Arena:Civis

1
Contents
Contents ................................................................................... 2
Welcome ................................................................................... 3
Rules ......................................................................................... 6
Levels ......................................................................................... 6
Actions ....................................................................................... 6
Choosing Actions ....................................................................... 7
Prestige ..................................................................................... 8
Cost ........................................................................................... 9
Farming ...................................................................................... 9
Commerce ............................................................................... 10
Spending Money ...................................................................... 10
Losing Money .......................................................................... 10
Jeopardy ................................................................................. 11
Action Options ........................................................................ 12
Invitations ................................................................................ 12
Rumours .................................................................................. 13
Chance Modifiers .................................................................... 14
Sacrifice ................................................................................... 14
Reading the Entrails ................................................................. 14
Jaded Peers .............................................................................. 14
Over-use .................................................................................. 15
Law ......................................................................................... 16
Festivals .................................................................................. 17
Gambling ................................................................................. 18
Commerce ............................................................................... 19
Trade ........................................................................................ 19
Ports of Destination ................................................................. 20
Supply and Demand ................................................................. 20
Patrons ................................................................................... 22
Prestige Award ........................................................................ 22
Finding a Patron ....................................................................... 22
Favour ...................................................................................... 23
Dropped ................................................................................... 23
Client-hood .............................................................................. 23
Errands ..................................................................................... 24
Factions ................................................................................... 25
Virtues ..................................................................................... 25
Prefect .................................................................................... 26
Revision History ...................................................................... 27

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“You’ll be judged every step of the way.”

Welcome
Civis is a game of social climbing in Imperial Rome. It is an extension of Gladiatoria, and
players run the same characters here.

Setting
For the purposes of Civis, it is assumed that all players have a villa in the Imperial capital,
and a farm in the country. Perhaps players follow the example of Julius Caesar, who owned
a gladiatorial barracks in Capua, but ran his political and social campaigns in Rome.

Overview
Here are the basic concepts in Civis:

• Game Turns
Civis runs Game Turns
Civis runs to the same deadlines as Gladiatoria. However, unlike Gladiatoria, most
things happen immediately. You don’t wait till the deadline to see most outcomes.

• Level
The point of the game is to climb Roman society. To reflect your progress, your
character has a Level. This is the primary measure of his or her social standing.
Current standings will be published as a ladder on the website.

• Prestige
Level depends on gaining Prestige each turn. Even to keep his or her current Level,
your character needs to generate Prestige. Even more is required to rise in Level.

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• Jeopardy
This is the consequence of bad decisions. Or bad luck. If you don’t earn enough
Prestige in a turn to justify your current Level, or you have just risen a Level, your
Level is “in jeopardy” for a turn. If you do not enough Prestige to keep your Level for
another turn, you will drop a Level. Also, you cannot rise in level while in Jeopardy.

• Actions
Prestige is primarily gained through Actions. Actions reflect your lifestyle. Your
character can choose up to 4 Actions per game turn. This assumes a game turn
equals a month of 4 weeks. Most Actions only have a chance of success, so a key
part of the game is weighing the benefits and risks of specific Actions.

• Money
Most Actions incur expenses, so you will need money. There are three primary
sources of income:

o Farm
You own a farm and it generally looks after itself. However, there is an Action
which can improve the income it generates.

o Gambling
Risky, but a trip to the Tavern can turn a single coin into several. Or a handful
of coins into none.

o Trade
This requires you to develop your Business acumen (see Commerce, below).
It is beneath you to engage directly in trade, but you can invest in merchant
adventures across the Mediterranean. Trade can be a tidy investment to top
up your income.


• Commerce
Your character can use an Action to develop business connections. This develops his
or her Commerce rating, which starts at 0. Commerce open opportunities to engage
in Trade. However, Commerce will always fall back to 0 if you don’t actively engage
in Trade.

• Law
Your character can also develop an understanding of Imperial Law, which brings
advantages and opportunities. Each character has a Law rating, which starts at 0.
Some Actions only become available when your character rises to a certain level in
Law. Your character’s Law rating can be improved through an Action, but requires
constant study to maintain at high levels.

