BoardGamesBot

game design - shem phillips & s j macdonald
illustration - mihajlo dimitrievski
graphic design & layouts - shem phillips

copyright 2025 garphill games
www.garphill.com

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introduction
In Scholars of the South Tigris: Body of Books, the Caliph has called for a greater focus towards the study of
medicine. Doctors from near and far bring books and scrolls, wishing to share their latest discoveries. With this
recent influx of knowledge and understanding, there seems no better time to start publishing our latest findings
across all fields of science.
components
1 Main Board Extension
6 Scroll Cards12 Action
Cards
4 Row
Reference Tiles
16 Row Bonus
Tiles
30 XP
Tokens
16 Black
Dice
1 Starting
Translator Card
16 Translator
Cards
52 Page Cards4 Starting Page
Cards
4 Research Markers

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3
setup
Set up Scholars of the South Tigris as described in the original rulebook, with the following changes:
1. Place the Main Board Extension at the right end of the original Main Board, and all XP Tokens and Black Dice
into the Main Supply.
2. Shuffle the new Starting Translator Card, all Translator Cards, and all Scroll Cards into their respective piles.
3. Shuffle the 8 Upgraded Action Cards (grey backs), placing 6 faceup above the Main Board Extension. These
must be arranged into 2 rows of 3. Place 1 XP onto each Upgraded Action Card in the top row, and 2 XP on each
in the bottom row. Return the remaining 2 Upgraded Action Cards to the box.
4. Place 1 XP onto space 3 of each of the 7 Research Tracks. Place 1 XP per player on the first Caliph Card Space.
5. Shuffle the 52 Page Cards into a facedown Draw Pile near the Main Board Extension. From the top of the Draw
Pile, reveal and place 1 faceup into each of the 6 Book spaces of the Main Board Extension.
6. Give each player the following:
• Their new Action Card, which they add to their hand of Action Cards.
• Their extra Research Marker, which they place on the zero space of the Medicine (black) Research Track.
• 1 Black Die, which they add to their Bag (before selecting Starting Translators and Resource Cards).
• 1 XP from the Main Supply.
• 1 Starting Page Card, 1 Row Reference Tile, and 1 of each Row Bonus Tile. These must be placed below
their Player Board as shown:
Take note of the order
in which Row Bonus
Tiles must be arranged
from top to bottom.

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4
Black dice
Black Dice are a new type of Die in the game. Each player starts with 1 Black Die in their Bag, and can gain
more throughout the game. They have the following features:
• Black takes priority over all other colours. Even if paired with a secondary Die for an action, that action’s colour
will be Black.
• Like Secondary Dice, they have values 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6.
• Their colour can be changed using Workers, like any other Dice.
• They are considered to be a coloured Die when adding up a player’s Dice Sum.
• If a player was to gain a Black Die, but there were none left in the Main Supply, they may instead gain a Primary
Die or Destroy a White Die.
Any time players gain this effect, they may upgrade 1 of their Action Cards. As the name suggests Upgraded
Action Cards are improved versions of the standard Action Cards that all players start the game with. When
gaining an Upgraded Action Card, players must follow these steps:
1. Swap an available Upgraded Action Card with their own Action Card.
• This must be the matching Action Card (they cannot give up their Mathematics Card to gain a second Physics
Card).
• Their Action Card is placed facedown in the same space where the chosen
Upgraded Action Card was taken from.
• The Upgraded Action Card is moved to wherever their Action Card came
from. This could be to their hand, or even onto their Player Board from a
previous action. Any Dice or Workers that were on their Action Card should
be returned to where they were on that Action Slot.
2. Gain any XP that was on the Upgraded Action Card.
See page 15 for some further rules clarifications.
Upgraded action Cards

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XP tokens
XP (short for Experience) is a new resource that players can gain and spend throughout the game. The XP
supply is intended to be unlimited. If it should run out, use a suitable replacement.
Page Cards are a new type of Card that represent published
scientific works. Any time they gain this effect, players may
gain 1 Page Card or gain 2 XP (there is a reminder of this
alternative option above the Medicine Research Track).
On the Main Board Extension, there are 3 Books, each with spaces for
2 Page Cards. To gain a Page Card, players need to spend the indicated
XP in the top-left corner of the chosen Card. If there is only 1 Page
Card on a Book, that Page Card’s cost is reduced by 1 XP.
When gained, players must pay any relevant costs before tucking Page
Cards below their Player Boards, much like Retired Translators. Page
Cards with a red banner can only be tucked below specific Action Slots
(note the icon to the right above the red banner). Page Cards with a
gold banner can be tucked below any Action Slot.
• If there are ever no Page Cards remaining on a Book, place 2 new
Page Cards on the Book from the top of the Draw Pile.
• If all 3 Books ever have just 1 Page Card each, fill all empty spaces
on Books with new Page Cards from the top of the Draw Pile.
Tucked Page Cards with red banners give unique abilities, much like
Retired Translators. Those with gold banners give end game effects.
Players cannot place Influence on Page Cards.
page cards
5

