Carcassonne FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions and Further Clarifications
See the River FAQ for details of The River and The
River II.
Please note
that questions regarding combinations of expansion sets could be answered under
any of the relevant headings.
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General Questions
Q: I have
memorised all the tiles. Am I allowed to
play a tile when I know that by doing so I am creating a space which can never
be filled, either because the required tile doesn't exist or because all the
possible tiles have already been played?
A: Yes,
that is permitted. But be aware that, if by doing so, you have prevented your
opponents from finishing a road, cloister or city (especially a Cathedral
city!), they may seek revenge!
Q: If I play a tile which completes
an empty city, must I place a knight in it? Or am I allowed to place a farmer
instead?
A: As long
as the farm is vacant you can place a farmer in it. No-one will score for the city. But you can only play one follower, so you
can't place both a knight and a farmer on the same turn.
Exception:
if you are using the Count then you or any other player could also bring a
knight out of Carcassonne City to score for the city.
Q: When I
play a tile which completes a city and I get a knight back, can I, on the same
turn, place that knight on the same tile as a farmer or thief?
A: No! The
sequence is:
- Place a tile
- Place a follower
- Score the completed city
- Place the knight back in your
supply
So you
don't get the follower back early enough to play it on that turn. The first time you can use the follower is on
your next turn. The same applies to
roads and cloisters.
Q: In the situation where I have a knight
in each of two cities which are close to each other, if a tile is played which
joins the city (but doesn't complete it) can I take one of the two knights back
into my supply?
A: No. Both knights must remain in the city! Followers are only returned to your supply
when the city is completed and scored. You can't choose to vacate an incomplete
area. The same applies to roads which
join without completing.
It also of
course applies to farmers since they are never returned to your supply.
Exceptions:
being eaten by the Dragon, seduced by the Princess, captured by a Tower or
fleeing a Cathar city to a cloister are all ways of getting your followers back
from any area.
Q: Can I
get two followers onto the same tile?
A: The
basic rules don't provide any way of doing this, but it is not prohibited. A magic portal allows you to place a follower
on any legal feature; Carcassonne City allows you to move followers to any
feature being scored; and you can place a follower on any unoccupied
Tower. All of these make it possible to
get multiple followers on the same tile, and in the case of Carcassonne City
you can even have multiple followers in a cloister (just while it is scored) –
this could be a reason for placing a large follower into a cloister.
Usually there‘s only one monk in a cloister, with the Count
you can have the whole Vatican staff in there!
Examples of
shared tiles: pig and farmer on same tile; Tower-locker and thief on same tile
(when the tile has both a tower space and a road); monk and knight on same tile
(when the tile has a cloister inside a city); etc.
Q: How do I
get two followers in the same city, farm or road?
A: You can
never get two followers (from the same player or from different players) into any
city, farm or road by enlarging an occupied area with your tile and placing a
follower on it – that area is already occupied and you can't place anyone in an
occupied area.
You CAN get
two followers into an area by placing your follower into a separate area close
by and then on a subsequent move placing a tile which joins the two areas.
These two
roads are being joined to make one road. 
This
picture shows two separate cities; touching at the corner does not join
them. Whether or not they will join
depends on which tile is played next.
This one
separates them: 
This one joins
them: 
Hint: If
you want to join a farm which has a farmer already, look for a space behind a
city on the edge of that farm where you can start a new farm and then join it
up later. Yellow and Green are in
separate farms, which can easily be joined.
Exception: If you are using the Count then you can move a
follower from Carcassonne City to an occupied area (even an occupied cloister),
just for the scoring, then they are all returned to your supply.
Q: If I
have two followers in the same city, road, farm or cloister do I get double
points?
(You can
get two followers into a cloister if you are using the Count.)
A: No. These two yellow knights score only 6 points
in total (not 12!).
These red
and yellow knights score 6 points EACH.