• Invitations
Some Actions allow you to invite another player to attend an event you’re hosting. If

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 the other player attends, you both gain a boost to Prestige. If the invitation is
refused, the host is embarrassed, and loses Prestige. It is worth checking the rules
below on when this happens, as the timing can make a difference to your success in
a turn.

• Rumours
Some Actions allow you to start Rumours about another player. This always carries a
risk of the Rumour back-firing, but otherwise it will damage the other player’s
Prestige.

• Patrons
You can cultivate prominent citizens to support you. Patrons can be a source of
Prestige, but you will need to earn their favour. And may need to work to keep it.

• Servants
The game allows you to choose a servant to act as your Major Domus (head of
household). This is purely cosmetic and has no game effect.

• Festivals
In some turns there will be a Festival. If so, it will happen in a specific week. You can
choose to observe the Festival as an Action, or do something else. Doing something
else will incur a penalty to your Prestige, but may be worthwhile if you can gain
more by skipping the festivities.

• Prefect
At the end of each full game year of Civis, the player with the highest Level is made
Praefectus (Prefect) for the following year. This is an honorary position with no
onerous responsibilities.

This completes the overview. For more detail, read on.

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Rules

Levels
Your Level represents your current standing in society. With luck and perseverance, a player’s
Level can rise.

Owners of gladiatorial barracks start at Level 2. It is relatively easy to climb from Level 2, and
you are not likely to fall.

Keeping your current Level, and improving it, depend on your Actions.

Actions
As in Gladiatoria, a turn is roughly equivalent to a month. A player may attempt up to 4 Actions
per turn, and these loosely equate to one Action for each week of the turn. Each week, a menu
of possible Actions is shown on the Orders screen, and players choose one.

Example
A player plans to spend his turn doing the following:

1. Host a lavish feast, and invite another player

2. Oratory at the Forum
3. Fraternise at the Bath House
4. Make a Sacrifice at the Temple

Not all Actions are automatically successful, indeed most are not. Most have only a chance of
success. Different Actions have different chances of success.

Some Actions have a minimum Level, and only become available as you rise up the social
standing.

Players start the turn in Week 1, and select an Action for Week 1. The Action is resolved
immediately, and any cost is deducted from the player’s money. Based on whether or not the
Action was successful, the player may receive Prestige. The player then moves to Week 2.

Most Actions can only be used once per turn. Exceptions are indicated by the symbol
of a snake eating its tail. Any Action carrying this symbol can be used repeatedly in
the same turn.

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Choosing Actions

Choosing your Action will be partly about its chance of success, and partly about the amount of
Prestige it generates.

Above : Anatomy of an Action Card

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Prestige
Prestige measures how much your peers are impressed by your Actions. Successful Actions often
generate Prestige, and even some failed Actions generate a smaller amount of Prestige.

If your Action fails and generates no Prestige it is assumed that no-one noticed or cared. Or that you
didn’t complete it in a sufficiently impressive way. If your failed Action generates some Prestige, it is
called a ‘Partial Success’.

Different Actions earn different amounts of Prestige.

Prestige is short-lived. It falls to 10% of its previous value at the start of each month, and a player
usually needs to generate an amount of new Prestige each turn just to keep his or her current
Level.

So you need to keep up appearances if you want to climb the social ladder. The amount of Prestige
you need each turn depends on your character’s current Level : it is harder to maintain a high Level
than a low one.

An even higher amount of Prestige is needed to rise in Level.

Level Prestige needed to gain Prestige needed to
this Level keep this Level
-1 N/A N/A
0 0 0
1 50 40
2 90 80
3 120 100
4 140 110
5 160 120
6 180 130
7 190 140
8 200 150
9 205 155

In the table above, Level 2 is highlighted to show where new players start.

A player can gain a maximum of +1 Level per turn, and fall no more than -1 per turn.

Different rules apply beyond Level 9.

