Famine is determined at the beginning of the spring turn. A die is rolled to determine how bad the famine is. The results can either be no famine, a single roll on either a row or column of the famine table, or a roll on both a row and column of the table. Famine can be relieved by the expenditure of three ducats. While this does not remove the first two effects of famine, it does make it safe to stay in the province.
Plague occurs at the beginning of the summer turn of each year.
Like famine, a die is rolled to determine the severity of the plague. Special Units Military units during this period were primarily condottieri, or mercenaries. A number of different types of units were experimented with during this period, and this optional rule allows players to use those units. Each player is limited to a single special unit in play at any one time, regardless of the type. This was the type of force envisioned by Niccolo Machiavelli himself during the Florentine republic.