Q: If I
have a large follower from the Expansion Set in a city, road, farm or cloister
do I get double points?
A: No. The
number and size of followers is only used for determining the majority.
For each
city, road, farm or cloister:
Step 1:
Determine which player or players have the majority.
Step 2:
Allocate the standard points for that city, road or farm to each player with
the majority. Each player gets the full
number of points, once.
Q: If one of my city or road tiles
has two segments on it, do I get a point for each segment?
A: No, you
get a point for each tile. This city
scores 8 points.
This road scores
4 points.
Q: Can I place two cloisters side by
side or corner to corner, or must they always have 8 other small cards around
them?
A:
Yes. Each cloister stands in its own
field already; you can place another cloister in its own field as close to the
first cloister as you like. Religious
conflict does not come into the play of Carcassonne!
Farms
Q: If a
farm is completed by surrounding it with roads and cities then can I score it
and get my farmer back?
A: No,
farms are scored at the end of the game. Once a farmer, always a farmer!
(Unless you get eaten by a dragon!)
Q: Does a
farm have to be completed by surrounding it with roads and cities in order to
get a score?
A: No, all
farms are scored no matter what state they are in – the cities must be
complete, not the farms.
Q: Does a
farm have to surround a city to get points for that city?
A: No, it
only has to touch it.
Q: How do I
know which cities are in my farm?
A: The cities
that will give your farmer points are the ones that the farmer can walk to on
the green without crossing a road, river or city. Note that road bridges count
as roads and city bridges count as city walls – all bridges separate farms even
if it looks as though you could walk under the bridge.
Q: When I place a cloister tile, may
I place a farmer in the field around the cloister?
A: Yes. As
long as it is a legal play a farmer may be place on any green area, no matter
what else is on the tile or how small the area is.
This
cloister will then remain vacant for the remainder of the game, unless you use
a magic portal or bring a monk out from Carcassonne City (with the Count
expansion set).
Q: Since
the farms in this diagram are not connected, does red score once or twice for
the cities?
A: With the
new rules, each farm is treated completely independently. For the top left farm
red scores 6 points. For the larger
farm, red and blue share the majority and each one scores 6 points. So red gets 12 points in total.
Q: If at the end of the game one of
my farmers is completely enclosed by roads, what score does he get?
A:
Absolutely nothing. He gets 3 points per
complete city touching his farm. He has
zero farms so he gets zero points, and he still has to stay in the field until
the end of the game. Of course he may be
very upset with whoever enclosed him, and seek revenge!
Q: Can I place a farmer in the field
in the centre of the tile with four city segments and score for these 4 cities?
A: Yes,
this field behaves exactly like all other fields. The farmer has a farm consisting of one small
field and holds undisputed majority there (unless you are using the
Count!). However you will only score for
completed cities, and of course all the segments could be joined together into
one large city, severely limiting the benefit!
Inns & Cathdrals
Q: May I
place a cathedral tile on someone else's city?
A:
Yes. This can be a good tactical play
near the end of the game if it prevents your opponent from completing a large
city – they will score nothing for the city unless they finish it. The same applies to adding an inn to a road.
Traders & Builders
Q: In
Traders & Builders, what happens, if several players in a city with Trade
Goods share the majority?
A: That is
irrelevant. It is not the player who
owns the city that gets the Trade Goods; it is the player who places the tile
that completes the city, even if that player does not have any knights in the
city. The same applies to the King and the
Robber Baron.
Q: Can a
builder or pig be placed in an area which already has a builder or pig?
A: Yes, as
long as you have a knight, thief or farmer in that area, as appropriate, you
can add a builder or pig, regardless of what other followers any other player
has in the area.
The Princess & The Dragon
Q: If I
play a dragon tile, but don't place a follower on it, can I move the Fairy
before the Dragon starts moving.
A:
Yes. This can be a major advantage!
Q: If I complete
an area that I already own and don't place a man, can I move the Fairy to my
existing follower and score the 3 Fairy points on the same turn?
