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MARCO POLO 2: IN THE SERVICE OF THE KAHN
SOLO MODE

INTRODUCTION
This manual contains a set of rules allowing you to play a solo
game of MARCO POLO II: IN THE SERVICE OF THE KAHN. You
will set-up a game for two players and try to beat the
Automa.
COMPONENTS
• Marco Polo II (base game)
• 1 Smart Mat (playmat)
• 8 automa cards
• 12 trip slide
• Skill Cards
• Trading Post Cards
Components not included in the base game can be
downloaded from www.mautoma.com
Before starting to play: cut out the two windows of the
Smart Mat indicated here below.

SETTING-UP THE MAIN BOARD
The set-up of the board is performed according to the
standard rules (for convenience they are summarized below):
• Place the city bonus markers;
• Place the outpost bonus tiles;
• Place the city cards;
• Place contracts on dedicated cities;
• Shuffle the offer tiles separately, then randomly remove
one of each type. Make 3 piles face up and place the first
offer tile of each type on the corresponding market;
• Make 4 stacks with the guild seals;
• Place 4 black dice;
• Place one neutral die of value 5 on one of the two spaces of
the gold market;
• Place a neutral die on each of the three special cities;
• Place two neutral dice of value 1 on the first two spaces of
the Kahn's favor;
• For each player, place a figure in Beijing and a figure on
space 50 of the score track;
• Randomly select a player to be the first player.

SETTING-UP THE AUTOMA
The Automa receives:
• 5 dice;
• 11 trading posts;
• 1 Smart Mat;
• 1 trip slide randomly chosen. The trip slide must be
placed under the playmat so that the text BEIJING and
READY TO START are visible;
• Place 1 coin of value 10 on the spaces A-B-C-D of the
playmat;
• Place 1 starting contract face up on space E of the
playmat;
• Shuffle the 8 automa cards and place them in the
dedicated space on the playmat;
• Choose, as you prefer, a character for the Automa and
select the difficulty level. Then take the corresponding
Skill card and place it on the playmat. The L1 / L2 / L3
symbol at the top left of the Skill card indicates the
difficulty level.

• Check the top right symbol on the chosen Skill card, take
the corresponding Trading Post card and place it on the
playmat. Then place the 11 Trading Posts in the
appropriate slots.

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Play area of the Automa.

SETTING-UP THE PLAYER AREA
The player's set-up is performed according to the standard
rules which for convenience are summarized below:
• 1 player board, 5 dice, 11 trading posts;
• 1 starting contract;
• 3 camels and 8 coins;
• 3 goal cards (you will keep one);
• Draw three character tiles and choose one (you cannot
choose the same character assigned to the Automa);
• You are ready to start!

AUTOMA OVERVIEW
The following sections describe the general rules for the
Automa. For anything that is not specifically mentioned in
this manual, the rules of the base game apply.
• The Automa does not manage money or resources.
• The Automa does not receive the goal cards.
• Whenever the Automa travels, it does not pay any toll
costs, but it must own the right seal to cross the rivers.
• The Automa does not spend any resources to complete
contracts or guild seals.
• The only bonuses that the Automa can receive from
contracts and outpost bonus tiles are:
o black dice
o map advancements
o new contracts
o victory points

• The "+1" bonus depicted on certain contracts never apply.
• Whenever the Automa obtains a new contract, it places it in
space E of the playmat, under all other contracts already
present. There is no limit to the number of active contracts
in that space.
• The Automa never receives income from city bonus
markers or from guild seals.
• The Automa never rolls its own dice (unless otherwise
specified).
• When the Automa places its dice on action spaces, it must
respect the normal restrictions on the color of the dice. It
pays no cost when placing its dice on top of other dice.

THE AUTOMA’S TURN
At the beginning of each of the 5 game rounds, all automa
cards must be reshuffled.
On Automa's turn draw a card and perform the following
steps:
1) Bonus Action (if present): Perform the action if
possible, then go to the Main Actions.
2) Main Actions: Perform the FIRST valid main action. An
action is valid if the Automa owns the appropriate
number of dice (their value does not matter). The
Automa always tries to consume the dice of its own
color first. It only uses black dice if they are required
to complete the action.

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The last action of each card is a BOOKS action. It is always
valid.
In the rare case that the automa deck runs out before the
Automa has used all of its dice, the Automa prematurely ends
its round without using the remaining dice. BONUS ACTION
MAIN ACTIONS

ACTION DESCRIPTIONS

TAKE 1 BLACK DIE (Bonus action)
The Automa takes 1 black die from the board, if available.

COMPLETE 1 GUILD SEAL or 1 CONTRACT (Bonus action)
Check the playmat for unresolved seals or contracts.
If there is at least 1 seal or 1 contract to be completed, the
Automa completes that according to priority A / B / C / D / E.
When the Automa completes a seal, it turns it face down (it
receives no bonus).
When the Automa completes a contract, it takes the top
contract from space E, and receives all applicable bonuses
(VPs, black die, advancements, new contracts). Place it face
down in the "contracts done" area.

