The Gilded Realms
The Gilded Realms Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Win
The player that has the most VP (Victory Points) at the end of the game is the winner, with a game lasting either 9 rounds for a Standard game, or 12 rounds for an Epic game.
Each player's VP is impacted by the following elements in their Kingdom;
- Provinces' VP displayed at the top right of the Province card.
- Every two Units is worth 1 VP.
- Each Capstone in their Hinterland is worth 1 VP (max 2 VP).
- Every 2 Gems is worth 1 VP. Note: 5 Gold equals 1 Gem during scoring.
- Every 1 Hardship reduces their VP by 1.
Solo: How to Win
To achieve victory when playing Solo you must survive until the End of Game and have at least the amount of VP determined by the difficulty you are playing at.
You are defeated if you fail to defend your Kingdom during a Last Stand, which is triggered each time the Warfront Track exceeds 12.
Components
- Age I Year Event Cards — 9
- Age II Year Event Cards — 9
- Serpens Ceremony Card — 1
- End of Age Card — 1
- Kingdom Advancement Card — 1
- Quest Cards — 14
- Serpens Wildcards — 12
- Double-sided Province Cards (4 sets) — 60
- Game Guides — 2
- Knowledge Tiles (4 sets) — 100
- How to Win Guide — 1
- Player Aid — 4
- Token Trays (with lids)
- Knowledge Tray (with lid)
- Supply — 40
- Materials — 45
- Gem Tokens — 27
- Determination Tokens — 15
- Silver Tokens — 20
- Gold Tokens — 54
- "5 Gold" Tokens — 8
- Kingdom Tracker (Right Board)
- Trade Route Tokens (2 sets) — 10
- Centre Board
- Kingdom Tracker (Left Board) — 4
- Scorepad — 1
- Grey Dice — 2
- Green Dice — 4
- Blue Dice — 4
- Red Dice — 4
Endeavour Cards — 113 total
80 Standard
21 Grain Field/Town, 3 Watermill/Town, 4 Trade Route/Barracks, 6 Swordsmen/Pikemen, 2 Hillmen/Swordsmen, 2 Swordsmen/Town, 2 Pikemen/Town, 2 Pikemen/Grain Field, 2 Swordsmen/Grain Field, 3 Cavalry/Town, 10 Quarry/Barracks, 9 Quarry/Manor, 3 Town/Manor, 1 Grain Field/Gold Mine, 1 Grain Field/Gem Mine, 1 Grain Field/Builders Guild, 1 Grain Field/Raiding Outpost, 1 Grain Field/Material Cache, 1 Grain Field/Prophet, 1 Grain Field/Academy of War, 1 Grain Field/Treasure Hunter, 1 Grain Field/Pioneers Guild, 1 Grain Field/Library, 1 Manor/Serpens Temple.
33 Epic
1 Chateau/Town, 10 Town/Foundation, 1 Town/Reinforced Foundation, 2 Metropolis/Foundation, 3 Grain Field/Core, 5 Guild Hall/Core, 1 Town/Reinforced Core, 2 of each Capstone: Influence, Agriculture, Township, Resources and Military.
Faction Components
Emberfall — Advisor Cards (8), Shroud Cards (6), Faction Information Card (1), Auxiliary Card (1), Caravan Tokens (6), Population Tokens (6), Stance Totem (1), Emberfall "Dark Dealings" Token (1).
Gnorvic Clan — Advisor Cards (8), Auxiliary Cards (2), Stance Totem (1), "Polrie" Reminder Token (1), Caravan Token (6), Population Tokens (6).
Ender Clan — Advisor Cards (8), Auxiliary Cards (4), Faction Information Card (2), Caravan Token (6), Population Tokens (6), Command Panel (1), Stance Totem (1), Authority Tokens (6).
Kihleed Guild — Advisor Cards (7), Market Cards (12), Faction Information Card (1), Caravan Token (6), Population Tokens (6), Market Panel (1), Stance Totem (1).
Apex Pyre — Advisor Cards (8), Auxiliary Cards (6), Stance Totem (1), Caravan Token (6), Population Tokens (6).
House Lorian — Advisor Cards (8), Auxiliary Cards (2), Faction Information Card (1), Vault Cards (6), Population Tokens (6), Vault Panel (1), Stance Totem (1), Caravan Token (6).
Solo Components
Serpens Reward Cards (18), Serpens Allies Cards (5), Warfront Cards (12), Warfront Token (1), Warfront Board.
Stance Totems require assembly — see the Packing Guide and Totem Assembly instructions, and the Sticker Sheet.
Game Setup
Note: Important information is highlighted in red text.
Solo Mode: If you wish to play Solo, proceed with Game Setup and Player Setup. You'll be directed towards the Solo rules when they are relevant. Look out for these green text boxes for extra rules when playing Solo.
Step 1: Select Game Type
When beginning a game, players must agree on playing either a Standard game or Epic game. It is recommended to play a few sessions of Standard Game before attempting Epic Game. Below are the key differences.
Standard Game (90-120 minutes)
The game ends after the ninth round, providing a session under two hours. This game excludes Epic cards while maintaining the strategic depth of the experience in a shorter game.
Epic Game (120 to 180 minutes)
The game ends after all 12 rounds. With Epic cards allowing for larger kingdoms and economies, while raising the stakes with the pursuit of Capstones. This game is for experienced players, challenging them to carefully manage their economy and the escalating Threat they face in the final 6 rounds.
Solo Mode: You may choose to play a Saga (see page 24) for a grander experience. During a Saga the first and second game will be Standard games, and the third will be an Epic game.
Step 2: Centre Board Setup
Shuffle each of the following card types into their own face-down deck.
A. "Year Event I" cards.
B. "Year Event II" cards. (Standard game: Remove cards with a Epic symbol from play before shuffling.)
C. Quest cards.
D. Endeavour cards. (Standard and Epic game: Remove cards with a Epic symbol from play before shuffling. Note: In an Epic game, these cards will be added back later into the game.)
Place one random "Year Event I" card face-down on the Centre Board beside each Threat value from 1 to 6 (A), and then return the last 3 cards to the game box, ensuring no cards are revealed to players. Then repeat this process for Year Event II cards, placing them beside Threat values 7 to 12 (B) (or 7 to 9 in a Standard game).
Place the following cards face-up on top of the Year Event card in the position noted below;
E. Kingdom Advancement is placed onto the Year Event at 3 Threat.
F. End of Age is placed onto the Year Event at 6 Threat.
G. Serpens Ceremony is placed onto the Year Event at 12 Threat (or 9 Threat in a Standard game).
H. Place storage trays vertically between players. Each tray has:
- A section for Gold and Silver.
- A section for Supply and Materials.
- A smaller section for Determination and Gems.
Store the "5 Gold" tokens next to the storage trays.
Bank
When rules refer to the 'Bank', this refers to Resources not currently in any player's Treasury, most of which will be stored in the two trays provided.
Shuffle and set the Quest deck aside for now.
Shuffle and place the Endeavours deck face-down at one end of the Centre Board in the marked location (D). If some players cannot reach this, split the deck and place the other half in the deck space at the other end of the Centre Board.
I. Place all "Serpens Wildcards" in a face-up deck at the top of the Centre Board.
J. Place all Knowledge tiles into the Knowledge tray provided, refer to Player Aid for token placement.
K. Place all Trade Route tokens in their indicated positions at the top of the Centre Board.
Player Setup
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Each player takes a Player Aid (Knowledge reference and Province Layout).
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Each player takes a left and right Kingdom Tracker board, placing them directly in front of themselves as shown. Note: Ender Clan, Kihleed Guild and House Lorian will come with a unique board to be placed between these boards, along the left side of the Standing Army.
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Each player places 5 sets of Province cards beneath their left Kingdom Tracker board.
Province card sets arranged from left to right; Influence, Agriculture, Township, Resources, and Military. Each set contains 3 cards representing one of the 5 Province types and should be arranged with the lowest level card at the top of the set and the highest level at the bottom. (Standard game: Remove the level IV/V Province card from play).
Solo Mode: If this is the second or third game of a Saga playthrough, the Faction you choose cannot be a Faction you have already played as during this Saga.
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Each player places 1 Serpens Wildcard upright as a "Serpens Artisan" in their Build Queue (along the right side of their Kingdom Tracker) in position 4.
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Each player chooses a Faction and places all of its cards and its Stance Totem near them. There are six Factions included in the game, these being the Emberfall, Gnorvic Clan, Ender Clan, Kihleed Guild, Apex Pyre and House Lorian. Faction cards have their Faction noted on their card backs.
New players should pick one of the four following Factions; Gnorvic Clan, Kihleed Guild, Apex Pyre, or Emberfall, and should consider reading out the descriptions at the beginning of each Faction description in the Faction Reference (page 32).
Each player then places their Faction's Caravan token in the marked slot on their Kingdom Tracker (10).
- Each player's three Core Advisors are stacked on their left-most Advisor slot, with the level "II" at the bottom and the "S" (starting) Advisor at the top.
The player has access to their starting Advisor's effect from the start of the game. Some of these may immediately grant the player a benefit (example: Emberfall players gain Shroud cards and an Apex Pyre player gains a Unit).
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Each player takes the 6 Population tokens belonging to their Faction, placing one on each slot on their Kingdom Tracker, Population side face-up.
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New players should skip this step and instead take the specified Quest for their Faction;
Gnorvic Clan - Agrarian Realm. Kihleed Guild - Bustling City. Apex Pyre - Architects Realm. Emberfall - Sprawling Society.
Otherwise, each player draws 3 random Quests (page 8) and selects one to place face-up in their right most Advisor slot as their Quest for this playthrough. They return the other two to the game box.
- Each player gains the Province Upgrades and Resources displayed at the top of their Quest card. In the example image below, the Resource Province would upgrade to level I, and the player would receive 4 Gold and 2 Materials.
Solo Mode: Now continue from page 24 for Solo Mode.
If this is your first time playing, continue from "Key Concepts" (next page). If you're familiar with the game's mechanics, begin play from "First Round Draft" (page 11).
Key Concepts
Before players are trained in the ways of kingdom management, they are advised to first familiarise themselves with a few elements that play an important role within the kingdom.
Coins
Three different Coins are used to track player's wealth during the game. 2 Silver are worth 1 Gold, and there is also a 5 Gold coin. Players may exchange Coins of equivalent value with the Bank whenever they wish.
Standing Army and Territory
The Standing Army is found on the right board of each player's Kingdom Tracker, and their Territory is the space beneath the left board of their Kingdom Tracker. These are used to organize their built Endeavours.
Dice
Rolled dice provide Truemarks or Re-rolls.
There are four levels of dice 'quality'. From weakest to strongest they are: Grey, Green, Blue and Red.
Re-rolls: Once each time a player is instructed to roll dice, after rolling, the player may choose any of the dice showing a re-roll icon, and roll them a second time.
Some effects may also allow the player to roll dice a second time (for example, Apex Pyre's "War Ballista" Unit). In all cases, no single die can be rolled again after the second time during a single instruction to roll dice.
If the face of the die has both a Truemark and a re-roll, the rolling player chooses either the Truemark, or the re-roll.
Threat
Threat indicates the amount of Damage (page 18) a player suffers during an Invasion, and is reduced by Defence (red shield values).
Image: This would provide you with 7 Defence.
Threat is presented as a red number. Each player is subject to all Threat from each active Looming Threat Year Event, and from the current Year Threat Modifier, as seen on the Centre Board.
Additionally, each player is subject to the Threat from their Hardship (exhausted Population), their Trade Routes, "Trade Route" Endeavours in their Territory, and Capstones in their Hinterland.
Hint: Players should pay attention to Looming Threats and the Year Threat Modifier, as they can contribute significant amounts of Threat.
Endeavours
Endeavours are critical to success. Players will store these in their hand or Hinterland, from where they may Build them. They then Progress along the player's Build Queue, and once completed provide the player with either a Building or a Unit;
Building type Endeavours from the Territory can be discarded to fulfil the requirements of Province Upgrades, increasing the player's income and Victory Points.
