Lawyer Up: Season 2 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Basic Concepts
  • Bias
  • Generating Influence
  • Swaying the Jury
  • Swaying Defendants and Assets
• Card Anatomy
• Game Setup
  • Case 04 Setup: Private Eye
  • Case 05 Setup: Casino Heist
  • Case 06 Setup: Divorce
• Discovery
• The Trial
  • Calling a Witness
  • Questioning Phase
  • Objection!
  • Objection Variants
  • Resolving the Witness
• Additional Rules
  • Case 04: Private Eye
  • Case 05: Casino Heist
  • Cooperative / Team Play
• Ending the Game
  • Ending Case 04
  • Ending Case 05
  • Ending Case 06
• Gameplay Example
• Card Reference
• Automa Rules
  • Decisions by Case
• Glossary
• Quick Reference

Components

• Defense Base Deck: 20 Arguments, 6 Procedures
• Prosecution Base Deck: 20 Arguments, 6 Procedures
• Private Eye Case 04: 22 Witnesses, 10 Allies, 60 card Draft, 6 Strategies
• Proof Deck Case 04: 5 Murder Weapon, 5 Crime Scene, 5 Culprit
• 3 Case Backstory Cards (1 per case)
• Divorce Case 06: 16 Witnesses, 54 card Draft, 8 Strategies
• Attitudes Case 06: 6 for Defense, 6 for Prosecution
• 10 Asset Cards Case 06 (double-sided)
• 2 Objection Trackers (double-sided)
• 12 Juror Cards (double-sided)
• 2 Influence Dials (1 Blue, 1 Red)
• 2 Reference Cards
• 12 Bias Tokens (2 of each)
• Casino Heist Case 05: 20 Witnesses, 60 card Draft

Basic Concepts

Bias

Most cards feature a Bias symbol on them. The symbols highlight elements that can tie Witnesses and Jurors to specific types of Arguments and Evidence that players are presenting in court. The six Bias symbols are:

• Evidential
• Logical, Factual
• Emotional
• Reputation, Morality
• Bureaucratic, Justice
• Corruption, Nefarious

While examining a Witness, players need to make sure their legal arguments make sense; they accomplish so by chaining cards that have at least 1 symbol matching the Bias symbol on the Witness being examined.

Generating Influence

A card's Value is found in the upper left of Argument, Evidence and Procedure cards and on the upper left and lower right of Witness cards. Higher Values are better than lower Values.

When these cards are played, players gain Influence equal to the card's Value if it is Neutral (N, gray) or corresponds with their side as Defense (D, blue) or Prosecution (P, red). Playing a card of the opposing side generates 0 Influence.

Players want to generate the most Influence possible because it is used to win Witnesses and sway the Jury (see Resolving the Witness).

Swaying the Jury

Juror cards have two sides, a normal side (no visible locks) and a locked side that depicts a lock symbol on the leftmost space of the card. Jurors have 4 spaces that represent the side they are currently leaning towards. These spaces are colored red and blue to correspond to the Prosecution and Defense respectively.

Jurors also present a Skepticism value on the upper right. This value represents how easily they can be swayed with Influence. The same Juror may be swayed more than once as long as the winner pays the required Influence.

Sway Bias: Move a Bias token from one space on the selected Juror card to an adjacent space on the same card. This movement is done towards the swaying player's side. Players are never forced to sway towards their opponent's side.

Example: You have 6 Influence to spend, you can sway a Juror with Skepticism of "3" twice or a Juror with Skepticism "5" once and a Juror with Skepticism "1" once.

Swaying Defendants and Assets

In Cases 05 and 06, you will be swaying Bias on Defendants and Asset cards. In general the concept is the same as the Jurors, but the required Influence cost is displayed in the next spot of the track.

Example: The Prosecution has 3 Influence to spend. In Case 05, the Prosecution spends 3 Influence to advance upwards on their track. In Case 06, the Prosecution spends 3 Influence to sway towards their side.

Card Anatomy

Argument, Evidence and Procedure cards:

1. Value: Players gain Influence equal to this number if it is Neutral (N, gray) or corresponds with their side as Defense (D, blue) or Prosecution (P, red).
2. Bias Symbols: At least one of these symbols must be matched with the same symbol either on the current Witness card (if the examination is empty) or with the top card of a player's examination.
3. Case Number
4. Card Name
5. Card Type, Keywords: Card type (Argument, Evidence, or Procedure) followed by relevant keywords that interact with card effects.
6. Flavor Text: No mechanical effect.
7. Card Effects: Resolve any Examine effects when the card is played.

