Innkeeper Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Turn Breakdown
  • 1 Refresh Phase
  • 2 Asset Phase
  • 3 Bidding Phase
  • 4 Customer Phase
  • 5 Deposit Phase
  • Final Deposit Phase
• Keywords and Terms
  • As Retort
  • Asset Slots and Unique Assets
  • Bank
  • Bid Cards
  • Capital
  • Characteristics
  • Crushing Debt and Forbearance
  • Customer Capacity
• Debt
• Keywords and Terms (continued)
  • Exhausted Cards
  • Gold Value
  • Liquidation
  • Income Modifier
  • Negative Customers
  • Particular Customers
  • Pay Gold If Able
  • Paying Off Debt
  • Selling Assets
  • The Vault
  • Treachery Pool
  • Treachery Cards
• Proprietor Bios
• FAQ
  • Target Proprietor
  • The Bank and Abilities
  • Investment
  • Exhausted Cards

Components

• 1 Six Sided Dice
• 1 Lead Proprietor Token
• 60 Gold Tokens
• 25 Debt Cards
• 26 Asset Cards
• 7 Bid Decks
• 30 Customer Cards
• 7 Proprietor Cards
• 35 Treachery Cards
• 4 Inn Stands

Game Setup

The setup diagram is keyed as follows:

1. Customer Deck

2. Debt Deck

3. Treachery Deck

4. Asset Deck

5. Capital

6. Bid cards

7. Proprietor card

8. Bank

9. Inn Stand

10. First Player Token

11. All players choose a Proprietor to play as. During a game of Innkeeper, players are referred to as Proprietors. Each Proprietor will receive their corresponding Bid cards (matching their inn's icon), their Proprietor card, and an Inn Stand for hiding their Capital. All Proprietors have a unique ability. Your Proprietor card, any Asset cards you control, and any gold in your Vault should be visible to all players.

12. Assemble and shuffle the Asset, Customer, Treachery, and Debt decks. The Asset and Customer decks should be placed facedown in the middle of the table for all Proprietors to see. The Treachery, and Debt decks should be placed in reach of all Proprietors to draw from.

13. Assemble all gold tokens into a spot that is accessible to all . This is the .

You are now ready to begin your first round! During the first round, skip the Refresh Phase and begin from the Asset Phase. See Page 11 for further breakdown on Keywords and Terms.

Turn Breakdown

A game of Innkeeper consists of 4 rounds. Rounds in Innkeeper consist of five phases per round: the Refresh Phase, the Asset Phase, the Bidding Phase, the Collection Phase, and the Deposit Phase. During the first round of the game, you skip the Refresh Phase. During the final round of the game instead of a normal Deposit Phase you complete the Final Deposit Phase.

The phase summary printed on the Turn Breakdown inset lists:

• 1. Refresh Phase: Gain income. Unexhaust cards. Pay off Debt. Draw Treachery card. Resolve abilities.
• 2. Asset Phase: Form the Supply. Sell any Assets to the Bank.
• 3. Bidding Phase: Bid on Assets. Determine Top Bidder. Gain Assets.
• 4. Customer Phase: Create the Treachery Pool. Reveal and collect Customers. Resolve Treachery Pool.
• 5. Deposit Phase: Deposit to Vault.

The inset calls phase 4 the "Customer Phase"; the body text below names it the "Collection Phase".

1 Refresh Phase

Starting with the lead Proprietor and proceeding clockwise around the table complete the following steps.

• Gain gold from the Bank equal to your Income Modifier.
• Unexhaust any exhausted cards you control.
• Choose to pay off any Debt cards. Each Debt has a gold value on it. To discard that card you must pay that value to the Bank.
• Draw a Treachery card.
• Resolve any card abilities that trigger during this phase.

2 Asset Phase

The lead Proprietor reveals the Asset cards that will be available during the Bidding Phase. These Assets form what is known as the Supply. To create the Supply, the lead Proprietor draws the top cards of the Asset deck equal to the number of Proprietors and places them face up for all Proprietors to see. During this phase, Proprietors can also sell Assets they own to the Bank for the Asset's Gold Value. Once the Supply is revealed and all Proprietors have chosen to keep or sell their current Assets, the phase ends.

3 Bidding Phase

Proprietors will use their Bid cards to determine the Top Bidder and order of Assets gained from the Supply.

Proprietors each secretly bid using their Bid cards. Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise around the table, Proprietors place any amount of their Bid cards face down on the table to show their bid is finalized.

Once each Proprietor is ready, all Proprietors reveal their Bid cards simultaneously. The Proprietor with the highest bid becomes the Top Bidder. If a tie occurs, the tying Proprietors collect their Bid cards and bid again, keeping the first bid amount as a starting point. Once all ties are broken, determine the Top Bidder and order of remaining Proprietors. This is the order in which each Proprietor will select an Asset to gain. After the order of Proprietors is determined, all Proprietors pay for their bid. A Proprietor can only ever bid an amount that they can cover. This amount is equal to their current Capital plus their available Debt (See Page 14 for complete Debt explanation).

Once the Top Bidder is determined, they complete the following.

• Looks at the top card of the Customer deck and chooses to place it on top or bottom of the deck.
• Triggers their Proprietor's special Top Bidder ability.
• Selects an Asset to gain from the Supply.

The remaining Proprietors will then, in order of their bid amounts from highest to lowest, choose and gain an Asset from the Supply. In order to gain an Asset from the Supply you must at least bid 2 gold. If you bid less than 2 gold, you do not gain an Asset and instead any remaining Assets are discarded.

EXAMPLE: Proprietors A, B, and C are about to bid. 3 Assets make up the Supply. Proprietors A and B both place a 3 gold bid card face down on the table. Proprietor C places down a 2 Bid card facedown on the table. After they reveal, a tie for first place has occurred. Proprietor C will be third to gain an Asset from the Supply. Next, the tying Proprietors collect their cards and prepare to bid again, starting at the tied amount of 3 gold. Proprietor A places a 1 gold bid card, Proprietor B places a 2 gold bid card. Proprietor B wins with a bid of 5 total gold, 3 from the first bid round and 2 from the second round. Proprietor B now becomes the Top Bidder, while Proprietor A will be second to gain an Asset from the supply. All Proprietors pay their bid amounts to the Bank. The Top Bidder will then look at the top card of the customer deck, trigger their Top Bidder Ability and choose an Asset to gain from the Supply. Proprietor A will be second to gain an Asset from the supply. Proprietor C will gain the last Asset in the Supply.

In the event of a tie where all Proprietors bid zero all Assets are discarded. During a second bidding round due to a tie, if all Proprietors tie using a zero bid card, those Proprietors will roll the six sided dice to break the tie instead of bidding again. Once all bidding and ties are resolved, Proprietors immediately pay their gold to the Bank (or collect Debt to pay for the Asset). Proprietors can pay for their bid using any combination of gold and Debt. After bidding all Proprietors collect their bid cards and return them to their Bid deck.

All Proprietors must place a bid card down during the Bidding Phase. If the Proprietor does not wish to bid on an Asset, cannot pay for it, or is over their debt limit, they can use their zero Bid card.

4 Customer Phase

In this phase, Proprietors compete to claim Customers. First, create the Treachery Pool. Draw two Treachery cards and place them face down on the table. These cards will be collected by the Proprietor(s) that collect no Customers during the round. If multiple Proprietors do not collect a Customer, those Proprietors then split the Treachery Pool evenly. If each Proprietor collects a Customer, the Treachery Pool is discarded.

Proceeding one at a time, the lead Proprietor reveals one of the 4 Customers for the round by drawing the top card from the Customer deck and placing it face up on the table. (During a two player game the Customer amount varies. See the section on 2 Player Games.) Each Customer has characteristics listed on its card. When a Customer is revealed, each Proprietor totals their inn's value for each characteristic shown on the Customer's card.

The Proprietor with the highest total value then collects that Customer card. In the event of a tie, the Proprietor with the highest characteristic listed first on the Customers card wins. If another tie occurs, roll the 6 sided die to determine who collects the Customer. Once a Customer is collected the Proprietor collects any gold awarded by the card and completes any additional effects. That Customer is then placed in that Proprietor's play area until the end of the phase.

Each Customer collected adds towards a Proprietor's Customer Capacity. Each Proprietor can only collect 2 Customers each round. If a Proprietor reaches their Customer Capacity they do not tally characteristics in collecting further Customers. This process continues until 4 Customers are collected.

If a Negative Customer is revealed, all players will tally characteristics to gain this Customer even if they are at their Customer Capacity. Negative Customers do not count toward your Customer Capacity, nor the 4 Customers per round. After it is collected it is immediately discarded.

If a Particular Customer card is revealed during this phase, it ONLY counts toward the 4 Customer cards per round if collected. Particular Customers require specific conditions to be collected. If no Proprietor can meet these requirements it is discarded and another Customer is drawn.

Example cards printed in the rulebook:

• Snake Oil Salesman (Particular Customer, Treachery): "Awards 5 gold. This card is collected by the Proprietor with the most Treachery cards. Each other Proprietor gains 1 Treachery card."
• Undesirables (Negative Customer, Entertainment, Luxury): "[When] you collect this card you exhaust one Asset, if able." (The leading word of this card's text is hidden under the neighbouring card in the printed image.)