A: Yes,
moving the Fairy takes places before scoring.
Q: If
playing a dragon tile completes an area, is it scored before the Dragon moves?
A: No. The Dragon is moved before the scoring. If your followers are eaten then they don't
contribute to the scoring.
Q: If the
Dragon eats my knight, but I still have a builder in a completed city, can I
score for that city?
A: No. Builders don't contribute to the determining
of the majority.
Q: If I
place a volcano card, can I move the Fairy?
A: No. You are rewarded with the ability to move the
Fairy when you forgo placing a follower. Since you cannot place a follower on a
volcano card you are not giving anything up, so you can't move the Fairy. The
same applies if you use a princess to remove a knight from a city. On such a turn you would not be able to place
a follower as well, so you can't choose to move the Fairy instead.
The only
exception to this is if you place a tile which you would normally be allowed to
place a follower on, but where all the areas are already occupied. In this case, even though you can not legally
place a follower you may move the Fairy.
Q: Can the
Dragon eat builders and pigs?
A:
Yes. Dragons need a balanced diet – they
will eat anything they can!
Q: If I
play a princess tile can I remove a builder, or can I only remove a knight?
A: Yes, you
can remove a builder, he is a follower too. The player who places the princess
tile chooses which follower he will remove.
Q: If I
play a princess tile can I remove a large follower?
A: Yes,
however, as he is a Paladin amongst knights, he can better resist the
Princess. He can therefore only be
removed when there are no other knights or builders in the city.
Q: What
happens to a builder if the Dragon or a Princess removes all the associated
knights?
A: The
builder stays and continues building. Knights are for owning cities; builders
are for getting extra turns. If you add
another city tile to the city, even with no knight in the city, your builder
will get you an extra turn. The builder
stays in the city until the city is complete, or until he is removed by the
Dragon, a Princess or a Tower.
Q: What
happens to the pig, if the Dragon eats the associated farmer?
A: Then it
is a very sad pig, all alone in its farm. It scores nothing by itself. If you get more farmers back into the farm
and attain the majority again, then the pig will count as normal. Otherwise it is stuck there providing no
benefit until the end of the game, unless you can get the Dragon to eat it too,
or get someone to take it prisoner with a Tower.
Q: Can the
Dragon enter Carcassonne City and eat the Count or any other the followers in
that city.
A: No,
Carcassonne City is safe. The Dragon may not enter it.
Q: If there
is a completed area that no-one scored for, for example a cloister that was
never occupied, or a city where the all the knights were eaten by the Dragon
before they would score, then can I use a magic portal to teleport in there and
claim the score?
A: No. The
rules state that you cannot teleport into a completed area. This applies even if no-one scored for it.
Q: If we
are using the Count, can I use a magic portal to teleport into Carcassonne City
or onto one of the field, road or city segments on the edges of the Carcassonne
City tiles?
A: No. The magic
portal only allows followers to be deployed to tiles that can be legally
occupied according to the usual rules, as if the player had just placed the
tile in question. Carcassonne City tiles
can only be occupied by following the specific rules that apply to them.
Q: Can I
use a magic portal to place a follower onto the tile where the dragon is?
A: No, the
dragon feasts on all followers on the tile.
His appetite is insatiable. This
is the reason why a player isn‘t allowed to place a follower when placing a
volcano-tile.
Q: Can I use a magic portal to place a follower
onto a volcano-tile?
A: If the Dragon has left the tile: Yes.
Q: If I
have more than one follower on a tile (one could have been added to a tower, or
teleported into a different feature on the same tile by a magic portal), then
does the dragon eat them all if she visits that tile?
A:
Yes. It is a big dragon!
The King & The Scout
Q: Who
receives the King, the player with the largest city or the player with the most
valuable city?