Unit Endeavours with a sword icon are reusable and can provide defence, or to conduct Campaigns that can grant the player additional benefits.
If the Endeavour deck runs out of cards, immediately reshuffle the discard piles and form a new Endeavour deck, then continue play.
Prosper Cards
Some Endeavours have a Gem icon on the top right, indicating they are a Prosper Endeavour. These stay in your Territory and serve as Gems at the End of Game.
Prosper cards provide either a one-time benefit upon entering your Territory, or in the case of "Trade Route" Endeavour cards, a benefit each time you Complete a Caravan.
Discarding
Discarded Endeavours are placed face-up in any one of the two 'discard piles' on the Centre Year Events Board.
Discarded Resources are returned to the Bank.
Treasury
Where the player's Resources are stored, located on the top of the player's right Kingdom Tracker.
Quests
Quest cards present a player with their "starting Treasury", indicating which Resources and Province Upgrades they begin the game with.
Beneath this is the Quest's requirement and a reminder of the reward options. If the player has fulfilled these requirements by the end of the sixth round, they can choose one of three rewards:
- Gain 5 Gold.
- Gain 2 Materials and 2 Supply.
- Recover up to 2 Population.
Players place their Quest face-up on the rightmost Advisor slot on their Kingdom Tracker. Note: You may store your Quest card elsewhere if you require the space for your 3rd Advisor.
Hinterlands
Each player's Hinterlands provides space for the player to retain up to 3 Endeavour cards at the end of the Action Phase (round step 3). The player can then Build or Extra Build these in the next round, but they can also be taken by a player as the reward for their successful Campaign (page 15) against the Hinterland.
Players may benefit from effects that state that their Hinterland can "store additional Endeavours". These "additional" Endeavours are placed to the left of the player's Kingdom Tracker board.
Provinces
Each player's Kingdom is divided into five Provinces - Influence, Agriculture, Township, Resources, and Military, each represented by a set of three cards.
Each Province has 6 levels (starting at level '-'), with higher levels providing more Resources, benefits and VP. Levels "I", "II" and "III" of each Province also allows the player to Buy Knowledge (page 13) of the same type and equal or lower level as that Province. Levels "IV" and "V" are used in Epic games only.
The top bar of each Province shows how much income the player collects from it during the End Harvest each round (page 17), and also any extra income they gain as a result of their Worker Stance placement.
Military Province
This Province protects you during Invasion (page 18) by providing Defence, indicated by a value in a red shield. You also track your Fortifications (page 13) on this card.
This Province also provides Gold income once it has been Upgraded.
Resources Province
This Province provides you with Materials during End Harvest. Materials allow you to Expedite and Extra Build, both of which accelerate the growth of your Kingdom. When in Worker Stance you may place your Stance Totem here to gain additional Material and Silver.
Township Province
This Province provides you with mixed Resources during End Harvest. When in Worker Stance you may place your Stance Totem here to gain additional Gold and an Endeavour card.
Agriculture Province
This Province provides you with Supply during End Harvest. When in Worker Stance you may place your Stance Totem here to gain additional Supply.
Influence Province
The icon on the left of your Influence Province shows you what level your Faction Core Advisor should be (S, I or II).
Each player begins the game with a Core Advisor. Unless stated otherwise, they may use this Advisor's effect once per round. See Advisors (page 23) for full details of Advisors.
When you Upgrade your Influence Province to level I and II, your Core Advisor is immediately increased to that level.
The Level of your Influence Province also represents your Rank (see below), which is used in various situations to determine which player has priority (For example, the order in which players resolve their Campaigns).
Rank
A player's Rank is the value on the right of the title beneath "Influence" on their Influence Province card. When it is relevant, players of higher Rank get priority of choice over those with lower Rank. "Rank Order" is always from highest Rank to lowest Rank.
Among players that are of the same Rank, players with a higher Reputation value (the value on the back of their Faction cards) are considered to have the higher Rank.
Territory
The back of each Province card represents the level above the front.
Playing a Round
A game of The Gilded Realms takes place over 9 rounds (or 12 in an "Epic" game), with each round representing the passing of one Year. The first 6 Years are considered "Age I". The following 3 (or 6 in an Epic game) Years are considered "Age II". At this point during an Epic game, the Endeavours (marked with the Epic symbol) for level IV and V Province Upgrades are shuffled into the Endeavours deck (Epic game only).
Each round consists of 7 Steps which are spread across 3 Phases. A reference of the round structure is found on the right Kingdom Tracker board, as seen below.
All players resolve each Step at the same time, proceeding to the next Step once done. Step 5 (Event Phase) is the only exception to this, during which players take turns.
After all players have collected their income during End Harvest, the next round begins.
The round structure, as shown on the right Kingdom Tracker board:
Build Phase (anytime: Buy Goods)
- Draw 3 → Build 2 (1x Buy Wildcard, and unlimited Extra Build)
- Progress
Action Phase 3. Perform Actions — Expedite, Buy Knowledge, Feed Population, Fortify, Trade 4. Choose Stance
Event Phase 5. Resolutions 6. Reveal Year Event (Solo Mode: Warfront) 7. End Harvest
Anytime Actions:
Negotiate
Anytime during the Build & Action Phases players may exchange each other Gold, Material or Supply in any combinations they wish. They can also swap Endeavours between their Hinterlands and hands as they wish, so long as they always swap an equal number of Endeavours. All exchanges agreed upon must be resolved.
Buy Goods
Players may use the "Buy Goods" action as often as they wish, at any point during the game.
To do so, the player Discards 2 gold to immediately add 1 Material or 1 Supply from the Bank to their Treasury.
Province Upgrade
At any time during play, players may discard a combination of Endeavours from their Territory that together present the requirement icons shown at the bottom of one of their Provinces to upgrade that Province to its next level.
Players keep track of each of their Provinces' levels using the cards beneath their left Kingdom Tracker board. Province levels progress through I, II, III, IV and finally V.
Hint: Provinces levels can never be reduced by any means, so they're a very safe investment!
Note: Level IV and V Provinces have unique names at the bottom, in recognition of their impressive architecture!
Requirement Icons
- A Quarry Endeavour.
- A Manor Endeavour.
- A Town Endeavour.
- A Grain Field Endeavour.
- A Barracks Endeavour.
At higher Province levels; Foundations, Cores, Capstones and other requirements come into play, see below for details.
- A Foundation Endeavour.
- A Core Endeavour.
- A Capstone Endeavour.
Found on Serpens Artisans and House Lorian's "Grand Project" card, this 'wild' Endeavour can be discarded to provide any one Endeavour icon towards a Province Upgrade, other than a Capstone. Note: The effect of "Serpens Artisan" allows it to provide a Capstone, if a Gem is discarded.
When conducting a Province Upgrade, icons to the left of a padlock image are requirements you must possess, but do not discard. Icons to the right of a padlock image, or presented without one, are requirements you must discard.
Some Endeavours have effects allowing them to contribute additional requirement icons during a Province Upgrade, if the player discards the indicated Resources.
Example Image: The Water Mill Endeavour provides a second Grain Field icon if the player discards 2 Materials when performing the Province Upgrade.
Note: Level "IV" Province Upgrades require special Endeavours called Capstones (page 23).
Found on all level "II" Provinces, this icon indicates that this Province can only be Upgraded if you possess at least two Knowledges (of any level) of the type matching that Province. Note: The icon's colour matches the Knowledge type for easier referencing.
Found on the level "I" Influence Province, this icon indicates that this Province can only be upgraded if you possess at least 3 Fortifications (page 13) or 1 Gem.
Found on the level "I", "II" and "III" Military Province's upgrade requirements, this icon indicates that this Province can only be upgraded if your Standing Army contains at least as many Units as the amount of this icon required. Note: Units only count towards this if they are currently in your Standing Army, Units in your Build Queue are not counted towards this.
The Star serves as a reminder that the Province cannot be upgraded during a non-Epic game, as the required Endeavours will not be present in the deck.
Example: John has two Foundation and four Town Endeavours in his Territory. He purchases his second Township Knowledge, which fulfils that part of the upgrade requirement on his level "II" Township.
John discards three Town Endeavours to upgrade his Township to level "III", and then discards two Foundation and one Town Endeavours to upgrade his Township to level "IV".
"Once per game/round" Effects
Unless stated otherwise, these effects must be resolved during the user's Action Phase.
Image (left): Once Per Round.
First Round Draft
When instructed during the first round of the game, all players place the Endeavours they have drawn face-up on the table.
Now in Rank Order each player takes a turn to draw any one of the revealed Endeavours into their hand. Then this is repeated in reverse Rank Order, and then once again in normal Rank Order. Each player should now have 3 Endeavours in their hand. From here players return to the normal rules for "Step 1: Draw and Build" (next page).
Build Phase
Note: Players can play simultaneously until they reach Step 5: Resolutions in the Event Phase, however if there are new players present, it is advised that they are allowed to watch a few turns taken individually, to help them learn the game.
Reminder: Players may use the "Buy Goods" action as often as they wish, at any point during the game (page 10).
Step 1: Draw and Build
- Each player draws 3 cards from the Endeavour deck. Note: For each Capstone they draw, a player draws one additional card.
If it is round one of the game, follow the rules for First Round Draft (previous page) before continuing.
Solo Mode: This step is modified during Solo play, as explained on page 25.
For the remainder of the Draw and Build Step, players may:
- Buy Serpens Wildcard once this round.
- Extra Build whenever they wish.
- Each player may Build up to two Endeavours from their hand or their Hinterland at no cost.
Once the player has performed their two Build actions and any Extra Build actions they wish, they can move onto Step 2: Progress in their own time.
Build
Select an Endeavour from your hand or Hinterland and rotate it so that the Endeavour you want is upright, then place the Endeavour in your Build Queue (along the right edge of your Kingdom Tracker) in the position matching the number printed on the Endeavour, to the left of its name.
Note: The upside-down portion of the Endeavour card is ignored for the rest of the game.
Build Queue
Found along the right side of the Kingdom Tracker. Endeavours Progress one position down this each round, eventually entering the player's Territory or Standing Army where they are ready to be used.
There is no limit to how many cards can be in the Build Queue, Territory or Standing Army at one time.
Extra Build
Exhaust 1 Population (page 22) and discard 2 Materials from your Treasury to Build an Endeavour from your hand or Hinterland.
Buy Serpens Wildcard
Once per Build Phase after drawing Endeavour cards each player may discard one Gem to draw one "Serpens Wildcard" from the pile at the top of the Centre Board. This Endeavour can be used as either a Serpens Artisan or a Serpens Cavalry. You must still Build the Serpens Wildcard as normal.
Serpens Artisan are Endeavours (page 8) that provide any one Province Upgrade (page 10) requirement, however as stated in the Artisan's effect text, a Gem must be discarded to use the provided requirement as a Capstone.
Discarded Serpens Wildcards are returned to the pile on the Centre Board.
Note: Serpens Cavalry functions in all ways as a standard "Cavalry" Unit, and so benefits from the Military Level II "Advanced Cavalry" Knowledge.
Step 2: Progress
Progress all Endeavours in your Build Queue.
Progress
To Progress an Endeavour: Move it one position down your Build Queue. Progressing Endeavours at position 1 moves them into your Territory, where they will remain until discarded.
Progressing Unit Endeavours at position 1 moves them into your Standing Army, where they will remain until an effect places them somewhere else.
Action Phase
Step 3: Perform Actions
As many times as they wish anytime during this Step, each player may resolve any of the Actions listed below. Once done they must Organise Hinterland Slots on their Kingdom Tracker, then place their Stance Totem to resolve Step 4. Once all players have placed their Stance Totem, they resolve Step 5 together.
Buy Knowledge
Select a Knowledge you do not already own from the Knowledge tray, of a level equal to or lower than that of your Province of the same type as that Knowledge.