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6
deliver
research
recruit
If taking a Black Recruit Action, players increase their action’s value
by 3. There is a reminder of this ability on their Starting Page Card.
Players can also Employ Translators into Room 11. This costs 4 Silver and
allows players to gain 1 Page Card or gain 2 XP (there is a reminder of this
alternative option above the Medicine Research Track).
If taking a Black Deliver Action, players gain 1 XP if they stop on or move past the Neutral Marker. Simply
starting on the same space of the Neutral Marker does not provide any XP.
If players deliver a Medicine Scroll, they advance up the Medicine Track, just as they would any other Research
Track when delivering Scrolls of other colours.
If taking a Black Research Action, players advance up the Medicine Research Track. All
the costs are the same as advancing up other Research Tracks.
Each player has a new Action Card which may be used to harvest the Medicine Track when Resting.
Gaining movement beyond space 7 immediately earns players 1 XP.
During Setup, 1 XP was placed onto space 3 of each Research Track. The first player to reach each
of these collects the XP, adding it to their own supply.
Does not include the Medicine Track Includes the Medicine Track

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7
translate
If taking a Black Translate Action, players do not Translate a Scroll from the House of Wisdom. They will
instead be looking to gain a Page Card from those available.
There is a reminder of how this action functions below the Books on the Main Board Extension.
With a Black action of 6 or higher, players must place 1 Gold onto any 1
Translator. After doing so, they gain 1 XP and 1 Page Card.
With a Black action of 10 or higher, players must place 2 Gold
onto any 2 Translators (not 2 on the same Translator). After doing
so, they gain 3 XP and 1 Page Card.
Remember that players can always gain 2 XP instead of a Page Card if they wish.
Gold being placed must come from a player’s personal supply. If the Translators receiving Gold do not belong to the
player placing it, they must also pay Silver to the owners, just like any other interaction with Translators.
As with all other actions in the game, players may underspend their pips. Therefore, a Black 11 Translate Action
could select either option listed above.
6+
10+
During Setup, 1 XP per player was placed onto the
first Caliph Card Space of the Main Board. When the
first Caliph Card is revealed, each player collects 1
XP from this space, adding it to their own supply.
first caliph

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8
tucking cards
In the original game, players had to pay Silver or gain White Dice when tucking Cards where they already had Cards
present. These rules no longer apply. Any costs that players need to pay when tucking Cards is dictated by their Row
Reference Tile.
Players have 1 Page Card tucked beneath their Recruit Action Slot from the start of the game. As shown on the Row
Reference Tile, tucking a second Card under Recruit will require players to pay 1 Silver or gain 1 White Die to Bag.
The next Card below Recruit would be twice this cost, and then three times this cost. Any further Cards, however,
would have no cost since they are below the lowest row of the Row Reference Tile. Tucking the first Card under
Deliver, Research, or Translate has no cost.
When tucking a Card results in a row being completely filled with any combination
of Page Cards or Retired Translators, players must follow these steps before tucking
any further Cards:
1. Immediately slide their Row Reference Tile down 1 row.
2. Resolve 1 of the 2 effects shown on their highest Row Bonus Tile, then flip it to its gold side.
3. Place the flipped Row Bonus Tile in the empty space above the Row Reference Tile.
This process essentially lowers the costs of all future tucked Cards by 1.
Important Rules: Page Cards are only tucked at the ends of turns, much like Retired Translators. When
tucking multiple Cards of either type, players may tuck them in any chosen order.
No Cost
1 x (Pay 1 Silver/gain 1 White Die to Bag)
2 x (Pay 1 Silver/gain 1 White Die to Bag)
3 x (Pay 1 Silver/gain 1 White Die to Bag)
No Cost
x4

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9
In this example, a player is tucking the last Card into the highest row below their Player Board. This does not cost
them anything.
As this completed a row, they slide their Row Reference Tile down, resolve their highest Row Bonus Tile, and place
it facedown above their Row Reference Tile.
Before doing so, tucking a Card below Recruit or Translate would have
required them to pay 1 Silver or gain 1 White Die. Now neither has any cost.
Retired Translator effects like this allow players to tuck Page Cards under different Action
Slots than those printed on Player Boards. For example, if this effect was under Recruit, a
player may tuck Page Cards there that must usually go beneath Translate.

