metropolis is represented by a golden
city gate. These gates are designed to fit over the wooden city playing pieces.
Only 3 metropolises may be in play at any given time: one each for trade,
politics, and science. The first player who achieves the fourth level of
improvement in any one of these 3 areas (the bank, the cathedral, or the theater) may place one of
the metropolis gates on any one of his cities on the board. You may take the metropolis only if no
other player already controls the fourth level improvement of that color, for there can be only 1
metropolis for science, trade, or politics. When you acquire a metropolis, place the metropolis
token of the appropriate color on your flip-chart to show which area is associated with your
metropolis.
A city with a metropolis is worth a total of 4 victory points! This includes 2 points for the city, and
2 additional points for the metropolis.
You may take another player’s metropolis if you are able to acquire the fifth level of improvement
in the matching color before he does. If another player reaches the fifth level of improvement
before the metropolis owner does, he may take both the metropolis piece and the colored
metropolis token. If you have reached the fifth level of improvement in any area, no player may
take your metropolis away.
A metropolis is immune to the barbarians. It can never be pillaged or reduced. However, the
metropolis is counted when determining the strength of the barbarian army.
You may build more than one metropolis. If you are the first player to reach the fourth level of
improvement in more than one area (or if you reach the fifth level, thereby taking another player’s
metropolis away), you may place another metropolis gate on one of your cities. But, you may not

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purchase any improvements beyond the third level of a given color unless you have a city where
you could build a metropolis. If you do not have such a city on the board, you must wait until you
have built at least one more city.

PROGRESS CARDS
In Cities & Knights, Progress Cards replace Development
Cards from the basic Settlers game. You don’t purchase
Progress Cards like Development Cards; instead you draw
them with the right combination of the event die and the red
die.
Acquiring Progress Cards
To be able to draw a Progress Card:
• You must possess at least one level of city improvement in
one or more areas of development. The first level of improvement displays two red dice,
the second displays three, and so on.
• The white event die, when rolled on any player’s turn, must show the city gate symbol
whose color matches the color of one of your city improvements.
• The number on the red die, rolled at the same time, must match one of the red dice
displayed on your city improvement whose color matches the city gate on the event die.
If these three conditions are met, you may draw the top card from the progress stack that matches
the color of the city gate on the event die. If more than one player is allowed to draw on the same
turn, then each player draws in turn order, beginning with the player whose turn it is.
Example: Bob rolls a “6” on the yellow die, a “3” on the red dice, and the yellow city gate on
the event die. Mo has already built a City Hall (blue) and a Guildhouse (yellow). Since Mo’s
yellow improvement shows a red die with a “3” showing, Mo draws a yellow Progress Card.
Playing Progress Cards
During your turn, you may play as many Progress Cards as you wish. All Progress Cards may only
be played after you roll the dice (exception: the “Alchemist”). Here are some specific rules about
the play of Progress Cards:
• Victory Point Cards must be played immediately when drawn. The spy may not steal them,
and they cannot be hidden in your hand. These cards do not count against your hand limit
of 4 cards.

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• You may never hold more than four Progress Cards in your hand. If you draw a fifth Progress Card, and you cannot play it because it is not your turn, you must discard one card (of your choice) to the bottom of the appropriate stack.
• Progress Cards may be played on the same turn that they are drawn.
• Progress Cards may not be traded with other players, nor may the robber steal them.
• When you play a Progress Card, place it face down under the appropriate Progress Card stack. Victory points, however, remain face up and in play.
Progress Card Almanac
Here is a list and descriptions of all of the Progress Cards. You may find it useful to familiarize yourself with all of the cards before playing. You may then refer to this section as needed during play. After the name of each card is a number, the quantity of that type of card in the play deck.
Science Cards (Green):
Alchemist (2): This is the only Progress Card you can play before you roll the dice. It allows you to choose the results of both production dice. Then, roll the event die as normal, and resolve the event.
When you play this card, take the red and yellow dice and turn them so the result you want is face up. You can even make the dice roll “7.” However, the event has to be resolved first. Then players receive their production as normal.
You may not play this card after you roll the dice.
Crane (2): You can build a city improvement (Abbey, Town Hall, etc.) for 1 commodity less than normal.
The Crane can only be used to reduce the cost of building one city improvement (turning over a page of your flip-chart). If you build a city, you must pay the normal resource costs. You may use a Crane to reduce the cost of a first level improvement (to nothing). You may not combine 2 Crane cards on the same improvement.
Engineer (1): You may build one city wall for free.
Take a city wall and put it under one of your cities. A city wall increases the number of cards you can safely hold in your hand when a “7” is rolled by 2 cards. Each city can only have 1 city wall and you cannot have more than 3 city walls at a time.

