Ambition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Aim of the Game
• A Note on Versions and Expansions
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • The Pass Phase
  • The Play Phase
  • The Block Phase
  • The Activation Phase
  • The Upkeep Phase
• Additional Rules
• Characters
  • Actor
  • Assassin
  • Bodyguard
  • Courtesan
  • Hierophant
  • Huntsman
  • King
  • Knight
  • Madman
  • Merchant
  • Princess
  • Seeress
  • Spy

The Aim of the Game

To win the game you need to be the first player to acquire 10 of the gold coins minted to commemorate victory over the carapaced menace. These represent your influence.

You win the game the moment you acquire 10 coins. The game does not continue until the end of the round, it ends immediately that a player gains 10 coins.

A Note on Versions and Expansions

The original game was designed for 2-4 players and contained 12 cards. There are four additional cards (and 16 tokens) that have been packaged together with the original game. The cards include: The Courtesan, the Hierophant, The Seeress and The Wizard. These elements are referred to as The Strange Allies Expansion. The four cards that come with the Strange Allies Expansion are marked with the following symbol in their bottom right corner.

You can play the original game with only 12 cards and may remove the Strange Allies cards, for simpler game experience for from 2 – 4 players. It is suggested that you do so for your first game.

If you are playing a 2 player game with the Strange Allies cards included, you should remove the Seeress Card before play begins and before following any of the steps set out below.

Components

Base Game

• A deck of 12 Character Cards
• 45 Coin tokens
• 1 Scarab First Player Token
• 1 Sneak Token

Strange Allies Expansion

• A deck of 4 Character Cards
• 15 Character tokens
• 1 Silence Token

Setup

To begin a game of Ambition, follow these steps:

1. Decide which expansions you will be playing and remove any cards associated with expansions that you do not want to include.
2. Shuffle the deck of cards.
3. Remove 1 randomly selected card and place it to the side face down. This card will not be used during the game. It is a good idea to place it in the game box to prevent accidental viewing during the game.
4. Decide who will be the starting First Player. This is the player who most recently killed an insect, or is determined randomly. The First Player receives the Scarab of Power (the token pictured here).
5. Deal out two Character cards face-down to each player and place the rest in the centre of the table as the "deck".
6. Place the coin tokens in the centre of the play area within easy reach of all players.

You are now ready to play.

Gameplay

Playing the game is mechanically simple. Play proceeds through a number of structured rounds until a player claims victory by acquiring 10 coins.

Each round consists of 5 simple phases, known as the Pass Phase, the Play Phase, the Block Phase, the Activation Phase and the Upkeep Phase.

In general, every round each player is trying to activate one of the cards from their hand in order to utilise the powers of the character depicted on that card.

The Pass Phase

At the start of this phase the First Player passes one of their cards to the player on their left without revealing it. That player then does the same. Each player does so in order. The Pass Phase ends when a card is passed to the First Player.

It is important to note that passing cards during the Pass Phase does not occur simultaneously. Each player, in turn, receives a card from the player to their right and then makes the decision of which card they wish to pass to their left. They are allowed to pass the card that they just received. It is always advisable not to let your opponents see whether you have passed the card you just received or some other card.

Proceed to the Play Phase.

Note: At the start of the Pass phase, before the first player passes a card to the left each player may elect to "Recruit". To do so they must pay 2 coins into the supply. If they do so they may draw an additional character card. As players begin the game with no coins, no player will be able to recruit at the beginning of the first round.

The Play Phase

In this phase players lock in their choice for the card that they would like to activate later in the round.

Each player simultaneously plays a card face down on the table in front of them, that they are intending to activate. This card is called the "Live Card". Each player places all of their other cards on the table closer to them, face-down or holds them in their hand. These cards are referred to as the "Reserve Cards".

Proceed to the Block Phase.

The Block Phase

Starting with the player to the Right of the First Player and proceeding anti-clockwise, each player then names out loud a card that they wish to Block. These are cards that may not be activated during the Activation Phase. Players may not name a card that has been named by another player.

