12. Trade

Apart from Tax Income, Trade is the most common source of `D` income in the game. The Trade Action is described on page 15.

## 12.1 Trade Cards

Each Trade Card depicts a trade good and lists 2 or 3 Trade Nodes where that good can be traded. For each Trade Node on the card there are also up to 4 Key Provinces listed. When listed on Trade Cards, the names of Maritime Trade Nodes are followed by a `J` icon.

The top right corner of each Trade Card has a table that lists the Trade Income it provides, according to your Trade Power in the selected node (see section 12.5).

Some Trade Cards have a secondary Trade Node listed in parentheses below one or more of the primary Trade Nodes, and you can read how these work in section 12.5.

Some cards have a \* or a † next to the trade good name, and one or more numbers in colored boxes on the left. These cards are often not included in the starting Trade Deck (see the various scenario setups), but will enter the game as Distant Continents are discovered (see section 12.6).

**Note:** Trade Nodes and Key Provinces that are located on the Eastern Europe map board (Deluxe Ed. / *Fate of Empires* Exp. only) are listed in light gray text. When playing the Standard Edition of this game, these nodes and Provinces are not in play.

### Additional Requirements

Some Trade Cards list Trade Nodes that have additional requirements that must be met in order to collect Trade Income from those nodes. In some cases, there simply has to be a `t`, `v`, or `æ` on 1 of the Key Provinces. In other cases, you need to Own 1 of the Key Provinces in order to collect Trade Income.

### Gold and Inflation

An economy that becomes too reliant on gold will suffer from inflation and corruption. To represent this, whenever you ***Trade*** with a Gold card and your Trade Income from that trade exceeds ½ of your Base Tax Income, you must either pay 1`a` or take 1`,` and add it to your Treasury. Such `,` can be removed as normal, via the ***Take/Repay Loan*** Minor Action.

**Note:** Receiving an `,` in this way can take you above 5`,` without causing Bankruptcy. If you go above 5`,` in this manner, it will prevent you from taking any further Loans, and will cause Bankruptcy if you later cannot cover a mandatory cost.

### Slaves

Regrettably, the slave trade was commonplace in many parts of the world during most of the era in which the game takes place. However, with time, it increasingly came to be seen as inhumane.

If you decide to use a Slaves card during your ***Trade*** Action in Age III or IV, you will lose `1`.

## 12.2 Trade Nodes (`N`)

Trade Nodes are represented on the board by circular spaces in which players may place their Merchants. These are the key locations through which the world's trade goods are exchanged and transported.

Maritime Trade Nodes are colored blue on the map board, while Inland Trade Nodes are colored light brown.

### Eligible Trade Nodes

For a Trade Node to be eligible for selection during a ***Trade*** Action, you must have a valid connection to it – that is a continuous chain of Areas and/or Sea Zones between the Trade Node and your Capital Area, where you have `t`, `v`, `I`, or Light Ships (the actual Area where an Inland Node is located is exempt from this requirement). All `t` and `v` on Occupied Provinces also count.

## 12.3 Protecting Trade

Light Ships may be placed in available **Trade Protection slots** when entering a Sea Zone. When doing so, lay the Ship on its side on the slot (Standard Ed.: flip it over to display the Ship with the `=` icon).

Each Light Ship in a Trade Protection slot provides 1 Trade Power (`=`) to Maritime Trade Nodes adjacent to its Sea Zone.

The number of Trade Protection slots limits the number of Ships that can Protect Trade in each Sea Zone. To replace an Opponent's Ship on a Trade Protection slot you need to take a ***Trade*** Action (see p. 15).

## 12.4 Merchants

Each PR begins the game with 2 Merchants (unless otherwise noted in the scenario setup). PRs can acquire new Merchants by Researching certain Ideas or completing certain Missions.

Each Merchant Pawn provides a `=` of 1, and is used to indicate a Realm's presence in a Trade Node. At the beginning of the game, Merchants are placed in Trade Nodes according to the scenario setup. During the game, you may move or place new Merchants by using the ***Trade*** Action.

A Merchant is considered available when in an upright position on the board. When a Merchant is activated as a part of a ***Trade*** Action, it must be laid on its side; it may not be activated again that Round.

### Merchant Limit in Trade Nodes

A Trade Node may contain any number ofMerchants, but each player may only have 1 Merchant in a given node. Importantly, only 3 players can collect Trade Income from the same Trade Node during a single ***Trade*** Action, since each Income row can only be claimed by 1 player (see below).

## 12.5 Trade Power (`=`) & Trade Income

To collect Trade Income from a Trade Node, you must have a Merchant there and a valid connection to it.

To determine your `=` in a Trade Node during a ***Trade*** Action, count:

* 1`=` for your **Merchant**
* 1`=` for each **Key Province** you Own that matches the Trade Card's activated node.
* 1`=` for each **Light Ship** you have in a Trade Protection slot in adjacent Sea Zones (for Maritime Trade Nodes only).
* Key Provinces highlighted with "+" signs provide an additional `=` per "+" sign.
* Key Provinces only count for the primary Trade Nodes, and never for the secondary nodes.

### Regular and Expanded Nodes

Collect Ducats as indicated by Trade Power (`=`) on the Trade Card. Read the green column for all nodes that have not been Expanded, and the red column for nodes that have been Expanded with the ***Commercial Growth*** Action Card or through a Mission or an Event.

### Only one PR per Income Row

Only 1 player may collect the Trade Income in each row. If 2 or more players qualify for Trade Income from the same row, the player with the highest Trade Power pushes the other player(s) down to the Trade Income row(s) below. The Active Player may break any ties as they please.

### Pirates

For each Pirate Ship present in a Trade Node, all players collect Trade Income from 1 row lower in that node than they normally would.

If you only qualify for the bottom row before taking Pirates into account, you will not collect any Trade Income from that node. This effectively limits the number of players that can collect income during a ***Trade*** Action by 1 for each Pirate present in that node.

### Secondary Trade Nodes

Some Trade Cards have secondary Trade Nodes listed in parentheses below one or more of the primary Trade Nodes.

If the Active Player has a Trade Power (excluding Key Provinces) not exceeded by any other player in an eligible secondary node, they may select that node and collect Trade Income from the lowest Income row on the Trade Card. No other player gets any income from the secondary node.

Selecting a secondary node also triggers Trade Income from the associated primary node for all players, other than the Active Player, that are able to collect Income there.

If there is a Pirate in a secondary Trade Node, it may not be selected.

## 12.6 Distant Trade

Whenever the first `G` or `æ` is placed on an Area of a Distant Continent, shuffle all unused Trade Cards marked with that Continent's number into the Trade Deck, along with the discard pile.

You can find the Continent numbers along the edge of the Trade Card, to the left of the trade good illustration. For the cards that are normally in the deck from the start of the game, these numbers are shown in semi-transparent boxes.

The corresponding numbers on the Distant Continents board are found in the top right corner of each Distant Continent.