PLAYERS & PLAYWRIGHTS

INTRODUCTION
Board game for 2-4+ players. 
Each player is a Theatre Troupe during the English Renaissance. 

VICTORY
The player with the most Gold at the end of the game wins.  
The game ends when the players have gone through the deck twice. 
(The start of the English Civil War)

DICE
Six sided dice are needed. 

GOLD
Use Coins to represent Gold

PAWNS
Each player has a unique pawn to represent his Troupe. 
(Use Chess pieces) 

THE DECK
Players share a common deck. 
There are 7 Suites (card types): 
Playwrights (Dramatists: The Men who wrote the plays)
Actors (Players: The men who acted the plays)
Troupes (Companies of Actors)
Theatres (Playhouses: Where plays were performed)
Dramatic Devices (How the plays were written)
Stage Props (Special effects used to enhance the plays)
Plays (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies)

THE BOARD
The board is a circular track of 32 spaces. 
The spaces are entitled thusly:
#	Title:			Type	Notes:
1	Playwright		A	Score Playwright cards
2	Performance		P	Score Meld
3	Rehearsal 		R	Draw 1 Card
4	Actors			A	Score Actor cards
5	Morality Play		M	Gain 1 Gold
6	Performance		P	Score Meld
7	History 	 	A	Score History Play cards
8	Performance		P	Score Meld
9	Profit Sharing		E	Lose 1D6 Gold
10	Performance		P	Score Meld
11	Comedy			A	Score Comedy Play cards
12	University Play		M	Gain 1 Gold
13	Pageant			M	Gain 1 Gold
14	Court Performance	P	Double Score Meld
15	Rehearsal 		R	Draw 1 Card
16	Tour Countryside	P	Half Score Meld
17	Troupe			A	Score Troupe cards
18	Mummers Plays		M	Gain 1 Gold
19	Performance		P	Score Meld
20	Cycle Play		M	Gain 1 Gold
21	Trouble			T	Roll on Trouble Table
22	Stage Props		A	Score Stage Props cards
23	Rehearsal 		R	Draw 1 Card 
24	Mystery Play		M	Gain 1 Gold
25	Theatre			A	Score Theatre cards
26	Dramatic Devices	A	Score Dramatic Device cards
27	Rehearsal 		R	Draw 1 Card
28	Performance		P	Score Meld
29	Trouble			T	Roll on Trouble Table
30	Masque			M	Gain 1 Gold
31	Tragedy			A	Score Tragedy Play cards
32	Patronage		E	Gain 1D6 Gold

BOARD SPACE TYPE NOTATION
P = Performance
T = Trouble
M = Minor Performance
A = Attribute
E = Event
R = Rehearsal 

BOARD DOWNLOAD
Click Here

SETUP
Players roll high on 1D6 to see who goes first. 
Each player is dealt a hand of 7 cards. 
Each player starts with 10 Gold. 
Pawns start on the Profit Sharing Space. 

TURN SEQUENCE
Players take turns. 
Each turn has 3 Phases: 
Rehearsal Phase
Performance Phase
Exit Phase

REHEARSAL PHASE
Draw 2 cards. 
If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard and draw from it. 

PERFORMANCE PHASE
Roll 1D6 and move that many spaces clockwise along the Track. 
If you land on an opponents Pawn steal one of his cards and 
Then roll and move again. 
If you land on an empty space, follow the instructions on that space. 

MINOR PERFORMANCE SPACES
These were older types of plays: 
Cycle Plays: Religious Plays that used non-professionals as actors. 
Morality Plays: Allegorical Lessons
Mummers Plays: Medieval Plays like St George & the Dragon
University Plays: Classical Greek/Roman Philosophical Plays
Mystery Plays: Miracle Plays: Religious/Biblical Plays like the Nativity
Pageant: Parades & Processions: Royal & Local
Masque: Fancy Dress Dance: Entertainment of the Nobility

EVENT SPACES
Profit Sharing = The company was owned by the actors. 
Patronage = A patron provided only minor financial support but was very 
Useful for protection from legal troubles. 

PERFORMANCE SPACES
Performance: These were usually held at the Troupes own Theatre. 
Royal Performance: Troupes would get invited to palaces to perform there. 
Tour Countryside: When evicted by plague or Protestants, Troupes would hit the road
To Score a Meld, play (discard) cards from your hand: 
You may play up to 1 card from each of the Seven Suites. 
Gain Gold equal to the number of Suites played. 
Note: for the Royal Performance and the Tour Countryside spaces you 
Cannot include a Theatre card in the Meld. 
A Meld must contain at least 4 cards or it cannot be played. 
A 5 card Meld earns 1 extra Gold.
A 6 card Meld earns 2 extra Gold.
A 7 card Meld earns 3 extra Gold.