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Inventor (2): Switch two number tokens of your choice, but not 2, 12, 6, or 8.
You can improve your production! You may choose any two number tokens
(except 2, 12, 6, or 8), and switch their places on the board. You do not have to
have a settlement or city next to the hexes with the numbers you are swapping.
If you chose a “9” and an “11” for example, take the “9” token and put it in the
hex where the “11” token is. Take the “11” token and put it in the hex where
the “9” token was. You can choose to exchange a token that is in the same hex
as the robber.

Irrigation (2): Collect 2 grain cards for each field hex adjacent to at least one
of your settlements or cities.
You receive 2 grain cards for each fields hex next to any of your settlements and
cities. Unlike normal production, cities do not increase this bonus.
Example: You have two cities next to a fields hex. You have a settlement next
to a different field. If you play the Irrigation card, you will receive 4 grain cards.

Medicine (2): You may upgrade a settlement to a city for 2 ore and 1 grain.
When you play this card, you save 1 ore and 1 grain. You may not combine two
of these cards on the same city.

Mining (2): Collect 2 ore cards for each mountains hex adjacent to at least
one of your settlements or cities.
You receive 2 ore cards for each mountains hex next to any of your settlements
and cities. Unlike normal production, cities do not increase this bonus.
Example: You have 2 settlements next to a mountains hex, and a city next to a
different mountains hex. If you play the Mining card, you will receive 4 ore cards.

Printer (1): This card awards you 1 victory point.
You must play this card face up in front of you immediately when you draw it,
even if it is not your turn. You may not keep Victory Point Cards in your hand.
It does not count against your hand limit of 4 Progress Cards, and it may not be
stolen by the Spy.

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Road Building (2): This card allows you to build 2 roads for free.
The roads you build do not have to be together. These roads cost you nothing
to build. You must follow all the normal building rules. If you are also playing
with the Catan: Seafarers expansion, you may build 2 roads, 1 road and 1 ship,
or 2 ships when you play this card.

Smith (2): You may promote 2 of your knights 1 level each for free.
You may not promote “mighty” knights. You may promote a knight whether if
is active or inactive. The condition of the knight (active or inactive) does not
change. You may only promote a “strong” knight (level 2) if you have built the
“Fortress” city improvement (politics–blue). You may only promote a knight
one level per turn.

Politics Cards (Blue):
Bishop (2): Move the robber, following the normal rules. Draw 1 random
Resource/Commodity Card from each player who has a settlement or city next to the
robber’s new hex.
When you use this card to move the robber, you can steal 1 random card from
each player who has a settlement or city next to the hex that you move to,
instead of stealing from only 1 player. If a player has more than 1 settlement or
city here, you can still only steal one card from that player.

Constitution (1): This card awards you 1 victory point.
You must play this card face up in front of you immediately when you draw it,
even if it is not your turn. You may not keep Victory Point Cards in your hand.
It does not count against your hand limit of 4 Progress Cards, and it may not be
stolen by the Spy.

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Deserter (2): Choose another player. That player must remove one of his
knights from the board. You may then place one of your own knights, of equal
strength, on the board for free (the normal rules for placing knights apply).
When you play this card, your opponent chooses which of his knights to remove
from the board. If he chooses a knight that you do not have available (for
example, if he removes a “strong” knight and both of your “strong” knights are
already on the board), then you may instead place a “basic” knight. If you cannot
place any of your knights, your opponent must still remove one of his knights.
You just lose the opportunity to play a free knight. If your opponent removes a
“mighty” knight, you may place one of your “mighty” knights even if you have
not yet built the “Fortress” city improvement (politics–blue). The knight you
place has the same status (active or inactive) as the knight your opponent
removed.