Example
A player finishes the turn with Prestige of 90 and at Level 2. If he takes no Actions in the following
turn, his Prestige will fall to 9 and he risks falling to Level 1. Instead, the player earns Prestige 80.
Together with the 9 Prestige carried over from the previous turn the player finishes the turn with 89
Prestige. This is enough to keep him at Level 2, but not enough to raise him to Level 3 (requires 120
Prestige).

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Cost
Civis is assumed to draw upon your personal resources, rather than the Treasury of your gladiatorial
school. You gain a basic income each turn from your Farm. Some Actions can increase that income.

Money cannot be transferred between your Gladiatorial school and the social game, or vice versa.

Fortunately, each turn, you will receive an income from your Farm, and this can be enhanced by
Commerce and Gambling.

The currency in this game is the Denarius (plural Denarii). It is represented by this symbol:

Farming
Farming was highly respected in Roman society, and Roman agriculture was the
foundation of Empire. Owning a farm makes you a citizen of property and therefore social
stature.

You start the game with a Farm, which is the initial source of your personal income. Each turn, it will
generate produce and the income from that produce is measured in Denarii (! ).

The basic income from your farm is 40 Denarii per turn (!40).

You can increase this income by spending time on your Farm to improve its management (using the
Farm Action).

Farm Action
As an Action option, you can spend time managing your farm. There are
opportunities to direct the routines and improve its efficiency. Wage labour
is in short supply. The Empire is seeing many native Romans allotted land
for service in the army, and to colonise the provinces. Therefore, your farm
depends on slaves, and unpaid labour means there is often room for
improvement.

You can use any number of your Actions each turn on the Farm. They are
cumulative.

For each week you spend on the farm each turn, you will increase income
from the Farm for a full game year. For up to four weeks, the increase is
three Denarii (!3) per turn. Further weeks add two Denarii (!2) per turn.

Example : if you use all 4 Actions in the turn on the Farm, then you gain !12 every turn for a full
game year. If you then spend 2 weeks on the Farm in the following turn, this rises to !16 per turn.

However, there is a limit to how much extra income can be gained from a plot of land.

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The maximum total income to be gained from a Farm is !60 per turn.

Once this maximum has been reached, additional weeks on the Farm can extend how long the extra
income lasts, but not the amount generated.

Aprilis
April is a significant month in the Farming calendar. Each week spent on the Farm in the turn of the
Festival of Cybele (Aprilis) earns an extra !1 per turn for the following year, and this bonus is
allowed even if income exceeds the usual maximum gained from a Farm.

Commerce
If you have the right business connections, you can invest in a Trade adventure each turn. These take
the form of mercantile expeditions across the Empire. It is an opportunity to generate extra income
for the following turn, in return for an investment during the current turn.

Trade is not an option when starting out in the game, but depends on cultivating Commerce
(business connections) through the Business Action. Therefore, detailed information on Trade is
saved till later in these rules.


Spending Money
Most Actions have a Cost, and you can only attempt Actions you can afford. Different Actions have
different costs.

Losing Money
Unfortunately, Roman society lacks the financial rigor supported by modern banking systems and
accountancy. If you don’t spend your money it has a habit of leaking away, either to light-fingered
slaves, or family members.

Each turn, any money unspent after your Actions will be reduced by 20%.

This is rounded to the nearest whole number.

Because money has a habit of being frittered away or pilfered if you don’t spend it, look for
opportunities to invest it, such as Trade.

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Jeopardy
Sometimes a player’s social standing is at risk due to having only just achieved a higher standing, or
due to poor choices, bad luck or inactivity.

Any player finishing the turn without enough Prestige to maintain his or her Level, will be “in
jeopardy”.

Any player in their first turn at a higher level will be “in jeopardy”.

For the first turn after rising a level, and after any turn in which a player fails to gain enough Prestige
to justify their current level, the player will be in Jeopardy.

This Roman bell means Jeopardy. A player in the Standings with this bell symbol will lose a
Level at the deadline, unless he or she gains enough Prestige for his or her current Level by
the end of the current turn.

A player starting the turn in Jeopardy cannot gain a higher Level.

A player starting a turn in Jeopardy can:

EITHER
Gain enough Prestige (or more than enough Prestige) to maintain his or her current Level. It
makes no difference if the player gains enough Prestige to rise another Level. The player
stays at the same Level and is no longer in Jeopardy.