Discard the amount of Gold shown at the top right of that Knowledge to gain it, storing it in the slot along the top of your Province cards.
Note: You can only store up to a maximum of 10 Knowledges, any excess is immediately discarded. You cannot voluntarily discard Knowledges (for example, to make space for new Knowledge).
Knowledge
Knowledge is gained via the Buy Knowledge action (see previous section). Explanations of each Knowledge effect can be found on the Knowledge Reference sheet, and in greater detail in the Knowledge Reference (page 30).
Each Level III Knowledge displays a Gem, indicating that it is treated as a Gem when tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game.
Feed Population
Discard 2 Supply and recover 1 Population (page 22).
Fortify
Place any amount of Materials from your Treasury into the Fortifications area on your Military Province card. Each Material in this area represents 1 "Fortification".
You may store up to as many Fortifications as the max amount indicated in the top right of this Fortifications area, though some unique effects may increase or ignore this limit.
Hint: Fortifications provide some of the most cost-effective defence against Invasion.
Fortifications
Your Fortifications are tracked by Materials in the "Fortifications" area of your Military Province. During each Invasion (page 18), you may discard any amount of your Fortifications, with each discarded Fortification granting you 2 Defence until the end of the Invasion.
Fortifications are presented as Material icons inside a shield icon, as seen here; (Material icon) = 2 Defence (per Material discarded)
Note: The only time you will lose Fortifications is when you choose to use them.
Example: Michael places 3 Materials from his Treasury to his Fortifications, anticipating that he will suffer 6 damage from an upcoming Invasion. The Invasion's Threat exceeds his total Defence by an amount of 5, and to avoid the damage he decides to discard all 3 Materials from his Fortifications, granting him 6 additional Defence.
Expedite
You may Expedite Buildings and Units to Progress them down your Build Queue as described here:
A) Discard one Material. Apply two Progress to Buildings in your Build Queue.
B) Discard one Supply. Apply two Progress to Units in your Build Queue.
Note: Each Progress may be applied to the same or different Endeavours. Any Progress you do not use is wasted, so use it as efficiently as you can!
Trade
If your Caravan (page 16) token is on your Kingdom Tracker, you may place 4 Resources (any combination of Material and Supply) from your Treasury into your Caravan storage (between your Advisors and Hinterland), and place your Caravan token, "Damage Caravan" side face-down, on top of the Year Event Card for next round. Note: It must be exactly 4 Resources that are placed.
Note: Be aware that these Resources can be stolen by another player, if they resolve a successful Campaign against you.
This token is resolved during the next Year's Step 5: Resolutions (page 15).
Hint: Supply sent in your Caravan typically generates more Coin than Material, and each Caravan you send will secure you a profitable Trade Route (page 17).
Players may deploy only one Caravan at a time. Due to requiring two Years to resolve, you cannot Trade during the final Year of the game.
Organise Hinterland Slots
Once you are done resolving actions and before you Choose Stance you must store as many Endeavours from your hand in your Hinterland as you are able to. During this you may also swap any Endeavours in your Hinterland with Endeavours in your hand.
This rule ensures you can't discard Endeavours that could be stolen by opponents' Campaigns.
Once done, discard all Endeavours remaining in your hand, placing them face-up into the discard zone on the Centre Board. The Endeavours you retain in your Hinterland will be available to you next round, assuming another player does not steal them with a Campaign (page 15).
Step 4: Choose Stance
In this Step each player secretly selects one of three 'Stances' setting their Stance Totem to indicate their decision before placing it face-down next to this round's Year Event card.
There are three Stances to choose from: Worker Stance increases the player's Income during End Harvest. Defence Stance offers the player extra protection against both Invasions and players' Campaigns. Attack Stance allows the player to send pairs of their Units out on profitable Campaigns.
Campaigns can target Sarrukar Looming Threats for their rewards, or another player's Hinterland to steal Endeavours or Caravan Resources.
Solo Mode: The Frontline is also available as a Campaign target.
Worker Stance
If a player chooses Worker Stance, during End Harvest they can choose to gain additional Resources from their Agriculture, Township or Resource Province (indicated at the top of the Province card next to the Stance icon). They'll also gain bonus Gold and Gems from 'Productive Year' Year Events while in this Stance.
Defence Stance
If a player chooses Defence Stance, they get 5 extra Defence (or 10 if their Military Province is level IV or higher) against Sarrukar Invasion during the upcoming Year Event. They also gain 1 extra Truemark to their defence roll when defending against Campaigns this round.
Example: Alfred has foreseen the Year Event for this round and knows it is an Invasion. He places his Defence Stance Totem face-down next to the Year Event card about to be revealed.
As Edina does not know Alfred's stance or of the Invasion Year Event and could use extra income, she goes for the Worker Stance, similarly placing her totem face-down next to the same Year Event.
During Step 5) Resolutions, Alfred gains enough defence to protect him from the Invasion Event. Edina gains a little Income during End Harvest, but suffers a huge loss during the revealed Invasion Year Event due to Damage!
Attack Stance
If a player has at least 2 Units in their Standing Army they may choose Attack Stance, allowing them to resolve any number of Campaigns (see next page) they wish during Step 5 Resolve Tokens (see next section).
Additionally, players in Attack Stance have 2 extra Defence against Sarrukar Invasion this round, and during End Harvest a player will earn 1 Gold for each Campaign (successful or not) they launched this round.
Event Phase
Step 5: Resolutions
During this step the decisions players made in the Action Phase are resolved, in the order below. All players resolve the current step before moving on to the next one.
- Reveal Stance Totems
- Campaigns
- Resolve Caravan
1} Reveal Stance Totems
Each player flips their Stance Totem to reveal their chosen Stance.
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Each player in Worker Stance chooses to place their Stance Totem on top of either their Agriculture, Township, or Resource Province, which determines the additional income they will gain during End Harvest.
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All players in Defence Stance place their Stance Totem on top of their Military Province, which provides additional defence.
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All players in Attack Stance place their Stance Totem above their Standing Army. Note: This serves as a reminder of their Stance later.
2} Campaigns
Next, in (highest to lowest) Rank Order (page 9) each player in Attack Stance takes a single turn to resolve as many Campaigns as they wish. Each player may delay their turn so long as there is a player of lower Rank who has yet to take their turn.
Note: The player may decide to not conduct any Campaigns.
To resolve a Campaign:
- Select Campaign Target.
- Queue Units.
- Resolve the Campaign.
Campaign Step 1: Select Campaign target.
Declare either option A} or B} below as the target of your Campaign. Note: You can choose the same target multiple times per round.
A} Target any card with one or two Campaign icons on it. You can only target Looming Threats if you have the "Siege Weapons" Knowledge.
Note: A Campaign against a card earns you one of the rewards displayed on the bottom right of the card.
Campaigns against cards displaying two Campaign icons (called a "Double Campaign") will require four Units, rather than the usual two for a single Campaign. In this case you are considered to have resolved two Campaigns for the application of all effects relating to Campaigns.
B} Target a Player's Hinterland. If this Campaign succeeds it will allow you to steal up to 2 Resources from their Caravan, or steal one Endeavour from their Hinterland (and may exhaust 1 Population to immediately Build it). Note: Multiple Campaigns against a single player resolve individually. They are not combined.
Solo Mode: Your Campaign may target the Frontline (page 26), allowing you to take a card from the Warfront Hinterland if you are successful.
Now if your Campaign is targeting a card (such as a Looming Threat), proceed with Campaign Step 3a. If it is targeting a player's Hinterland, proceed with Campaign Step 3b.
Campaign Step 2: Queue Unit Cards.
Move 2 Unit cards from your Standing Army to position 3 of your Build Queue and set aside dice matching those indicated under the moved Units' Defence value.
Repeat this a second time if you are conducting a "Double Campaign". Note: All four Units will combine their dice and any effects they may have when resolving a Double Campaign.
Looming Threat
When a Looming Threat Year Event card is revealed, take the Resources indicated on its "Draw" reward from the Bank and place them onto that card. This reward is only available to the first Campaign resulting in a "Draw" or "Victory", and is removed from the card when achieved.
Looming Threats increase the Threat a player faces during Invasion (page 18).
Looming Threats remain active (face-up). They are discarded when a Campaign achieves "Victory" against them.
Determination
Before each time they roll to attack or defend, players may discard any amount of their Determination and for each discarded increase the final result of their roll by 1 Truemark. Note: Determination is primarily gained from "Defeat" Campaign results.
Campaign Step 3a: Resolve Campaign against a Card.
1} You may discard any amount of your Determination, each discarded adding 1 Truemark to your roll result.
2} Roll the dice you set aside during "Campaign Step 2", resolving any available Re-rolls (page 8) and modifiers you wish, such as the "Attack Power" Knowledge and your Advisor's effects.
3} Check your Truemark roll total against the reward chart on the Campaign's target card.
Example: Attacker rolls 7 Truemarks Total. Defender rolls 4 Truemarks Total.
If the Attacker wins:
As their reward the Attacker chooses one of the following options to take from the defender's Hinterland;
- One or two Resources from their Caravan storage. After taking these Resources, if the Defender's Caravan token's 'damaged Caravan' side is face-down, flip that side face-up.
- An Endeavour from the Defender's Hinterland, which the Attacker places in a space in their own Hinterland. If no space is available the Attacker may first discard an Endeavour from their Hinterland to create a space.
- An Endeavour from the Defender's Hinterland, which immediately exhausts 1 of their own Population to Build (page 12). Hint: This costs 2 Materials less than a standard Extra Build action, making it a cheaper means of building Endeavours.
If the Defender wins:
The Attacking player gains 1 Gold and 1 Determination.
The Defender rolls two Grey dice and gains 1 silver for each Truemark they roll. Merchant guilds offer a coin tribute to those who defend their lands and trade routes.
Example: Defender rolls 5 Truemark and receives 5 Silver.
Victory: You claim the top reward, and you also claim the "Draw" reward if it has not been claimed yet. Then the Campaign target card is discarded.
Note: This reward is placed on the card when it comes into play, and claimed by the first player to achieve a "Victory" or "Draw" Campaign result against this card.
Draw: You claim the "Draw" reward, or if it has already been claimed, you claim the "Defeat" reward instead.
Defeat: You claim the "Defeat" reward.
Each card's "Draw" reward can only be collected once per game, and is collected by the first player to achieve either a "Draw" or "Victory" against that card.
Campaign Step 3b: Resolve Campaign against a player's Hinterland.
1} The Attacker may discard any amount of their Determination, each discarded adding 1 Truemark to their roll result in the next step.
2} The Attacker rolls their prepared dice, resolving any available re-rolls and modifiers they wish, for example the "Attack Power" Knowledge and their Advisor's effects. Reminder: Each time you are instructed to roll dice, you may not re-roll any of the rolled dice more than one each time.
3} The Defender now chooses and prepares the dice from the top left of two Units of their choice from their Standing army. In place of one or both of these, they may prepare Grey dice. Note: The Defender's chosen Units do not move into the Build Queue for this resolution.
4} The Defender now resolves step 1} and 2}, in which they'll discard Determination if they wish, and then roll their prepared dice.
5} The Attacker wins if their Truemark roll total is higher than the Defenders. Otherwise, the Defender wins. Resolve the result as described below:
3} Resolve Caravan
In Rank Order (page 9), each player with a Caravan Token on the Year Event card for this round (see previous page) will resolve their Caravan by following these steps;
Step 1} Discard the Resources in your Caravan storage and roll a Blue dice for each Supply and a Green dice for each Material. Note: Some effects may modify which dice are rolled.
If you have a Damaged Caravan (see next section), also roll 2 Grey dice.
Step 2} Gain 1 Silver for each Truemark you rolled in Step 1}.
Step 3} If you have less than 4 Trade Route tokens in your Caravan, you may choose one from the top of the Centre Board and place it into an empty slot in your Caravan. Each player can only have a maximum of one "Gem" Trade Route. Note: There's no way to remove Trade Route tokens once you've gained them, so make sure you can handle any Threat they apply!
