BoardGamesBot

- 1 -
RULEBOOK
A game by Nestore Mangone
Artwork by Maciej Janik
rederick II, Holy Roman Emperor,
King of Germany, King of Italy, was a
man of extraordinary culture, energy,
and ability. His contemporaries referred to
him as stupor mundi ("the wonder of the
world"), and many historians consider him to
be Europe's first modern ruler. Frederick's
kingdom, established in Sicily and southern
Italy, modeled an effective bureaucracy similar
to modern, centralized governments.

---

- 2 -
Components
1 Central Board 1 Voyage Board
6 Market Tiles 27 Edict Tiles
14 Workplace Tiles 16 City Bonus Tiles
2 Workplace Edict Tokens
40 House Action Cards
20 Ally Tiles
44 Advanced Action Cards
Imperial Area
Frederick’s PalaceFrederick’s Palace
Workplace Area
10 Independents
22 level A
Back (difficult)
Front (easy)
10 Loyalists
22 level B
(with the symbol)
Divided into 4 draw piles of 10 Action cards,
one for each of the game’s 4 Houses
Consisting of two areas: the Imperial Area and the Workplace Area
Double-sided: One side for 1–2 players ( ),
one side for 3–4 players ( )
7 Countryside
Tiles
7 Village Tiles
Treasury Reserve
Castle
Court
Next Edict
spaces
Active Edict
spaces
Countryside Countryside
SectionSection
Village Village
SectionSection
City City
SectionSection

---

- 3 -
For the solo mode:
1 Castle Board
5 Walls
5 Walls
5 Allies
3 Keeps
1 Specialist
16 Solo Cards
3 Keeps
5 Towers
1 Ship
20 Stone Cubes
5 Towers
20 Grain Cubes
5 Dummy Ally Tiles
4 Card Slot Tiles
1 Ship
12 Keep Cover Tiles
3 Specialists
45 Augustalis Coins
1 Scoring Disc
4 Player Aids
1 First Player Marker
1 Player Board
5 Dummy Action Cards
30x Value 1
(Silver)
15x Value 5
(Gold)
4x 4x 4x
In each of the 4 player colors
(blue, black, red, green):
Frederick’s player pieces (yellow):
front back

---

- 4 -
Came setup (Central Board)
Note: When playing with 2 or 3 players, be sure to remove
any tiles and ignore all spaces marked with these symbols:
• For a 3-player game:
• For a 2-player game: &
The example below shows the setup for a 3-player game.
Place the Central Board in the middle of the table
within reach of all players.
Create a common supply that includes all Grain cubes,
Stone cubes, and Augustalis coins.
Place 1 Grain and 1 Stone on the respective “1” spaces of
Frederick’s Reserve, and place 1 Augustalis coin of value
1 on the “6” space of Frederick’s Treasury.
Sort the Workplace tiles by shape. Randomly place 1
tile on each matching space of the Workplace Area.
In each City space, randomly place a number of face-
up City Bonus tiles equal to one fewer than the total
number of players.
Place the 2 Workplace Edict tokens in their designated
locations.
Shuffle the Edict tiles and form a face-down draw pile
next to the board. Draw 3 tiles from the stack and place 1
face up on each of the Active Edict spaces in the Imperial
Area.
Draw 3 more Edict tiles and place 1 face up on each of
the Next Edict spaces in the Imperial Area.
Place Frederick’s Specialist on the first space of the first
(Countryside) Workplace tile.
Place 1 of Frederick's Keeps, 2 of his Walls, and 2 of
his Towers on Frederick’s Castle as shown. Place 2 of
Frederick’s Allies in Frederick’s Court (it doesn't matter
which ones you choose). Place Frederick’s remaining
Structures (Walls, Towers, and Keeps) and Allies next
to the board.
Small historical note: In this game, Frederick’s Allies are all people who played an important part in his life. They represent:
• his first wife, Constance of
Aragon;
• Hermann von Salza,
the Grand Master of the
Teutonic Knights;
• Al-Kamil, the Sultan of
Egypt;
• a Jewish cartographer;
• Frederick’s trusted hawk.
AA
BB
HH
CC
CC
CC
DD DD
GG
GG
JJ
JJ
JJ
II EE
FF
FF
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ

---

- 5 -
Came setup (Voyage Board)
Place the Voyage Board in the middle
of the table within reach of all players.
Be sure to use the side of the board that
matches the number of players in your
game.
Take the 6 Market tiles, remove 1 at random, and place
the remaining tiles randomly in the corresponding slots
on the board. The Market tiles have two different sides:
one for an easier game (blue background) and one for a
more challenging game (red background). Depending
on how difficult you want the game to be, use the
following distribution of easy and difficult sides:
Easy 5 blue Market tiles
Medium3 blue Market tiles + 2 red Market tiles
Difficult5 red Market tiles
For 2- and 3-player games, place Dummy Ally tiles and Dummy Action cards in the red-colored spaces. These spaces will be ignored for the rest of the game.
Note: For 4-player games, place Allies and Action cards
in these spaces as normal.
Shuffle the 20 Ally tiles, and place 1 face down on each
free Ally space on the Voyage Board. Place 1 Ally tile face
up on top of each face-down Ally. Return any unused
Allies to the game box.
Create the Advanced Action card draw pile as follows:
a. Sort the Advanced Action cards into 2 separate piles:
The level A cards and the level B cards (
). Shuffle
each pile separately.
b. Draw the following number of cards from each pile according to your player count: 8 in a 2-player game, 12 in a 3-player game, or 16 in a 4-player game.
Return all remaining cards to the game box unseen.
c. Place the level B cards (
) face down in the center of
the Voyage Board. Place the level A cards face down on top. Do not shuffle the combined draw pile!
From the newly created draw pile, place an Advanced Action card face up on each empty Advanced Action card space of the Voyage Board.
AA
BB
CC
CC
CC
DD DD
EE
FF
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
AA