The intention of the Block Phase is to allow players to attempt to deduce or guess which cards their opponents played in the Play Phase and are hoping to activate during the Activation Phase, and to prevent those cards from being activated.

Proceed to the Activation Phase.

In games with higher player counts it can sometimes be difficult to remember all of the characters that have been blocked. As a memory aid you may choose to place coins or other markers on the pictures of the cards that appear on the rules sheet that comes with the game, to indicate that they have been blocked. These tokens are removed at the end of every round.

It is advisable not to let on when another player blocks a card that you have played during the Play Phase. In this way, even if you cannot activate your card, other players may not know which card you played as they will not be sure whose block caused you to be unable to activate your card.

The Activation Phase

Starting with the First Player, each player, in clockwise turn order, then either Activates their Live Card or does not. When each player's turn comes around, if their card has been blocked during the Block Phase they may not activate it. If their card has not been blocked they may activate it or you may choose not to. If they do not Activate your card (either because they are blocked or because they do not want to), they tap it with your knuckle to indicate that they are not activating.

Each Player who successfully activates their card takes the actions indicated by the icons on the card. Multiple powers need not all be exercised.

Exception: The Knight. The Knight's ability to draw a card may only be exercised if the player using the card pays the cost of 1 coin.

Activating of cards takes place consecutively. Players must wait until the player before them has either activated or passed, before they are able to. With only a few exceptions, set out in these rules, character powers are immediate and must be activated immediately.

Proceed to the Upkeep Phase.

The Upkeep Phase

During this phase players gather up all of their cards. The Scarab of Power is passed 1 to the left. Play Continues as above.

It is important to note that the cards are not reshuffled or redealt as would be the case in many other games. You begin the next round with the same cards that you had when the previous round ended.

Additional Rules

Running Out of Cards: You may not have less than 2 cards over the course of the game. If any act or event would cause you to lose your second last card, it has no effect.

Late Game Rule: Late game describes the situation when there are no cards left to draw from the deck. The moment this occurs the Knight Character's powers change. His new power depends on whether or not you are playing with the Strange Allies cards in your game.

• Basic Game: The Knight's power becomes "Take one Coin".
• Strange Allies: The Knight gains all of the same powers (and drawbacks) of the Seeress card.

The order of Activation of Powers: On rare occasions the outcome of the game may depend on the order of occurrence of the powers printed on each character card. For clarity, the powers are resolved in the order that they appear on the card, from left to right.

Characters

All of the cards available in Ambition are catalogued below. Explanations of the power and mechanics of each card are provided. Additionally included are frequently asked questions pertaining to each individual card and the answers to those questions, should the same or similar questions come up in your game.

Actor

Name: Actor Set: Original

Power: Take a single coin from the supply. Then you draw a card from the deck. Keep either the Actor or the drawn card in your hand and shuffle the other card back into the deck. In this way the other players do not know whether you kept the Actor or replaced it with another card.

FAQ

Can I play the Actor if the draw deck is exhausted? Yes, and you will still gain a coin but you cannot use any other ability on the card.

Can I delay the use of the Actor's power until later in the round? No. The Actor's power is an immediate effect and must be resolved before the next player activates their card.

Assassin

Name: Assassin Set: Original

Power: You take a single coin from the supply and then name any other character. If another player has that character (whether active or not) they reveal it, and remove it from the game face-up. The target player must draw another card from the deck and keep it in their hand. If you choose the Seeress as a target and successfully assassinate that character you gain an additional coin from the player who had that card.

FAQ

What happens if the victim that I name is still in the draw deck? You receive a single coin but do not kill anyone.

May I decide to assassinate a character on an activated card? Yes, this is one of the ways that you make sure that the target of the assassination is in the game.

May I assassinate my own characters? Yes, you may nominate one of you reserve cards, not your own assassin card. This is one of the ways to replace one of your cards with a card from the deck.

Can the assassin ever be assassinated? The player playing the assassin may not nominate his own Assassin card as the target of assassination. However, if an alliance caused by the Hierophant results in another character using the powers of the Assassin that character may nominate the Assassin as target and remove the Assassin from the game in this way. However, this will result in the alliance becoming broken.