OR
Fail to generate enough Prestige to maintain his or her current Level. In this case, the player
suffers a -1 Penalty to Level but ceases to be in Jeopardy.

A player can only suffer a maximum of -1 Level per turn.

Example
• Turn 1. A Level 3 player chooses 4 Actions, of which 3 succeed. The 3 successful Actions, and
the Prestige carried over, give him Prestige 120. This is more than the 100 he needs to stay at
Level 3, but not enough to improve his Level. He remains at Level 3.
• Turn 2. Only 1 of the player’s Actions succeeds. The player finishes the turn on Prestige 90,
this is not enough to maintain him at Level 3. He is now in Jeopardy, but remains at Level 3.
• Turn 3. Our player starts in Jeopardy. He attempts an ambitious set of Actions, but none
succeed. He finishes with only Prestige 30. This is the second turn in which he has failed to
keep up appearances, and because he is in Jeopardy, he falls to Level 2.

As you can see, it’s hard work to climb the social ladder in Ancient Rome.

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Action Options
Some Actions offer supplementary options. Some options require extra expenditure, some do not.
Action Options are, as the name suggests, optional. There is always a “None” option, and “None” is
the default (it is always shown, even when no other Options are available).

You can only choose one Action Option per Action.

Action options can do any of the following, sometimes in combination:

• improve the chance that the Action will succeed
• change the Action’s Prestige on success
• change the Action’s Prestige on failure
• offer a chance of an additional Prestige gain
• affect another citizen

The Action descriptions list any options, but to learn the detail of an Action Option, select the Action
on your order screen. A further confirmation is required before the Action is fixed. The following
screen will provide more detail.

If an Action Option offers a chance of an additional Prestige gain, the gain can be still awarded even
if the Action is unsuccessful.

Invitations
Some Action Options allow you to Invite another citizen to an event you’re organizing. This can only
be done at the time you choose the Action.

An invited guest will see an Invitation on their Villa screen, and has the option to Accept or Decline.
If they Accept, both Host and Guest gain Prestige. If they Decline, the Host loses Prestige.

You cannot invite the same citizen to more than one event per month (the effect is diminished if you
keep inviting the same people), however any player can attend any number of events in the same
week.

Both Host and Guest receive the latest information on the state of invitations on their Villa screens,
but Prestige is not added until the deadline. Guests can change their response up to the deadline.
Hosts can withdraw Invitations which have not yet been Accepted or Declined, but cannot change
who is invited.

Guest Accepts Guest Declines

Host Guest Host
Guest at least 2 Levels higher than Host +12 +4 -4

Guest same as or 1 Level higher than Host +8 +8 -8

Guest Level lower than Host +4 +12 -12

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Rumours
It is possible to start a Rumour about a rival using an Action Option. To do so requires two things:

1. success with the Action
2. then a separate Success with the Action Option

Failing the second test means your attempt back-fires, and you immediately lose Prestige. This only
happens with the second test.

This bell symbol identifies victims of rumours. Victims lose Prestige at the end of the current
turn, and it is harder for them to gain Prestige in the following turn.

If your attempt to start a Rumour succeeds, there will be three effects:

• At the end of the turn, the target of your Rumour loses 10% of his or her Prestige. This
penalty is applied before the target has a chance to rise in Level. The loss is fixed at 10% of
total Prestige, even if more than one Rumour targets the same player
• Next turn, the target of any Rumours suffers a -5 penalty to their chance of success with any
Action (rising to -7 if there is more than one Rumour).
o This penalty does not apply if the Action is a Private Action. Private Actions are
marked with a Roman key symbol.
• Next turn, it will be reported that the player is the target of rumours. The source of the
rumours will not be reported.

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Chance Modifiers
Some Actions are automatically successful, but most have only a chance of success. Furthermore,
that chance of success can change with the circumstances.

Sacrifice
If you succeed with the Sacrifice Action, you have pleased the gods. You gain a bonus to the chance
of success with your next Action. The bonus is automatically applied to whatever Action you attempt
next. If gained with the last Week of a turn, the bonus carries over to the first Action of the next
turn.