Diplomat (2): You may remove an “open” road (without another road or
other piece at one end). If you remove your own road, then you may
immediately place it somewhere else on the island (following all the normal
building rules) for free.
An “open” road means a road that is at the beginning or end of a chain of roads
which does not have any knight, city, or settlement of the same color at one end.
If you remove an opponent’s road, it returns to his supply. If you remove your
own road, then you may place it immediately on the board, free of charge
(following the normal building rules–connected to your own road or
settlement/city). You may remove your own road and choose not to replace it.

Intrigue (2): You may displace an opponent’s knight. The knight must be on
an intersection connected to at least one of your roads.
With this card you can displace an opponent’s knight without using a knight of
your own. You can play this card even if you have no knights of your own. The
displaced knight must be moved to an empty space. If he cannot, then remove
him from the board (return it to its owner). After the knight is displaced, you can
build there or move one of your own knights, following the normal rules.

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Saboteur (2): When you play this card, each player who has as many or more
victory points than you must discard half (round down) of his cards to the bank
(resource and/or commodity cards).
Your agents spread chaos in your opponents’ cities! Each of the other players
who has at least as many victory points as you have, must discard half of his
resource/commodity cards. Each player chooses which of his cards are discarded.

Spy (3): Look at another player’s hand of Progress Cards. You may choose 1
card to take and add to your hand.
You may even steal another Spy and play it immediately, or save it for later.
Victory Point Cards cannot be stolen.
Warlord (2): You may activate all of your knights for free.
When you play this card, you can activate your knights without paying any grain.
Remember that a knight may not perform any actions during the turn after he is
activated, but he can be activated after performing an action that turn.

Wedding (2): Each of your opponents who has more victory points than you
must give you 2 Resource/Commodity Cards of his choice.
If one of these players only has 1 card in hand, he must give you that card. If he
has no cards, then he owes you nothing. Players with an equal number of points
as you, or fewer, are not affected by this card.

Trade Cards (Yellow):
Commercial Harbor (2): You may force each of the other players to make a
special trade. You may offer each opponent any 1 Resource Card from your hand.
He must exchange it for any 1 Commodity Card from his hand of his choice, if he
has any.

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You may use this ability at any point during the turn you play the card. But, you may only force each player to make this trade with you once that turn. Your opponent chooses which Commodity Card to give you if he has more than one.
If you offer a resource to a player who has no Commodity Cards, then you take your card back and the trade is void. You do not have to give this player the Resource Card.

Master Merchant (2): Choose another player who has more victory points than you do. Look at the player’s hand of Resource and Commodity Cards and choose 2 cards to take and add to your hand.
You can only play this card on an opponent who has more victory points than you. There is no defense against this “trade,” even if he only has 1 more point than you.

Merchant (6): Place the Merchant on any land hex to 1 of your settlements or cities. You may exchange the resources produced by this type of hex with the supply at a 2:1 rate, as long as the merchant remains in that hex.
When you play this card, take the Merchant and put him in any land hex next to one or more of your settlements or cities. As long as the Merchant remains here (under your control), you may trade the type of resource produced in this hex with the supply at the 2:1 rate (just like a special harbor). As usual, you may also exchange these resources for commodities. If another player plays a Merchant card, then they take control of the Merchant, receive the trade advantage, and the victory point. If you want to move the Merchant to a different hex, you will have to play another Merchant card. The robber does not affect the Merchant.
You also receive 1 victory point for as long as you control the Merchant.

Merchant Fleet (2): You may use one resource or commodity of your choice to make any number of 2:1 trades with the supply during the turn that you play this card.
For the rest of the turn, you may trade one resource or commodity of your choice at a 2:1 rate. You can make as many such trades as you wish. As usual, you may exchange commodities for resources and vice versa.

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Resource Monopoly (4): Name a resource. Each player must give you 2 of that type of resource if they have them.
You may name any of the 5 resources (ore, grain, wool, lumber, or brick). Each player must give you 2 of the named resource if he has them. If a player only has 1 of that resource, he only gives you 1.

Trade Monopoly (2): Name a commodity. Each player must give you 1 of that type of commodity if they have them.
You may name any of the 3 commodities (coin, paper, or cloth). Each player must give you 1 of the named commodity if he has them.