A: The
player who completes the largest city. The size of the city is determined
solely by how many tiles are in it. Pennants, Cathdedrals and scores are
completely irrelevant, even if a smaller city gets a bigger score, it doesn't
affect who gets the King. The same applies to roads and the Robber Baron – the
Robber Baron goes to the player who completes the longest road, measured in
tiles, not the most valuable road.
Tip: It can
be difficult during play to remember the current sizes of the largest city and
longest road. So that you don't have to
keep recounting, you can use any marker to note the size of the King by placing
it on the appropriate place on the scoring track, and use another one for the
Robber Baron.
The Count
Q: How do the
followers who are in Carcassonne City get scored?
A: Not at
all! There is no scoring in Carcassonne
City itself. However the followers that are in Carcassonne City can influence
the majority determination for an area being scored by coming out of Carcassonne
City to that area.
Q: Can a
follower from Carcassonne City be placed in a completed, vacant area?
A:
Yes. Whenever any city, road or cloister
is completed, whether there is anyone in it or not, followers may be moved from
the appropriate part of Carcassonne City to that area. Of course, in normal circumstances, an empty
area is unlikely to be particularly valuable, but this option may serve as a
useful way of getting followers out of Carcassonne City and back into your
supply.
Q: What is
the sequence of play for followers in Carcassonne City at the end of the game?
A: In
principle very similar to the sequence during the game. First remove any
followers who are in the same quarter as the Count – they are unable to
contribute to the scoring. Then, starting with the player to the left of the
player who played the last tile, each player who has any followers in
Carcassonne City must move one follower from Carcassonne City to
an appropriate area on the playing field.
A follower may be placed in an incomplete area since these are scored as
well at the end of the game.
Continue
going around all the players until there are no followers left in Carcassonne
City – whoever had the most followers in Carcassonne City (excluding those
stuck with the Count) will be the last to move a follower out of Carcassonne
City.
Q: If I
complete a city where I do not have a knight, and therefore will not profit
from it, can I place a follower into Carcassonne City and then during the
valuation take one of my other followers out of Carcassonne City and place it
in the city?
A:
Definitely not! The valuation comes before you get to place a follower into
Carcassonne City, so if you have brought a follower out and profited from doing
so, you are no longer eligible to place a follower into Carcassonne City. The
same applies to roads and cloisters.
Q:If you are using the Count, do farmers score for
Carcassonne City?
A: Yes – it is a city.
Q: If you are using the Count does the King score for
Carcassonne City?
Q: Yes – it is a city.
Q: Escaping from a Cathar city and deploying to Carcassonne
City both happen at the end of the turn.
But which comes first? Can I
escape and deploy the same follower straight into Carcassonne City on the same
turn?
A: Yes, in the same way that a follower who is eaten by the
dragon or seduced by the princess goes into your supply and can be used at the
end of the same turn to deploy to Carcassonne City. The follower is available so you can use it.
The Tower
Q: The
rules say that a follower placed on a tower to lock it must stay there until
the end of the game. Does that mean that
I can't use a tower block to capture a follower who is on a tower?
A: No. You can
capture a follower who is locking a tower by using another tower. The rules also state that farmers must stay
in their farms until the end of the game, but they can also be captured by
towers.
Note:
capturing a follower who was locking a tower unlocks it and makes it available
for further building and capturing.
Q: Can the
pig, builder, large follower, fairy, dragon, count or followers in Carcassonne
City be captured using a tower?
A: Pig,
builder and large follower – yes, they are followers. The rest – no, they are not followers except
for the ones in Carcassonne City, and they are protected by the City and have
to follow its rules.
Q: How do I
recover captured followers, pigs, builders and large followers? Are they worth different values?
A: It
doesn‘t matter if a follower is thin or fat, he is still a follower... even if
he is a pig!
The rules
refer to "followers" in general, so they are counted equally. If player A has one of player B's followers
and player B captures one of player A's followers, then they exchange them
regardless of what they are (even large follower for ordinary follower or
pig!). If you want to buy one back it
costs the standard up 3 and down 3 points regardless of what it is.