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10
end of game
When the game ends, there is 1 new step to carry out before adding up Dice Sums and moving into final scoring. In
turn order from the First Player Marker, each player may resolve their End Game Page Cards (gold banners).
When it is their turn to act, players can resolve the effects of their End Game Page Cards in any order they choose.
Should any of these effects result in them Retiring more Translators or gaining more Page Cards, these should be
tucked immediately, rather than at the end of their turn. In this way, players can gain even more Page Cards to
resolve, or even complete more filled rows of tucked Cards below their Player Board.
scoring
For their Dice Sum, players count Black Dice as colours (positive).
In addition to the original scoring, players should also score VP for the following:
• Tucked Page Cards
• Facedown Row Bonus Tiles
• The position of their Research Marker on the Medicine Track
Remaining XP is not worth anything.

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11
solo play
Setup
• Place only 1 XP on the first Caliph Card space.
• Do not give your opponent their extra Research Marker, a Black Die, Starting Page Card, Row Reference Tile,
or Row Bonus Tiles.
• Place your opponent’s Research Markers on the Main Board Extension. Each Research Marker should be placed
directly below a different Page Card.

Gameplay
Your opponent’s turns remain unchanged from the original game. They may collect Page Cards, which only score
their printed VP values, much like Retired Translators. They do not use Black Dice or collect XP.
Note: Sanskrit Scrolls do not count Page Cards for their scoring condition.
Gaining Page Cards
Each time your opponent’s Player Marker wraps around back to the left of the Resource Track, they still place
1 Research Marker as normal. Along with placing a Research Marker, they will also collect 1 Page Card. Your
opponent will select 1 of their remaining Research Markers that currently has a faceup Page Card above it. If there
multiple options, it will take the Page Card worth the most VP. If tied, it will take the highest Page Card among those
options. If still tied, it will take the left Page Card from those options.
If all remaining Research Markers have no Page Cards above them, take the highest (then left-most) Research
Marker. After doing so, also take 1 of the remaining Page Cards using the same rules outlined above.
Gaining Upgraded Action Cards
Any time you gain an Upgraded Action Card, return the other Action Card from that same column to the box. Return
any XP on the discarded Action Card to the Main Supply. In this way, you can never gain more than 3 Upgraded
Action Cards during a solo game.

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12
appendix: Translators & row bonus tiles
Upgrade 1 Action Card or
Destroy 2 White Dice.
Upgrade 1 Action Card or gain
1 Gold and place 1 Gold or
take 1 Gold from a Translator.
May return a Black Die
from hand to Bag to place 1
Influence in any Guild.
Employ a Translator or
Increase any Research Track.
May spend any 1 Worker to
gain 2 XP.
May spend 1 XP to gain 1
Gold or 2 Silver.
Upgrade 1 Action Card or gain
1 Black Die to hand and 1 XP.
May treat Black Dice and
Purple Dice as if they were
the same.
May treat Black Dice and
Orange Dice as if they were
the same.
May treat Black Dice and
Green Dice as if they were the
same.
Gain 1 Black Die to Bag or
Gain 1 White Worker.
May return a Black Die from
hand to Bag to Destroy a
White Die and gain 1 Worker.
May spend any 1 Worker
to advance 1 space up the
Medicine Track.
Gain 1 XP.
May return a Black Die from
hand to Bag to gain 3 Silver.
May return a Black Die from
hand to Bag to gain 1 XP and
Draw 1 Die.
May return a Black Die from
hand to Bag to gain 1 Gold,
and place 1 Gold or take 1
Gold from a Translator.