KNIGHTS
Knights are essential for achieving victory in Cities & Knights. Without them, the barbarians will surely pillage your cities and ruin your hopes for victory.
Knights are placed at the intersection of three hexes, in much the same way as settlements.
However, knights do not have to observe the two-space rule. Knights can be placed to block construction of other players, and they can also be used to break another player’s “longest road.”
Example: See Illustration R. A knight placed at the intersection of two players’ roads will keep the other player from building past the knight. The red player has four available intersections for knight placement (marked with arrows). If the red player placed a knight at intersection “A,” the blue player will not be able to build past that knight. Only the red player can build a road there. If the red player places his knight at “B,” it will break blue’s road, shortening his road for purposes of determining the longest road.
There are 3 strengths of knights: basic knights, strong knights, and mighty knights. A basic knight has a strength of 1, a strong knight has a strength of 2, and mighty knight has a strength of 3.
Knights serve you in 2 ways. First, they help protect Catan from the barbarian army. (See “Attack of the Barbarians.”) Second, active knights can perform one action during your turn. Each knight may perform any 1 of the actions each turn. A knight may not be activated and then perform an action on the same turn. A knight can, however, perform an action and then be activated again

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later in the same turn (though he could not then perform a second action). When a knight
performs an action, the knight token is turned over to the inactive side. To activate that knight
again, you must pay one grain.
Here are all the actions that you may perform with an active knight:

Moving a Knight
An active knight may be moved to another intersection. In order for the knight to move, you must
have built roads linking the intersection the knight is moving from to the intersection the knight is
moving to.
An intersection may only have one knight at a time. However, a moving knight may pass through
any number of intersections that are occupied by pieces of the same color (assuming that they are
all connected by roads, as above).
After the knight moves, it becomes inactive.
If you wish to build a settlement on an intersection occupied by a
knight, then you must first move the knight. If there is no empty
intersection for you to move your knight to, then he may not move
and you may not build at that intersection.
Example: See Illustration S. The red player may elect to move
his active knight at intersection “A” to either intersection marked
with an arrow. The knight may not be moved to “B” or “C,” as
red does not have roads connecting these intersections to “A.”

Displacing a Knight
On your turn, you may move one of your active knights to an intersection that is occupied by one
of your opponent’s knights. This is called “displacing” a knight. You may only displace a knight if
it is weaker than the knight that you are moving. Thus, a strong knight can only displace a basic
knight, and a mighty knight may displace a basic or a strong knight. A basic knight may never
displace another knight.
The owner of the displaced knight must move his knight to any empty intersection that is
connected, by roads of his color, to the place from which he was displaced. The status of the
displaced knight (active or inactive) does not change.
If there is no empty intersection for the displaced knight to move to, he is removed from the
board.

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You may not displace your own knights.
After you displace an opponent’s knight, move your (displacing) knight to the displaced knight’s former intersection. Your knight is then turned over to his inactive side.
Example: See Illustration T. The red player is at it again! He moves his strong knight to the intersection indicated by the arrow. He may do this because his knight is stronger than the blue (basic) knight (note the number of rings), and he has a road that connects the two intersections. The blue player must now move his displaced knight to “A” or “B,” which are both connected to his original site by roads. He moves to “B.”
Note that “C” is not a connected site, so he cannot move to that spot.

Chasing Away the Robber
You may use one of your active knights to chase away the robber. Any knight may do so, regardless of his strength. A knight may only chase away the robber if the robber is in one of the three hexes adjacent to that knight.
When you displace the robber, move him to any numbered hex and steal one resource from any player who has a settlement or city adjacent to that hex (as if you had played a “Knight” Card from the basic Settlers development deck).
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After you chase away the robber, your knight is turned over to his inactive side.
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Example: See Illustration U. The red player’s knight can only displace the robber from the gray hexes. In order for the red player to chase away the robber, he must first move his knight to intersection “A” or “B” (which makes him inactive). Then he must pay one grain to activate his knight. On a future turn, he could then use his knight to chase away the robber.

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Note that you must move the robber to a numbered hex; you may not return the robber to the desert.
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Knight-Errant Variant: This rule allows you to use one of your active knights to chase away the robber before rolling the dice on your turn. Your knight deactivates. This has the same affect as playing a “Knight” card before rolling the dice in the basic Settlers game.