Bodyguard

Name: Bodyguard Set: Original

Power: Take a single coin from the supply and then name another character. That character is also blocked this turn.

FAQ

If I am the last player in a round can I still play this card? Yes, playing last means there are no players who still need to activate a card so you do not get to block an additional card, but you still gain the single coin.

If I have been silenced by the Wizard Card can I still use the Bodyguard's power? If you received the silence token this round, before activating the Bodyguard, you may not block an additional character but you still gain a coin. If you received the Silence token during the previous round, that effect only lasts until the end of the Block phase. In this event you can activate the Bodyguard and may block an additional character.

Courtesan

Name: Courtesan Set: Strange Allies

Power: Steal 1 coin from any other player. You may also name 2 characters who are in an alliance. Their alliance is immediately broken.

FAQ

Do I have to break an alliance? You must use this power to break alliances if at least one alliance exists. If more than 1 alliance exists you may choose which alliance to break but you must break one.

Can I still steal a coin if there are no alliances to break? Yes. The Courtesan can always steal a single coin.

Hierophant

Name: Hierophant Set: Strange Allies

Power: Take 1 coin from the supply. Then you name 2 characters that have not been eliminated from the game, and are not already allied. You cannot name the Hierophant. The allied characters may use their ally's power during the Action Phase, rather than their own. They cannot use powers from both cards. Place the tokens representing the allied characters together in view of all players as a reminder of their alliance. The choices added by an alliance are available to all players for so long as the alliance exists.

FAQ

Can I only create alliances between characters who are in play? No. You can make alliances between characters that have not been removed from play by the Assassin and who are not already in an alliance.

Can I make alliances between more than 2 characters or add a character to an existing alliance when I activate the Hierophant? No. Alliances may consist of 2 characters only.

Does this mean that I can always make alliances with the character that was excluded from the deck at the beginning of the game? Yes, the card that is randomly removed at the beginning of the game remains a valid alliance partner throughout the game.

If I activate a character that is part of an alliance and the character that it allied to my card has been blocked, can I still use its power? Yes. It is only if the card that you are attempting to activate is blocked that you would not be able to use either power. Characters are blocked, not powers.

Huntsman

Name: Huntsman Set: Original

Power: Take 3 coins from the supply, but only if you are the first player i.e. you are holding the scarab of power. If not, you receive nothing.

FAQ

(No FAQ is printed for this card.)

King

Name: King Set: Original

Power: You may take 3 coins from the supply.

FAQ

(No FAQ is printed for this card.)

Knight

Name: Knight Set: Original

Power: You may pay 1 coin into the supply. If you do then draw a new card from the deck and add it to your cards. You can only do so if there are cards left to draw. You may not draw cards that have been removed from the game.

FAQ

Isn't this card useless when the draw deck runs out? No. When there are no longer any cards available to draw from the draw deck, the knight's power changes. What it changes to is dependent on whether or not you are playing with the Strange Allies Expansion. If not, the knight's power changes to "Take one coin". If the Strange Allies cards are used the Knight takes on the same power as the Seeress.

Madman

Name: Madman Set: Original

Power: Take 1 coin from the supply. Then the round ends regardless of who has had a chance to activate their cards. You gather up all of the cards from all players, pass the Scarab of Power to the next Player and re-deal the cards, starting from the player to your left.

FAQ

What if I have more cards than other players when the Madman is activated? This is what makes the Madman such a threat. The cards will be redistributed evenly from the player to the left of the player who activated the Madman, so players who had the advantage of more cards will lose that advantage due to the activation of the Madman.

Who re-deals the cards? The player who activated the Madman deals the cards starting from the player on their left.

Merchant

Name: Merchant Set: Original

Power: After activating this card you wait until the end of the Activation Phase, then you take coins from the supply equal to the number of characters that were activated, as long as the Merchant remains in play and the round has not ended.