Note that the bonus from a successful Sacrifice always applies to the next Action, and only applies to
the next Action (even if that Action is an Automatic success).

Reading the Entrails
An Action Option unavailable at low levels, Haruspicy involves the reading of the entrails after a
Sacrifice. It is a form of Divination which attempts to predict your immediate fortunes, and requires
payment (but attracts its own Prestige) . The reader of the entrails is called a Haruspex, and he will
predict your next roll. He will also give you an indication of his confidence, which will be a
percentage chance that the predicted roll will be accurate.

The prediction you receive from Haruspicy is never applied to automatic success Actions. Automatic
actions involve no doubt, and do not attract the attention of the reader of the entrails. Instead the
predicated roll will apply, if accurate, to your next Action roll where there is a chance of failure.

Jaded Peers
Unfortunately, as your triumphs mount in the current month, your peers become jaded. It then
takes more to impress them, and it becomes harder to gain Prestige in the current turn.

Each successful Action you have in a turn reduces the chances for later Actions that turn by -3.

Only Action successes count. There is no penalty for failures, even if failures generate Prestige.
Action Option successes, and Action Option bonuses are unaffected.

Exceptions are Private Actions, such as Farming, which are not about Prestige. They can
be identified by this symbol, which represents a Roman key. Private Actions create no
penalty for other Actions, and are unaffected by the success of other Actions.

Fortunately, the Festival resets everyone’s expectations.

Only successes in the current turn affect an Action in this way.

Example
In the first Week of the Turn, a player visits her Farm. She is successful in making improvements, which
will improve her income in future turns. However, Farm does not generate Prestige. Success does not
reduce her chances with future Actions this turn. In Week 2, she attends a Drama at the Theatre and is
successful. This generates Prestige, and so Week 3 actions will suffer a penalty. In Week 3, she makes a
Sacrifice to the gods, and suffers a penalty from the Drama success. The Sacrifice is still successful, so this

Arena:Civis 14
doubles her penalty in Week 4. For that reason, she decides to spend Week 4 studying Law, which is not
affected by the jealousy of her rivals. At the end of the Turn the penalty disappears.

Over-use
If the same Action keeps being used, it loses its power to impress.

Each turn, the Action most used in the game suffers a -10 penalty to its chance of success in the next
turn. The second-most Action used suffers a -5 penalty in the next turn, and the third-most used
suffers a -2 penalty in the next turn.

This means that Action success chances change from turn to turn.

Where Actions are tied for over-use, the tie is broken in the following order: most used; highest
Prestige on success; highest Prestige on failure; cost; name.

These and all other modifiers are included in the values shown on the website when you are
choosing an Action.

Exceptions

Some Actions are marked with a Roman Key. These are Private Actions. Other Actions are
automatically successful. Neither Private Actions nor automatically successful Actions
count towards, or suffer, over-use penalties.

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Law
The study of Law was an important occupation for persons of stature. It confirmed their erudition
and power.

Each player has a rating in Law, which starts at 0. Law reflects the player’s understanding of the
complexities of Imperial law, and their ability to apply that understanding. Some Actions such as
Oratory only become available when your character reaches a minimum rating in Law.

Law is gained and improved through the Law Action. It is harder to understand advanced Law than
basic Law. Your chance of success in the Law Action falls by 5 per Law rating.

However, Law must continue to be studied for your character to stay current and agile in its
application.

The first 2 levels of Law are permanent. Beyond that, you Law will equal the number of turns you
succeeded in studying Law over the past year, or 2 (whichever is higher).

Actions marked with this symbol, the Roman Fasces (a bundle of rods around an axe),
count as practicing Law. Their chance of success gains a bonus equal to your rating in
Law.

Unfortunately, given the very hierarchical nature of Roman society, your knowledge of Law is
constantly limited by your social Level. If you finish a turn with Law higher than your main Level, Law
is reset to equal your Level. This does not prevent you using the Law Action to raise your Law above
your Level, and use that extra Law during the same turn.


