Coup FAQ
67 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Set-Up
Influence
- Do lost influence cards stay face up, or go back into the Court deck?
- What happens to your cards when you are eliminated?
- Who chooses which influence card is lost to an assassination, a Coup or a lost challenge?
- Can the Court deck run out of cards?
- Can you claim a character when a face-up copy of it is in front of you?
- If I have a face-up card, can I still use the Ambassador exchange?
Game Play
Actions
- Can a player who is not the target block an action aimed at someone else?
- Who can block Foreign Aid, and can you block your own?
- Do you have to name the role when you block?
- Do you get the 3 coins back when your Assassin claim is challenged?
- Does an Assassin still cost 3 coins if the target blocks with a Contessa?
- If you prove your Assassin when challenged, do you still pay the 3 coins when the target has no influence left?
- How many coins does a Captain steal take, and can you steal from yourself?
- Can you steal from a player who has no coins?
- How many cards does an Ambassador draw and keep?
- Does the Ambassador still draw and return two cards when you have only one influence left?
- Where do the two cards returned after an Ambassador exchange go?
- Do other players see which cards you kept after an Ambassador exchange?
- Can a Coup be blocked, for example by the Contessa?
- Does reaching 10 coins trigger a Coup right away?
- If your action is challenged or blocked, can you take a different action that turn?
- Can the Duke's Tax action be blocked?
- Can you claim a character you do not hold, and must you reveal it if nobody challenges?
- Do you name the target when you declare an assassination or steal, before others can challenge?
- If the target of your action is eliminated during the challenges, does the action still resolve?
- If your Captain steal is challenged and your Captain claim was a bluff, do you keep the coins?
Challenges
- Can any player challenge a character claim, not only the targeted player?
- Can you challenge a claim after the next player's turn has started?
- What is the order of challenges and counteractions after an action is declared?
- If you are challenged and reveal the correct character, does your action still happen, and what happens to the card?
- If you lose a challenge and are then assassinated, do you lose both influences?
- Can a player who falsely claims an Assassin lose two influence?
- If you challenge an Assassin and lose, can you still block with a Contessa?
- If a Contessa block is challenged, what happens when the blocker's claim is true or false?
- Against an Assassin, can you challenge first and then claim Contessa if the challenge fails?
- If several players want to challenge the same claim, who gets to challenge?
- If two players both claim Duke to block the same Foreign Aid, how are the blocks challenged?
- If you claim Contessa to block an assassination but reveal a different card when challenged, does the assassination still succeed?
- If your action's claim is challenged and you prove it, can the target still block?
- Can you challenge a player on how many coins they have?
- When challenged, must you reveal the claimed character, or can you lose an influence instead?
- Can you back down from a claimed character once someone challenges it?
- Do you have to show your face-down cards after winning a challenge or a bluff?
- If a blocker's claim is challenged and the blocker cannot prove the role, does the original action still happen?
- If your Ambassador is challenged and you prove it, when do you draw the replacement and do the exchange?
Coup: ReformationExpansion
- Are Allegiance cards kept face up in Coup: Reformation?
- In Coup: Reformation, can you target, steal from or block a player with the same allegiance?
- In Coup: Reformation, can an Inquisitor examine a player with the same allegiance?
- In Coup: Reformation, can players keep changing allegiance after everyone shares one?
- When your Embezzle is challenged, who loses an influence depending on whether you hold the Duke?
- In Coup: Reformation, when challenged while taking Treasury Reserve money, must you reveal both cards?
- In Coup: Reformation, where does Embezzlement take its coins from, and can a player with the Duke use it?
- How does the Inquisitor's Examine work, and is the returned card shown to the other players?
- Can the Inquisitor swap cards with another player to break a stalemate?
- What does the Inquisitor replace, and how does its exchange differ from the Ambassador's?
- Can the Inquisitor be blocked, and can it block a steal?
- Can the Inquisitor tell the other players what they saw, even falsely?
- Does the Coup: Reformation expansion include the Inquisitor role?
- How are players assigned allegiances at setup in Coup: Reformation?
- In Coup: Reformation, does money spent on an assassination go into the Treasury Reserve?
- In Coup: Reformation, what does it cost to change allegiance, and does it use your turn?