ATTRIBUTE SPACES
There is one for each of the card suites except for plays. 
(Play spaces are divided into 3 types: Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies)
To score an attribute space, play (discard) 1 or more cards of the indicated type. 
Gain 1 Gold for each card so played. 

REHEARSAL SPACES
Draw 1 card and put it in your hand

TROUBLE SPACES
Roll 1D6: 
#	Result:			Notes:
1	Death			Discard all your cards
2	Fire			Lose 2D6 Gold
3	Plague			Skip your next turn
4	Protestants		Skip your next turn
5	Prison			Discard 3 random cards
6	Legal Problems		Lose 1D6 Gold

EXTRA SCORING
When scoring a Play card in a Performance or if played solo on the 
Attribute space, you may quote a line from the play or some interesting 
Tidbit from the play or about it. If all the other players agree that your 
Contribution was worthwhile, you may earn 1 additional Gold. 

EXIT PHASE
Max hand size is 8 cards. 
Discard excess cards. 

COMMON DECK CARD LIST NOTATION
W = Playwrights
A = Actors 
T = Troupes 
P = Theatres
D = Dramatic Devices 
S = Stage Props 
C = Comedies
H = Histories
X = Tragedies

COMMON DECK CARD LIST
Card Name:			Type	Notes:
Musicians			S	
Costumes			S	
Masks				S	
Fireworks			S	
Special Effects			S	
Hoists & Pulleys		S	
Simple Stage			S	
Open to the Sky			S	Theatre in the Round
Trap Doors			S	
Balconies			S	
The Globe			P	
The Rose			P	
The Curtain			P	
The Swan			P	
The Fortune			P	
The Red Bull			P	
The Hope			P	
Blackfriars			P	
Boars Head			P	
Tabard Inn			P	
Contrasts			D	
Poetry				D	
Powerful Emotions		D	
Sub-Plots			D	
Soliloquy			D	& Confidants
Pictorial Language		D	
Character Foils			D	
Audience Knowledge		D	
Conflict			D	
Irony				D	
The Lord Chamberlains Men	T	
The Kings Men			T	
Oxfords Men			T	
The Admirals Men		T	
Worcesters Men			T	
Leicesters Men			T	
Lady Elizabeths Men		T
Prince Charles Men		T	
Queen Annes Men			T	
The Queens Revels		T
William Shakespeare		W	
Shakespeare the Bard		W	
Shakespeare the Dramatist	W	
Christopher Marlowe		W	Dr Faustus
Ben Johnson			W	The Alchemist
George Peele			W	King Edward I
Thomas Kyd			W	The Spanish Tragedy
John Webster			W	The Duchess of Malfi
Thomas Middleton		W	A Chaste Maid in Cheapside
Thomas Heywood			W	A Woman Killed with Kindness
The Fool			A	
The Clown			A	
Brooding Figure			A	
Boy Player			A	
Famous Thespian			A	
Leading Man			A	
Master Orator			A	
Veteran Actor			A	
Star Performer			A	
Loves Labor’s Lost		C	
Comedy of Errors		C	
Two Gentleman of Verona		C	
Midsummer Night’s Dream		C	
Merchant of Venice		C	Dark Comedy
Taming of the Shrew		C	Farce
Merry Wives of Windsor		C	
Much Ado About Nothing		C	
As You Like It			C	Pastoral
Twelfth Night			C	
All’s Well that Ends Well	C	Dark Comedy
Measure for Measure		C	Dark Comedy
Troilus and Cressida		C	Dark Comedy
Pericles			C	Late Romance
Cymbeline			C	Late Romance
Winter’s Tale			C	Late Romance
Tempest				C	Late Romance
Henry VI Part I			H	
Henry VI Part II		H	
Henry VI Part III		H	
Richard III			H	
King John			H	
Richard II			H	Tragic
Henry IV Part I			H	
Henry IV Part II		H	
Henry V				H	Epic
Henry VIII			H	
Titus Andronicus		X	Roman
Romeo and Juliet		X	
Julius Caesar			X	Roman
Hamlet				X	
Othello				X	
King Lear			X	
Macbeth				X	
Antony and Cleopatra		X	Roman
Timon of Athens			X	
Coriolanus			X	Roman



LINKS
 English Renaissance Theatre