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ATTACK OF THE BARBARIANS!
Catan is in constant danger of attack from the barbarians that live across
the sea. Each turn that the event die shows a black ship, the barbarian
navy moves one space closer toward Catan. When the ship reaches the
space with the burning city, the barbarians attack Catan!
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When the barbarians attack, follow these steps:
1. Determine the Barbarian Strength
The strength of the barbarians is equal to the number of cities (including metropolises) that are
owned by all players. Add up all of the cities owned by all of the players anywhere on the island to
determine this strength.
2. Determine the Strength of Catan’s Knights
All active knights of all players (even those who do not own any cities) will defend against the
barbarians. Count only the active knights! Inactive knights do not assist in defending the island in
any way. Remember that the strength of each knight is based upon its type: basic (1), strong (2), or
mighty (3). Sum up the value of all the active knights to determine the strength of the defending
army.
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3. Compare Attackers’ and Defenders’ Strengths
There are 2 possible outcomes of this battle:
• If the barbarians are stronger, they are victorious! When the barbarians win a battle, they
will pillage one or more cities. Pillaged cities are reduced to mere settlements (replace the city

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Knight Activation Phase Variant: Some players play with a special “Knight Activation Phase.” When the
Barbarians attack, every player, beginning with the player whose turn it is and continuing clock-wise, may
activate any number of their knights. This allows players to react to the barbarian attack. Players may only
activate knights during this phase and knights still cost 1 grain to activate. Once the last player has activated his
knights (or chosen not to), the barbarians attack as usual.
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Nasty Knights Variant: This rule adds a new level of strategy and politics to the battle between the barbarians
and the knights. Be warned: using this rule can make the game very nasty (and quite a bit longer as well).
When the barbarians land, all of the knights are no longer assumed to aid the defense. Each player, in turn,
beginning with the player whose turn it is will declare how many of his active knights will be defending Catan.
Each player may choose to commit some, none, or all of his active knights to the defense. This may cause Catan
to lose the battle (due to a shortage of knight strength), which would result in some players losing a city. Only
knights that are committed to the defense are counted in the strength of the knight army, and only committed
knights are counted to determine who has contributed the weakest force (and will have a city pillaged). Only the
knights that were involved in the battle are turned to their inactive sides. The other knights remain in active
status.

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playing piece with a settlement). The barbarians will pillage 1 city belonging to the player who
had the lowest total strength of active knights when the barbarians attack. Any player who
contributes no knights will automatically be considered to have the lowest total strength of
active knights. If more than one player ties for having the lowest total strength of active knights,
each of those players loses 1 of his cities.
Important: When determining which player has contributed the weakest group of knights,
do not count any player who has no cities, or any player who has only metropolises. These
players are immune to the effects of the barbarian attack.
If the barbarians pillage a city that has a city wall, the city wall is destroyed and removed from
the board.
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Example: Bill and Elaine each have two cities, Jeff has only a metropolis, and Laura has
only settlements. The barbarians attack, and their strength is 5 (i.e., 4 cities plus 1
metropolis). Bill, Elaine, and Laura each have one basic knight activated, and Jeff has no
active knights. Therefore, the knights defend with a strength of 3. Since the knights are
weaker, the barbarians win and Catan loses. Because of the loss, Bill and Elaine each lose
one of their cities. Jeff cannot lose anything because he only has a metropolis. Similarly,
Laura has no cities to lose. Even though Jeff contributed fewer knights than all the other
players, since he is immune to the attack, it is the next smallest
contributor who thus suffers the effects of the barbarians.
• If the knights have a strength equal to or greater than the
barbarians, the knights win and Catan is saved! The player with the
highest total strength of active knights (this will not always be the greatest
number of knights) will be declared the “Defender of Catan!” As a
reward, he is presented with one of the 6 “Defender of Catan” Victory
Point (VP) Cards. Each VP Card is worth 1 VP and is placed face up in
front of the player. If 2 or more players tie for the highest total strength of
knights, no player is declared the “Defender of Catan,” and no one
receives a VP Card. Instead, each of the players who tie for the highest
total strength draws the top card from any 1 of the 3 Progress Card stacks
(his choice). Starting with the player whose turn it is and, clockwise, each
eligible player selects 1 card.

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City Wall Defense Variant: When the barbarians invade, if you are forced to reduce a city to a settlement,
instead you can remove a city wall from under one of your cities. The city remains in play but the city wall is
returned to your supply.