5 Deposit Phase

Beginning with the lead Proprietor and proceeding clockwise around the table, Proprietors can make deposits of any amount to their Vault. Depositing can only occur during this phase of the game (though some Treachery cards and abilities may let you deposit outside of the Deposit Phase).

Debt and Assets cannot be used as deposits. Deposited gold is set in front of your Inn Stand and should be visible to all Proprietors. Gold deposited in the Vault cannot be used or removed once it has been deposited. For every five gold deposited in a Proprietors Vault that Proprietor gains +1 Income Modifier. Once all Proprietors have deposited or passed, the Lead Proprietor token passes to the next player clockwise, and the phase ends.

Final Deposit Phase

During the 4th round of the game instead of a normal Deposit Phase, you complete the Final Deposit Phase.

First, beginning with the lead Proprietor and proceeding clockwise around the table, Proprietors can sell any remaining Treachery cards to the Bank for 1 gold each.

Next, beginning with the lead Proprietor and proceeding clockwise around the table, Proprietors can pay off Debt. Debt cards paid off in this phase are paid with a 1 gold penalty.

Finally, in player order, Proprietors deposit all remaining capital to their Vaults. The Proprietor with the most gold wins. In the event of a tie, another round will be played.

Example: Proprietor A pays off 2 Debt during the Final Deposit Phase. To do this action they pay 4 gold to the Bank.

Keywords and Terms

As Retort

A Proprietor may play a card or activate abilities As Retort to a wide variety of situations. The most recent card or ability played As Retort always resolves first.

Example: During the Deposit Phase, Proprietor A declares they will deposit 10 gold into the Vault. As Retort Proprietor B plays the Sealed Vault Treachery card. This card resolves and prevents the deposit.

Asset Slots and Unique Assets

Each Proprietor may control up to four Assets at one time, unless otherwise specified. You may bid on Assets when your slots are full, but in the event you win that Asset you must immediately Liquidate one Asset. Each Proprietor may only control one Unique Asset. If a Proprietor ever gains another Unique Asset they must immediately Liquidate until they only control one Unique Asset.

Bank

Any unused gold tokens are referred to as the Bank. This is where Proprietors pay the cost of Assets, Treachery cards, and card effects, unless otherwise specified. Any time gold is gained during the game it comes from the Bank, unless otherwise specified.

Bid Cards

Each Proprietor has their own set of Bid cards. These cards range in value from 0 to 5. They are used during the Bidding Phase to bid on Assets.

Capital

A Proprietor's current on-hand gold is referred to as Capital. Any gold a Proprietor has should be hidden from other players behind your Inn Stand. Proprietors use Capital to pay for things in the game such as Assets, Treachery cards, and card effects, unless otherwise specified.

Characteristics

Luxury, Service, Cuisine, and Entertainment are referred to as Characteristics. Each Proprietor has these listed on their card. They can be increased through the game by acquiring Assets.

Example characteristic tokens: Cuisine: 2, Entertainment: 1, Luxury: 1, Service: 4.

Crushing Debt and Forbearance

Crushing Debt and Forbearance are special types of Debt. They can be paid off during the Refresh Phase by paying their gold value to the Bank.

The printed examples are Crushing Debt (gold value 2) and Forbearance (gold value 0).

Customer Capacity

Proprietors have a Customer Capacity of 2 unless otherwise specified. This number is the amount of Customers a Proprietor can collect during the Customer Phase each round. Once a Proprietor reaches this number they no longer tally their Characteristics to gain Customers for the remainder of the round. Negative Customers never count toward a Proprietors' Customer Capacity.

Example cards printed in the rulebook:

• Monk (Customer, Service, Cuisine): "Awards 1 gold. When you collect this card you may remove up to 3 Debt cards."
• Poker Players (Customer, Entertainment, Luxury): "When you collect this card choose to gain either 3 gold, or 1 Treachery card."

Debt

During the Bidding Phase a Proprietor may bid higher than their current amount of Capital, as long as they have less Debt than the limit specified on their Proprietor's card. A Proprietor cannot bid over their current Capital if they have already reached their Debt limit.

Example: Proprietor A has a Debt limit of 4. Their current Debt is 4. They have one Capital remaining. During the Bidding Phase they can only bid a maximum of one gold because they have reached their Debt limit.

A Proprietor can pay for an Asset with any combination of gold and Debt.

Example: Proprietor A bids 4 gold for an Asset. They win the bid but only have three gold in their Capital. They choose to pay the three gold from their Capital and draw 1 Debt card to cover the missing amount.

A Proprietor cannot use debt to pay for anything outside of the Bidding Phase!

Keywords and Terms (continued)

Exhausted Cards

Cards can be exhausted by Treachery cards or specific conditions listed on the cards themselves. When a card is exhausted it is considered to provide no Characteristics, abilities, or Gold Value until it has been un-exhausted in the Refresh Phase. To exhaust a card simply flip it over.