FAQ

When counting the number of activated cards, do I count the Merchant card too? Yes, the Merchant is counted so that will mean that at the end of the phase the player who activated the Merchant will receive at least 1 coin.

What happens if the Merchant is the target of assassination before the end of the Activation phase? If anything happens to remove the Merchant from the game, such as the use of the Assassin's power, the player who activated the Merchant receives no coins.

Princess

Name: Princess Set: Original

Power: You take 2 coins from the supply. You must then select another player who may take 1 coin from the supply.

FAQ

If I have 8 coins and I successfully activate the Princess but all other players have 9 coins, and I have to name a player to receive an extra coin, does this result in a tie? No, the icons on the card resolve in the order from left to right. You will gain your 2 coins before another player gains 1 and you would be the winner immediately.

Seeress

Name: Seeress Set: Strange Allies

Power: This card has no effect if activated during the Activation Phase. However, during the Pass phase if you are the First Player and pass this card on, and it is the card that you receive back in the same phase, you reveal it and take a number coins from the supply equal to the number of players in the game. The Seeress then returns to your hand. If the Seeress is the target of assassination the player holding the card pays a coin to the player of the Assassin.

FAQ

If I have the Seeress card and pass it on during the Pass phase, and it is passed to me during the next round do I get the coins? No. In order to receive the coins the Seeress card must return to you in the Pass phase of the same round in which you passed it on.

If I use the Assassin's power to assassinate the Seeress when it is in my possession, how many coins do I get? You get 1 coin for using the Assassin's power but you do not get the extra coin for assassinating the Seeress because that coin comes from the player holding the Seeress, which in this case is you.

If I reveal the Seeress card after it has passed around the table and I get the coins, do I have to play the Seeress during the Play Phase? No. After revealing the Seeress and receiving the coins it goes into your hand and you may play any card during the Play phase.

Spy

Name: Spy Set: Original

Power: Take 1 coin from the supply. Then you take the Sneak token (even from another player). You must place the token on your Live card during the Play phase of the next round, allowing you to activate it even if the character is blocked. The sneak token may not be placed on the Spy. Return the token to the supply after it is used.

FAQ

After I acquire the Sneak token, am I allowed to wait a round or more before placing it on my played card? No. You must play the Sneak token onto the card you play on the very next round.

What happens if another player takes the Sneak token from me before I can use it on the next turn? This is the unfortunate possibility of revealing your identity as a spy. You may gain the sneak token but be unable to use it.

Do I keep the Sneak token if the Spy is assassinated after I have activated him? Yes. The token will remain yours unless another player uses a power that has the effect of allowing them to take the Sneak token.

Thief

Name: Thief Set: Original

Power: You steal up to 2 coins in total from any other players.

FAQ

Do I have to steal? Yes. If there are coins in the possession of other players to be stolen you must do so.

Do I have to steal from a single other player? No. You may choose to steal 1 coin each from two different players.

Witch

Name: Witch Set: Original

Power: Take 1 coin from the supply. Then you point a crooked finger at another player and say the word "Curse". The target player must immediately replace his or her Live Card with one of the Reserve Cards of their choice.

FAQ

If I have been silenced by the Wizard card can I still use the Witch's curse ability? No. The use of the "curse" ability requires you to speak. You may not curse another player but you may still gain a coin.

If I have more than 1 Reserve cards when I am cursed by the power of the Witch, can I choose which card becomes my live card? Yes. If you have more than 1 you may select the card that you use as your replacement.

Wizard

Name: Wizard Set: Strange Allies

Power: You point a finger at another player and say the word "Silence". The silenced player is handed the Silence token. During the next Block Phase that player may not select a card to block and may not speak at all until the end of the Block phase. If the player speaks before the end of the next Block phase they must pay you a coin.

FAQ

Can I earn multiple coins if the silenced player speaks more than once? No. You are limited to receiving 1 coin using this power.

Once the silenced player speaks and pays me a coin are they then able to block during the Block phase? No. The prohibition on blocking is independent of the prohibition on speaking. They still may not block even if they have paid a coin.