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4. Barbarians Return Home
Regardless of the outcome of the attack, the Barbarian Ship is returned to its starting position.
Each of the knights on the board is turned to its inactive (black & white) side. Starting with the
next player’s turn, the barbarians will begin a new journey to the rich island of Catan.
5. Losing Your Last City
If you are unfortunate enough to have your last city pillaged by the barbarians, you are allowed to
keep any city improvements that you may have built before the attack. You also keep all of your
Progress Cards. You may continue to draw and play Progress Cards normally. Note, however, you
may not build any additional city improvements until you have built at least one city. Once you
own a city again, you may continue to purchase city improvements normally.

THE MERCHANT
The Merchant figure (the cone) is put into play whenever any player uses one
of the “Merchant” Progress Cards (from the yellow stack). If you play one of
these cards, you may place the Merchant on any land hex adjacent to one of
your cities or settlements. Until another “Merchant” card is played, you may
trade the resource (not commodity) that is produced in that land hex at a 2:1
rate. All of the normal rules for trading at a 2:1 harbor are in effect for these
trades.
Note: In addition, as long as you retain control of the Merchant, you receive
1 victory point!
If another “Merchant” card is played, whoever played that card (it could be
you) takes control of the Merchant. He may move the Merchant to any hex
adjacent to one of his settlements or cities. He receives the trade benefit, and
he gets the bonus victory point.

ENDING THE GAME
The first player to accumulate 13 or more victory points during his turn
immediately wins the game. This player becomes the “Lord of All Catan” and
receives the endless praise and love of all the people of Catan!

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ADDITIONAL RULES FOR 5-6 PLAYERS
Originally released in 2000
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Welcome to Catan: Cities and Knights 5-6 Player Extension! Now you'll have to face even more
competition from your fellow princes as you struggle to dominate the island of Catan! Meanwhile, an
even larger and more powerful horde of barbarians awaits the first sign of weakness from the island's
feuding princes. Will you rally the defenders of Catan, seize the initiative in expanding and improving
your land, and construct one of the three great metropolises of Catan? Or will you instead be brushed
aside by your covetous neighbors while someone else seizes the glory of victory?

ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
To use this extension, you need
• The Settlers of Catan basic set (Settlers)
• The Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Extension (Settlers 5-6)
• Catan: Cities and Knights (Cities & Knights)
• This Extension (C&K 5-6)
This Extension contains:
• 18 Commodity Cards (6 coin cards, 6 paper cards, and 6 cloth cards)
• 2 “Defender of Catan” Victory Point Cards
• 2 development flip-charts
• 6 city walls (3 of each color, square wooden tokens)
• 12 knights (6 of each color, round wooden tokens)
• 1 sheet of knight labels
• Extension Rules booklet
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EXTENSION REQUIREMENTS
Except where noted below, the Cities and Knights 5-6 Player Extensions (“C&K 5-6”) uses all of the
rules found in Cities & Knights.
These additional rules include:
• rules for constructing the larger board;
• rules for the Special Building Phase; and
• rules about activating knights.

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These rules follow those of the 4th edition Mayfair Games release from 2007.
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Previous editions included three extra frame pieces. These are now included in Settlers 5-6.

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ASSEMBLING THE BOARD
First, set up the frame, using all of the pieces from the Settlers basic set and Settlers 5-6—exactly as
outlined in Settlers 5-6. This will enlarge the Settlers frame so that it will hold a larger island.
Second, place the “Barbarian Tile” with the movement squares for the Barbarian Ship next to the
frame. Then, construct the island following all the rules in Settlers 5-6.
Third, distribute a set of pieces to each player, as described in Cities & Knights. Place the Robber
in either desert, and place the barbarian raiding ship in the “Barbarian Ship” space on the
barbarian tiles.