Step 4} Gain the benefit of each Trade Route token in your Caravan.
Now check for your 'Complete a Caravan' effects (generally found on your Trade Route Endeavours, Advisors or Knowledge).
Note: You "Complete a Caravan" even if you didn't generate any coin from it, and even if it rolled no dice to generate coin.
Step 5} Return your Caravan token ("Damaged Caravan" face-down) to your Kingdom Tracker.
Damaged Caravan
A Caravan is "damaged" if any Resources have been stolen from it by a player's Campaign since it was last resolved, indicated by placing the Caravan token damaged face-up. When a Damaged Caravan is resolved 2 extra Grey dice are rolled, representing whatever goods the Caravan was able to hide from the attackers.
Trade Routes
Trade Routes are gained and activated during 4} Resolve Caravan (to the left), enhancing the rewards for frequent Trading. Hint: There are only 2 of each Trade Route available per game, so players who complete Caravans sooner have more choice of which Trade Routes they gain.
Each player may gain up to four Trade Routes during a game, placing each in one of the slots presented beneath their Caravan storage. No player can have more than one "Gem" Trade Route token. Note: Trade Routes remain with you for the rest of the game.
Note: "Trade Route" Endeavours are ignored for the Trade Route limit.
The Trade Route effects are described below:
- Each time you Complete a Caravan, Foresee (page 22) the next Year Event. For this effect, skip the current Year Event about to be revealed this round.
- Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Fortification and 1 Determination.
- Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 2 Gold. During Invasion, your Threat is 2 higher.
- Each time you Complete a Caravan, recover 1 Population. During Invasion, your Threat is 3 higher.
- Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Gem. During Invasion, your Threat is 4 higher. Each player can only have a maximum of one "Gem" Trade Route. Note: The "Gem" Trade Route itself does not count as a Gem. For example, it does not contribute to score from Gems during End of Game.
Step 6: Resolve Event Cards
All cards on top of the current round's Year Event (Kingdom Advancement, End of Age, Serpens Ceremony and faction cards such as the Emberfall Shroud) are resolved starting with the top card and moving down (see previous page).
Solo Mode: When resolving the "Kingdom Advancement" Event, gain an Ally Advisor from the list of Allies (page 27).
After resolving all tokens and cards on top of the current Year Event, reveal and resolve that Year Event (page 18).
Solo Mode: After you have resolved the Year Event for this round, reveal a Warfront card (page 28) from the top of the Warfront deck, resolve it and then discard it (unless it instructs otherwise).
Step 7: End Harvest
Each player gains the Resources, Endeavours and effects shown on the grey strip above each of their Province cards. For some Factions this strip extends onto their unique Faction board as well.
Each player who chose Worker Stance for this round gains a bonus based on which Province they placed their Stance Totem on;
A. Agriculture:
- Level I, II and III - 1 Supply.
- Level IV and V - 2 Supply.
B. Township:
- Level I, II and III - 1 Gold and draw an Endeavour.
- Level IV and V - 2 Gold and draw an Endeavour.
C. Resources:
- Level I, II and III - 1 Material and 1 Silver.
- Level IV and V - 2 Materials and 1 Silver.
Each player in Attack Stance gains 1 Gold for each Campaign (successful or not) they launched this round.
When a player has finished resolving their End Harvest, they place their Stance Totem back near their Kingdom Tracker.
Once all players have done this, if this is not the 9th round of a Standard game or the 12th round of an Epic game, all players now begin a new round, starting with the Build Phase (page 12).
Year Events Reference
Each Round Step 6 the Year Event card for that round is revealed and resolved. Note: Each Year Event is randomly drawn from a limited pool at the start of each game, meaning that as the Year Events for each Age are revealed, players can better guess what the remaining Year Events might be.
- In Age I & II, 3 out of 9 of the possible Year Events are an Invasion that can Damage all players. Be prepared to defend your lands against the Sarrukar!
- 2 (Age I) or 3 (Age II) of the possible Year Events are Looming Threat, which make Invasions more dangerous.
- 2 (Age I) or 1 (Age II) Year Events grants each player a choice of two options to gain Resources.
- 2 of the possible Year Events each Age reward players in Worker or Defence Stance that year.
Invasion
When an Invasion Year Event is revealed, each player faces the incoming Sarrukar Invasion individually, calculating their own Threat, Defence and Damage.
Before doing this, roll the "ADD TO THREAT" dice displayed on the revealed Invasion card. This roll will be added to all player's Threat for the duration of the Invasion. Note: "Minor Invasion" Year Events do not roll for any additional damage.
Then each player individually resolves the following three Steps in order;
Invasion Step 1} Determine Threat
Threat is always presented as a bold red number, sometimes with the word "Threat", as seen in the images below.
Check the following sources of Threat to determine your total Threat;
A. Threat equal to the amount of Truemarks rolled by the "Add To Threat" roll.
B. The Year Threat Modifier found next to the current revealed Invasion Event on the Centre Board.
C. The Threat value of each Looming Threat (page 15) card currently revealed.
D. 1 Threat for each of your Hardship (exhausted Population).
E. Threat from Capstone Endeavours in your Hinterland.
F. Threat from Trade Routes and Trade Route Endeavours in your Territory.
Invasion Step 2} Determine Defence
Defence is presented as a number within a red shield icon. Check the following sources for contributions to your Defence for this Invasion;
A. Defence granted by your Military Province.
B. Extra Defence if you are in Defence Stance (page 14).
C. 2 extra Defence if you are in Attack Stance (page 14).
Defend With Units:
D. Move any of your Units you wish from your Standing Army to position 2 of your Build Queue (there's a red shield image here as a reminder). The Defence value of each Unit moved (displayed on the top left of the Unit's card) is added to your Defence for this Invasion.
Defend with Fortifications:
E. Discard any amount of your Fortifications you wish, each discarded granting you 2 Defence for this Invasion.
Invasion Step 3} Damage
Reduce your total Threat (A) by your total defence (B). All remaining Threat then indicates the amount of Damage your Kingdom suffers (C).
You must now resolve all of this Damage using any mixture of the following effects any number of times each;
- Discard 1 Gold, Supply, or Material to resolve 1 Damage.
- Exhaust 1 Population to resolve 3 Damage.
- Discard 1 Gem to resolve 4 Damage.
- Discard an Endeavour or Commander in your Build Queue, Standing Army or Territory to resolve 5 Damage.
Tip: For quick reference refer to the game guide provided.
Once you have no Damage left to resolve or cannot resolve any of the above options, proceed to End Harvest (page 17).
Productive Year
When this is revealed, each player in Worker Stance immediately gains 1 Gem and 2 Gold. Each player in Defence Stance can Foresee (page 22) once.
Civil Decree
When this Year Event is revealed, each player must resolve one of the two presented options in full (if possible).
Civil Decree (Age I & II):
Explore: Draw 2 Endeavours into your hand. You also gain 1 Supply.
Gather: Exhaust 1 of your Population to gain 3 Materials.
Tax: Exhaust 1 of your Population to gain 3 Gold.
Serpens Festival
When this Year Event is revealed, each player may exhaust any amount of their Population and for each exhausted this way they gain 1 Gem and 1 Gold.
Looming Threat
This Year Event remains active (face-up), contributing additional Threat to each Invasion.
Campaigns can target this Year Event, and it is discarded when a Campaign achieves "Victory" against it. Refer to page 15 for further details.
Example of an Invasion:
All Players' Threat value is 28 (rolled on the "Add to Threat" dice, plus the Year Threat Modifier, plus revealed Looming Threats). The Player's personal Threat value (from Hardship, Capstones and Trade Routes) is 10, for a Player's Total Threat of 38. The Player's total Defence value, combining their Military Province, Stance, and Units and Fortifications committed to defend, is 33. After calculating the difference, the Player's Kingdom takes a Damage total of 5. Before moving on, the Player must 'pay' for the Damage taken — they decide to discard 3 Gold and 2 Supply.
Kingdom Advancement
This card resolves immediately before the 3rd Year Event card. Each player chooses the Commander or one of the Council Advisors (page 23) from their Faction to gain, placing it in one of their two Advisor slots on their left Kingdom Tracker board, or Standing Army if they chose the Commander.
Note: The three Core Advisors (marked "S", "I" and "II") are not involved in this selection.
Solo Mode: If you are playing solo, you now select and gain an Advisor from the selection of Allies (page 27).
End of Age
This card resolves immediately before the 6th Year Event card.
Resolve Quests
Each player now checks their Quest. If all criteria have been met they choose and gain one of the following rewards;
- Gain 5 Gold.
- Gain 2 Supply and 2 Materials.
- Recover 2 Population.
All players then return their Quest cards to the game box, whether they have claimed a reward from them or not.
Gain Advisor
Now players will choose and gain an Advisor/Commander (page 23) from their Faction, in the same manner as during Kingdom Advancement (see previous section).
Epic Game Only
Rebuild Endeavour Deck
If playing an Epic game, shuffle all Endeavours with an Epic symbol on them from the game box, and all discarded Endeavours, into the Endeavour deck.
Solo Mode (Epic game only): Shuffle together the remaining Warfront deck and discarded Warfront cards to form a new Warfront deck.
Serpens Ceremony - End of Game
At the end of the last round all players simultaneously resolve the following steps;
- Progress all Endeavours in their Build Queue all the way into their Territory.
- Perform one final 'bonus' Action Phase. Note: There is no bonus Build Phase.
During this you can discard any amount of Material and/or Supply and for each discarded gain 1 Silver. Note: The game will end with this phase, so be aware that anything after this, such as Campaigns and Caravans, will not resolve and will therefore be wasted.
- Tally Victory Points (see adjacent).
Solo Mode Hint: It may be worth reducing your Warfront Track during this phase, if doing so earns you extra VP, or contributes to your next game in a Saga.
Tally Victory Points
Scoresheets have been provided, on which players can tally their VP. Each player should check their Resources and Kingdom for the following VP modifications;
- Provinces: Indicated in the top right of each Province card.
- Army: Every two Units with the Unit icon in their Standing Army is worth 1 VP.
- Other: Up to two Capstones in their Hinterland are worth 1 VP each. Note: The Vault card (House Lorian) and the Advisor Tahirah (Kihleed Guild) may also impact VP.
- Gems: Every two Gems is worth 1 VP. Each of the following is considered a Gem at the End of Game:
- Each Gem token.
- Every 5 Gold.
- Every level III Knowledge.
- Every Prosper card in your Territory.
- Hardship: For each of the player's exhausted Population they suffer -1 VP.
- Warfront (Solo Mode): Indicated on the Warfront tracker's current position, if it is at position 6 or lower.
Once all players are done, the player with the highest VP is declared the winner! In the case of a tie, the player with the highest Rank (page 9) is the winner.
Game Concepts
Population
Each player begins the game with 6 Population, represented by circular tokens showing a man and a woman unique to their Faction. When a player is instructed to "exhaust" their Population, they flip that amount of their Population tokens over to their Hardship side. When instructed to "recover" Population, they flip their Hardship back over to the Population side. A player cannot have more than 6 Population.
Hardship
Exhausted Population are flipped, at which point they become Hardship. See Population above for further details.
For each Hardship a player has;
- During Invasion, their Threat is 1 higher.
- During End of Game, their VP is 1 lower.
Various effects can exhaust Population, including some Year Events, Advisor effects and the Extra Build action.
Any amount of times during round Step 3: Perform Actions, each player may use the Feed Population (page 13) action, allowing them to discard 2 Supply to recover 1 Population.
Foresee
A player applies this effect to a face-down Year Event card. This allows them to privately look at the concealed face of that card at any time for the rest of the game.
A player never applies Foresee to a Year Event they have previously applied it to. If instructed to do so, or not told which Year Event to apply it to, they apply Foresee to the face-down Year Event of lowest "Year Threat Modifier" value that they have not previously applied Foresee to.