---

- 6 -
Player setup
Each player represents a different House, each with its
own symbol. Each House begins the game with a starting
draw pile composed of 10 Action cards matching their
House.
If this is your first game, distribute Houses at random.
The starting Action cards for each House contain 2 cards
that are unique to that House (see page 1 of the Reference
Guide). If players are familiar with the game, they may
choose their House going in reverse player order (starting
with the last player and going counterclockwise).*
Take all the pieces of your color: 1 Player Board, 3
Specialists, 1 Ship, 1 Scoring disc, 1 Card Slot tile, and
1 full set of Castle Structures (5 Towers, 5 Walls, and 3
Keeps). Place the Card Slot tile in the last card slot of
your Player Board, as illustrated below.
Place your Scoring disc on the first (“0”) space of the
Victory Point ("VP") track on the Central Board.
Take 1 Castle Board and 1 set of 3 Keep Cover tiles.
Place the tiles in the matching spaces in the center of that
board.
Place your 3 Specialists in the empty space to the left of
the Workplace Area on the Central Board.
Place your Ship on the “Roma” space on the Voyage
Board.
Shuffle your Action cards to create your face-down
draw pile. Draw the top 5 cards from your draw pile; this
is your starting hand.
Place your Castle Structures on the matching spaces of
your Player Board. Place 1 Tower and 1 Wall on your
Castle Board, as illustrated below.
Randomly choose a first player and give that player the
First Player marker and 6 Augustales. Give the second
player 7 Augustales. If applicable, give the third and
fourth players 8 and 9 Augustales, respectively. Give
each player 1 Stone and 1 Grain, which should be stored
on the warehouse spaces of their Player Boards.
Note: If you gain resources when all of your available
warehouse spaces are full, you must either replace an
existing resource or immediately discard the new one.
*If you wish to still play with a specific color after drafting the House cards, you may do so. Your cards' crest won't match the color of your player components, but this doesn't otherwise affect the game in any way.
AA
BB
BB
DD
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
BB
DD
DD
DD
FF
GG GG II
II
II
II
EE
HH HH HH
HH
HH
CC

---

- 7 -
How to play
As Frederick II’s vassal, you will perform tasks such as summoning Allies from around the Mediterranean, building Structures
in your Castle, and promoting Specialists to improve your kingdom.
Certain actions will trigger Edicts that affect Frederick’s Palace and determine the rewards players may receive from their
Allies.
You will gain advantages by upgrading your Castle: Towers house additional Allies, Walls store more resources, and Keeps
aid in managing Action cards.
Stupor Mundi is played over a variable number of rounds, each of which is
divided into two phases: the Action Phase, which is played in clockwise
turn order; and the End Phase, which may be performed simultaneously
by all players.
During each turn of the Action Phase, players may first choose to travel
by moving their Ship in order to gain access to various Allies, Advanced
Action cards, and Market exchange rates. Then they will perform an action
by playing one of their Action cards to take either the action on the card or
a main action shown on their Player Board. Play then continues with the
next player until all players have passed.
This is followed by the End Phase, in which players refill their hands by
discarding played cards and drawing new ones. The End Phase concludes
with income and reorganization.
Overview
Round structure
1.
Action Phase
a. Travel
b. Perform action
2. End Phase
a. Refill hand
b. Castle income
c. Ally income
d. Reorganization

---

- 8 -
Action Phase
a. Travel
At the start of your turn, you may choose to travel by moving
your Ship 1–4 spaces clockwise around the Voyage Board.
Movement to the first space clockwise is free. Movement
to spaces beyond the first space costs you 1 Augustalis for
each space moved beyond the first. After moving (or staying
where you are), proceed to the next step, "Perform action."
b. Perform action
Action cards may be played face up or face down in any empty Action card slot of your choice; you are not required
to play the Action cards from left to right.
Note: At the beginning of the game, the rightmost slot of
each player’s Player Board is locked and may not be used.
Building a specific Keep during the game will allow you to
remove the tile blocking that card slot.
• Playing a card face
up will allow you to
perform the action(s)
displayed on that
card. Performing an
action is optional.
• Playing a card face
down will allow you to
perform 1 of the main
actions pointed to by
the soldiers’ spears on
the back of that card.
If an action has a cost, it must be paid before you take that
action.
Some actions may trigger additional actions. If this happens,
fully resolve each action in the order in which it occurred.
Once you have resolved the selected action, the next player
will take their turn. That player must choose to travel or not,
and then play an Action card. This process continues until all
players have passed.
If a player cannot or does not want to play an Action card,
they may pass. After passing, a player takes no more turns
during this Action Phase. They may not travel or play
Action cards until the following round.
See pages 1–3 of the Reference Guide for details on the actions
provided by face-up Action cards. We will now explain the 5
main actions of the game which are available on your Player
Board:
1. Promote a
Specialist
2. Visit the
Market
3. Build a
Structure
4. Summon
an Ally
5. Purchase
an Action
card