Witness cards:

1. Primary Value: This is the Influence added to the Influence of the player that calls the Witness.
2. Witness Name.
3. Keywords: Any identifying keywords such as Expert.
4. Bias Symbols: The associated Biases are listed on both sides of the card.
5. Flavor Text
6. Case Number
7. Card Effects
8. Secondary Value: This is the Influence added to the Influence of the player who did not call the Witness.

Game Setup

1. Case Selection: Players agree on which Case to play and pick which player will be the Prosecution (Red) and which will be the Defense (Blue).
2. Gather Base Components: The Prosecution takes the Prosecution Base deck (26 cards), 3 Objection tokens, and 1 Sidebar token. The Defense player takes the Defense Base deck (26 cards), 3 Objection tokens and 1 Sidebar token.
3. Judge: Select a Judge and place them off to the side of the play area, with them favoring the Prosecution.
4. Case Setup: Take all of the components specific to the selected Case and follow the setup instructions. If this is your first game, we recommend playing the Celebrity Divorce Case (Case 06).
5. Player's Procedure Area: Players will play Procedure cards here during the Trial.

Once setup is complete, start Discovery.

Case 04 Setup: Private Eye

• 4a. Select a Strategy: Take the Case 04 Strategy Cards. The Prosecution chooses one to play with, while the Defense chooses a Defendant and then takes the Clue tokens, "Solve the Case" and "Detective's Notepad" cards. Return all of the unused Strategy Cards and Defendants to the box.
• 4b. Key Witnesses and Witness Deck: For this case, create a pyramid of the Witnesses listed on the selected Strategy near the Judge with the Ringleader on top, Co-conspirators on the next row and Patsies on the bottom. Give the Prosecution the listed Claimed Witnesses. Remove all of the Allies and set them aside in an Ally deck. Then, shuffle all remaining Witnesses together to form the Witness deck and set it off to the side of the pyramid.
• 4c. Jury: Take the 12 Juror cards and place them normal side (no lock symbols visible) up in two rows off to the side of the main play area. Each row must have a complete set of Jurors, from 1 to 6.
• 4d. Jury Bias: Take the 12 Bias tokens and assign one at random to each Juror. Assign them so that all Jurors in the top row have one of these tokens on one empty slot (2nd space from left to right) on the Prosecution's side, and all Jurors in the bottom row have one on the Defense's side (3rd space).
• 4e. Red Herrings: Take the 12 Red Herring tokens and assign one at random to each Juror. Place these tokens in the left-most spot for the Prosecution.
• 4f. Case Deck: Shuffle the 60 Case 04 cards in the middle of the play area within easy reach of both players.
• 4g. Proof Decks: The Prosecution secretly selects a Culprit, Murder Weapon, and Crime Scene and places them off to the side. Then, they separate out the remaining Proof cards into 3 different clue decks (each with matching backs).
• 4h. Ally Deck: The Defense shuffles the Ally deck and then draws and places the top Ally face-up in their Procedure area.

Case 04 components include the Defendant card "Sam Hawkes" (Can only be called by the Defense; Called: Attempt to solve the case. If you get the Murder Weapon correct, remove 3 Red Herrings on Jurors from the game) and the Detective's Notepad (Culprit, Murder Weapon and Crime Scene checklists). Each Prosecution Strategy lists Key Witnesses and Claimed Witnesses and a Prosecution's Conspiracy effect: for example "They Knew Too Much" – Victory: If you ever have all Jurors on your side, you win the game; Closing Statement: For each Witness you have claimed, gain 3 Influence to spend on swaying Bias.

Case 05 Setup: Casino Heist

• 4a. Select Defendants: Randomly select a Mastermind and 4 additional Defendants placing them faceup off to the side of the main play area.
• 4b. Bias: Randomly take 10 Bias tokens (2 will not be used) and assign one to each Defendant's track. All Bias tokens start on the bottom of the track in the gray "-" space.
• 4c. The Lineup and Witness Deck: Shuffle all the Witnesses together to form the Witness deck and set it off to the side. Then, draw the top 5 cards of the Witness deck into a line. This is the Lineup.
• 4d. Con Deck: Shuffle together the 20 Con cards and form a deck. Leave room next to it for a Con discard pile.
• 4e. Buried Evidence: Shuffle together the 60 Case 05 Evidence cards and then randomly draw the top 9 cards and place them facedown above the Lineup to form the Buried Evidence deck.
• 4f. Case Deck: Shuffle the 51 remaining Case 05 cards and place the deck near the Judge within easy reach of both players.

Each Defendant card has a track whose spaces list an Influence cost (the figures vary per Defendant) and the text "You cannot sway Bias to the lock unless you have claimed [that Defendant's name]."