Example: On round two, Max buys the Knowledge "Foresee Future" allowing him to Foresee the next three rounds' face-down Year Event cards. In round four Max uses the ability of one of his Advisors to Foresee. The Year Events for round five and six are the lowest in the round sequence (as indicated by their Year Threat Modifier), that Max hasn't applied Foresee to yet, so he applies the Foresee granted by his Advisor to those.
Standing Army
"Standing Army" refers to all of the Units with Unit icons in your Territory. These Units are stored in the area presented on your right Kingdom Tracker board. Note: There are no limits to the amount of Units that may be stored here.
This track bears a visual reminder that you always have two Grey dice available for your defence rolls, when you have no Units to provide higher quality dice.
Advisors
During the game each player can gain up to two of the Council Advisors, and the Commander unique to their Faction. A Council Advisor or Commander is gained from Kingdom Advancement (round 3 Event), End of Age (round 6 Event), and the "Recruit Advisor" Knowledge.
The Kingdom Tracker has 3 Slots in which you can place your Advisors so you can easily see them. The left slot is for your Core Advisor, with their current level (S, I or II) on top, and the two other slots are for Council Advisors you gain during play.
Core Advisor
Each player begins the game with their Core Advisor (identified by an "S"), which is placed in their Core Advisor slot.
The level of a player's Core Advisor is indicated in the top left of their Influence Province. When Upgrading this Province to levels "I" and "II", they must also update their Core Advisor's level to match.
Advisors can never be destroyed or discarded (voluntary or otherwise), except in the case of the Commander, who can be discarded to resolve Damage during an Invasion (page 18).
Council Advisors
During the Kingdom Advancement and End of Age Events (3rd and 6th round), each player chooses to gain the Commander or one of the Council Advisors from their Faction (they cannot choose Core Advisors). Council Advisors can be found in the Faction Reference (page 32).
Commanders
Commanders are Advisors with a Unit icon and are stored in your "Standing Army". Commanders function as (and are considered to be) Unit Endeavours during the game, but have unique effects. Commanders can be found in the Faction Reference (page 32).
Other Faction Cards
Some Factions have other unique cards. Unless stated otherwise, these cards are not subject to any actions or effects during the game, and serve purely as references for the functions and effects described upon them. Faction Cards are found in more detail in the Faction Reference (page 32).
Auxiliary Faction Cards
Some Factions have their own unique Units and Endeavours. These can only be acquired from effects within the Faction, but otherwise follow all rules for their card type as normal.
Capstones
The Age II Endeavour deck contains 2 Capstones specific to each one of the five Provinces. These are treated as normal Endeavour cards, with a few special functions:
B. For each Capstone a player draws from the Endeavour deck, they immediately draw one additional Endeavour.
C. A player is awarded 1 Victory Point for each Capstone in their Hinterland at the End of Game, however they may earn no more than 2 VP this way.
D. Each Capstone in a player's Hinterland contributes 2 Threat towards that player.
Solo Mode
Solo mode calls you to the aid of the Emperor as the empire is drawn into war with the Sarrukar, who are stronger than ever and preparing to expand their domain.
You must contribute to funding, Supplying and Campaigning on the Warfront, while also maintaining the stability and growth of your own lands so that you can minimise the damage of the war and retain the respect of your people in these trying times.
Should you feel especially resolute in the face of the Sarrukar, you can engage them in an epic Saga, engaging them in a series of wars through which your efforts will earn you the coveted "Serpens rewards", enhancing the prosperity of your Kingdoms.
The relentless Sarrukar will not be halted easily, and you'll need to employ every skill and asset at your disposal to fend off the invasion.
Solo Setup
Before proceeding with the rules for solo setup, please ensure you have completed the Setup process on page 6 as you would during a multiplayer game. You will then be directed back to this page.
Solo Setup varies slightly if you are playing a Saga as noted in the steps below.
Saga
A Saga consists of three playthroughs, the first two being "Standard" and the third being an "Epic" game (page 6). The first two playthroughs impact the remaining playthroughs, adding an additional challenge to the game that spans all three playthroughs.
Note: Sagas are only recommended for experienced players, as they involve more decisions and long lasting consequences.
The Warfront Tracker (page 26) progression and your Serpens Rewards are retained between games during a Saga.
Example: John finishes his first Saga "Standard" game with his Warfront Tracker on position 6. At the start of the next game in the Saga, it remains at position 6.
Step 1: Choose Game Type (Only if you are beginning a new Solo session).
Choose whether you will play a Saga, or a Standalone game.
If it is the first game of a Saga, or a Standalone game, choose a Difficulty; Normal, Hard or Nightmare (see table below).
Difficulty
In Solo Mode your chosen Difficulty will determine the amount of Prosperity Points you have available to spend at the start of the game, your starting Warfront position, and how much VP you must earn to achieve victory.
| Difficulty | Starting Prosperity Points | Warfront Tracker Start Position | VP Goal Standalone Standard / Epic | VP Goal Saga Game First/Second/Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0 | 1 | 28+/43+ | 26+/28+/46+ |
| Hard | 3 | 3 | 30+/45+ | 28+/30+/48+ |
| Nightmare | 4 | 5 | 32+/46+ | 30+/32+/50+ |
Step 2: Organise Allies.
Arrange the available Allies (listed on page 27) so you can easily see and access them as you play.
Step 3: Sell Serpens Rewards (Only during second and third game of a Saga).
You may discard any of your Serpens Rewards to immediately gain half of their Prosperity Points cost, rounding up.
Serpens Rewards
These are gained during the Setup of a Solo game and provide powerful permanent effects. You may own up to three Serpens Rewards at any one time.
Prosperity Points Cost: The cost of the Serpens Reward.
Provides a powerful permanent effect.
Step 4: Spend Prosperity Points
You may spend your Prosperity Points to buy Serpens Rewards. For each Prosperity Point you do not spend, discard it and gain 1 Gold.
To buy a Serpens Reward, discard the amount of Prosperity Points displayed at the top right of that Serpens Reward card.
Each of your Serpens Rewards is stored in one of the three slots on the Warfront Tracker. You may not possess more than three Serpens Rewards at one time.
Step 5: Setup the Warfront Board.
Place the Warfront board above your Kingdom Tracker, and shuffle the Warfront cards into a deck. Place this deck face-down in the slot on the Warfront board.
If it is the first game of a Saga or Standalone: Position the Warfront token above the Warfront tracker, at its start position, indicated by your chosen Difficulty (see previous page).
If it is the second or third game of a Saga: Leave the Warfront token where it was at the end of the last game in this Saga.
Step 6: Modified First Round Draft.
During Step 1: Draw and Build in your first round of each game, when instructed to "follow the rules for First Round Draft", do not do so. Instead, draw an additional 3 Endeavour cards, then choose 3 of the 6 Endeavour cards to keep in your hand, and place the remaining 3 face-up into the Warfront Hinterlands.
Step 7: Begin Game.
If this is your first time playing, continue from "Key Concepts" (page 8). If you're familiar with the game's mechanics, begin play from "Step 1: Draw and Build" (page 12).
End of Game: Saga
At the end of the first and second game of a Saga, return your Allies to the pool of available Allies. Note: They will still be available to use again in this Saga.
Record the final position of the Warfront token. It will begin the next game of the Saga in this position.
Finally, gain Prosperity Points as described on the next page.
Warfront Board
The Warfront Board comprises: Serpens Rewards slots, an Allies slot, the Frontline (Campaign Target), Warfront Cards deck, Warfront Hinterlands, Cycle Warfront Hinterlands, the Warfront Token, and the Warfront Tracker (marked with Last Stand and VP values 5 VP, 3 VP, 2 VP, 1 VP at various positions).
Actions available from the Warfront Board include: Buy Warfront Endeavour, Hire Mercenaries, and Conscription.
Solo Concepts
Prosperity Points
Starting new games at a higher Difficulty (previous page) grants you Prosperity Points. Additionally, for each game you complete during a Saga, you gain 2 Prosperity Points, and an additional 1 Prosperity Point for each Victory Point by which you exceed the amount required to win that game.
Example: Ivan needed at least 32 VP to achieve victory in his most recent game. He earned 33 VP, and therefore earned 3 Prosperity Points; 2 for the victory, and 1 to match the amount of excess Victory Points he earned that game.
Each Prosperity Point you do not spend before the start of the game is converted into 1 Gold.
Warfront Tracker
This track indicates the state of the war between Serpens and Sarrukar forces, spanning from 0 to 13. Position 0 favours Serpens forces, with positions 0 through to 6 indicating an amount of VP you gain if the Warfront is at those positions at the End of Game.
Last Stand
Exceeding position 12 by any amount triggers a "Last Stand", which is a Direct Assault (page 28) in which if you lose, you lose the game (and Saga if relevant). If you win, the Warfront moves to position 12 and you continue play.
During Solo play you have three means of improving the position of the Warfront:
- Hire Mercenaries: Discarding Gold.
- Conscription: Exhausting Population.
- Attacking the Frontline with Campaigns.
Warfront Cards will often adjust the Warfront position, usually in favour of the Sarrukar.
Note: If the Warfront is reduced below position "0", it instead remains there. There is no additional effect.
Solo Actions
Cycle Warfront Hinterland
Scouts are sent to search for new opportunities in the warfront hinterlands.
Once per round during the Build or Action Phase, you may discard a card of your choice from the Warfront Hinterland and replace it with the card from the top of the Endeavour deck, face-up. Note: There is no cost to this action.
Buy Warfront Endeavour
Scattered nomads occupy the warfront hinterlands, eager to pledge their loyalty – for a price.
During the Build Phase, as many times as you wish, you can discard 1 Gold to draw any one Endeavour from the Warfront Hinterlands into your hand. Each time you do so, restock the Warfront Hinterland with a card from the Endeavours deck.
Hire Mercenaries
A wealthy Kingdom need not fight its own battles, for there is no shortage of those willing to fight for coin.
As many times as you wish during each Action Phase, you may discard 3 Gold to reduce the Warfront tracker by 1, or discard 5 Gold to reduce the Warfront tracker by 2.
Conscription
You've been given the authority to permanently commit your Population to fight on the Warfront. This can provide some immediate relief, but will increase the Hardship of your people.
As many times as you wish during your Action Phase, you may exhaust 1 Population to reduce the Warfront tracker by 1.
Frontline (Campaign)
The Frontline is treated as a 'card' that your Campaigns (page 15) can target, with the exception that the Frontline is never discarded and so can be targeted any amount of times.
On Victory, reduce the Warfront tracker by 1 and if you wish, take one Endeavour from the Warfront Hinterlands into your hand. If you do so, restock the Warfront Hinterland with a card from the Endeavour deck. This is treated as taking an Endeavour from a player, allowing you to Build the taken Endeavour by exhausting 1 Population.
On Defeat, gain 1 Gold and 1 Determination.
The Frontline has no Draw outcome.
Allies
The Factions have united against the Sarrukar threat, each driven by their own noble or selfish motives. Each Faction's finest Advisors are on hand to assist in the war effort.
When resolving the Kingdom Advancement (page 20), in addition to gaining an Advisor from your Faction, the card will instruct you to choose and gain an "Ally", placing them in the Ally slot on the Warfront Panel (or in your Standing Army if they are a Commander).
Your chosen Ally can either be one of the five "Serpens Allies" cards, or an Advisor on the list to the right that is from any Faction you have previously played as during your current Saga.
For the remainder of the current game you may resolve and apply your Ally's effects as you would normally. At the end of each game in a Saga you must return your Allies to the Bank. Note: They will still be available during following games in this Saga.
Example: Michael played Kihleed Guild and was victorious in the first game of his Saga. In his second game he is playing Emberfall. During Kingdom Advancement, he chooses to gain the Kihleed Guild Advisor "Tahirah: Investor", placing it in the Ally slot (subsequently collecting the rewards from the card). Then he chooses an Emberfall Advisor as normal.
Serpens Allies
Always available to choose.
