Game Objective: Become the Magnificent of Florence!

In Lorenzo il Magnifico, you assume the role of the head of a noble family in Renaissance Florence. Your goal is to accumulate as many Victory Points (VP) as possible, surpassing the other families. To do this, you will send your Family Members to various areas of the city, where they can conquer territories, finance constructions, influence characters, and lead campaigns.

But beware! The Church also has a voice in Florence. The game is divided into 3 periods, each with 2 rounds. At the end of each period, you will need to demonstrate your faith, or you may suffer harsh Excommunication penalties. After 6 intense rounds, the family with the most Victory Points will be the grand winner!

Preparation (Setup): Setting the Renaissance Scene

Let's set up the table to begin our journey to glory in Florence:

1. Place the Main Board in the center of the table.
2. Separate the Development Cards by type (Territories, Buildings, Characters, Ventures) and by period (indicated by the color and number on the back). Shuffle the 8 cards of each pile separately. Then, create 4 decks, placing the 3rd period cards at the bottom, the 2nd period cards in the middle, and the 1st period cards on top of each deck. Position them near the board, next to the Towers.
3. Separate the Excommunication Tiles by period and shuffle them. Draw one from each pile and place them in the appropriate spaces on the board. The unused ones return to the box.
4. Arrange the Resources (Wood, Stone, Servants) and Coins near the board. They form the General Supply. Small resources are worth 1, and large ones are worth 5. They are unlimited!
5. Place the 3 Dice (white, black, and orange) near the board.
6. If it's a 2-player game, place the Cover Tokens on the spaces marked with numbers 2 and 3. In a 3-player game, place the tokens on the space marked with number 3.
7. Each player chooses a color and receives:
   • 1 Personal Board.
   • 1 Personal Bonus Pillar.
   • 3 Family Members of their color and 1 neutral Family Member (colorless, with their color sticker).
   • 3 Excommunication Cubes.
   • 4 Markers of their color. Place one on space 0 of the Victory Point Track, another on 0 of the Military Point Track, and another on 0 of the Faith Point Track. The last marker goes on the Turn Order Track.
   • 2 Wood, 2 Stone, and 3 Servants.
   • Randomly determine the Turn Order and place the players' discs on the Turn Order Track.
   • The first player receives 5 Coins. The second receives 6, the third 7, and the fourth 8.

The Game Turn: Actions and Strategies in Florence

Lorenzo il Magnifico is played over 3 periods, each with 2 rounds, totaling 6 rounds. Each round is divided into 4 phases:

1. The Preparation Phase
2. The Action Phase
3. The Vatican Judgment (only in rounds 2, 4, and 6)
4. The End of the Round

The Preparation Phase

1. Draw 4 Development Cards from the top of each deck and place them in the appropriate spaces on the board, from bottom to top in the Towers.
2. The first player rolls the 3 Dice (white, black, and orange) and places them in the appropriate spaces on the board. The value of each die determines the value of its corresponding colored Family Members for this round. Your neutral Family Members always have a value of zero.

The Action Phase

Following the Turn Order, each player performs their actions. To take an action, you must place one of your Family Members in an action space and perform the corresponding action.

The value of your Family Member (determined by the rolled die or zero for the neutral one) is crucial. For some actions, you will need a minimum value. You can always use a higher-value Family Member for an action that requires a lower value. Additionally, you can spend Servants to increase the value of your Family Member at a 1:1 ratio, with no limit!

Action Areas

There are 5 different areas where you can place your Family Members:

1. Development Card Towers

There are 4 Towers, each with 4 floors. Each floor has an action space that allows you to take the corresponding Development Card and, if any, a bonus.

• Minimum Values for Floors:
  • 1st floor: Value 1 or more.
  • 2nd floor: Value 3 or more.
  • 3rd floor: Value 5 or more.
  • 4th floor: Value 7 or more (usually requires spending Servants or having card effects).
• Bonuses: The 3rd and 4th floors offer immediate bonuses (resources or points) that can be used to pay the card's cost.
• Occupation: If there are already Family Members (yours or other players') in the same tower, you must pay 3 Coins to the Supply before placing yours. You cannot use coin bonuses from the floor itself to pay this fee.
• Restriction: There cannot be two Family Members of the same color in the same tower. However, a player can use a neutral Family Member to take a second card from the same tower in the same round.
• Types of Development Cards:
  • Territories (green): Have no cost, but require Military Points to be placed in certain spaces on your Personal Board. Activate permanent effects with the Harvest action and give Victory Points at the end of the game.
  • Buildings (yellow): Cost resources. Activate permanent effects with the Production action.
  • Characters (blue): Cost Coins. May have immediate effects (including extra actions) and permanent effects that are activated under special circumstances (such as increasing action value or giving discounts). Give Victory Points at the end of the game.
  • Ventures (purple): Cost resources or Military Points. May have two cost options. Their permanent effects are only activated at the final game scoring.
• Limit: You cannot have more than 6 cards of the same type on your Personal Board.