Example
Player A studies Law for 10 consecutive turns, and succeeds 8 times. His Law rating is then 8. The
following turn, his character falls to Level 7. Because Law can never start a turn higher than Level, he
starts the next turn on Law 7. The following year, he does not study Law at all, and his Law rating
starts to fall. He ends the second year with a Law of 2.

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Festivals
Festivals are special Actions that happen in a specific week, in a specific
turn, each game year. They gain no Prestige or benefit, but prominent
Roman citizens are expected to observe them.

Failure to use a Festival Action in the week it is available costs Prestige
equal to three times your current Level.

It is your decision whether the penalty of skipping the Festival is a price
worth paying.

Your Servant will warn you if the turn contains a Festival, and the Festival
action will be shown first on the Actions page.

The reference page of the Civis website lists all Festivals.

Arena:Civis 17
Gambling
At any point in the turn (and as many times as you like in the turn), you will have the option to visit
the Tavern for some gambling. The Romans favoured a game called Tali, which is played with bones.
It costs money to join a game, which is always played with 5 other people (making 6 players in total).

Any winnings or losses are immediately applied to your money, and you can play as much as you like
in the turn.

Rules of Tali for the Curious. Four bones are thrown, and each bones is marked with four possible
outcomes: I,III, IV and VI (1,3,4 and 6). The best result is one of each number (6,4,3, 1), which is called
a Venus Roll. The worst result is four ones (1,1,1,1), which is called Dogs. In between are a range of
other combinations. In our game, the following rules are used, with rolls in descending value:

Name of Roll
Venus Exactly one of each possible roll : 6,4,3,1
Senio Exactly one 6 and any three other numbers, ties broken in favour of the
highest total value of the roll
Vultures Four dice showing the same number, so long as it’s not 1 (see Dogs), ties
broken in favour of the highest total value of the roll
- Any combination not covered elsewhere, ties broken in favour of the
highest total value of the roll
Dogs Four dice showing 1. This is the lowest possible roll.

In the event of two players making identical highest rolls, the game is declared a tie, and the pot is
claimed by the house.

Arena:Civis 18
Commerce
Commerce is not a fitting pursuit for a person of status, but it is acceptable to use your wealth to
sponsor Trade – in return for a share of the profits, of course. To start out in commerce, you’ll need
to visit the Forum and develop some contacts with traders. Do this with the Business Action. There is
a chance your efforts will fail, but if not, you’ll gain a rating in Commerce, and a rating of 1 is enough
to get started.

Commerce Rating
Each player has a rating in Commerce, which starts at 0. Commerce reflects the player’s
business contacts, and determines whether the player can engage in trade.


There are two constraints on Commerce:

• Your business connections need oiling
• Your Commerce rating is always limited by your Level

If you do not actively engage in Trade, your Commerce rating will fall as business contacts look for
more reliable partners.

Commerce falls one level every turn if you have not engaged in Trade in the current turn.
Commerce cannot fall below 0.

Furthermore, if you finish a turn with Commerce higher than your main Level, Commerce is reset to
equal your Level. This does not prevent you using the Business Action to raise your Commerce above
your Level for the turn.

Trade

When you have a Commerce rating above 0, you can engage in one trade per turn. Trade itself does
not require an Action. However, it requires an investment from your current turn’s income.

A share in a Trade expedition costs 10 Denarii (!10). A player may only sponsor one Trade
Expedition per turn.

If you decide to back a Trade expedition, you must commit the required funds in the current turn. At
the adjudication, you will learn the income earned, and this will be available in full at the start of the
next turn.

If the ship sinks, the investment is lost.

In most cases, a Trade Expedition will return the investment with a profit. However, there is a small
risk that the ship will sink. The risk rises if the ship has farther to travel. The risk associated with each
Port is shown on the website.

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Ports of Destination
Each Trade Expedition visits a specific port. The farther ports tend to supply more lucrative goods
than those close to home, but they also represent a greater risk that the ship will be lost. Merchants
are reluctant to go into partnership for long distance expeditions until both parties have developed
enough trust. As your Commerce level rises, more ports will be offered to you as expedition
destinations.