Drayth
When you use Drayth in a Campaign attacking the Frontlines, if that Campaign achieves a Victory result, reduce the Warfront by 1 additional position as part of the reward.
Therosid
When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 2 Determination and reduce the Warfront by 1.
During each Direct Assault or Last Stand, when you roll for your defence you may roll 2 Blue dice, instead of using dice provided by Units in your Standing Army.
Rydian
When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 1 Supply and 1 Material.
Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Gold and reduce the Warfront by 1.
Kaelarian
When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 2 Fortifications.
After each Invasion during which you suffer no Damage, reduce the Warfront by 2.
Myrrha
For the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th Knowledge you gain and have previously gained this game, reduce the Warfront by 1.
Example: Claire owns 3 Knowledges and selects Myrrha as her ally during Kingdom Advancement on round 3. She immediately gains 1 Warfront reduction because she already owns her 2nd Knowledge. Next round Claire buys her 4th Knowledge and immediately reduces the Warfront by another 1.
Faction Allies (Saga)
Only available from factions you have previously played as during your current Saga.
- Emberfall — Calantha: The Shrouded Magistra; Mirage Mallor: Dark Dealings.
- Gnorvic Clan — Scarbrik: Boar Herder; Polrie Arbeit: Tribal Shaman.
- Ender Clan — Garrick Blackthorn: Swift Occupation; Woodland Berserker: Battle Fury.
- Kihleed Guild — Tahirah: Investor; Idris Kassab: Tradeguard.
- House Lorian — Serafina: Wine Artisan; Benedict Grandfield: Tax Collector.
- Apex Pyre — Hadrian: Wall Construction; War Ballista: Piercing Bolts.
Warfront Card Reference
In step 6 of the Event Phase, after resolving a Year Event, you will be instructed to reveal the top card of the Warfront deck, applying its effect and then discarding it.
The top effect of each Warfront card is usually a simple modification to the Warfront Tracker. The bottom effects vary more and are described below:
Pyrrhic Victory
You may discard one Looming Threat from the Centre Board (this does not count as a "Victory" or "Draw" and will not trigger any beneficial effects).
Card text: You may remove one Looming Threat. (Do not gain reward).
Defiance
If you make a defence roll for Last Stand (page 26) during this Warfront card's effects, gain 2 Truemark to your total result.
Card text: If this card triggers Last Stand, gain: Defence Roll +2 Truemark.
Direct Assault
This has no effect during round one or two on "Normal" difficulty. Roll two Red dice for the Sarrukar's attack, then roll for your defence against this attack, all rules and effects applying as they would when you are the defender during Campaign Step 3b (page 16), except that you do not roll Grey dice to gain Silver if you win.
Card text: (Normal Difficulty: Ignore on round one and two).
If you lose, increase the Warfront tracker by the amount displayed at the bottom of the Direct Assault effect box.
After resolving the Warfront card, unless otherwise stated, it is placed in the discard pile adjacent to the deck.
If you lose a Direct Assault triggered by Last Stand (page 26), you lose the game, and Saga if relevant. If you win, move the Warfront position to 12 and continue play.
Example: A Sarrukar Direct Assault rolls 5 Truemarks against you. You discard 2 Determination for +2 Truemarks as a precaution, and then make your defence roll, using a Grey dice, and a Blue dice granted by a Cavalry Unit in your Standing Army.
You roll 3 Truemarks, totalling 5 with your Determination bonus. The defender always wins ties, so you win the roll and prevent the Warfront Tracker from advancing!
(Direct Assault Result: 5; Standing Army Result: 5 — Defender wins ties!)
Serpens Aid
When this is revealed, place it in position 3 in your Build Queue. When it enters your Territory, decrease the Warfront Tracker by 2 positions. You may Expedite (page 13) this card as you would a Unit.
Card text: Place this card in Build Queue 3. When in Territory, discard & gain: [Warfront -2]. You may Expedite this card as you would a Unit.
Raiders
When this is revealed, place it in position 3 in your Build Queue. Your Campaigns can target Raiders, and upon a Victory result will discard it. When Raiders enters your Territory, discard Raiders and increase the Warfront Tracker by 2 positions.
Card text: Place this card in Build Queue 4. When in Territory, discard & suffer: [Warfront +2]. Campaign reward chart: Victory (4+) discards RAIDERS; Defeat (0-3) grants 1 Gold and 1 Determination.
Knowledge Reference
This section of the rulebook provides details of how various components and cards in the game function. A separate section is provided for Faction Reference (page 32).
Resources
Coins
Coins can be used to Buy Goods (page 10), Buy Knowledge (page 10) or as part of an agreement when conducting Negotiate (page 10). Coins come in 3 denominations, these being 5 Gold, 1 Gold, and 1 Silver. 2 Silver Coins count as 1 Gold Coin.
For VP calculation at the End of Game, every 5 Gold a player has counts as a Gem (every two Gems being worth 1 VP).
Gems
Gems can each be discarded to gain a Serpens Wildcard Endeavour (page 12).
During End of Game, every 2 Gems a player owns grants them 1 VP.
Materials
Materials can be used to increase your defence against Sarrukar Invasion, and to Progress Building type Endeavours more rapidly along the Build Queue with the Expedite action (page 13). Materials can also allow you to conduct Extra Build actions (page 12).
Supply
Supply can be spent to Feed Population (page 13), and to Progress Unit type Endeavours more rapidly along the Build Queue with the Expedite action (page 13). Supply also provides better income than Materials when sold through your Caravan (page 17).
Knowledges:
Influence
University (level I)
Upgrading Provinces from level 'II' to level 'III' now only requires one Knowledge of that Province type, instead of two.
Foresee Future (level I)
Immediately Foresee (page 22) three Year Events.
Recruit Advisor (level II)
Gain a Council Advisor (up to a maximum of two) or Commander from your Faction (not a Core Advisor or Ally) and add it to your Kingdom Tracker. Note: You may store your Quest card elsewhere if you require the space for your 2nd Council Advisor.
Build Wildcard (level II)
Gain a Serpens Wildcard from the Centre Board and Build it.
Diplomacy (level III)
During the Damage step of an Invasion, each 1 Gold you discard resolves 4 Damage (normally 1).
When tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this Knowledge counts as 1 Gem.
Agriculture
Expanded Hinterland (level I)
Your Hinterlands can store 1 additional Endeavour card (place extra Endeavours cards to the left of your Hinterland).
Peasantry (level I)
Any amount of times per round you may exhaust a Population to discard a 'Grain Field Endeavour card' in your Territory and count it as two Grain Field icons towards a Province Upgrade. This cannot be used with Serpens Artisan Wildcards.
Land Cultivation (level II)
Any amount of times during the Action Phase you may discard 3 Supply to recover 2 Population. Note: This does not replace the "Feed Population" action.
Militia (level II)
Each of your Population provides you with 1 defence during each Invasion.
Brewery (level III)
Once before each time you roll to attack or defend, you may discard 1 Supply to add 2 Truemarks to your total roll result.
When tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this Knowledge counts as 1 Gem.
Township
Buy Goods (level I)
The Buy Goods action only requires you to discard 1 Gold and 1 Silver per Resource you gain (normally 2 Gold).
Victory Parade (level I)
Each time you finish resolving an Invasion that causes you no Damage, you recover 1 Population.
Advanced Pikemen (level II)
Each "Pikemen" type Unit you move to your Build Queue to defend during Invasion provides you with 4 Defence, rather than the usual 2.
Masonry Expertise (level II)
Each time you resolve an Expedite action to discard Material and Progress Buildings, you may apply one additional Progress to any one Building in your Build Queue.
Gem Trade (level III)
Each time you Complete a Caravan, in addition to any other rewards it grants you, gain 1 Gold and 1 Gem.
When tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this Knowledge counts as 1 Gem.
Resources
Watch Towers (level I)
You may store 2 additional Fortifications. When you buy this Knowledge, gain 2 Fortifications.
Crane (level I)
During each End Harvest, if your Worker Stance is allocated to your Resources Province, you gain 1 extra Material.
Terraced Housing (level II)
Any amount of times during the Action Phase you may discard 1 Supply and 1 Material to recover 1 Population. Note: This does not replace the "Feed Population" action.
Bolstered Forts (level II)
During each Invasion, each Fortification you discard grants you 3 defence (normally 2) for that Invasion.
Caverns (level III)
When choosing where to place your Worker Stance, you may place it on this Knowledge. Doing so grants you an additional 1 Gem and 1 Gold during this round's End Harvest.
When tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this Knowledge counts as 1 Gem.
Military
Siege Weapons (level I)
Immediately gain 2 Determination. Your Campaigns may now target Looming Threat cards.
Defence Roll (level I)
Each time you roll dice to defend, increase the total roll result by 1 Truemark.
Advanced Cavalry (level II)
Your "Cavalry" type Units now grant you a Red dice instead of a Blue dice.
Attack Roll (level II)
Each time you roll dice to attack, increase the total roll result by 1 Truemark.
Conqueror (level III)
When choosing your reward for winning a Campaign, the option to take and Build an Endeavour from the target's Hinterland does not require you to exhaust 1 Population.
Faction Reference
Apex Pyre
Reputation: 9
Fierce warriors shaped by a robust military tradition, Apex Pyre is celebrated for their strategic prowess on the battlefield. Masters of both offence and defence, they utilise innovative tactics and cutting-edge weaponry to dominate their enemies and expand their territory.
Starting with Apex Pyre
Leon Pyre (S) — At the start of the game choose to add either an "Archers" or "Pillagers" Unit to your Standing Army.
Avelina Pyre (I) — When you gain this Advisor, choose to add either a "Skilled Archers" or "Inquisitors" Unit to your Standing Army.
Marcus Pyre (II) — When you gain this Advisor, choose to add either an "Expert Archers" or "War Ballista" Unit to your Standing Army.
Pillagers — Each time you use Pillagers in a Campaign, in the following End Harvest you gain an extra 1 Material.
Archers, Skilled Archers, Expert Archers — If you commit this Unit to defend during an Invasion Year Event, roll a Green dice and gain a bonus 1 Defence for each Truemark rolled.
Inquisitors — Each time you attack a Looming Threat with Inquisitors and achieve a Victory result, gain a level I Knowledge of your choice, ignoring Province Level requirements.
War Ballista — When rolling for an attack or defence involving War Ballista, you may re-roll any of the dice you roll for any of your involved Units. Reminder: A dice can never be re-rolled more than once during the resolution of a single roll.
Council Advisors
Hadrian — When you gain this Advisor, gain 5 Fortifications from the Bank, ignoring your Fortifications max. Note: Other rules/effects must still respect your Fortifications max.
Abigail — Once per round, up to three times per game, you can Foresee (page 22) the current Year Event (you can use Supply from the Bank to track how many uses of this effect you have remaining).
Your Hinterland can store 2 additional Endeavours.
Ceria — When you gain this Advisor, recover 1 Population and place 4 Supply from the Bank onto Ceria.
When you discard Supply to Expedite Units, you may discard any amount of that Supply from Ceria instead of your Treasury (if there is Supply available on Ceria). Note: Supply on Ceria cannot be used in any other way.
Reiner — Once per game you may discard 2 Units from your Standing Army to fulfil 4 Grain Field requirements for a Province Upgrade.
Commander
Velor Ulric — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
Reduce the total roll results of all Velor Ulric's attack and defence rolls by 1.
If Velor Ulric is part of a Campaign or Double Campaign that claims rewards from a Looming Threat, double the Gold, Supply, Materials and Determination gained from that reward (but not Gems).
Emberfall
Reputation: 1
Defiant to the Emperor's rule, Emberfall shapes history through dark alliances and seeks ancient knowledge forbidden by the Serpens Dynasty. This secretive Faction shrouds their operations in mystery, influencing kingdoms from the shadows.
Starting with Emberfall
Shroud Cards
Your Core Advisors will allow you to place Shroud cards, allowing you to Foresee the Year Event they are placed onto, and in the case of the Chaos and Enigma Shrouds, granting additional effects.