THE SPECIAL BUILDING PHASE
Each player’s turn in C&K 5-6 has an additional phase called the “Special Building Phase.” This
phase is explained in full detail in the Settlers 5-6 rules. Briefly, the turn order now changes to the
following sequence:
• You must roll all 3 dice.
• Resolve the event die results.
• Progress cards may be drawn if allowed by the white event die.
• All players produce the resources indicated by the red die and the yellow die.
• You may do any or all of the following in any order:
o Trade resources and/or commodities with other players or the bank.
o Build roads, settlements, cities, knights, city walls, and/or city improvements.
o Activate, promote, and/or perform actions with your knights.
o Play any number of progress cards.
• Once you have finished your turn, pass the dice to the next player.
• The other players (in clockwise order from you) may build in the Special Building Phase.
During the Special Building Phase, each other player who did not just finish taking his turn may
build anything for which he has resources available in his hand. Other players may not, however:
• perform any actions with the knights;
• play any progress cards; or
• make any trades with other players and/or with the bank.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
Other players may:
• build roads, settlements, cities, knights, city walls, and/or city improvements; and
• activate and/or promote knights.
Note: The rules for Settlers 5-6 indicate that a player may purchase Development Cards
during the Special Building Phase. Since Development Cards are not used when playing Cities
& Knights, this option is no longer available.

ACTIVATION OF KNIGHTS
Normally, a knight may not perform any actions on the turn that it has been activated. However, a
knight can be activated during the Special Building Phase. Since the Special Building Phase is the
last part of a turn, the knight could then perform an action during its controlling player’s next turn.
Example: Anna’s turn ends and there is a Special Building Phase. During this phase, each
player, going clockwise from Anna around the table, may build with the resources and
commodities in his hand. Still during this phase, Leif spends a Grain resource to activate 1 of
his knights. After the Special Building Phase, it becomes Leif’s turn. After he rolls the dice and
resolves the events and production for his turn, Leif may take an action with the knight that he
activated during Anna’s turn.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
CITIES & KNIGHTS FOR TWO
Released as a variant online at Catan.com in 2009.
17

ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
To use this extension, you need The Settlers of Catan, Catan: Cities & Knights, and the following:
• 20 Trade Tokens (Catan chits)
18

ADDITIONAL RULES
In principle, the normal 3-4 player rules for Cities & Knights and “Catan for Two” apply.
19

The changes are described below:
20

1. PLACING KNIGHTS
Whenever you place a Knight from your supply onto the board, also place a Knight of the same
level for one of the neutral players (your choice). If you place several Knights at once, you must
place the same number of Knights for either of the two neutral players (your choice). If a Knight
cannot be placed (neither neutral player has a Knight of the same level or there are no available
intersections for placement), you must place a road for one of the neutral players instead (or
several roads if you place several Knights).
The Knights belonging to the two neutral players cannot be activated and do not count for defense
against the barbarian army. As with the neutral players’ settlements in the Settlers basic game, the
function of the Knights is to block your opponent’s building sites.
If a player builds a city or city wall or activates one of his Knights, the neutral player does not take
an equivalent action.

17
These rules have never been published with any game. They are only available online.
18
These are identical to the victory point chits found in Catan: Seafarers, if you do not have Catan: Traders &
Barbarians. If you own neither, 20 coins can be used as an adequate replacement.
19
See The Settlers of Catan Completely Annotated Rules & Almanac for “Catan for Two” rules. A copy of Traders &
Barbarians is not required to play “Catan for Two.”
20
These rules have been heavily edited from the original due to multiple translation problems and some
inconsistencies.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
2. PROMOTING KNIGHTS
If you promote one of your Knights, you must equally promote one of the Knights of a neutral player. However, the highest level that a neutral Knight can be promoted to is a “Strong Knight.” It is not possible to promote neutral Knights to “Mighty Knights.”
If there are no neutral Knights that can be promoted (i.e., if all the neutral Knights have already been promoted to “Strong Knight”), no neutral Knight is promoted and no action is taken.
If you promote several Knights at once, you may choose which neutral Knights of either color to promote (similar to placing neutral Knights above). It may even be necessary to alternate in this fashion.

3. KNIGHT ACTIONS
Individual rules for Knights remain unchanged. Players may move their Knights, drive away opponent’s Knights, and drive away the robber as per the normal rules above.
In addition, neutral Knights may be driven away by players’ Knights, following the normal rules. If a neutral Knight that has been driven away cannot be replaced on a road of its color, the Knight is removed from the game.

