Knights Of Glory Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• Contents
• Game Setup
  • Weapon Card Distribution
  • Color Blind Players
• Turn Overview
  • Anatomy of a Destination Card
  • Rules of Advancement
• Turn in Details
  • Action Phase
    • Advance
    • Dice Advancement Rules
    • Pass
    • Discard
  • Voting Phase
    • Opponents Agree
    • Opponents Disagree
  • Refreshing Phase
• Game End
• Rules in Details
  • Deathtrap Card
  • Exit Card
  • Jester Card
  • Knights of Glory Token
  • Path of Glory
  • Path to Redemption
  • Poker Attributes
  • Weapon Substitution
  • Wild Card
• Game Variants
  • Bluffing Wild Cards
  • Blanks Are Less Rewarding
  • Agreeing Is Not So Safe

Game Objective

In Knights of Glory, you play as one of the king's knights seeking the ultimate goal of becoming a Royal Games victor. Advance through a treacherous dungeon through the art of bluffing. Each player will try to make their way to the exit through deception and deduction. More than one knight may prevail. Exit the dungeon to win the Royal Games and become Elite Knights.

Contents

• 5 Player Pawns
• 1 Rook Piece
• 4 Weapon Dice
• 10 Voting Cards
• 2 Main Tier Paths (Start and Exit)
• 12 Tier-1 Paths
• 12 Tier-2 Paths
• 12 Tier-3 Paths
• 20 Knights of Glory (KOG) Token Chits
• 25 Weapon Cards: 3 Bombs, 3 Keys, 3 Shields, 3 Swords, 3 Torches, 4 Jesters, 6 Wilds

Game Setup

• Place the Main Tier Paths: Start and Exit face-up on the table.
• Shuffle the Tier Paths from each Tier Level deck: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
• Deal 2 cards from each Tier Level deck face-down to form the Tier Paths (the Destination Cards run from the Start Path through the Tier Paths to the Final Path and the Exit Path).
• Each player takes a Player Pawn and places it on the Start Path.
• Give each player 2 Voting Cards (one AGREE and one DISAGREE) that match the color of their Player Pawn. For the color blind, see Color Blind Players below.
• Form the Weapon Deck according to the Weapon Card Distribution. Shuffle the cards and deal each player 5 cards. Set aside any remaining cards face-down (which is known as the "Unknown Deck") on the table. In a 2- or 4-player game, there will be an Unknown Deck.
• Set the Weapon Dice, Knights of Glory (KOG) Tokens, and Rook aside on the table.

Weapon Card Distribution

Weapon Cards	2-3 Players	4-5 Players
Bombs	2	3
Keys	2	3
Shields	2	3
Swords	2	3
Torches	2	3
Jesters	2	4
Wilds	3	6
Total	15	25

Color Blind Players

Match the symbols of the Voting Cards with the Player Pawns.

Turn Overview

The player who recently told a lie will play first. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player taking a series of actions until the game ends.

At the beginning of the game, the first player will take and keep the Rook until their next turn. A game of Knights of Glory is played over several rounds, each consisting of three phases:

• Action Phase
• Voting Phase
• Refreshing Phase

See the section under "Rules in Details" for more details on the usage of the game components with the phases, which is also discussed in the next section under "Turn in Details". For more of a challenging game, see the section under "Game Variants".

Anatomy of a Destination Card

1. Tier Level Indicator - e.g. Tier 2.
2. Dice Indicator - e.g. 2 Weapon Dice is required.
3. Weapon Indicator - You may substitute 1 Weapon Dice for a Sword (the weapon shown). For more details, see the section under "Weapon Substitution".

Rules of Advancement

Always look at the Tier Path ahead of you.

1. Roll as many Weapon Dice as shown on the Dice Indicator.
2. Place the Weapon Dice on top of the Weapon Card.

Turn in Details

Action Phase

On each player's turn, they MUST decide to perform one of the following three actions:

• Advance
• Pass
• Discard

Advance

First, look at the Tier Path ahead of you (do not move forward). If the card is face-down, reveal it by flipping the card over to see what trap you must overcome.