Shroud cards must always be placed directly on top of a Year Event card and under anything else that is on top of that Year Event card. No more than one Shroud can be placed on top of each Year Event.
A Shroud is discarded when the Year Event beneath it is discarded.
Augmented Shrouds
Augmented Shrouds are Shroud cards that have been flipped "Augmented" face-up. Year Events beneath an "Augmented" Shroud card grant you an extra effect when they are revealed during the Event Phase, depending on the Year Event revealed;
- Invasion: Gain 3 Defence against this Invasion. If it is Age II, gain 5 Defence instead.
- Looming Threat: Gain a Gem.
- All other cards: Gain Silver equal to the Year Threat Modifier displayed next to the revealed Year Event on the Centre Board.
Sarieth (S) — At the start of the game, Foresee (page 22) two Year Events of your choice, and on each one place a "Shroud: Darkness" card with its "Augmented" side face-down.
Then choose one of the two Shroud cards on the Centre Board and flip it "Augmented" face-up.
Lilith Mortem (I) — When you gain this Advisor, Foresee two Year Events of your choice, and on each one place a "Shroud: Chaos" card with its "Augmented" side face-down.
Then choose a Shroud card on the Centre Board and flip it "Augmented" face-up.
Shroud: Chaos (A) — When this card is discarded during the Event Phase, you gain 1 Determination.
Sidius Duskborn (II) — When you gain this Advisor, Foresee two Year Events of your choice, and on each one place a "Shroud: Enigma" card with its "Augmented" side face-down.
Then choose a Shroud card on the Centre Board and flip it "Augmented" face-up.
Shroud: Enigma (B) — Other players resolve the Foresee effect as though the Year Event under this Shroud is not in play. Note: This doesn't prevent their Foresee effect, but instead moves it to the next valid Year Event.
Solo Mode: Ignore a Direct Assault triggered during this round.
Council Advisors
Silvana Sangrey — During each End Harvest (page 17), place 1 Supply and 1 Material from the Bank onto this card.
During the Build or Action Phase you can choose to add all Supply and Materials from this card to your Treasury. After you do so, no further Supply or Material are added to this card for the remainder of the game.
Calantha — When you gain this Advisor, add the "Cultists" Unit to your Standing Army.
Cultists — When this Unit is defending against an opponent's Campaign, add +1 Truemark to your total Defence roll for every three Hardship you have at the time of rolling.
If Cultists defends against an Invasion, you gain Defence equal to your Hardship when resolving that Invasion and place Cultists in position 3 of the Build Queue instead of position 2.
Malveren — Your Rank and Reputation is always treated as the highest.
Once per game during an Action Phase, you may discard 3 Gold to gain any level III Knowledge, ignoring Province Level requirements.
Solo mode: Whenever and as often as you wish, you may look at the top card of the Warfront deck, and then return it to the top of the Warfront Deck.
Mirage Mallor — Once per game during any Action Phase, you may place an Emberfall token on any revealed Looming Threat.
You then claim the "Draw" reward on that Looming Threat as though you achieved it via Campaign, and for the rest of the game you are not subject to Threat from this Looming Threat.
Commander
Wraith — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
If Wraith rolls to attack when there is a Shroud card covering the Year Event card for this round, the result of that attack roll is increased by 2 Truemarks.
Gnorvic Clan
Reputation: 2
In the brutal expanse of rugged mountains and icy peaks, the shamanic Gnorvic Clan shares the wilds with ferocious boars, embodying a resilient and exploitative culture.
Living in rocky landscapes, their people toil relentlessly to mine resources for their empire's expansion, under the watchful eyes of their uncompromising masters.
Starting with Gnorvic Clan
Note: Upgrading a Gnorvic Clan's Core Advisor does not reset their ability if it has already been used during the current round.
Kelu Thralkut (S) — Once per round during a Build or Action Phase you may exhaust 1 Population to gain 2 Materials and 1 Gold.
Marrack Horn (I) — Once per round during a Build or Action Phase you may exhaust 1 Population to gain 3 Materials and 1 Gold.
Warlord Reyghar (II) — Once per round during a Build or Action Phase you may exhaust 1 Population to gain 3 Materials and 1 Gold or 1 Gem and 1 Material.
Council Advisors
Dhaidos — Each time you resolve your Worker Stance on your Agriculture Province during End Harvest (page 17), gain an extra 1 Supply, or draw 2 Endeavours.
Your Hinterland can store 2 additional Endeavours.
Chief Skariff — Once per game you may place 4 Supply from the Bank (instead of your Treasury) into your Caravan storage to conduct a Trade (page 13).
When resolving this Caravan, add all Supply in your Caravan storage to your Treasury and recover 2 Population. All other effects related to the resolution/completion of this Caravan are ignored. For example: Trade Routes, "Trade Route" Endeavours, and Serpens Rewards.
Scarbrik — Once per game during a Build Phase, you may discard 2 Supply from your Treasury to add two "Boars" Units to your Standing Army.
Boars — When a Boars card with this effect contributes its dice to a defence or attack roll you make, it adds 1 Truemark to the roll result if the other "Boars" Unit, or your Commander "Horam the Reckless" also contribute their dice to that roll.
Polrie Arbeit — After collecting your income each End Harvest (page 17), roll a Green dice for each of your Hardship. For each '3 Truemarks' result this rolls, you recover 1 Population.
Note: A token with Polrie Arbeit's portrait has been provided to serve as a reminder of this effect. You are advised to place it somewhere along the top of your Provinces beside your End Harvest incomes.
Commander
Horam the Reckless — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
Before each of your rolls to attack or defend you may exhaust 1 Population to increase the result of that roll by 2 Truemarks.
Kihleed Guild
Reputation: 7
Emerging from harsh arid landscapes, the Kihleed Guild overcame scarcity and famine by creating extensive trading networks. They recognized the immense value their local exports could generate and implemented strict mercantile laws to secure their prosperity. By reserving exclusive markets for their inner circles, they ensured their people's growth and success.
Starting with Kihleed Guild
At the start of the game, place the Market Panel (A) between your Kingdom Tracker panels (see diagram below).
Shuffle the Market cards (B) into a face-down deck and place it on the space provided on the top half of the Market Panel. Then reveal the top card of the Market deck and place it near you.
End Harvest:
During each End Harvest (C) gain the top card of the Market deck, placing it face-up in front of you.
Market Cards:
Within the Build or Action Phase each round you must resolve each of your Market cards.
To resolve a Market card, discard it and either gain 1 Silver, or resolve one of its effects of a level equal to or lower than that of your Core Advisor. Note: From lowest to highest these levels are "S", "I" and "II".
Managing the Market Deck
Market cards are discarded separately from other types of card, placing them face-up on the bottom half of the Market Panel (D).
If the Market deck runs out, shuffle the discarded Market cards to form a new face-down Market deck.
The Kihleed Guild's Core Advisors are:
- S — Khalida
- I — Mariuss Manis
- II — Labrencis Kihleed
During each End Harvest, the Kihleed Guild player gains a Market card (see left).
Council Advisors
Kassim Hassan — For each Market card you draw, draw a second Market card. Choose which of the two you will keep and discard the other. Note: You do not gain a Silver or resolve an effect from the discarded card.
Once per game during End Harvest you may keep both cards drawn by this card's first effect, allowing you to resolve each of them as normal during your next Build or Action Phase.
Valoria — When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 1 Gem and 1 Gold.
Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Silver for every Gem you have. Only count your Gem tokens, ignoring Gem icons, which only count when you "Tally Victory Points" at the End of Game.
Tahirah — When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 2 Gold, 2 Supply, 2 Materials and 1 Gem.
You have 1 less VP.
Madred Faridon — Once per game in any Build Phase, draw 3 Endeavours from the deck and then you may Build one Endeavour from your hand or Hinterland. (This is in addition to your normal 'Draw 3 and Build 2' allowance).
Your Hinterland can store 3 additional Endeavours.
Commander
Idris Kassab — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
When defending against a Campaign, this card provides a Red dice rather than a Green dice.
Market Cards
Rumours — S/I/II: Foresee (page 22) one/two/three Year Events.
Exchange Ideas — For one Buy Knowledge (page 13) action, discard no gold to gain a Knowledge of: S: Level I. I: Level II. II: Level III.
Bulk Order (Supply) — S: Discard 1 Gold and 1 Silver to gain 2 Supply. I: Discard 2 Gold to gain 3 Supply. II: Discard 2 Gold and 1 Silver to gain 4 Supply.
Bulk Order (Material) — S: Discard 1 Gold and 1 Silver to gain 2 Materials. I: Discard 2 Gold to gain 3 Materials. II: Discard 2 Gold and 1 Silver to gain 4 Materials.
Open Market — S/I/II: Immediately draw 1/2/3 Endeavours.
Gem Cutters — S: Discard 1 Gold to gain 1 Gem. I: Gain 1 Gem. II: Gain 1 Gem and 1 Gold.
Hire Labour — S: Discard 1 Gold and 1 Silver to recover 1 Population. I: Discard 1 Silver to recover 1 Population. II: Recover 1 Population.
Commission — During the Build Phase, discard the amount of Gold shown to Build (page 12) one additional Endeavour: S: 3 Gold. I: 2 Gold. II: 1 Gold.
Betting Ring — Discard 1 Gold to roll the dice shown on this card corresponding to your Core Advisor tier. If this rolls 4 or more Truemarks, gain 5 Gold. S: 2 Green dice. I: 2 Blue dice. II: 2 Red dice.
Trade Opportunity (Supply) — S: Discard 1 Material to gain 1 Gold and 1 Supply. I: Discard 2 Materials to gain 2 Gold and 2 Supply. II: Discard 3 Materials to gain 3 Gold, 2 Supply and 1 Gem.
Trade Opportunity (Material) — S: Discard 1 Supply to gain 1 Gold and 1 Material. I: Discard 2 Supply to gain 2 Gold and 2 Materials. II: Discard 3 Supply to gain 3 Gold, 3 Materials, and 1 Gem.
Hire Mercenaries — S: Discard 1 Gold and 1 Silver to gain 2 Determination. I: Discard 1 Silver to gain 2 Determination. II: Gain 2 Determination.
House Lorian
Reputation: 10
House Lorian began as humble fishermen, but their fortunes changed dramatically when they discovered a large gold deposit in the depths of a lake. This stroke of luck elevated them to power, earning the Emperor's favour and granting them the prestigious role of overseeing coin minting and establishing highly secure vaults. However, as their wealth grows, so too does the looming threat of a Sarrukar attack.
Starting with House Lorian
At the start of the game, the Vault Panel (A) is placed in between their two Kingdom Tracker panels (see diagram below).
Place your Vault Cards (B) at the bottom of the panel, starting the game with the "1 Fortune" card on top, face-up (as noted on Elara Lorian).
Vault Fortune
As House Lorian you will gather "Vault Fortune", tracking this by arranging your Vault cards so that the top card displays your current Vault Fortune. This card will also provide a contribution to your End Harvest income and Victory Points.
Some effects unique to House Lorian allow you to decrease your Vault Fortune to gain other benefits.
Deposit Gold (C)
The wealth stored in House Lorian's Vaults increases the prosperity of the nation in various ways, not least of all in the compounding interest it generates for your Kingdom.
As many times as you wish during your Action Phase you may discard 5 Gold from your Treasury to increase your Vault Fortune by 1. Each time you do so, gain 1 Gem, recover 1 Population, or gain 2 Fortifications. Note: The image beneath your Vault serves as a reminder of this action.
Deeds (D)
Your Core Advisor will give you access to Deeds, each of which you can use once per game during any Build Phase. Deeds are described at the top of your Vault Panel, each providing a powerful benefit in exchange for some of your Vault Fortune;
S: Once per game, decrease your Vault Fortune by 2 to Build (page 12) one Endeavour.
I: Once per game, decrease your Vault Fortune by 2 to place the Gilded Knight into your Standing Army.