---

Example: At the start of his turn, JackJack decides to move his
Ship 2 spaces on the Voyage Board; he pays 1 Augustalis
and moves his Ship from Alexandria to Barcelona AA.
He then plays an Action card in the leftmost slot of his Player Board
BB. Because this card was played face up,
JackJack performs the action displayed on that card (gain 3
Augustales) CC. On his next turn, JackJack decides to remain
in Barcelona. He plays an Action card face down DD in
his fourth card slot. He may now perform 1 (but not both) of the main actions (“Build a Structure” or “Summon an Ally”) pointed to by the soldiers’ spears
EE. He chooses to
Summon an Ally, paying 3 Grain, taking the Independent Ally in Barcelona (since that’s where his Ship is located), and placing it on his Player Board
FF.
- 9 -
1. Promote a Specialist
This action allows you to move one of your Specialists 1 space along one of the three paths (A, B, or C) on the Workplace Area. Specialists move from one Workplace space to the next, following the arrows (
).
• Each Countryside and Village tile has 2 Workplaces,
which provide special abilities IF you have at least 1
Specialist in that Workplace. Each Workplace may be occupied by any number of Specialists, belonging to any number of players. You may only use a Workplace’s special ability for a single Specialist; there are no added benefits from having more than 1 Specialist in a given Workplace.
• City Workplaces offer one-time bonuses. When your Specialist reaches a City Workplace, take a City Bonus tile (if available) of your choice, receive the indicated bonus, and remove the tile. If you cannot gain the benefit of any of the tiles present, choose one and remove it. If your Specialist reaches a City Workplace that has no available City Bonus tiles, nothing happens. You may always look at the stacks of City Bonus tiles to see which ones are available.
You will notice that the Workplace Area is divided into 3 sections. From left to right, these are the Countryside (blue), the Village (beige), and the City (green). Each section uses
different Workplace tiles.
Also note that Paths A and C each consist of 5 Workplace
spaces, while Path B only consists of 3 spaces. Specialists
on Path B bypass the Village and move directly from the
Countryside to the City.
Path APath A
Path BPath B
Path CPath C
AA
BB DD
CC
EE
FF
FF
Countryside Countryside
SectionSection
Village Village
SectionSection
City City
SectionSection

---

Example 1: BernardBernard wants to Promote one of his Specialists.
He moves his Specialist from one Village Workplace to the
next AA, paying 1 Grain as required by the icon at BB.
With his Specialist now at CC, BernardBernard will gain 3 VP each
time he Builds a Wall or a Tower. If he moves that Specialist
on a later turn, he will forfeit this benefit and immediately
gain his choice of a City Bonus tile from this path (if
available)
DD.
Example 2: On a later turn, BernardBernard wants to Promote
his Specialist on Path B. Since Path B doesn’t have any Village Workplaces, he advances his Specialist from the Countryside directly to the City
AA. He then looks through
Path B’s stack of face-up City Bonus tiles BB and chooses
one that allows him to Build a Keep at no cost CC.
Example: ErikaErika wants to Visit the Market. At the start
of her turn, she moves her Ship from Alexandria to Tunis
AA because there’s a Market tile there that interests
her. After moving her Ship, ErikaErika plays an Action card
face down in her second card slot BB to perform a "Visit
the Market" action, which allows her to sell 2 Grain for 6 Augustales and buy 2 Stone for 4 Augustales
CC.
- 10 -
The following rules apply when moving your Specialist:
• A Specialist may never change the path on which it moves.
• You may have multiple Specialists on the same path, and
even on the same space, except for City Workplaces. Even
if you have multiple Specialists on the same path, only 1
of them may reach that path’s City Workplace.
• If a Specialist’s move would cause it to pass over an arrow
accompanied by this symbol
, you must pay the
indicated Grain to the supply before your Specialist may
move forward. If you cannot pay that cost, you cannot
move that Specialist on that turn.
• If a Specialist’s move would cause it to move to a
Workplace with a Workplace Edict token, you must
immediately Issue an Edict (see next page) and remove
the token from the Workplace.
All Workplace tiles and City Bonus tiles are explained on
pages 4–6 of the Reference Guide.
2. Visit the Market
This action allows you to do one or both of the following actions ONCE:
• Sell the indicated resource(s) (Grain/Stone).
• Buy the indicated resource(s) (Grain/Stone).
You may only Visit the Market in the city where your Ship is
currently located. You do not take or remove the Market
tile. Market tiles remain in their location the entire game.
AA
AA
AA
BB
DD CC
CC
CC
CC
Sell
action
Buy action
BB
BB

---

- 11 -
Issue an Edict
Before we continue, we must explain a very important
component of this game: Edicts. Edicts are used to manage
all of Frederick’s possessions: his Castle Structures, resources,
Allies, and even his Specialist in the Workplace Area. An
Edict is Issued when you take an action on a space marked
with the
icon. This icon can be found in several places:

Player Board: An Edict is Issued when you
place an Ally on this space.
Great Wall: An Edict is Issued when you Build this Great Wall. (See "Build a Structure," page 12.)
Castle Board: An Edict is Issued when you Build the marked Structure (certain Walls, certain Towers, and EACH Keep).
Workplace Area: An Edict is Issued when a Specialist reaches a marked Workplace for the first time. The corresponding Workplace Edict token must then be removed from the game.
City Bonus tile: An Edict is Issued when a player selects this City Bonus tile after advancing their Specialist to a City Workplace.
When an Edict is Issued, choose 1 of the 3 face-up Edict tiles (if available) on the Active Edict spaces of the Imperial Area on the Central Board. Take the reward displayed
below that Edict tile
, then activate all
icons shown on that tile .
Activating an icon means that you must add
the corresponding item to Frederick’s
Palace from the general supply, OR remove
it by returning it to the general supply. If an
item cannot be removed from Frederick’s Palace, it must be
added, and vice versa.
Note: When adding to Frederick’s Castle, new Structures do
not have to be connected to existing ones.
Here’s an overview of what each icon means:
Increase or decrease Frederick's Grain Reserve
by 1 (by moving the Grain cube up or down
the track).
Increase or decrease Frederick's Stone Reserve by 1 (by moving the Stone cube up or down the track).
Increase or decrease Frederick's Treasury by 3 Augustales (by moving the coin up or down the track).
Add or remove a Tower in Frederick’s Castle. It does not have to border a Wall.
Add or remove a Wall in Frederick’s Castle. It does not have to border a Tower.
Add or remove a Keep in Frederick’s Castle.
Add or remove an Ally in Frederick’s Court.
Move Frederick’s Specialist 1 Workplace forward or backward on the topmost Workplace path (Path A). Frederick’s Specialist must stay on this path. If Frederick’s Specialist reaches the City, it does not take a City Bonus tile. Frederick never pays any Grain costs.
Note: When you activate an Edict that shows two identical
items, you must either add or remove both objects. For
example, you may not add a Tower and then remove a Tower. Also, you must always complete the entire Edict. For example, if Frederick’s Castle contains 4 Towers and your Edict shows 2 Towers, you must remove those 2 Towers (because it’s impossible to add them).
Once an Edict has been fully resolved, remove it from the
Central Board and keep it face down next to your Player
Board. You must replace that tile
with another of your
choice, taken from one of the Next Edict spaces. Then refill
the empty Next Edict space, if possible.
Note: If there are fewer than 3 Edict tiles to choose from,
you must choose an available Edict tile and take the
corresponding reward. If there are no Active Edict tiles
remaining, you still take any 1 of the 3 Edict rewards.
So, you may be wondering: Why would you want to add
or remove items from Frederick’s Palace? It depends on the
Allies you Summon during the game – Loyalist Allies provide
VP based on what Frederick has in his Palace (or the position
of his Specialist), while Independent Allies provide VP based
on what you have in your Castle compared to what Frederick
has in his Palace.
For more information on Allies, see page 8 of the Reference
Guide.

---

Example 1: NoaNoa wants to Build a Great Wall. She can only
place her Wall in a space highlighted in yellowyellow, as each Wall
must be Built adjacent to an already built Tower AA. She
decides to Build it at BB. The total cost to Build in that spot
is 2 Stone and 1 Grain, plus an extra 4 Augustales for the
Great Structure cost CC. Since she now closed that side of
her Castle, she immediately receives 1 Stone DD.
- 12 -
3. Build a Structure
This action allows you to add a single Structure to your Castle. There are three types of Structures: Towers, Walls, and Keeps. Each type exists either as a normal Structure or
as a Great Structure.
The rules for Building a Structure are:
• Each Structure must be Built in its corresponding space
on your Castle Board. Each space can accommodate a
normal or a Great Structure. Structures do not need to
be built in the order in which they are arranged on your
Player Board.
• Each Structure must be paid for using Stone and/or
Grain. The cost to Build each Structure is indicated on
its space on the Castle Board. You must pay those costs
before you Build.
• • Great Structures Great Structures provide bonuses when Built, but they have additional costs that must be paid in Augustales. See page 6 of the Reference Guide for details on the bonuses gained when Building Great Structures.
Great StructuresGreat Structures start on
your Player Board, in the spaces with dashed red lines:
• You may only Build a Wall if it connects to a Tower already present on your Castle Board, and vice versa. This rule does not apply to Keeps.
Each type of Structure has a different function:
Tower
At the start of the game, you may only host 1 Ally in your Castle. Each Tower you Build during the game enables you to host 1 additional Ally.
Wall
At the start of the game, you may store up to 3 resources (Grain and/or Stone) on your Player Board. Each Wall you Build during the game enables you to store 1 additional resource.
Keep
When Built, Keeps provide advantages that improve your hand of cards. When you Build a Keep, take the corresponding Keep Cover tile from your Castle Board and place it on the empty Keep space of your Player Board to remind you of its effect. See page 6 of the Reference Guide for additional details.
Important: Bonuses from Building a Structure always
happen AFTER Building.
Castle income
If you manage to complete a closed side of your Castle during
this action, it will provide you with a specific bonus immediately, and again during each subsequent End Phase (see page 15).
A closed side consists of 2 Towers connected
by a Wall. The income provided by that side
is indicated by the corresponding exclamation
mark icon
. After you close a side of your Castle,
you immediately gain the indicated bonus:
1 Stone
1 Grain
1 Augustalis
1 Victory Point
You may Visit the Market at your Ship’s
current location
AA
AA
BB
CC
CC
DD

---

Building that particular Great Wall gives NoaNoa the
"Promote a Specialist" bonus action EE; she decides to
move her Specialist 1 space along Workplace Path A. She
does NOT have to pay the Grain cost to do so, as indicated
by the bonus icon. Also note that
NoaNoa does NOT get 3 VP
for Building a Wall, since her Specialist was NOT in that Workplace when she started her action.
NoaNoa must then Issue an Edict, as
indicated on her Wall’s building site FF.
Example 2: BernardBernard wants to Build a Keep. He would
like to increase his hand size by 2, so he decides to Build the corresponding Keep
AA . He pays 3 Stone and places a
normal Keep in the appropriate spot of his Castle Board. Then, he takes the Keep Cover tile from that spot, flips it, and places it on the newly vacant space on his Player Board
BB. This will serve as a reminder that his hand size
is now increased by 2. He also immediately adds 2 cards to his hand.
Since
BernardBernard Built a Keep, he must also Issue an Edict CC.
He chooses the Edict marked at DD, and gains 3 Augustales
EE. The Edict shows 2 Grain and 1 Augustalis. He decides
to increase Frederick's Grain Reserve by 2 FF, but decrease
his Augustales by 1 step, from 6 to 3 GG. Then, he places the
Issued Edict face down in his playing area and replaces it
with a new one from one of the Next Edict spaces HH.
She decides to Issue the middle Edict, gaining a resource of her choice, which she stores on her Player Board
GG. The
Edict shows 2 Walls and 1 Keep. She decides to add 1 Keep to Frederick’s Palace
HH, but she has to remove 2 Walls,
since she has to either add OR remove both Walls, and she cannot add the 2 Walls since Frederick’s Castle already has 4 Walls
II .
Finally, she places the Issued Edict face down in her playing area and replaces it with a new one from one of the Next Edict spaces
JJ.
- 13 -
FF
FF
GG
GG
GG
HH
HH
II
JJ
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
EE

---

Example: Jack Jack wants to Summon an Ally. He can choose
one of the two Allies present in Alexandria, where his
Ship is located AA. He pays 3 Grain to Summon the
Loyalist Ally BB, which he immediately places in a free spot
on his Player Board CC .
Example: To Purchase the Action card available in Tunis,
ErikaErika must remove one of her Action cards from the game.
She removes a card from her hand AA and returns it to the
game box. She may now use the new card’s effect as though she had just played it on her Player Board. She does so, receiving 6 Augustales
BB. Finally, she takes the card into
her hand CC. She will be able to play this newly acquired
Action card again in the same round.
- 14 -
4. Summon an Ally
You may Summon 1 Ally to your Castle by paying the cost shown under that Ally’s spot on the Voyage Board.
You may only Summon a face-up Ally, and only from the city
where your Ship is currently located. Immediately place
the Summoned Ally on an empty, dedicated Ally space on
your Player Board (one that does not contain a Tower). If
you don’t have an empty Ally space, you may not perform
this action.
Note: Your Castle may never contain two identical Allies!
Allies will prove crucial during the “Ally income” step in the
End Phase, when they provide VP. Pay close attention to
which Allies your opponents have Summoned!
5. Purchase an Action card
You may use this action to Purchase 1 Advanced Action card. You may only Purchase an Advanced Action card from the city where your Ship is currently located. Once that card’s cost is paid, you may perform that card’s action immediately, as though it had just been played on your Player Board. Then, take the card into your hand; it is eligible to be played this round as normal. Cards’ costs can be found in their top-right corners. These costs may either be:
A certain amount of Augustales, OR
A certain amount of Grain, OR
The removal of one of your Action cards from the game, either from your hand or your discard pile, but NOT from your draw pile.
Important: Action cards may be played during the same
round in which they were Purchased.
AA
CC
BB
AA
CC
BB
BB
++

---

Example: During the
Castle income step,
BernardBernard takes an
income of 1 VP and 3
Augustales
AA. He does
not take the income of 1 "Visit the Market" action, 1 Grain, or 1 Stone
BB, because those
sides of his Castle are not yet closed.
Example: During the Ally income step, the players check
Frederick’s situation. He has 6 Augustales, 1 Stone, 3 Grain, 2 Allies, and 6 Structures (1 Keep, 2 Walls, 3 Towers), and his Specialist has reached the second Workplace.
Jack’sJack’s first Ally will provide
extra VP if he has more Allies than Frederick.
JackJack has 3
Allies to Frederick’s 2, so he receives 3 VP for that Ally.
Jack’s Jack’s second Ally will provide extra VP if he has Built more Walls than Frederick;
JackJack also meets this condition,
for another 3 VP. Jack’sJack’s third Ally will only provide 1 VP,
since Frederick does not have the required 9 Augustales.
JackJack scores a total of 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 VP.
Noa Noa has 2 Allies. The first one yields 3 VP, as
Noa’sNoa’s built Castle Structures
outnumber Frederick’s. Noa’sNoa’s second
Ally only provides 1 VP, since Frederick’s Specialist has not moved the required distance.
NoaNoa scores a total of 3 + 1 = 4 VP.
- 15 -
End Phase
Note: All players may perform their End Phase steps
simultaneously.
a. Refill hand
1. Each player must discard all played cards from below their Player Board to their (face-up) discard pile next to their Player Board.
2. Each player may then discard any number of cards face up from their hand.
3. Each player must draw cards from their draw pile until they reach their current hand limit. The standard hand limit is 5, but that number can increase through Keep and/or Workplace bonuses (see pages 4–6 of the Reference Guide).
Important: If your draw pile is ever empty, immediately
shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw pile.
b. Castle income
Each closed side of your Castle now provides the indicated
income (see page 12).
c. Ally income
There are two kinds of Allies: Loyalists (orange)Loyalists (orange) and
Independents (teal)Independents (teal). Each produces VP in different ways.
• • LoyalistsLoyalists provide VP based on the items in Frederick’s Palace or the position of his Specialist.
• • IndependentsIndependents provide VP based on your Specialists and the items in your Castle or on your Player Board com- pared to Frederick's corresponding components.
Each Ally produces 1 VP, plus another 2 VP if their specific requirement has been met (for a total of 3 VP). For details on how each Ally generates VP, please see page 8 of the Reference Guide.
d. Reorganization
1. If one or more spaces of the Voyage Board have no Advanced Action cards, refill those spaces from the draw pile.
2. If there are any uncovered face-down Allies on the Voyage Board, turn them face up.
3. Pass the First Player marker to the next player in clockwise order, and begin a new round.
Remember: In 2- and 3-player games, all Action cards
and Ally spaces blocked by Dummy Action cards and tiles should be ignored.
AA
AA BB
BB BB