The only
complication arises if player A has more than one of player B's followers. In this case player B is allowed to choose
which one they want back.
Q: Can I
capture my own followers with a tower block?
A: No. The rules state that only opponents'
followers can be captured.
Q: Can I
place a follower on a tile I have just placed if it has a tower space on it?
A: Yes,
there is nothing in the rules to prevent this.
It is of course probably very risky unless your opponents don't have any
Towers left to use against you.
Note: You
can't place a follower directly onto the tower space on the tile to try to
block it. You are not allowed to place a
follower on the tower space until it has at least one tower block on it.
Q: If I add a city tile which has a tower space to a city
where I have a builder, can I place a tower block onto the tower space on that
turn, and then lock the tower with a follower on my extra turn, or place a
second tower block?
A: Yes, these are two separate turns so you can lock the
tower before the next player gets a chance to attack you with it, or build the
tower to a height of two.
Q: If there is a follower (either mine or someone else's) on
another feature on a tile with a tower space and some tower blocks, can I place
a follower on the Tower to lock it.
Q: Yes, there is no rule that prevents two people from being
at one tile, it was just impossible to achieve in the basic game. Magic portals and towers now allow multiple
followers to be on the same tile, and the Count allows as many as you like for
the scoring of an element.
Q: Can I
place a tower block if I place a volcano tile.
A: No.
Placing a tower block is done instead of placing a follower. When you place a volcano tile you get to
place the dragon on it and can not move a follower, so you can't place a tower
block either.
Q: If pigs and
builders are followers, can they be placed on towers to lock them?
A:
Yes. They are followers, so, strange as
it may seem, you can use them to lock towers if you are desperate!
Q: Can the
dragon eat a follower who is locking a tower?
A: Yes,
dragons can fly!
Note:
eating a follower who was locking a tower unlocks it and makes it available for
further building and capturing.
Q: If I place a follower on a tower can I move the fairy?
A: No – only one action of this nature is allowed each
turn. It‘s just another alternative to
"placing a follower“ and since you‘re only allowed to place one follower,
you may only choose one alternative.
Q: Can I
move the fairy to a tile where I have a follower locking a tile?
A: Yes, the
fairy can be moved to any tile where you have a follower, regardless of where
the follower is on that tile.
Q: If I
have a fairy on the same tile as a follower who is locking a tower, does she
protect him from the dragon?
A: Yes, the
fairy protects all followers on the tile.
Q: Can the
fairy protect my followers from capture by a tower?
A: No. The fairy only has powers against dragons.
Q: There
are some tower spaces inside cities. Can
a Princess seduce a follower who is locking a tower which is inside a city?
A: No. The tower is a separate feature from the
city. The follower is considered to be
in the tower, not in the city.
Q: if I
have a follower locking a tower which is on a city tile, and the city has a
Cathar tile in it, can the follower escape from the tower to an adjacent
cloister?
A: No. The tower is a separate feature from the
city. The follower is considered to be
in the tower, not in the city.
Q: If I
place a dragon-tile and add a block to a tower on the same turn, what happens
first: can I capture a follower with the tower first, or does the dragon move
first?
A:
Prisoners are taken first; placing a tower block is an alternative to deploying
a follower, so occurs before dragon movement.
Some Strange Tiles
Some of
theses are explicitly stated in the rules, some are not. They are all presented here for clarity.
Q: Looks like I can walk under this
bridge, so it is two farms or four?
A:
Four. All bridges, whether road bridges
or city bridges, act as boundaries for farms.
Q: How many roads are on this tile?
A:
Two. This is an intersection. The short paths from the city gates to the
intersection do not count as roads.
Q: How many
roads are on this tile?
A:
One. Though it touches the city, it is
one connected road, since there is no visible separation and no crossing.
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This
document was produced by John Sweeney. Please send any comments to john@modernjive.com