Glossary - [RBP Help Contents]

Here are definitions of some terminology used in the game.

alternate destination - the destination to which a declared player must go after he has been hit by the rover play; only after completing a trip to the alternate destination is the rovered player given an opportunity to declare again

announce - when a player gets close to having enough cash to win, courtesy rules say that he must announce this fact; the announce cash level (normally $150,000) is the cash level at which this announcement must be made; RBP automatically announces for you

bounce out - when a player arrives at a destination served only by unfriendly RRs, he is said to bounce out if he returns his train to a friendly RR via movement of his bonus roll; a player who "gets the bounce" often avoids costly, unfriendly RR use fees his next turn

declare - a player who declares is stating that he has enough cash to win, and is making a run for his home city to claim victory; opponents can try to stop him via the rover play

declared - a player is said to be declared when he has stated that he is heading for home to try to claim victory; opponents will attempt to rover him to stop him from winning

destination - the location to which a player must go in order to collect a payoff; also see destination window

established - a player is said to be established on a RR when his train sits at a dot served by a RR whose use fee rises before the player's next turn; an established player is "grandfathered" at the former, lower-cost use fee until his train rides a different RR; if a player's train sits at a dot served by multiple RRs, he is established on all those RRs until he moves, at which time he remains established only on the RR he rides

free Superchief - a popular rules variant that allows a player to upgrade an Express engine to a Superchief at no cash cost during a purchase opportunity; in RBP this can be enabled by setting the Superchief price to 1 in the Options window

friendly RR - a railroad owned by the player or by the bank (i.e. unowned); friendly RRs typically charge minimal use fees

home city - the city at which a player started the game; it is also the city to which, after declaring, he must return with sufficient cash in order to win the game

home swap - a rule in which each player, before he moves his train for the first time, can elect to exchange his home city and first destination, then start his train at his new home city; in RBP this can be enabled in the Options window

monopolize - a player is said to monopolize a destination when he owns all the RRs that serve it

net worth - the sum of a player's cash, RRs (at face value) and engine (at purchase price)

region - an area of the game map in which multiple destinations are grouped

rover, rover play - when a player is declared and heading for his home to win, an opponent can "rover" him by moving his train to or through the same map dot as the declared player's train; this so-called rover play, forces the declared player to "undeclare" and head for his alternate destination instead, plus pay a typically hefty fee ($50,000 under standard rules); RBP offers an option that disallows rovering

undeclare - when a declared player is rovered by an opponent, he forcibly loses his declared status, thus becoming undeclared; a player may self-undeclare by spending sufficient funds (such as for use fees incurred via movement on unfriendly RRs) to drop his cash level below that needed to declare

unfriendly RR - a railroad owned by an opponent; unfriendly RRs typically charge high RR use fees

use fee - a cash payment to the bank or another player that reflects a rental fee for the RRs on which the player's train moved