Second, roll as many Weapon Dice as shown on the Dice Indicator, then play a Weapon Card, KOG Token, or perform a Weapon Substitution for each dice. See Dice Advancement Rules for more details.

No turning back: If you decide to advance and flip the Tier Path, or roll the Weapon Dice, then you must proceed—you cannot back out.

Dice Advancement Rules

Rolling blanks: For every blank dice you roll, remove that many blank dice from play. Any non-blank dice must be played. If you roll all blanks, then advance for free, and you may decide to push your luck and perform your turn actions again.

Non-blank dice must be played by performing one of the five options below:

• Regular Card: Play a Bomb, Key, Shield, Sword, or Torch card face-down and place the dice on top. Your Weapon Card should match the dice rolled, but you can bluff by playing a different card.
• Wild Card: Play a Wild Card face-up and place the die on top.
• Jester Card: Play a Jester Card face-down and place the dice on top.
• KOG Token: Play a KOG Token and place the dice on top.
• Weapon Substitution: Play the Weapon Indicator for ONLY 1 of the dice by placing a Weapon Card face-down and adjacent to the Tier Path.

Pass

Pass your turn to the next player in the rotation. This will end your turn.

Discard

Discard your Weapon Cards face-down up to the Tier Level you are currently on. This will end your turn. Example: If you are on Tier 2, you may discard up to 2 cards. All discarded cards will be placed in a pile known as the "Discard Pile."

Discarding restrictions: If you are on the Start Path, then you cannot discard. If you retreat for any reason to the previous Tier Path, you cannot discard.

Voting Phase

After you perform your turn action to advance, you will be judged. Opponents will secretly cast their votes by placing their Voting Card face-down in front of them. Once all the votes are locked in, opponents will then reveal their Voting Cards simultaneously. Depending on what your opponents vote, the following will happen:

Opponents Agree

If all opponents agree, you will NOT reveal your Weapon Card(s) and discard them. You will then advance to the next Tier Path. Opponents will do nothing.

Opponents Disagree

If you were telling the truth: You will reveal your Weapon Card(s) and discard them. You will then advance to the next Tier Path. All opponents that agreed will stay where they are. All opponents that disagreed will retreat to the previous Tier Path. If they are on the Start Path, they will remain on the Start Path, after which they MUST reveal a Weapon Card of their choice and discard it.

If you were bluffing: You will reveal your Weapon Card(s) and discard them. You will retreat to the previous Tier Path. If you are on the Start Path then you will remain on the Start Path. You will then immediately end your turn. All opponents that agreed will do nothing. All opponents that disagreed will advance to the next Tier Path.

Push your luck: If you successfully advance after the Voting Phase, then you may decide to push your luck and perform your turn actions again.

Path to Redemption: If you do not want to retreat to the previous Tier Path, you may perform a Path to Redemption. See Path to Redemption for more details.

Reveal for free: If you catch a player's bluff and advance to an unrevealed Tier Path, flip the card over to reveal that card.

Voting rights revoked: If you are on the Start Path and have no Weapon Cards in your hand, then you are not allowed to vote.

All or nothing: If you are playing 2 or more Weapon Cards and have 1 card and not the other, then this is considered a bluff. You must have all or nothing.

Refreshing Phase

Requirement: This phase will only occur after the last player in the rotation has ended their turn.

New round: When the last player's turn ends, it is time to start the new round. The player in last place on the Destination Cards is now the first player in the new round and will claim the Rook (the first player marker). If there is a tie for last place, the player closest left of the former first player goes first.

Replenish hands: Players will keep any remaining cards that they still have. It is time to replenish every player's hand back to 5 cards again. If there is an Unknown Deck, deal these cards first. Otherwise, shuffle the Discard Pile and deal them to each player. To do this, deal each player starting with the first player until they have 5 cards before dealing the next player in the rotation.