2. Harvest and Production Area

These areas have two action spaces: one for a single Family Member (on the left) and a larger one for any number of Family Members (on the right – not available in 2-player games). The placed Family Member must have a value of 1 or more. The larger space imposes a -3 penalty on the action's value.

• Harvest: Activates the corresponding personal bonus and the permanent effects of all Territories on your Personal Board that have a value equal to or less than the value of your Harvest action.
• Production: Activates the corresponding personal bonus and the permanent effects of all Buildings on your Personal Board that have a value equal to or less than the value of your Production action.
• Restriction: There cannot be two colored Family Members of the same player in these spaces, but a colored Family Member and a neutral one can be placed.
• Personal Bonus: The bonus on your Personal Bonus Pillar is activated with a value of 1, meaning whenever you perform a Harvest or Production action.

3. The Market

There are 4 action spaces in the Market (2 of them only for 4-player games). Each space holds only 1 Family Member, but Family Members of the same color can be in different spaces in the Market. The Family Member must have a value of 1 or more. The spaces offer:

• Receive 5 Coins.
• Receive 5 Servants.
• Gain 3 Military Points and 2 Coins.
• Receive 2 different Council Privileges (you cannot take the same bonus twice).

4. The Council Headquarters

There is 1 action space in the Council Headquarters that can hold any number of Family Members, including several from the same player. The Family Member must have a value of 1 or more. When placing, position them from left to right. You immediately receive 1 Council Privilege and 1 Coin.

Attention: The order of placement here defines the Turn Order for the next round!

The Council Privilege is a bonus of your choice between: 1 Wood and 1 Stone / 2 Servants / 2 Coins / 2 Military Points / 1 Faith Point.

C. Vatican Judgment Phase

This phase occurs only in even rounds (2, 4, and 6), at the end of each period. Players must demonstrate their support for the Church through their Faith Points. The requirements are 3, 4, and 5 points for periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

• If you do not have the required Faith Points: You suffer Excommunication. Place one of your Excommunication Cubes on the period's Excommunication Tile and you will suffer its negative effects for the rest of the game. Your Faith Point marker remains where it is.
• If you have the required Faith Points: You can decide whether or not to support the Church.
  • Do not support: You suffer Excommunication, as above.
  • Support: You spend all your Faith Points, avoiding Excommunication. The Pope rewards you with Victory Points equivalent to the number of the space your marker was on the Faith Point Track. Then, move your marker back to the beginning of the track (0).

D. End of Round

At the end of each round, follow these steps:

1. Remove all face-up Development Cards from the board. They will no longer be used.
2. Change the Turn Order: The player who placed the leftmost Family Member in the Council Headquarters becomes the first player of the next round. Repeat for the others. Players who did not place Family Members in the Council Headquarters maintain their relative order. If no one placed, the order remains the same.
3. Players collect their Family Members back to their Personal Boards.

Now you are ready for the next round!

End of Game and Scoring: Who will be the Magnificent?

The game ends at the end of the sixth round, after the End of Round phase. It's time to calculate the Final Score!

Players will earn Victory Points for the following results:

• Conquered Territories:
  • 3 Territory Cards: 1 VP
  • 4 Territory Cards: 4 VP
  • 5 Territory Cards: 10 VP
  • 6 Territory Cards: 20 VP
• Influenced Characters:
  • 1 Character Card: 1 VP
  • 2 Character Cards: 3 VP
  • 3 Character Cards: 6 VP
  • 4 Character Cards: 10 VP
  • 5 Character Cards: 15 VP
  • 6 Character Cards: 21 VP
• Promoted Ventures: The sum of all Victory Points indicated on the Venture Cards on your Personal Board.
• Military Strength:
  • Tie for first place: All tied players gain 5 VP.
  • Tie for second place: All tied players gain 2 VP.
• Collected Resources: 1 Victory Point for every 5 resources of all types (sum all resources and divide by 5, rounding down).

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner! In case of a tie, the player who is further ahead in the Turn Order wins.

Tips for Winning: Strategies for New Nobles

Florence is competitive, but with a few tips, you can stand out:

1. Manage your Family Members Wisely: Remember that your colored Family Members have values dictated by the dice, while the neutral one always has a value of zero. Don't hesitate to spend Servants to increase a Family Member's value and reach more powerful actions, especially on the upper floors of the Towers or to activate more demanding card effects. Plan where each Family Member will be most efficient!
2. Balance Growth and Faith: Excommunication can bring significant penalties. Keep an eye on the Faith Point Track and decide if it's worth investing to please the Church and gain Victory Points, or if keeping your Faith Points for other strategies is more advantageous, even with the penalty. Character Cards and the Council Privilege can be great sources of Faith Points.
3. Diversify your VP Sources: Don't put all your eggs in one basket! While some cards give many VPs, a balanced strategy, collecting Territories, building Buildings, influencing Characters, and promoting Ventures, can be more robust. Also, don't forget the VPs for Military Strength and Collected Resources at the end of the game.