Republic of Rome Recommended Tournament Rules

Riksforeningen for Strategiske Brettspill (RSB)
Norwegian Nationwide Assembly for Strategic Board Games (NNASB)

Recommended additional tournament rules for Republic of Rome:

Avalon Hill recommended rules:

MATCHING WARS
No game is perfect. Inevitably, something is omitted that would have made the game a tad better had only we thought of it in time. Such an instance occurs in REPUBLIC OF ROME with respect to rule 7.332. Kirk Schlesing correctly points out that matching wars are allowed to pile up too quickly before the players can do anything about it, no matter how cooperative they may wish to be. While the Early Republic scenario was intended to be difficult to win, we should have taken steps to lessen the effects of a shuffle that brought the 2nd Punic War into the game right on the heels of the first.
We therefore urge all players to incorporate this modification to the rules as an official variation.

7.3321 TIME DELAY
Whenever a War or Revolt card is drawn from the deck that would match a face-up War or Revolt card already located in the Forum, the drawn card is placed face-down in an Inactive War slot for the remainder of the current turn. If the face-up matching card is currently located in an Inactive War slot, it is immediately moved to an Active War slot; otherwise, face-up cards are not affected in any way. At the beginning of each new turn, before any other action is taken, all cards in Inactive War slots are turned face-up, and one card for each War or Revolt is moved to an Active War slot on the Forum. Wars should be selected for activation in chronological order (e.g., 1st Macedonian before 2nd Macedonian, etc) whenever possible. An Inactive War and its Leader are instantly matched and activated; there is no delay. If a Leader is drawn that matches an Active War, the Leader is immediately placed on the Active War card, but no additional War cards are activated.

EXAMPLE:
First Punic War begins the game face-up in an Inactive War slot. Second Punic War is drawn; it is placed face-down in an Inactive War slot, and First Punic War is moved to an Active War slot. Third Punic War is drawn in the same turn; it is placed face-down in an Inactive War slot. The Hannibal Leader card is then drawn; it is immediately placed with First Punic War. At the start of Turn 2, Second Punic War is moved to an Active War slot, but Third Punic War remains Inactive until the start of Turn 3. If the Hamilcar Leader card is drawn during either turn, it would be placed with an Active Punic War card. Third Punic War would remain Inactive.
This rule allows Rome at least one opportunity to attack with a reasonable chance of success before its strength multiplies without resorting to extraordinary measures such as a Dictator.

AUTOMATIC UNREST INCREASE
In games where the republic is successful with its foreign policies, its population seldom seems to make any trouble for the senate either. In order to make the population’s spirits affect the game furthermore it is recommended that the unrest level always rises one step in addition to all other conditions influencing it at the start of each population phase.

RSB recommended rules:

HRAO TIEBREAKER
When no senator holds one of the six offices the rules states that the senator in rome with the highest influence will be presiding magistrate, using oratory ratings to break ties. In the rare matter when oratory also is tied, the general rule of using a die roll to break any ties must be used. It is a weakness to the game when players are unable to know who the next HRAO is prior to taking any action (i.e. handing the conduct of the meeting over to the next HRAO upon unanimously defeated proposals or attempts to assassinate the HRAO). RSB recommends that family card numbers are used to break these ties, in favour of the senator with the lowest number.

VOTING ORDER DURING AUTOMATIC MAJOR PROSECUTIONS IN CENCOR’S ABSENCE
When an assassin is caught its faction leader is subject to an automatic major prosecution, which cannot be vetoed. The rules specify that the censor should conduct the voting in this prosecution. If an assassin is caught at a time where no censor is present because he has been assassinated (or the censor himself is the caught assassin), RSB recommends that the HRAO conduct the voting order.

LEADER REFUGE
The random event refuge has proven to be extremely powerful when a leader in refuge joins a war that already has one or more other leaders in play. This may result in having nearly any natural dice rolls result in either a standoff or a disaster, making the war nearly impossible to overcome. RSB recommends that a leader in refuge can only join a war that does not already have a leader in play.

RANDOM EVENTS ROLL OUT OF BOUNDS
In the rare matter where a random event is rolled while Evil Omens are active, the result of the TDR might be less than 3, which has no reference in the random events table. RSB recommends the TDR to be re-rolled if this occurs.

CENSOR INFLUENCE LOSS
A frequently used FAQ for RoR says “the Censor is considered the Presiding Magistrate during a Prosecution and is thus subject to loss of an influence point if a proposed prosecution is voted down unanimously”. RSB does not recommend playing with this rule. Even though Censor is the presiding magistrate he is not HRAO, and does not have the option to hand over the conduct of the meeting to the next HRAO if voted down unanimously.

MORTALITIY CHITS DRAWN FOR FACTION OF A CAUGHT ASSASIN
Following a failed assassination on a popular senator, the faction leader of the faction attempting an assassination is often killed as the result of his popular appeal. If this happens, his faction is subject to mortality chits in the same way as if the faction leader is convicted through a vote.

MINIMUM FORCES
RSB recommends that the minimum force necessary to send a commander without his consent is a force of equal strength of the war, without counting the commander’s military rating.

MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTIONS
Multiple contributions are not allowed (e.g. one contribution of 50t and another one of 25t) from the same senator the same turn.

VICTORY CONDITIONS
It is highly recommended that tournament organizers do not appoint a winner of a table where all players lose according to the rules. This significantly alters the game strategy and undermines the spirit of the game. Some organizers prefer to appoint a winner based on faction influence upon the event where the state collapses and all players ought to lose. If a tournament organizer is determined that the tournament should have a winner, he/she is recommended to make the game start in middle republic and end upon an exhausted deck (unless other victory/loss conditions apply before that).