Game End

There may be more than one winner. When a player successfully arrives to the Exit Path, they are considered the winner, but other players have a chance to win as well and play one final turn. The game continues, starting with the next player in the rotation. However, the Voting and Refreshing Phases are eliminated, and all Weapon Cards must be played face-up.

Each time a player successfully advances to the Exit Path, the Tier Paths will gradually collapse starting with the Start and all of Tier 1 together; and then, when another player wins, Tier 2; and finally, Tier 3.

When all the Tier Paths collapse or the last player fails to exit, the game then ends, and players that successfully advanced to the Exit Path are considered the winners as well.

Turn restrictions: After the first player advances to the Exit Path, the Voting and Refreshing Phases are eliminated. Therefore bluffing is not allowed: you must play your cards face-up, you do not get new cards, and the turn order proceeds as normal.

Lose by default: If you are standing on a collapsed Tier Path, you are eliminated from the game.

Jesters are wild: After the first player advances to the Exit Path, the remaining players holding Jester Cards in their hand can turn them in for KOG Tokens.

Rules in Details

Deathtrap Card

A Deathtrap Path is similar to a regular Tier Path except that it does not have a Weapon Indicator. Therefore there is no Weapon Substitution.

Anatomy of a Deathtrap Card:

1. Tier Level Indicator
2. Dice Indicator - All Deathtrap Paths require only 1 Weapon Dice.
3. Glory Dice Indicator - You may roll additional Weapon Dice to claim that many KOG Tokens.

Advancing to a Deathtrap Path: Normally, the Tier Level indicates how many dice to roll but for all Deathtrap Paths, only 1 dice is required as shown on the Dice Indicator.

Glory Dice: For Tier 2 and Tier 3, there will be a Glory Dice Indicator. Tier 2 will have 1 Glory Dice and Tier 3 will have 2 Glory Dice. You MAY push your luck by rolling additional dice. If you successfully advance after the Voting Phase, then claim KOG tokens equal to the number of Glory Dice you rolled.

Failing a Deathtrap Path: If you were unsuccessful when attempting to advance to a Deathtrap Path after the Voting Phase, you will immediately retreat back to the Start Path and end your turn.

Safe retreat: If you retreat to a Deathtrap Path, nothing happens, but this ends your turn.

Exit Card

In order to advance to the Exit Path, it MUST be on your turn. You must perform the advance action as normal by rolling 4 dice. The Exit Path DOES NOT have a Weapon Indicator; therefore, there is no Weapon Substitution. When attempting to advance to the Exit Path, bluffing is not allowed, and you must play your cards face-up.

Successfully exit: If you have the matching Weapon Cards or KOG Tokens to correspond with each non-blank dice rolled, then you win the game. See the section under "Game End" for more details.

Fail to exit: If you do not have the matching Weapon Cards or KOG Tokens to correspond with each non-blank dice rolled, then reveal and discard your cards for each non-blank dice of your choice and retreat to the previous Tier Path. If you do not have enough cards to correspond with each non-blank dice rolled, then reveal and discard all your cards, and retreat to the previous Tier Path.

Advance by default: If you were unsuccessful when attempting to exit, all opponents MAY decide to advance for free. The Voting Phase will be skipped.

Cannot win on a bluff: You DO NOT advance to the Exit Path when successfully catching a player's bluff at the Final Path. However, you will gain a KOG Token. For the location of the Final Path (the last Tier Path before the Exit), see the Game Setup diagram.

Jester Card

In this game, a Jester Card is NOT a Wild Card and MUST be played face-down as if it was a normal Weapon Card. It is used as a bluff card to trick your opponents in order to claim a KOG Token. In order to successfully claim a KOG Token when bluffing a Jester Card, all opponents MUST agree, after which you MUST reveal your Jester Card.

There is an End Game mechanic where Jesters are wild. See the section under "Game End" for more details.

More jesters, more tokens: If you are able to fool your opponents with more than 1 Jester Card, you will claim that many KOG Tokens.