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13
May spend 2 Silver to increase
any Research Track if the
action is Blue or Purple.
Destroy a White Die after
interacting with either pictured
Translator.
Gain 1 Gold after interacting
with either pictured Translator.
Place 1 Influence in any Guild
after interacting with either
pictured Translator.
May spend 1 Worker to
Increase a Primary Research
Track after interacting with
either pictured Translator.
Gain 1 Orange Influence
when delivering to the Orange
Guild.
Gain 1 Gold if the action is
Red or Orange.
Gain 1 Worker and Destroy a
White Die if the action is Blue
or Green.
May place 1 Gold or take 1
Gold from a Translator if the
action is Yellow or Orange.
Gain 2 Silver if the action is
Red or Purple.
May gain a White Die to place
1 Influence in any Guild if the
action is Yellow or Green.
Gain 1 Gold when delivering
to the Green Guild.
May place 1 Gold or take
1 Gold from a Translator if
stopping on a White Spot.
Gain 2 Silver when delivering
to the Orange Guild.
Gain 1 Green Influence when
delivering to the Green Guild.
Gain 1 Purple Influence when
delivering to the Purple Guild.
May Destroy a White Die and
Draw 1 Die when delivering to
the Purple Guild.
appendix: page cards

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appendix: page cards
14
Place 1 Influence in any Guild
if either Research Track was
increased this turn.
Gain 1 Gold if either Research
Track was increased this turn.
Gain 1 Primary Die to Bag
if either Research Track was
increased this turn.
Gain 1 Silver per Research
Marker that is 4 or higher.
Destroy 1 White Die if either
Research Track was increased
this turn.
Place 1 Gold or take 1 Gold from
a Translator if either Research
Track was increased this turn.
Gain 2 Silver if either Research
Track was increased this turn.
Gain 1 Gold per Research
Marker that is at level 7.
Gain 1 Primary Die or Destroy
a White Die per Research
Marker that is 6 or higher.
May spend 2 Silver to harvest
any 1 Research Track that was
increased this turn.
Destroy up to 2 White Dice
after interacting with the
pictured Translator.
Gain 1 Gold after interacting
with the pictured Translator.
Increase a Primary Research
Track after interacting with
the pictured Translator.
Gain 2 Silver after interacting
with the pictured Translator.
Gain 2 Silver if the action is
Black.
May spend 1 Worker to
Increase any Research Track if
stopping on a White Spot.
Gain 1 XP if the action is
Black.

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15
Gain 2 Silver if the action’s
value is 8 or higher.
Gain 1 Green Influence if
Translating from the Green
Guild.
Gain 1 Purple Influence if
Translating from the Purple
Guild.
Gain 1 Orange Influence if
Translating from the Orange
Guild.
May place 1 Gold or take 1
Gold from a Translator if the
action’s value is 10 or higher.
Place 1 Influence in any Guild
if the action’s value is 12.
appendix: page cards & Upgraded action cards
Page Cards: Further Clarifications
Page Cards with red banners act much like Retired Translators. This means that once a player has placed their Action
Card and Dice for the turn, they may resolve all actions in any order. This includes the main action, effects from the
played Action Card, Retired Translators, and tucked Page Cards.
Some Page Cards refer to an action’s colour. In these cases, a player cannot perform an action as 1 colour, and then
place Workers or use other effects to change to a different colour in order to meet the requirements of another action.
Other Page Cards refer to interacting with a pictured Translator. Remember that this can include Employing,
Dispatching, Translating, placing or taking Gold, or Retiring. Players must finish the action in which they interacted
with the Translator in full before gaining the Page Card’s benefit, and performing any further actions.
Upgraded Action Cards: Further Clarifications
If an Upgraded Action Card is moved to the same Action Slot being used that turn, a player may also perform the
action in the brown banner at the top of the Action Card. This is not true, however, if the Action Card being replaced
had a brown banner action that had already been performed.
Upgraded Action Cards are limited. Once they are gone,
players cannot gain any more.
If this Upgraded Action Card is moved to a
Player Board, the printed Black Die should
be ignored for that turn.

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16
appendix: end game page cards
Dispatch any 1 Translator.
Place 1 Influence in each
Guild.
Advance 1 space up the
Biology and Physics Tracks.
Harvest 1 Action Card from
those remaining in hand.
Advance 1 space up the
Mathematics and Philosophy
Tracks.
Advance 1 space up the
Chemistry and Astronomy
Tracks.
Take a full Rest Action
following the usual rules.
Gain 3 Primary Dice.
Destroy up to 4 White Dice.
Gain 2 Gold. Place up to 2
Gold on any Translators.
Count remaining XP as Gold
for end game scoring.
Count remaining Workers as
Silver for end game scoring.

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