---

- 16 -
The game ends ( ) immediately after any round in which one or more of the following situations
occur:
1. One or more players have Built every Structure in their Castle, OR
2. An Active Edict space in the Imperial Area cannot be refilled, OR
3. There are insufficient Advanced Action cards to fully refill the Voyage Board during the End Phase.
Your final score is equal to the position of your Scoring disc on the VP track, plus:
+1 VP for each Structure in your Castle.
+4 VP for the player (or players) whose Castle contains the most Structures, and +2 VP
for the player (or players) whose Castle contains the second-most Structures. In 2-player
games, the +2 VP is not awarded.
Example: In a 4-player game, both
Jack'sJack's and Noa’sNoa’s Castles contain 12 Structures. There are
11 Structures in Bernard'sBernard's Castle, and 9 in Erika'sErika's. During this scoring step, JackJack and NoaNoa each
score 4 VP, BernardBernard scores 2 VP, and ErikaErika scores 0 VP.
Exchange your Grain and Stone cubes for 2 Augustales each. Then, gain 1 VP for every 6 Augustales you have remaining.
Game Design: Nestore Mangone
Artwork: Maciej Janik
Art Direction and Graphic Design: Rafaël Theunis
Project Managers: Arno Quispel, Rafaël Theunis
Editor: Michael Schemaille
Proofreaders: David Moser, Henrik Larsson, Jay Talbot,
Andrew 'Spin' Platt, Eric Selander, Loïc Le Gall
Digital Development: Dan Adams
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR: I would like to thank Carlo Camarotto, Pierpalo Paoletti, Barbara Parutto, Piero and
Gaia, Nino and Francesca, Valeria Grandinetti, coffee without sugar, 70% dark chocolate, Aglianico wine, and the twilight
ninjas for helping me with that rainbow dragon issue. I love you all.
End of the Game
CreditsThe player with the most Victory Points wins the game. If there is a
tie for most VP, the winner is the tied player who built the most Great
Structures. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.
If you experience any issues with this product, please contact the vendor where you purchased this game, or contact our customer service at www.quined.nl/missing-parts/

---

- 17 -
ope Honorius III is pushing Frederick II to organize a crusade. Though the emperor harbors reservations,
he finds himself compelled to present an agreeable facade despite the dire circumstances. Meanwhile,
as loyal vassals, you may avail yourselves of certain resources earmarked for the crusade to further your
own endeavors. Exercise caution not to overindulge, however, lest you suffer papal excommunication.
This special edition of Stupor Mundi contains two expansions, "The Postponed Crusade" and "The Imperial Projects." Once
you are familiar with the base game, you can add one or both of the expansions to your game.
Components
5 Crusade Boards 6 Papal Structures
5 Papal Books 5 Papal Ally Mantles
5 Supply Ships
10 Knight Action cards
5 Lonely Knights5 Crusade Knights
FrontFront
Front sides
Front
BackBack
Back
2 Keeps 2 Walls 2 Towers
Expansions

---

- 18 -
Came setup (Central Board)
Note: When playing with 2 or 3 players, be sure
to remove any tiles and ignore all spaces marked
with these symbols:
• For a 3-player game:
• For a 2-player game: &
The example below shows the setup for a 3-player game.
Randomly select a number of Crusade Boards equal to one more than the total number of players, place them face up next to the Central Board, and return any unused ones to the game box.
Place matching components face up on
each Crusade Board, with the number of
components to be placed on each board
equal to one more than the total number of
players.* See below for an overview of the 5
Crusade Boards.
*There is one exception to this rule: if you are using
the Papal Structures Board, the specific Structures
that should be placed are indicated on the Crusade
Board itself. For a 3-player game, leave the Tower
space marked with
empty. For a 2-player
game, leave both the Tower and the Wall spaces marked with
& empty. So in this case,
the number of components on this Crusade Board is equal to two more than the number of players. 
Vatican Library
Board
Place a number
of face-up Papal
Books equal to
one more than the
number of players.
Return any unused
Books to the box.
Harbor
Board
Place a number
of face-up Supply
Ships equal to
one more than the
number of players.
Return any unused
Ships to the box.
Papal Structures
Board
Place a number of
Papal Structures
equal to two more
than the number of
players, as indicated
on the board.
Return any unused
Structures to the
box.
Papal Allies
Board
Place a number of
face-up Papal Ally
Mantles equal to
one more than the
number of players.
Return any unused
Mantles to the box.
Crusade Knights
Board
Place a number of
Crusade Knights
cards equal to one
more than the number
of players. Set the same
number of Lonely
Knight cards aside.
Return any unused
cards to the box.
AA
BB
BB
BB
BBAA
BB