Knights of Glory Token

A "Knights Of Glory" (KOG) Token is a valuable component in the game. It is claimed by performing high-risk challenges. This token allows you to remove 1 dice from judgment during the advance action or perform a Path to Redemption. See Path to Redemption for more details. You can ONLY claim a maximum of 4 KOG Tokens. You may use as many of these Tokens during your advance action.

When using the KOG Tokens, place the dice you wish to discard on top of the token to indicate that dice is not in play.

Ways to gain KOG Tokens - perform one of the six options below:

• Jester Card: Successfully advance by bluffing a Jester Card.
• Final Glory: Catch a player's bluff at the Final Path.
• Final Path: Successfully advance to the Final Path on your turn.
• Path of Glory: Successfully advance to a Tier Level higher than the number of Weapon Cards in your hand.
• Glory Dice: Successfully advance to a Deathtrap Path by rolling additional dice.
• Jesters are Wild: When the first player exits the game, reveal your Jester Card(s) for KOG Token(s).

Save your KOG Tokens: You do not have to use your KOG Tokens as a substitution for your Weapon Cards; this is merely an option.

KOG for the win: You may play KOG Tokens towards the Exit Path.

Path of Glory

The Path of Glory is when you are attempting to advance to a Tier Path with a Tier Level higher than the number of cards in your hand. If you successfully advance, then claim a KOG Token. For example, if you have 1 Weapon Card and are trying to advance to Tier 2 or 2 Weapon Cards trying to advance to Tier 3.

Advance by default: If you were unsuccessful when attempting the Path of Glory, reveal and discard all your cards, retreat to the previous tier path, and immediately end your turn. The Voting Phase will be skipped and all opponents MAY decide to advance for free.

Path to Redemption

The Path to Redemption is used to prevent yourself from retreating to the previous Tier Path by discarding a KOG Token.

No redemption: You CANNOT perform the Path to Redemption when failing a Deathtrap Path.

Poker Attributes

Knights of Glory has a unique mechanic that shares many of the same qualities as Poker, including the following:

• Sitting out: If you need to leave the game temporarily, place your AGREE Voting Card face-up. Your Player Pawn and Weapon Cards will not be affected during the game. Your turn will be skipped if you do not return.
• Deal me in: You may observe the game before deciding to join the game. You will place your player pawn on the Start Path and take your turn depending where you sit in the rotation.
• Deal me out: If you need to leave the game permanently, this will not affect the game. Your player pawn will be removed and your Weapon Cards will become the Unknown Deck.

Weapon Substitution

You may perform a Weapon Substitution by replacing 1 of your dice rolled with the Weapon Indicator. To do this, discard 1 dice and place your Weapon Card face-down and adjacent to the next Tier Path.

Rules of substitution (always look at the Tier Path ahead of you):

1. Discard one Weapon Dice rolled and substitute for the Weapon Indicator.
2. Place a Weapon Card adjacent to the Tier Path ahead of you.

Wild Card

A Wild Card is played as if it were any Weapon Card. It is used to remove 1 dice from judgment. All Wild Cards MUST be played face-up. Place the rolled dice on top of the Wild Card to indicate that is the dice you are removing from judgment.

Wild for the win: You may play Wild Cards toward the Exit Path.

Game Variants

These variants will make the game more challenging when playing Knights of Glory. Read the core rules first to understand how the following variant rules work. The following are 3 ways you can play the game separately or all together:

Bluffing Wild Cards

This variant allows you to play your Wild Cards face-down. Considering the Wild Card means anything, all opponents that disagree will retreat as normal, and you will advance as normal.

Blanks Are Less Rewarding

This variant forces players that roll blanks to reveal their Weapon Cards. For every blank you roll, you must reveal a Weapon Card of your choice. If you do not have Weapon Cards to reveal for blank dice, then you are not subject to do so.

Agreeing Is Not So Safe

This variant forces players to be more conscientious when agreeing. This variant will only work if at least one opponent disagrees with you. If you were bluffing, all opponents that disagree will advance as normal, and all opponents that agree MUST reveal a Weapon Card of their choice and discard it. If opponents do not have Weapon Cards to reveal and discard, then they are not subject to do so.