Seven Cities of Cibola
Welcome to the Seven Cities of Cibola, a game of strategy built using toople. It’s the year 1540 and your team of intrepid explorers seek to find the Seven Cities of Cibola where it is rumored that there are vast quantities of gold. Your journey begins in Floride (modern day Florida) with the goal of reaching Cibola which is supposedly in Nuevo Mexico (modern day New Mexico).
Your objective is to execute a successful expedition to Cibola. To do this you’ll need to:
- Choose properly skilled team members
- Choose the route best suited for the team
- Manage your resources along the way
- Prepare and adjust for events encountered along the way
Do all this and the gold is yours!
Start Your Expedition!
Skills
Each expedition party can have a set of skills.
| Name |
Description |
| Carpenter |
Reduces equipment loss in bad weather, river crossings and mountain passes |
| Diplomat |
Improves morale, de-escalates hostile encounters with natives and bandits to limit loss of resources and improves the outcomes of friendly native encounters |
| Hunter |
When the party has ammunition available, the hunter can increase provisions available, fight off hostile natives and bandits to boost morale |
| Interpreter |
Boost morale by de-escalating interactions with hostile natives and get favorable trades with friendly natives |
| Medic |
Limit the loss of health during all varieties of hazards |
| Navigator |
Limit the loss of resources by safely navigating around all varieties of hazards |
| Riverhand |
Improves river crossing outcomes |
| Scout |
Reduces exposure to hazards through early detection |
| Trader |
Receives a rebate on all trades and improves the outcome of trades with natives |
| Veteran |
Improves morale during all variety of events, improves efficiency through organization, but mostly morale |
Your team will encounter events along the way that will affect your resource levels. Having certain skills can improve the outcome of the encounter. When the health of the party diminishes, skills may be lost.
Trader
If your expedition party has a Trader, it party will receive a rebate on the total trade. The amount of the rebate depends on the level.
Waypoints
Routes go from one waypoint to the next. At each waypoint, the team may trade for resources. If a waypoint has trade goods, provisions or ammo, they can be either cheap, moderate or expensive.
Resources
Each team starts the game with a set of resources.
| Name |
Description |
| Ammunition |
Used for hunting, defense, and intimidating bandits |
| Equipment |
Wagons, horses, tools |
| Health |
Party-wide condition; injuries reduce travel speed and increase risk |
| Morale |
Affects hazard outcomes; low morale increases negative event severity |
| Provisions |
Food + water. If this hits zero, party members begin taking injuries |
| Trade Goods |
Beads, cloth, metal tools. Used to negotiate with natives or buy supplies at waypoints |
Events may deplete or replenish each of the resources. There are consequences to running out of resources.
Provisions
Each segment requires a specified number of provisions to complete. You can’t advance if you don’t have enough provisions.
You may be able to trade for provisions at each waypoint. The cost per unit varies at each waypoint. If your team has a member with the Trader skill, you’ll receive a discount on provisions.
Provisions may be consumed or earned by events that occur during a segment. Having various skills on your team may mitigate the negative effects incurred during a segment. For instance, if you have a member with the Hunter skill during a wildlife encounter you may gain provisions
If you don’t have enough resources, nor the resources to trade for provisions at the current waypoint you are considered bankrupt. Game over.
Trade Goods
You are initially granted trade goods for your journey. You can use them to trade for provisions, ammo or equipment. Running out of trade goods limits your ability to make trades but doesn’t have any other consequences.
Morale
It’s important that your team is happy. Morale is affected by events that occur during segments. Negative events, like bad weather, decrease morale, while positive events can improve morale. Having the Veteran skill on your team mitigates most morale issues.
If the morale of your team drops below zero your team will stage a mutiny. Game Over.
Health
The health of your team starts at an initial level and is affected by events along the journey. Having the Medic skill on your team can mitigate health issues for certain hazards.
You team will lose members as the health level decreases. If all members perish your expedition ends. Game Over.
Equipment
Each segment requires that you have a certain amount of equipment. Segments with obstacles like river crossings or mountain passes will require more than others. You can trade equipment for provisions, ammo or trade goods, but equipment is only available at major ports and hubs.
Events encountered during the journey may affect your equipment. Damage to equipment may be mitigated by having the Carpenter or Riverhand skill on your team for certain events.
If you run out of equipment your expedition is considered Broken Down. Game Over.
Ammunition
Ammunition is only necessary if you have the Hunter skill in your party. The hunter may gather provisions or fend off bandits but can only do if it has ammunition.
Routes
There are two different routes to get to Cibola. The route is determined by level.
Gulf Coast Route
| Name |
Modern Day Approximate Location |
| Port of Florida |
St Augustine, Florida |
| Apalachee Villages |
Big Bend, Florida |
| Bay of Pensacola |
Pensacola, Florida |
| Mobile Bay Settlement |
Mobile, Alabama |
| Natchez Bluffs |
Natchez, Mississippi |
| Mississippi Delta Encampment |
New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Natchitoches Trading Post |
Natchitoches, Louisiana |
| Piney Woods Camp |
Nacogdoches, Texas |
| Brazos River Ford |
Waco, Texas |
| Llano Estacado Edge |
Llano Estacado, Texas |
| Pecos River Crossing |
Roswell, New Mexico |
| Cibola |
Zuni, New Mexico |
Northern Highlands Route
| Name |
Modern Day Approximate Location |
| Port of Florida |
St Augustine, Florida |
| Tallapoosa Highlands |
Tallapoosa, Georgia |
| Upper Tombigbee Trail |
Tupelo, Mississippi |
| Chickasaw Bluffs |
Memphis, Tennessee |
| Ouachita Highlands |
Fort Smith, Arkansas |
| Choctaw Trading Post |
McAlester, Oklahoma |
| Red River Escarpment |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
| Llano Estacado Edge |
Llano Estacado, Texas |
| Pecos River Crossing |
Roswell, New Mexico |
| Cibola |
Zuni, New Mexico |
Segments
The journey from waypoint to waypoint is called a segment. Each segment consumes resources based upon its length and difficulty. For instance, a short segment going through mountains is difficult so it may consume more resources than a longer segment going through the prairie.
Each segment may trigger events. The impact to your expedition varies depending on the skills of your party and resources available.
Each expedition is allowed to retreat a certain number of times depending on the level.
Levels
There are several levels available. If you don’t specify a level when adding an expedition the level will be “Easy”. The level determines which route will be taken, the number of skills you can have in your party, the number of times you can retreat, and the units of resources granted.
| Level |
Maximum Skills |
Trader Rebate |
Maximum Retreats |
| Easy |
5 |
30% |
3 |
| Hard |
3 |
20% |
2 |
| Brutal |
1 |
10% |
0 |
Start Your Expedition!