The printed images show an un-exhausted Stable Boy Asset (+1 Luxury, +1 Service, gold value 3) and an exhausted Asset card shown face down.

Gold Value

Every Asset has a Gold Value, listed on the right side of its card.

Example: the Personal Butler Asset (+2 Luxury, +2 Service) has a Gold Value of 5. Its text reads: "During the Refresh Phase you must pay 2 gold or discard this Asset."

Liquidation

Liquidation refers to selling an Asset for half of its Gold Value, rounded down. When liquidating, you always earn at least 1 gold for the Asset liquidated.

The printed example shows an Asset being liquidated for half of its value in gold tokens.

Income Modifier

This number is the amount of gold a Proprietor receives from the Bank during the Refresh Phase.

Negative Customers

Negative Customers do not count towards a Proprietor's Customer Capacity, nor the Customer count for the round. These Customers can be collected by all Proprietors even if they are at their Customer Capacity.

Example card printed in the rulebook: Dine and Dasher (Negative Customer, Cuisine, Service): "When you collect this card you gain +2 Debt, even if you are already at your Debt Limit."

Particular Customers

Particular Customers, unlike normal Customers, can only be collected by the conditions listed on their card. If these conditions are not met, the Particular Customer card is sent to the discard pile. When this occurs, a new Customer card is drawn in its place.

Example card printed in the rulebook: The Diplomat (Particular Customer, Service): "Awards 5 gold. You can only collect this card if you control at least 2 Assets."

Pay Gold If Able

When a card asks a Proprietor to pay gold if able, this means that even if the Proprietor doesn't have enough Capital to reach the amount asked they pay as much as possible.

Example: Proprietor A plays the Out Maneuver Treachery card on Proprietor B. Proprietor B is asked to pay 2 gold to Proprietor A, if able. Proprietor B only has one gold in their Capital. Proprietor B pays 1 gold to Proprietor A.

The Out Maneuver card reads: "Cancel the effect of a Treachery card played by target Proprietor. Then that Proprietor pays you 2 gold from their Capital, if able."

Paying Off Debt

Debt can be paid off during the Refresh Phase. At the appropriate time to remove a Debt card, simply announce your intention, and remove a Debt from your Proprietor by paying its Gold Value to the Bank.

Selling Assets

During the Asset Phase, a Proprietor may sell Assets to the Bank for their full Gold Value.

The Vault

The Vault is the area in which Proprietors assemble their deposited gold. All gold in the Vault is visible to all Proprietors, and should be set in front of a Proprietors Inn Stand. Gold in the Vault cannot be used or removed once it has been deposited. For every 5 gold deposited into a Proprietors Vault, that Proprietor gains +1 Income Modifier.

Treachery Pool

The Treachery Pool is created in the Customer Phase by drawing the top two cards of the Treachery deck and placing them face down on the table. These cards will be collected by the Proprietor that collects no Customers in the Customer Phase. If multiple Proprietors don't collect a Customer those Proprietors will evenly split the Treachery cards. In the event all Proprietors collect a Customer, the Treachery Pool is discarded.

Treachery Cards

Treachery cards represent all the underhanded tactics Proprietors employ to gain the advantage in this cutthroat business. Treachery cards have a wide variety of abilities and can affect the course of the game dramatically. Treachery cards can be played at any time (see As Retort), unless otherwise specified. Proprietors can draw Treachery cards in a variety of ways throughout the game. When a Proprietor uses a Treachery card it is discarded to the Treachery card discard pile unless otherwise specified. A Treachery card can be played As Retort to any action taking place in the game. If the Treachery deck is ever depleted you shuffle the Treachery discard to create a new Treachery deck.

Two Player Games

During a game with only two players, during the Customer Phase collect 3 Customers. During these games Proprietors have unlimited Customer Capacity.

Proprietor Bios

The Proprietor Bios pages (printed pages 18 to 20) contain character flavour text for each Proprietor and are not transcribed.

FAQ

Target Proprietor

Players in Innkeeper are referred to as Proprietors. When a card says "target Proprietor" it allows you to target any player at the table including yourself.

The Bank and Abilities

If a card or ability says that the Bank deposits or the Bank pays gold; that effect does not trigger any additional effects as if "you" or a "Proprietor" had taken that action.

Investment

If this card is ever exhausted or control of it changes, any gold accumulated on it stays with the card. If this card is discarded by any means, return any gold on its card to the Bank. When this card reaches 4 gold, discard that gold to the Bank. The player that discarded this card due to this effect then gains 10 gold from the Bank.

Exhausted Cards

Exhausted cards provide no bonuses and have no gold value. An exhausted card cannot be sold or liquidated. It still takes up an Asset slot but does not count as any type of Asset for the purpose of Customer collection.