---

- 19 -
Gameplay
a. Vatican Library Board
Linked Main Action: Promote a Specialist
Instead of Promoting a Specialist, you can
take 1 Papal Book from the Vatican Library.
From now on, whenever you Promote a
Specialist (including when your Specialist
reaches a City), you gain 1 VP for each
Papal Book you own.
Excommunication: Flip each of your Papal
Books. Each Papal Book now gains you 1
Augustalis instead of 1 VP whenever you
Promote a Specialist.
b. Harbor Board
Linked Main Action: Visit the Market
Instead of Visiting the Market, you can buy
the topmost Supply Ship for its indicated
costs. Each Supply Ship you own will earn
you 5 VP at the end of the game.
Excommunication: Each Supply Ship you
own will now earn you 2 VP at the end of
the game, instead of 5 VP.
c. Papal Structures Board
Linked Main Action: Build a Structure
Instead of Building one of your own
Structures, you can Build an available Papal
Structure instead. Each Papal Structure
costs 1 fewer Stone to Build. This replaces
any similar Structure from your Player
Board; remove a matching Structure from
your Player Board and return it to the box.
If you decide to Build a Great Structure,
its Augustales cost and normal effects still
apply.
Excommunication: At the end of the game,
all Papal Structures are ignored for final
scoring.
d. Papal Allies Board
Linked Main Action: Summon an Ally
Instead of Summoning an Ally, you can take
1 Papal Ally Mantle and place it above one of
the Allies on your Player Board. From now
on, during the "Ally income" step of each End
Phase, that Ally will earn you 1 extra VP,
and 2 additional VP if their requirement is
met. This means that a mantled Ally whose
requirement is not met will earn you 2 VP,
and a mantled Ally whose requirement is
met will earn you 6 VP!
Excommunication: Flip each of your Papal
Ally Mantles. From now on, during the
"Ally income" step of each End Phase, that
Ally will earn you 1 additional VP if their
requirement is met. This means that a
mantled Ally whose requirement is not met
will earn you 1 VP as usual, and a mantled
Ally whose requirement is met will earn you
4 V P.
e. Crusade Knights Board
Linked Main Action: Purchase an Action card
Instead of Purchasing an Action card, you
can Purchase a Crusade Knights card for
2 Augustales and add it to your hand. As
always, you may immediately perform that
card’s action, which gains you 1 Grain, 1
Stone, and 3 Augustales.
Excommunication: Immediately replace
each of your Crusade Knights cards with a
Lonely Knight card. If you have any Crusade
Knights cards in your draw pile, take your
draw pile, replace each Crusade Knights
card with a Lonely Knight card, and shuffle
your draw deck to form a new one.
Crusade Knights cards and Lonely Knight
cards are considered Action cards for all intents and purposes.
Each Crusade Board offers players an alternative action from those listed on their respective Player Boards.
Each time a player chooses to perform one of the 5 main actions of the game, they can instead activate
the linked Crusade Board and perform its action. Each Crusade Board indicates which main action is
required to activate it. Below, you'll find a detailed explanation of each of the various boards.
Note that the Crusade Boards are double-sided. When a player obtains the last component on a Crusade
Board, they immediately Issue an Edict, and then flip the Crusade Board to its papal excommunication
side. This impacts all players who own a linked game element.

---

Example 1: JackJack plays an Action card in the second
slot of his Player Board AA. He can Promote a
Specialist or Visit the Market. Instead, he decides
to activate the Harbor Board, and purchases a
Supply Ship for 3 Augustales and 1 Stone
BB. As
things stand, each Supply Ship he owns will be worth 5 VP at the end of the game
CC.
Later on in the game, Erika Erika decides to activate the
Harbor Board as well, and she purchases the final Supply Ship for 2 Grain
DD. This also means she
must now Issue an Edict EE. Once that is done,
she flips the Harbor Board to its excommunication side
FF, which indicates that each Supply Ship will
now earn only 2 VP for its owner at the end of the game
GG.
Example 2: NoaNoa plays an Action card in the
fourth slot of her Player Board AA. She decides
to activate the Papal Structures Board to Build a Papal Wall. The normal cost of her chosen location is 1 Grain and 1 Stone
BB, but Papal Structures
cost 1 fewer Stone to Build CC, so she only has to
pay 1 Grain to Build this Wall. Noa Noa has 2 Walls left
to Build, one of which is a Great Wall DD. Since she
has some Augustales to spare, she decides to Build a Great Papal Wall. So, she pays 1 Grain ( for the location), and 3 Augustales ( for the Great Wall). She takes the Papal Wall and places it on her Castle Board
EE, removes the chosen Great Wall from
her Player Board FF (remember, Papal Structures
are Built in place of their standard counterparts!), and finally, receives the bonus from Building her Great Wall, which is to Issue an Edict.
- 20 -
AA
AA
BB
BB
DD
EE
FF
CC
CC
GG
FF
DD
EE