Each port has a range of goods which might be available, and the range for each port is listed on the
Trade tab of the website.

Which goods are available to an expedition are not known in advance, the trader must buy locally
when he arrives at the destination. However, it is generally the case that farther ports tend to offer
more exotic goods, and better profits.

Supply and Demand

Prices for goods rise and fall over time. The website will show the value of goods to be paid at the
next deadline. That is the value you will receive at the deadline, if your trader ships those goods.

After payment has been made, prices are adjusted for the following turn. Goods are more likely to
fall in value is there is a strong supply, and the website will show an “Overselling threshold” below
the commodities index, which represents the quantity at which the price paid for any good is likely
to fall dramatically due to oversupply.


Example
• Turn 1. A player has a Commerce rating of 0, so she cannot engage in Commerce. She uses one of
her Actions to visit the Forum and take a Business Action. It succeeds, and her Commerce rating
rises to 1.

Arena:Civis 20
 • Turn 1. With her Commerce at 1, the player can immediately engage in Commerce, and is offered
the opportunity to invest in an expedition to Brundisium. It’s a low-risk enterprise, with only a
small chance of the ship failing to come back. She decides to invest, and pays !10 from her Turn
1 income.
• Turn 2. The expedition to Brundisium has returned with a load of Grain, and the player’s share is
currently worth !16 at market. The player gains the full !16 to spend in Turn 3.

Arena:Civis 21
Patrons
Patrons offer another way to gain Prestige, through associating yourself with someone of influence.
A prominent citizen may take your character under his or her wing. Patronage was very much part of
Roman society, and most successful citizens both enjoyed and bestowed it, at different points in
their lives.

If you need an example of patronage in action, watch the Godfather or an episode of the Sopranos.
Patronage has been a significant influence on Italian culture.

The number of Patrons in the game will be influenced by the number of players. There will always be
at least two:

Above: Marcius Virilis and Gratia Iusta are two prominent citizens who bestow patronage.

Prestige Award
Each Patron can have exactly one Client in each turn. That Client gains a Prestige award for being
associated with the Patron. The award is made at the start of the turn, before Actions.

A list of current patrons, their Prestige Awards, interests and availability is posted on the website.

Finding a Patron
In order to win a Patron, you must first gain his or her attention. Each potential patron has an
interest, and that interest will link to an Action.

Example: Patron A is fond of the Theatre and attends a Drama in the third week of every month. If
you successfully use the Drama Action that week, you will gain the attention of Patron A.

This symbol appears on an Action card when a patron is available in the current week. If
you are successful with the Action, you will have gained the attention of a potential
Patron.

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Favour
Once you have gained the attention of a Patron, you will immediately gain Favour with that Patron.
Favour is the measure of the Patron’s interest in your character, and once you have gained the
Patron’s attention, you will be able to increase your Favour with gifts, and by further success in the
Patron’s area of interest.

Only Favour gained in the last 4 rounds counts towards your current total with a Patron.

Therefore, you need to keep cultivating your Patron if you want the Prestige Award. Here’s how:

Favour
Successful Action, Patron’s Interest 1
Novelty bonus (see below) 1
Gift 1

Actions : Completing an Action which interests a Patron in the right week gains your character +1
Favour with that Patron.

Novelty Bonus : You gain an extra +1 Favour with the above if you currently have no Favour with the
Patron, and are not in the process of being Dropped (see below) by that Patron.

Gifts : Each turn, you can send a gift to a Patron who already knows you. The required value of that
Gift varies from Patron to Patron, and this is shown on the list of potential Patrons. A gift of the
correct value gains you +1 Favour, but if you try to send more gifts they will be returned.

Dropped
You are in the process of being Dropped by the Patron if your Favour falls to 0 at the start of a turn.
For that turn only, the Patron will accept gifts, but you do not qualify for the Novelty Bonus. If you
do nothing to recover Favour by the start of the next turn, the Patron will no longer recognize you.
You must then impress that Patron with an Action, before you can again send gifts.