MAIN ACTIONS

TRAVEL
The Automa performs this action only if it has enough dice to
reach the next city shown on the playmat.
The playmat has a display indicating the city where the
Automa is in (or the most recently visited city) and the next
two cities the Automa wants to go to.
In the example, the Automa
is in Kabul and it wants to
reach Baghdad first and then
Hormuz.
Based on the current
position of the Automa on the map, check how many
advancements are required to reach the next city.
If 1 move is required, the Automa will use the 1-die action
space.
If 2 or 3 moves are required, the Automa will use the 2-dice
action space.
The Automa places the required dice on the action space,
then it moves its figure to the target city. It places a trading
post, discards the outpost bonus tile, if any, and it receives
the bonus (if applicable). If the newly reached city has any
contracts, it takes the contract providing the most VPs (in
case of a tie, select according to this priority: contracts that
provide advancements, black die, new contract).
Finally, shift the trip slide one step up, so that the display
now shows the city where the Automa is now located.
IMPORTANT: if, after shifting the slide, a red letter appears in
the first column of the display, remove the corresponding
coin from the playmat.
Example. Once the figure has reached Baghdad, we shift the
trip slide and the letter B appears. Then we immediately

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remove the coin from space B of the playmat, thus unlocking
a new action for the Automa.

SPECIAL CASES:
• After game set-up, the display only shows BEIJING. When
the Automa takes the travel action for the first time,
immediately shift the trip slide until you see the first 3
cities. After that you can perform the action normally as
described above.
• If there are several routes to reach a given city, the Automa
always chooses the shortest route. However, like a normal
player, it needs the right seals to cross the rivers, so
sometimes it will be forced to take the longer way.
• Situations may arise in which the Automa must spend more
dice than the minimum necessary to be able to move. In all
these situations, if the Automa has enough dice, it still
performs the action by spending the necessary dice.
Example. The Automa must move from Yangzou to Fuzhou;
one advancement is required, therefore 1 single die is
needed. Let's suppose that a die of the Automa's color was
already present on the 1-die action space and the Automa
has no black dice to spend, it would be forced to use the 2-
die action space to move only one step.

In the case the Automa is forced to use the 3-dice action
space, then the Automa, in the same travel action, will also
reach the city following the first reached one, placing a
trading post on both.
Example. The Automa must move from Fuzhou to Xian;
these are 2 advancements, which therefore require 2 dice. If
the 2-dice action space already had dice of the Automa's
color and the Automa did not have 2 black dice to spend, he
would be forced to use the 3-dice action space. In this case,
however, he would reach not only Xian, but also the next
city, placing a trading post on both and claiming the
outpost bonus tiles, if any.
• When the Automa gains single advancements (e.g. by
completing a contract), it moves a single step on the map. If
after doing so it arrives in a new city, all the procedures
described above must be performed (updating the display,
placing the trading post, etc. ..)
• When the Automa completes a contract that provides up to
2 advancements, check how many moves it needs to reach
the next city on the display. If only one move is required
then the Automa will use only 1 advancement. In all other
cases, the Automa will use both advancements.

BOOKS
The Automa places a die in one of the Books action spaces.
The space is chosen based on the die roll, as indicated by the
dice shown in the icon:
o D1 -> pepper space (first book)
o D2-D3 -> silk space (second book)
o D4-D5-D6 -> gold space (third book)
If the die result indicates an invalid space (e.g. a space where
there is already a die of the Automa's color and the Automa
does not have any black dice), then the Automa places the
die in the first valid space starting from the right (gold -> silk
-> pepper).

BOOKS "LEV 0"
The Automa places a die in one of the Books action spaces
that currently has no other dice (this is why LEV 0 is indicated
on the icon). If there are no more action spaces with no dice,
this action must be skipped.
If there are more valid spaces to choose from, the Automa
rolls a die and chooses the destination as indicated by the die
value, as shown in the icon:

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o D1 -> pepper space (first book)
o D2-D3 -> silk space (second book)
o D4-D5-D6 -> gold space (third book)
If the result of the die indicates a space already occupied,
then the Automa places the die in the first valid space
starting from the right (gold -> silk -> pepper).

KAHN'S FAVOR
If both spaces are free, the Automa rolls a die and then
places it in the first space on the left.
If there is only one free space left, the Automa places a die of
value 6.
The Automa receives no benefit from this action.