---

- 21 -
riven by an insatiable thirst for beauty and grandeur, Frederick II desires naught but the finest marvels of
construction to adorn his empire. Thus, he calls upon his vassals to embark on "The Imperial Projects,"
a monumental endeavor to erect even more resplendent and awe-inspiring castles across the land. With
the promise of eternal glory and favor from the emperor himself, the race to craft the most magnificent citadels
begins anew.
Components
8 Imperial Structures
9 Imperial Project Tiles
9 Condition Tiles
3 Wall Projects3 Keep Projects 3 Tower Projects
2 Keeps 3 Walls 3 Towers

---

- 22 -
Came setup (Central Board)
Randomly select a number of Imperial Project tiles according to the number of players, and place them face up next to
the Central Board:
n° of playersKeep ProjectsWall ProjectsTower Projects
2 1 1 2
3 1 2 3
4 2 3 3
Place the matching Structures on top of them.
Shuffle the Condition tiles and assign 1 randomly to each of the Project tiles, face up. Return any unused Condition tiles
to the box.
The example below shows the setup for a 3-player game.
AA
BB
AA BB

---

Example: BernardBernard plays a face up Action card
in the first slot of his Player Board, which allows
him to Build a Structure with a discount of
1 Stone
AA. He decides to Build one of his two
remaining Keeps. By doing so, he will now Issue an Edict
BB.
BernardBernard looks at his 2 Allies, and sees that his leftmost Ally requires him to have more Towers in his Castle than Frederick
CC. The rightmost
one requires him to have more Allies than Frederick, but that's already the case (
BernardBernard
has 2, and Frederick only has 1 in his Castle).
BernardBernard decides to Issue the lower Edict, which
allows him to add/remove 2 Towers and add/ remove 1 Wall
DD. He first gains 1 Augustalis
and 1 VP and decides to remove 2 of Frederick's Towers and add 1 Wall
EE. As always, he takes
the Issued Edict and replaces it with a new one. Right now,
BernardBernard meets the requirements for
two of the Condition tiles: he has Issued 3 or more Edicts
FF, and at least 2 of his Allies have
their requirements met GG. He has to choose one
and decides to take the Keep. He removes the Condition tile, takes the Imperial Keep Project tile and places it next to his Player Board
HH.
In a later turn, through a "Build a Structure" action,
BernardBernard now decides to Build his Imperial
Keep. Remember: if he doesn't, he will lose 4 VP at the end of the game. Since he only has his Great Keep left on his Player Board
II, he has to pay
the cost of 4 Augustales, and he Builds his third and final Keep by placing the Imperial Keep on his Castle Board
JJ and returning the one on his
Player Board to the box KK. Remember, Imperial
Structures are Built in place of their standard counterparts! He now flips the Imperial Project tile
LL, and will earn 1 VP at the end of the game
for every Edict he Issues.
- 23 -
Cameplay
If, during your turn, you fulfill the requirements of a Condition tile, you may acquire the corresponding Project+Structure; however, you are limited to acquiring only 1 Project+Structure per turn. This means that if you meet the requirements of more than one Condition tile, you must choose which Project+Structure to gain; they are placed within your play area. Return the associated Condition tile to the box; you won't need it anymore.
To Build an Imperial Structure, you must pay the regular costs. This replaces any similar Structure from your Player Board.
Remove the appropriate Structure from your Player Board and return it to the box. If you decide to Build a Great Structure,
its Augustales cost and normal effects still apply. Once the Imperial Structure is Built, flip its Project tile.
At the end of the game, each unconstructed Imperial Structure in your play area results in a penalty of -4 VP. Conversely, if
constructed, they grant access to the special scoring outlined on the respective Imperial Project tile. You can find an overview
of all the Condition tiles and the Imperial Project tiles on page 7 of the Reference Guide.
AA
BB
CC
FF
DD
EE
EE EE
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL

---

- 24 -
© Quined Games, 2024-2025
As a general rule:
• A white number with a black outline ( ) means that you GAIN the indicated items/reward.
• A red number with a beige outline ( ) means that you need to SPEND/REMOVE the indicated items.
• A yellow underlined number with a black outline ( ) means that you need to OWN/POSSESS what’s indicated.
• A parenthetical number (Ex: (x3)) underneath a conversion arrow ( ) indicates how many times you may use that
conversion in a turn.
• If a single item is shown ( ), it always means a quantity of one.
Iconography
A Stone
A Grain
A Stone or Grain
An Augustalis (coin)
A Victory Point (VP)
A Tower
A Wall
A Keep
A Great Tower
A Great Wall
A Great Keep
Frederick’s Tower
Frederick’s Wall
Frederick’s Keep
A Papal Tower
A Papal Wall
A Papal Keep
An Imperial Tower
An Imperial Wall
An Imperial Keep
Your Specialist
Frederick’s Specialist
Frederick
You (the player)
An Ally
An Independent Ally
A Loyalist Ally
Frederick’s Ally
An Edict
Issue an Edict
Refresh the Edicts (add an
Edict from a Next Edict space
to an empty Active Edict
space)
Edict reward
Move your Ship
Promote your Specialist
Visit the Market
Build a Structure
Summon an Ally
Purchase an Action card
An Action card
Draw a card from your draw pile
Hand size
A Card Slot tile
A closed side of your Castle
A City Bonus tile
A Supply Ship tile
A Papal Ally Mantle tile
Remove
Perform / Completed
Income step
Only used in 3- and 4-player games
Only used in 4-player games
End of the game

---