4. REPLENISHING TRADE TOKENS
Players may collect Trade Tokens for the following actions:
a) Players earn 2 Trade Tokens for building a settlement adjacent to the desert.
b) Players get 1 Trade Token for building a settlement on a coast.
c) If a player removes a Knight from the board, that player receives:
– 1 Trade Token for a Basic Knight
– 2 Trade Tokens for a Strong Knight
– 3 Trade Tokens for a Mighty Knight
It does not matter if a Knight is activated when removed from the board. A player may remove active and inactive Knights in exchange for Trade Tokens.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
Note: You only receive Trade Tokens if you intentionally remove a Knight from the board.
If one of your own Knights falls victim to an “Intrigue” or “Deserter” card (see below), or any
other action performed by an opponent’s Knight that requires you to remove your Knight, you
do not receive any Trade Tokens.
In the case that the supply of Trade Tokens is depleted and no more Trade Tokens can be given
out, replenishment is only possible via Trade Tokens that are played and returned to the supply.

5. ACTIONS WITH TRADE TOKENS
As per the usual rules for “Catan for Two,” players may force a trade with the other player or send
the robber back to the desert using Trade Tokens.
In order to perform a forced trade involving only Resource Cards, your opponent must first
separate out his Commodity Cards and momentarily put them aside, face down. You then draw 2
cards from his hand. The 2 cards you give back to your opponent must also be Resource Cards.
For a forced trade which includes all the cards in your opponent’s hand (both Resource and
Commodity Cards), you must pay to the supply twice as many Trade Tokens as a normal forced
trade. In this instance, you may also include Commodity Cards in your return trade.
Before a player performs a forced trade, he must first announce whether he will include
Commodity Cards in the trade. Each player may only perform one action per turn involving
Trade Tokens.

6. ROLLING THE DICE
As per the usual rules for “Catan for Two,” a player rolls all three Cities & Knights dice twice each
turn. If the second dice roll is the same result as the first roll, the dice are re-rolled, but the Event
Die is never re-rolled. Thus, though you may need to roll the number dice multiple times, the
Event Die is limited to two rolls. The Event Die is resolved after each of its two rolls.

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CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
7. PROGRESS CARD ALTERATIONS
The following Progress Cards have require slight alterations to function in a 2-player game:
Deserter — A “Deserter” card can also be played against a Knight of the two neutral players. If
you play the “Deserter” card against a neutral player, you must select from which player a
Knight shall desert. However, you must take the weakest Knight of that neutral player (if all
the Knights have the same strength, you may choose which Knight to remove). After you
have played the “Deserter” and removed a Knight (either your opponent’s or a neutral
player’s), you may place one of your own Knights. When using this card, do not also place
a neutral Knight.
Diplomat — Do not build a road for a neutral player if you relocate one of your own roads.
Intrigue — You may also drive away a neutral Knight according to the normal rules of play.
Alchemist — You may only play the “Alchemist” card before the first of the two dice rolls.
Smith — If you use the “Smith” card to promote your own Knights, you must also promote the
same number of neutral Knights, provided such an action is possible. See “Promoting
Knights” above.
Road Building — Also build 2 roads for the neutral players. You may choose which neutral
player receives the additional roads, or if both players each get 1 road.

8. GAME END
The game ends when a player has 13 or more Victory Points on their turn, as per above.

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CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1) 36

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Klaus Teuber, for creating such an awesome series of games.
• Kosmos, for working with Klaus all these years.
• Mayfair Games, for adapting this game to English and keeping on top of German rule changes.
• Matthew Harper, for creating the first CAR for Carcassonne.
• David Montgomery (mathguy89), for providing me with the scans for Cities & Knights and the 5-6 player extensions.
• Scott, also for editing, cover page idea, and images.

VERSION HISTORY
1.1 (4 May 2009): Added remaining section of Cities & Knights for Two. Uploaded to BGG.
1.0 (4 May 2009): Final edits added.
0.9a (1 May 2009): Minor edits to footnotes.
0.9 (1 May 2009): Final images added and formatted. Released for review.
0.8 (30 April 2009): Added more images from original rules.
0.5 (17 February 2009): Remaining pages added and 5-6 player extension added. Header graphic finalized. Footnotes added.
0.3 (13 February 2009): More pages added.
0.2 (11 February 2009): Eight more pages added from original rules.
0.1 (09 February 2009): Rules document started. First three pages transcribed.

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CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS — COMPLETELY ANNOTATED RULES & ALMANAC (VERSION 1.1) 37

CATAN © FRANCKH-KOSMOS VERLAGS-GMBH. TRANSCRIPTION AND NOTES BY DEREK WHALEY.
CATAN: CITIES & KNIGHTS – GAME OVERVIEW

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