CITY CARD ACTION
The Automa rolls a die, places it on a city card in which it has
a trading post, then it takes the action indicated on the Skill
Card.
While the Automa proceeds on its journey, the playmat
automatically assigns a number to the cities visited, which
have an action card.
To select the city in which to perform the action, the Automa
rolls a die and places it in the city corresponding to the die's
result. If the result indicates an already occupied card or a
number not present on the display, the die will be placed on
the city corresponding to the next number (wrapping up from
1 if necessary).
After placing the die, the Automa performs the action
according to what is indicated on the Skill Card.

Example: In this situation, the Automa has trading posts in
Yangzou and in Jaipur. The cards of such cities are identified
with the numbers 1-2-3 respectively.
The Automa rolls a
die to determine
where it will be
placed.
• If the result is 2,
the die will be
placed on the first
left Jaipur card.
• If the result is 4, 5 or 6, the die will be placed in Yangzou.
• If the result is 1, but Yangzou is already occupied, the die
will be placed on the first left Jaipur card.

EXTERNAL CITY ACTION
The Automa places a die on one of the two city cards that are
located outside the map.
The card is determined based on a die roll.
o D1-D2-D3 -> left card
o D4-D5-D6 -> right card
After placing the die, the Automa performs the action as
indicated by the Skill Card.

GUILD SEAL +1
Remove the coin from space D, if present.
The Automa places 2 dice on the action space of the guild
seals, then it takes the Farmer's guild seal and places it on
space D of the playmat on the unresolved side.

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If the Automa already has the Farmer's guild seal, this action
is skipped.

ACTION SPACE A/B/C/D/E
This action is taken only if there is at least one uncovered A /
B / C / D / E space on the playmat.
The Automa performs the action corresponding to one of the
uncovered spaces following the priority A / B / C / D / E.
Actions linked to spaces A-B-C-D:
The Automa places 2 dice on the guild seals action space.
Then it takes the required seal and places it on the playmat
with the "unresolved" side face up to cover the
corresponding area. The Automa does not receive any jade.
Example. If space C is uncovered, the Automa will take the
Jeweler's guild seal and place it on top of space C.

Action linked to space E:
The Automa places 1 die on the "take contracts" action
space. The Automa takes the two contracts providing the
most victory points, among those available in the cities where
it has a trading post. If there are more than 2 contracts from
which to choose, follow this priority: contracts that provide
advancements, black die, new contract. Place the 2 contracts
on the unresolved side in space E of the playmat. There is no
limit to the number of contracts that can stay in area E.
This action can be carried out only if the Automa has access
to at least one city providing contracts.

END GAME SCORING
At the end of the game the Automa gains:
• 8 VPs if it has completed a number of contracts equal or
greater respect to the player.
• VPs based on the number of completed guild seals (see
Trading Post Card rules).
• VPs based on the amount of different shield obtained (see
Trading Post Card rules).

AUTOMA CHARACTERS
During the game the Automa uses a character, whose power
is described by the Skill Card and the Trading Post Card.
New characters will be published periodically on
www.mautoma.com

SKILL CARD
The Skill Card provides a special
power that could also violate some
of the general rules described in the
previous sections; it also defines
which actions or bonuses to apply to
the Automa when it performs the
actions related to the city cards.

TRADING POST CARD
The Trading Post Card
indicates any bonuses that
the Automa unlocks when it
places its trading posts and
establishes how many victory
points the Automa scores at
the end of the game for the
completed guild seals and for the shields obtained.
The Trading Post Card shows a grid on which the trading
posts are placed during the set-up phase. During the game
the trading posts must be removed from the card in columns
from left to right. Whenver a given bonus is unlocked by
removing a trading post, this must be immediately assigned
to the Automa.
At the end of the game the Automa scores VPs based on the
different shields achieved with its trading offices, in addition

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to these it gets +1 shield, if it has completed the Farmer's
guild seal and it gains additional + X shields according to the
following rule: take all contracts completed by the Automa,
then return in the "contracts done" space a number of
contracts equal to the value shown on the icon . Finally,
with any remaining contracts, cover all the “+1” spaces you
can. Now, all the "+1" which are still discovered, must be
added to the total amount of the Automa's shields.

Example. The Automa during the
game has reached 6 different
shields by placing their trading
posts; it has completed the
Farmer's guild seal and it has also
completed 6 contracts. The
Trading Post Card has the icon 4
, so leave 4 of the 6 contracts
in the "Contracts done" stack and
with the other two remaining
contracts cover two +1 areas.
Now, two +1 symbols remain
visible, so the Automa in total will
have 9 shields (6 for the cities, 1
for the seal and 2 for the Trading Post Card) and it will
therefore get 17 VPs.

At the end of the game, the Automa scores VPs for each
completed guild seal on the A / B / C spaces. The amount of
VPs provided by each completed seal is indicated next to the
icon
Example. The Automa scores 6 VPs for each completed seal
placed above areas A, B and C.

Creator of the Automa: Mauro Gibertoni
Rulebook revisor: Jeff Cunningham
Contacts: maurogibertoni@gmail.com
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