When I read the rulebook, I find it kinda confusing and hard to remember each new game which cards should be in the trade cards' stacks playing a certain number of players, on a certain part of the board.

That's why I created a series of matrixes in Excel that clearly state which cards are in and which are not.

An example of this is the list of cards for 5-7 players playing the eastern part of the board.



Jonno, is it an option to put matrixes like this IN the rulebook?

As an additional tool, (like some other tools I created, that are not necesasary but can be handy) I want to create 7 good-looking scheme's containing this information. A different sheet for the following variations:

1. All cards (like in the rulebook)
2. 15-18 players
3. 12-14 players
4. 8-11 players (option 1, (the original))
5. 8-11 players (option 2, (same digits, other commodities)
6. 5-7 players (WEST)
7. 5-7 players (EAST)


I'm thinking about all A4 sheets that can easiliy be printed and optionally laminated to keep them clean and straight.

Note: the example image above, is just the regular Excel version, not the good-looking one.

Some explanation for the two options for 8-11 players I mentioned:

When you are playing 11 players, you throw in the following cards:

1 Clay
1 Hides
1 Bone
2 Stone
2 Iron
2 Wax
3 Fish
3 Ceramics
3 Salt
4 Cotton
4 Oil
4 Grain
5 Wine
5 Glass
5 Livestock
6 Silver
6 Copper
6 Lead
7 Resin
7 Spice
7 Herbs
8 Dye
8 Obsidian
8 Gemstones
9 Silk
9 Amber
9 Gold

2 Volc./eartq.
2 Treachery
2 squandered Wealth
3 Famine
3 Superstition
3 Tempest
4 Civil War
4 Slave Revolt
4 City in Flames
5 Flood
5 Barbarian Hordes
5 City Riots
6 Cyclone
6 Epidemic
6 Coastal Migration
7 Corruption
7 Civil Disorder
7 Tribal Conflict
8 Tyranny
8 Iconoclasm & H.
8 Minor Uprising
9 Regression
9 Piracy
9 Banditry


But just as a varition on this option, without changing the total or quantities, you could also use the following set of cards:


1 Ochre
1 Flax
1 Bone
2 Papyri
2 Furs
2 Wax
3 Timber
3 Ceramics
3 Fruit
4 Sugar
4 Wool
4 Grain
5 Lacquer
5 Glass
5 Textiles
6 Tin
6 Bronze
6 Lead
7 Jade
7 Incense
7 Herbs
8 Marble
8 Obsidian
8 Tea
9 Ivory
9 Amber
9 Pearls

2 Volc./eartq.
2 Treachery
2 squandered Wealth
3 Famine
3 Superstition
3 Tempest
4 Civil War
4 Slave Revolt
4 City in Flames
5 Flood
5 Barbarian Hordes
5 City Riots
6 Cyclone
6 Epidemic
6 Coastal Migration
7 Corruption
7 Civil Disorder
7 Tribal Conflict
8 Tyranny
8 Iconoclasm & H.
8 Minor Uprising
9 Regression
9 Piracy
9 Banditry


Ofcourse, not all cards are on the unmarked printsheets, but you can use the marked ones, ignoring the marks.
We did this last time we played. This was due to the fact that we used the previous images for the commodities. We found that some of the images looked too much alike, and so we picked the most distinct ones for each single set of commodities. Using both East and West cards.
Soon we didn't notice the E/W markings anymore.
Now we ahve the new images, this is not so much for a problem anymore.

This this single option I mentioned here is nothing but a varation. I don't think it should be mentioned in the rulebook, maybe in the optional rulebook.

There are in fact 4 different statistically identical choices of commodities for 5-7 players:
1. The one listed in the Core Rulebook
2. The opposite (except the shared commodities)
3. The East cards
4. The West cards

And then there is four statistically identical choices for 8-11 players
5. The one listed in the Core Rulebook
6. The opposite (but do use shared commodities)
7. The East + Shared cards
8. The West + Shared cards

But for 12-14 players and 15-18 players there is only one option each
9. 12-14 players, use all but the shared cards
10. 15-18 players, use all cards

If you only print the unmarked set (recommended if you never are more than 11 players) you can only use option 1 and 5.
However, as I always hope for more players, I've only printed the full set, and when we end up less than 12 players, which we usually do, I could choose any of option 1 through 8. Myself I usually pick option 3 or 7 if we play predominantly in the east, and option 4 or 8 if we play predominantly in the west. Easer to sort out the cards, as I don't have to look in the rulebook, but can simply use the E/W marker on the card to determine which to use.

Personally I think the new table in 2.10 is much cleaner than the old enumeration of commodities in the paragraph text. Exactly what is it you are missing, the maximum value of each set, or just individual lists of each option 1 through 10 above?

You are right, there are more option. I didn't think of that.

I'll create those matrixes too, stating which are variations and which are not.

What I'm missing in the rulebook is the four (or five) schemes for each set of number of players.

As soon as I've finished them I'll put em up here.

I've created the sheets using all options.

That is:

15-18 players (east and west)
12-14 players (east and west)
08-11 players (4 options)
05-07 players (4 options)

In total 12 sheets. You could print the east and west versions double sided (west on one side and east on the other) resulting in total 10 sheets.

These sheets are just easily printable and make it a lot easier to set up the game. You could always jus tuse the rulebook if you find that more handy.
this is just a tool.

I've uploaded a layered file to Jonno's server.

These are the jpg-previews: