Psalters Row

Rules overview

Scriptorium: Psalter Row

Components

• 1 standard 52 card deck, use any deck you already own
• 1 printed rulesheet and 1 printed player aid, optional but recommended

Setup

1. Remove both Jokers from the game. They are not used.
2. Shuffle the 52 card deck and place it face down as a draw pile.
3. Draw a starting hand of 5 cards.
4. The row starts empty.
5. There is a single reshuffle per game. The game ends immediately upon completing 2 through 10, or when the draw pile would empty after the single reshuffle.

Psalm 119:105 (ESV): “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Objective

As Master Scribe, assemble illuminated Pages numbered 2 through 10 in order, forming a Psalter that honors unified craft. Bind the book with the best style you can before supplies run out.

Core Concepts and Terms

• Pages. Number cards 2 through 10. Each value may appear at most once in your Row.
• Row. Your ordered line of face up Pages, extending only at the low end or the high end. Never insert between existing Pages.
• Exact neighbor. A placement that extends the Row by exactly 1 at an end. Exact neighbors cost 0 to place.
• Gap N. The distance, in ranks, from the chosen end to the Page you wish to place when N is at least 2.
• Patronage. A way to pay a costly placement using a Patron to assist a Page.
• Patrons. Jack and Queen. Each Patron has base value 0, never pays alone. As helpers, Jack adds plus 2, Queen adds plus 3, then is removed from the game.
• Abbot’s Directive. The King authorizes a swap of a Page with the same number to align style. The King is removed from the game when used.
• Supply Errand. The Ace fetches materials. Play it to draw 1 cards, then discard 1; the Ace is removed from the game.
• Quires. Contiguous runs of at least 2 adjacent Page numbers in your Row. Single Pages are not Quires.
• Preserve the largest Quire. Whenever a rule instructs you to remove a Page from your Row, remove from the largest Quire. If several Quires tie as largest, remove from a suited Quire if any tie on suit, else from a mono color Quire if any tie on color, else your choice among those tied.
• Suits and Ink Families. Suits are the four standard suits. Ink Families are the two standard colors, red and black.

Psalm 90:17 (ESV): “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands.”

Turn Structure

On your turn, perform exactly one action that interacts with the Row, then draw back up to 5 cards. If the draw pile empties during your draw, reshuffle once as described in End of Round.

Actions

Place a Page to an end and pay

1. Choose an end of your Row and a Page from hand.
2. If it is an exact neighbor, place it for free.
3. Otherwise compute the Gap N and pay using one of:

• Single Page payment. Discard exactly one Page 2 through 10 with value at least N.
• Patronage payment. Discard exactly two cards: one Page 2 through 10 plus exactly one Patron. Jack adds plus 2, Queen adds plus 3. If Page value plus Patron aid is at least N, the payment is valid. Discard the Page to the face up discard and remove the Patron from the game.

1. If you paid successfully, place the chosen Page to the selected end.
2. Draw back up to 5.

Issue an Abbot’s Directive, swap for style Reveal a King and a Page from hand that matches a Page number already in your Row. Remove the King from the game, replace the Row’s copy with your hand copy, and move the replaced Page to the face up discard. Your action ends. Draw to 5.

Send a Supply Errand

Reveal an Ace to draw 1 card, then discard 1 card from hand. Remove the Ace from the game. Your action ends. You remain at 5 cards.

If you are stuck, perform a Revision

If you cannot legally place a Page or issue an Abbot’s Directive, perform a Revision, then end your turn and draw to 5.

• Revision. Remove 1 Page from your Row following Preserve the largest Quire and discard your entire hand.

Notes

• Early Rows. If your Row has no Quire, remove an end Page for a Revision.

• Discards. All discarded hand cards and any Page removed from your Row go to a single shared face up discard pile. Only used Patrons, Kings, and Aces are removed from the game.

Scoring

Score when you complete 2 through 10 or when the draw pile would empty after the single reshuffle.

1. Pages present. Score plus 1 for each Page in your Row.
2. Pages missing. Score minus 1 for each missing value from 2 through 10.
3. Style bonus for partial works. Identify your largest Quire. If multiple Quires tie as largest, choose among those tied. Apply one bonus to that Quire only.

• Plus 2 if all Pages in that Quire share the same suit.
• Otherwise plus 1 if all Pages in that Quire share the same Ink Family.

1. Bound Psalter bonus for a complete book. If your Row contains all values 2 through 10, ignore step 3 and instead apply one completion bonus.

• Mixed suits and colors, plus 0.
• All one Ink Family, plus 2.
• All one suit, plus 5.

Maximums

• Perfect one suit Psalter, 9 plus 5 equals 14.
• Perfect one color Psalter, 9 plus 2 equals 11.
• Mixed complete Psalter, 9 plus 0 equals 9.

End of Round or End of Game or Ties

• Single reshuffle only. When the draw pile first empties, immediately shuffle the face up discard to form a new draw pile. If the draw pile would empty again, do not reshuffle. The game ends immediately and you score.
• Early end. If you complete 2 through 10, score immediately.

Examples

Patronage payments

• N equals 4. Your Row ends at 5 and you wish to place a 9. Pay with a single 4 through 10, or pay with 2 plus Jack because 2 plus 2 equals 4. Discard the 2, remove the Jack from the game.
• N equals 5. You hold 2 plus Queen. This pays exactly because 2 plus 3 equals 5. Discard the 2, remove the Queen from the game.
• Illegal payment. Jack plus Queen together is not a payment. Two Pages together are not a payment. Aces and Kings never pay.

Abbot’s Directive

• Your Row includes 6 of hearts. In hand you hold a King and a 6 of spades. Reveal the King, remove it from the game, replace the 6 of hearts with the 6 of spades, move the 6 of hearts to the discard, then draw to 5.

Supply Errand

• Your hand is 3, 8, Jack, Queen, Ace. Play the Ace. Draw 2, then discard 1. Remove the Ace from the game. Your turn ends at 5 cards.

Revision with Preserve the largest Quire

• You cannot place or swap. Your Row shows Quires [3 through 5] and [8 through 9]. The largest is [3 through 5]. Remove a Page from that Quire, discard 2 cards from hand, then draw to 5.

Q&A

• Do single Pages score
• Yes. Every Page present is plus 1. The Style bonus still requires a Quire of at least 2 adjacent values, unless you finish the full Psalter.
• Can a Patron pay by itself
• No. Jack and Queen have base value 0. They only assist one Page as Patronage, then are removed from the game.
• Can a King act as a Patron
• No. The King only issues an Abbot’s Directive to swap same-number Pages and is then removed from the game.
• Can two Pages pay together
• No. Payments are either one Page alone or one Page assisted by exactly one Patron.
• Can an Ace pay
• No. Aces are Supply Errands only, draw 2 then discard 1, remove the Ace from the game.
• Does a swap or Errand end my turn
• Yes. Any interaction with the Row is your one action for the turn. Then draw to 5 if needed.
• Do all removals follow Preserve the largest Quire
• Yes. Whenever a rule instructs you to remove from the Row, target the largest Quire with the suit over color tie breaker, then choice if still tied.
• How many reshuffles are allowed
• Exactly one. If the draw pile would empty again, the work period ends and you score the manuscript.

Glossary and Icon Reference

• Abbot’s Directive. Spending a King to swap a Page in your Row for the same-number Page from hand. The King is removed from the game.
• Exact neighbor. Extends the Row by exactly 1 at an end.
• Gap N. The distance from an end to the desired placement when N is at least 2.
• Patronage. A payment of exactly one Page plus exactly one Patron, where Jack adds plus 2 and Queen adds plus 3. The Patron is removed from the game.
• Preserve the largest Quire. Rule that chooses which Page to remove when instructed, prioritizing the largest Quire, then suited, then mono color, then choice.
• Quire. A contiguous run of at least 2 adjacent Page values in your Row.
• Row. Your ordered line of Pages, extended only at the ends.
• Supply Errand. Playing an Ace to draw 2 and discard 1, then removing the Ace from the game.

John 21:25 (ESV): “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”