Client-hood
At the end of the turn, the player character with the highest Favour will become the Client of a
Patron for the next turn, subject to the following restrictions:

• The Client must have at least 5 Favour with the Patron
• No Patron can have more than one Client
• No Client may have more than one Patron
• If two Clients are tied for Favour with the same Patron, and one of them is the current
Client, that Client wins; else neither becomes Client (the Patron is playing the two off against
each other, and has no Client this turn)
• If a player character has the same Favour with more than one Patron, the character will
become Client to the one offering the most Prestige (ties broken randomly)

In the next turn, the Client of each Patron gains the Prestige award of being Client to that Patron.
Note that the Prestige award is not added in the turn the character wins the Favour and becomes
the Client, but at the start of the following turn: this allows players to plan with it in mind, and it
reflects the time it takes for news to spread. For a month, the player character gets to swan around
the town as people point and whisper about his or her powerful patron.

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Errands
Having a Patron requires a bit of give and take. From time to time, your Patron may expect you to
return his or her Favour by running an errand.

If your Patron expects you to run an errand this turn, the Errand Action will appear in the list
of Actions available to you. The symbol represents a raised finger.

The Errand Action brings no benefit to you, other than to satisfy your Patron.

If you do not undertake the Errand in the current turn, your Favour with that Patron will be reduced
by -6.

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Factions
Factions are intended to form part of a future expansion and at this time have no significance in
Civis. However, the concept of Virtues and their link to Factions is explained below for reference.

Virtues
Roman social values were governed by an unwritten code called the Mos Maiorum. This defined a
set of virtues to which a Roman might aspire, such as Virtus (or ‘manliness’). Your choice of Actions
will influence which of these virtues your character demonstrates, regardless of whether or not the
Action is successful.

Each of the virtues used in the game is associated with one of Gladiatoria’s five factions. In addition,
Civis adds a sixth faction: the Mob.

The concepts defined by the Mos Maiorum do not have direct modern equivalents, and some licence
has been taken with the inclusion of Otio and Liberalitas. Very loose definitions are offered below.

Virtue Rather like …. Faction
Aequitas Equality, fair dealing Mob
Fides Trust, bonding Guilds
Gravitas Gravitas, dignity Nobles
Otium Leisure Hedonists
Pietas Duty to gods and ancestors Gods
Virtus Manliness Army

Influence
Some Actions are associated with specific Virtues. Sometimes, an Action allows you to
choose which Virtue you wish to display.

Any Prestige gained with such Actions also adds to your rating in that Virtue, and does so for
a full game year. So at any time, your rating in a Virtue will be the sum of Prestige you have
gained from relevant Actions over the past year.

Virtues translate into Influence with the associated Faction. Standings are published on the
website, showing current Influence with each Faction.

Ties are broken by the number of Actions used which demonstrate the Virtue (regardless of
success), and then the total of all the rolls made on those Actions1.

1
In this case, high rolls are better than low

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Prefect
By the time of our game, many of the administrative titles of Rome were in the gift of the Emperor
and/or his advisors. Among these titles, Prefectures varied significantly in their responsibilities: from
the military to the civic and urban. Some of the latter were largely honorary. Ours represents
recognition granted by an Imperial functionary to a citizen of current eminence in the city, and will be
assumed to entail little in the way of onerous commitments.

At the end of a full game year of Arena:Civis, the player at the top of the social ladder is appointed
Praefectus (Prefect) for the following year. This honour is recorded in the annals, and the player is
considered to have “won” that game year.

Ties are broken on in the following order of precedence: Level; Prestige; Law; Money.

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Revision History

6.0.3 • Clarification of the timing of the Prestige award
gained from a Patron.
6.0.2 • Virtues expanded to include Influence (now shown on
website)
• Clarification that players may only sponsor one trade
expedition per turn.
6.0.1 • Added ‘Reading the Entrails’
• Clarification of Invitation withdrawal options (cannot
transfer)
• Corrected minor typos
6.0 • First rulebook published at the start of AUC VI (hence
6.0)


Arena: Civis
https://gladiatoria.com
©2017 Richard Egan

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