II: Once per game, decrease your Vault Fortune by 4 to place the "Grand Project" Endeavour into position 4 of your Build Queue.
Serpens Favour (E)
Serpens reward those who serve them diligently, especially in matters of wealth.
Once per game, during an Action Phase in which you have at least 3 Vault Fortune, you may discard a Gem to gain any level I or II Knowledge you choose, ignoring Province level requirements.
Elara Lorian (S) — You may use the level "S" Deed. At the beginning of the game you start at 1 Vault Fortune.
Aelius Lorian (I) — You may use the level "S" and "I" Deeds. When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 5 Gold.
Lirelle Lorian (II) — You may use the level "S", "I" and "II" Deeds. When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 5 Gold.
Gilded Knight — Each time Gilded Knight contributes their dice to a roll, you may choose one other die in that roll and upgrade its quality, either from Green to Blue, or from Blue to Red. Note: This cannot upgrade Grey dice.
Grand Project — Grand Project can be discarded from your Territory to contribute any two non-Capstone requirements towards a single Province Upgrade.
Council Advisors
Benedict Grandfield — When you gain this Advisor, you immediately gain 3 Gold.
During End Harvest, if your Worker Stance is allocated to your Township Province, it grants you 1 additional Gold.
Serafina — When you gain this Advisor, you immediately gain 2 Supply.
During Resolve Caravan, when you roll to determine the amount of Silver you gain, roll a Red dice for each Supply you discard, instead of a Blue dice. The roll result of each of these Red dice is increased by +1 Truemark.
Example: If you discard 3 Supply and 1 Material from your Caravan, you roll three Red and one Green dice, and +3 Truemarks will be added to the total roll result.
Larkspur — The Deposit Action requires you to discard 4 Gold from your Treasury, rather than 5.
Maximilian — Once per game during the Action Phase you may decrease your Vault Fortune by 1 to gain 5 Materials.
Your Hinterland can store 2 additional Endeavours.
Commander
Gideon Reinhart — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
When this Unit is used to Defend against an opponent's Campaign, for every 2 Vault Fortune you have, add +1 Truemark to your Defence Roll total.
Ender Clan
Reputation: 3
Once scattered nomads, the chieftain of the Ender Clan put an end to a civil war, uniting them under a single banner. Now settled in the deep woodlands, the Ender Clan celebrates their victories with grand banquets, where shared triumphs forge bonds of loyalty and unity. The chieftain's authority is crucial to maintaining this cohesion, guiding the clan through the challenges of the wilderness and their Faction's expansion.
Starting with Ender Clan
At the start of the game place the Command Panel (A) between your Kingdom Tracker panels (see diagram below).
Authority
During each End Harvest, you gain 1 Authority token (B). You can store up to 6 Authority tokens, placing them at the bottom of the Command Panel (C). Any excess Authority is discarded.
As the Ender Clan you have access to three unique abilities during your turns; Victory Banquet, Recruit Woodsmen and Forestry (D). These actions and some of your Advisor's abilities will require you to discard Authority tokens.
Victory Banquet
Immediately after you win as an Attacker or Complete a Caravan that is not "damaged", you may as many times as you wish discard 3 Authority to recover 2 Population.
Once during the game you may resolve Victory Banquet during the Action Phase (allowing you to do so without having to win as Attacker or Complete a Caravan).
Recruit Woodsmen
Up to three times during each game, during the Build or Action Phase you may exhaust 1 Population and discard 2 Authority to add a "Woodland Berserker" or "Woodland Pikemen" to your Standing Army.
Forestry
As many times as you wish, during the Build or Action Phase you may discard an Authority and gain 1 Material and 1 Silver.
Valrik Ender (S) — At the start of the game, you can choose whether to gain 2 Authority, or 2 Gold and 1 Authority.
Lyria Ender (I) — When you gain this Advisor, choose to gain 2 Authority, or to gain 3 Gold and 1 Gem.
Branoc Ender (II) — When you gain this Advisor, choose to gain 3 Authority, or to gain 3 Gold, 1 Gem and 1 Authority.
Woodland Berserkers — When you use any amount of Determination during an attack or defence roll involving Woodland Berserkers, it contributes a Red dice to those rolls instead of a Green dice.
Woodland Pikemen — If you have the "Advanced Pikemen" Knowledge, it also applies to Woodland Pikemen Units.
Council Advisors
Roderick — When placing your Worker Stance during the Action Phase (page 14), you may place it on Roderick to gain 1 Authority and 1 Silver during End Harvest.
Eadwulf — When you gain this Advisor, immediately gain 2 Materials.
Each time you Complete a Caravan gain 1 Authority (before Victory Banquet would occur).
Your Hinterland can store 2 additional Endeavours.
Grendil Willowshade — Once per game in the Action Phase, you may discard 1 Authority to Foresee (page 22) two Year Events.
Once per game in the Action Phase, you may discard 2 Authority to gain a level I or II Knowledge of your choice, ignoring Province level requirements.
Thora Ashenblade — Each time you resolve the Forestry action, you also gain 1 Determination.
Once per game, after your next Victory against a Looming Threat, add the "Captured Outpost" into your Territory.
Captured Outpost — Captured Outpost can be discarded from your Territory to contribute any Town or Barracks requirement towards a single Province Upgrade.
If it remains in the Territory, when tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this card counts as 1 Gem.
Commander
Garrick Blackthorn — This Advisor is placed into your Standing Army and functions as a Unit for all rules and purposes.
Each time you Build an Endeavour from a Hinterland as a reward from a Campaign including Garrick Blackthorn, place that Endeavour directly into your Territory instead of placing it in your Build Queue.
Note: This can be combined with the "Conqueror" Knowledge.
Solo Mode: This also applies to Campaigns targeting the Frontline (page 26).
Glossary
Bank: The reserve of tokens/components not belonging to players.
Treasury: Where the player's Resources are stored, located on the top of the player's right Kingdom Tracker.
Territory: The space beneath each player's Province cards, where Endeavours are placed once they have finished progressing down the Build Queue.
Rank (page 9): A player's Rank is beneath the title on their Influence Province. When relevant, higher Rank players have priority of decision over those of lower Rank. Among players that are of the same Rank, players with a higher Reputation value (the value on the back of their Faction cards) are considered to have the higher Rank.
Endeavour card. These are drawn into your hand from the top of the Endeavour deck.
Knowledge, with the colour indicating which Province type it corresponds to, and the numerals (I, II, III) indicating the level of the Knowledge unlocked.
Amount of Knowledge required for Province Upgrade. The Knowledge type must match the type of the Province being upgraded.
Knowledge Token. To Buy Knowledge, you must discard the amount of Gold shown on the top right of that Knowledge.
To Buy a Knowledge, your Province of the same type must be at least the level shown on the left of that Knowledge.
Found on some Province card levels, you do not discard the requirements to the left of this icon when resolving the Province Upgrade for that level. Requirements to the right are discarded as normal.
Hinterland slot. Your Hinterland is able to store 1 additional Endeavour card.
Epic Game Content. This icon serves to help players identify cards intended only for an Epic game.
Gem. When part of effect text, this icon refers to the player's Gems and does not contribute to VP from Gems. On Prosper cards and Knowledge this icon is considered a Gem when calculating VP at the End of Game.
Population (page 22). Each Faction has its own unique image for its Population. This icon is used to represent Population relevant to all Factions.
Hardship. For each Hardship you have, you face 1 extra Threat during Invasions, and have 1 less VP when calculating Victory Points at the End of Game.
Build (page 12). Select an Endeavour from your hand or Hinterland then place in your Build Queue.
Year Event I / Year Event II.
Warfront Card. Solo Mode / Coop Mode only.
Once Per Round. Unless stated otherwise, these effects must be resolved during the user's Action Phase.
Military Unit. Stored in your Standing Army.
Manor Endeavour. / Grain Field Endeavour.
Town Endeavour. / Quarry Endeavour.
Barracks Endeavour. / Foundation Endeavour.
Core Endeavour.
Capstone Endeavour. Each Province's level "IV" Province Upgrade requires a Capstone Endeavour of the same type as that Province. There are two Capstone Endeavours of each type in the Endeavours deck.
Wildcard. Can be used as any one Province Upgrade requirement except for a Capstone; however the player must discard a Gem to use this as a Capstone. See Buy Serpens Wildcard (page 12).
Unit Endeavour. / Building Endeavour.
Material Resource. / Supply Resource.
Advisors (page 23). / Quest (page 8).
Starting Core Advisor / Level I Core Advisor / Level 2 Core Advisor (S, I, II).
Silver Coin. / Gold Coin. / 5 Gold Coin.
Coins. This is the primary resource of The Gilded Realms and comes in three denominations; 2 Silver Coins is equal to 1 Gold Coin, and there's also a 5 Gold Coin.
End Harvest (page 17). Each player gains the Resources, Endeavours and effects shown on the grey strip above each of their Province cards.
Defence. Defence is presented as a value upon a red shield. A player's Defence reduces how much Damage they must resolve during each Invasion (page 18).
Fortification Defence. When part of an effect, this icon indicates how many Fortifications are gained. When used elsewhere, this icon refers to Fortifications.
The number in this icon indicates the maximum amount of Fortifications you can store.
The number in this icon indicates how many additional Fortifications you can store.
Worker Stance.
Defence Stance.
Attack Stance.
A Campaign / Campaign Target (page 15).
Determination. You may discard any amount of your Determination before rolling to attack or defend to add 1 Truemark to the total result of that roll (page 15).
Grey Dice. / Green Dice. / Blue Dice. / Red Dice. Roll the indicated dice. When you use a Unit to roll to attack or defend (see Campaigns page 15), it provides the dice displayed at the top left of that Unit's card.
Re-roll. You may re-roll this dice, making a second roll with it during the resolution of the current effect. Reminder: No dice rolled can be re-rolled more than once for that roll.
A Re-roll or a Truemark. You may choose either one to resolve.
This indicates that the displayed amount of Truemarks will be added to the total amount rolled.
Rewards, found on Campaign Targets. The values indicate Truemark roll totals during an attack, and to the right display the reward for rolling at least that amount. From top to bottom they are Victory, Draw, and Defeat.
Victory Points.
Threat. Threat causes Damage to each player's Kingdom during Invasion. Threat is presented as a red value. Threat in a player's Kingdom applies only to that player. Threat on the Centre Board and Looming Threats applies to all players.
Damage. After each player reduces the Threat they face by their total Defence, all remaining Threat then indicates the amount of Damage their Kingdom takes.
Player Stance Totem. / Foresee (page 22).
Flip over & Reveal your Stance Totem, then place it near the relevant area of your Kingdom tracker.
Caravan Token. / Caravan.
"Damaged Caravan", found on the reverse side of each Caravan token.
Trade Route. Each time you Complete a Caravan, Foresee the next Year Event. For this effect, skip the current Year Event about to be revealed this round.
Trade Route. Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Fortification (if you can store it) and 1 Determination.
Trade Route. Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 2 Gold. This contributes 2 to your Threat during Invasion.
Trade Route. Each time you Complete a Caravan, recover 1 Population. This contributes 3 to your Threat during Invasion.
Trade Route. Each time you Complete a Caravan, gain 1 Gem. This contributes 4 to your Threat during Invasion. Each player can only have a maximum of one "Gem" Trade Route.
Faction Icons
Ender Clan Authority Token.
Gnorvic Clan Reminder Token. If you recruit Polrie Arbeit, place this token as a reminder at the end of your End Harvest income line.
House Lorian Vault Fortune.
Shows the current amount of Vault Fortune you have.
Solo Mode Icons
Cycle Warfront Hinterland. Once each round you may discard a card of your choice from the Warfront Hinterland and replace it with the top card of the Endeavour deck.
Move Warfront tracker left by 1 position. / Move Warfront tracker right by 1 position.
When tallying Victory Points earned from Gems at the End of Game, this Knowledge counts as 1 Gem.