Case 06 Setup: Divorce

• 4a. Select a Strategy: Take the Case 06 Strategy Cards. The Prosecution selects a Prosecution Strategy (P, red) and the Defense selects a Defense Strategy (D, blue). Any unused Strategies are returned to the box.
• 4b. Key Witnesses and Witness Deck: The Defense takes "Adrian McKenzie" and the Prosecution takes "Sam Howard" as their client (each player chooses the side to put face-up). Place the other Witnesses listed on the selected Strategies around the Judge. Shuffle all remaining Witnesses together to form the Witness deck and set it off to the side.
• 4c. Attitudes: Each player randomly draws an Attitude card. Each player should set the remaining 5 Attitude cards near their play area.
• 4d. Assets: Take the 10 Asset cards and place them in two rows off to the side of the main play area. Business and Home should have the same value face-up. Then look at the selected Strategies' Key Assets and make sure the listed assets are face-up. If there is a conflict the Key Asset worth more takes priority (i.e. Stocks is worth +3 and Vacation Home is worth +1 so Stocks is placed face-up).
• 4e. Asset Bias: Take the 12 Bias tokens and assign one at random to each Asset placing it on the grey neutral circle. There will be 2 extra Bias tokens which can be set off to the side.
• 4f. Case Deck: Shuffle the 54 remaining Case 06 cards in the middle of the play area within easy reach of both players.

Case 06 Strategy examples: "FamilyFirst" (Prosecution; Key Assets: 1. Kids - 3, 2. Board Games - 2, 3. Vacation Home - 1; Key Witnesses: Sam Howard, Slade Williams, Jeremy Howard, Kingston Howard; Friends and Family: After you call a Witness, if you are winning 2 or more of your Key Assets, shuffle 1 Key Witness into the Witness deck and then draw 1 Witness to replace them). "Air Dirty Laundry" (Defense; Key Assets: 1. Stocks - 3, 2. Yacht - 2, 3. Dog - 1; Key Witnesses: Adrian Mackenzie, Toby Keith, Kristin Fox, Christine Wiseman; Scandal: After you call a Witness, if you are winning 2 or more of your Key Assets, both players play with their hand revealed this Witness. After revealing their hands, you gain Influence equal to the number of Scandalous cards in each player's hand).

Discovery

Discovery is a pre-trial process in which the Prosecution and the Defense obtain evidence from the other party or parties relevant to the case. During this step, players draft Evidence and other cards specific to the case for use during the Trial. Note that Discovery happens only once.

Each player draws 3 cards from the top of the Case deck (the Prosecution draws first). Players simultaneously choose 1 card to add to the Prosecution deck, 1 card to add to the Defense deck, and 1 card to add to the Buried Evidence. All cards are added face-down. Players cannot look at cards that have been drafted to these decks.

Note: Cards entering the Buried Evidence won't be used during the Trial; however, there are some effects in the game allowing players to recover cards from this deck.

If this is your first game (using Case 06) and you're not familiar with drafting, you can deal 18 cards at random to the Prosecution, Defense, and Buried Evidence. This will help you get accustomed to the game and cards before you attempt to draft.

Players continue drafting cards 3 at a time until all cards in the case deck are in either player's deck or in the Buried Evidence.

Each player then gathers their deck (now composed of their Base deck and of the cards just added) and shuffles it.

After shuffling, each player draws 5 cards as their opening hand. Default hand size is 5 cards. There is no hand limit. Each player may take a mulligan where they discard any number of cards from their hand and then draw back up to their hand size.

In Case 05, the Discovery phase is broken up and introduced each round between Witnesses.

The Trial

During the Trial, each player pleads their case in an attempt to sway the bias of the Jury and win the case for their side. The Trial involves calling Witnesses to the stand for questioning. During questioning, players will play Evidence and Arguments as they attempt to win the Witness and sway the Jury to their side.

The Trial ends when there are no Key Witnesses that can be called or when any special conditions of that case have been met (see Ending the Game).

Calling a Witness

The player who currently has the Judge's favor calls the Witness. The Prosecution starts the game with the Judge's favor. When a player calls a Witness, they choose one of the available Key Witnesses and place them horizontally between both players, so that the Primary Value is closer to the player having called the Witness. This Witness is now the current Witness.

The player who called the Witness now adds the Witness Primary Value to their current Influence, while the other player adds the Secondary Value to their Influence.

Questioning Phase

Starting with the player who called the Witness, players alternate taking turns performing one action from the list below:

1. Examination Action. Players can play an Evidence or Argument card from their hand into their playing area (called "the examination"). Cards are played in the examination overlapping previously played cards, so that everything of previous cards is covered but their Bias symbols and Value atop of the card.

The first card that is played into examination must match at least 1 Bias symbol of the Bias symbols showing on the active player's side of the current Witness; following cards need to match at least 1 Bias symbol on the topmost card of the examination stack. When a card is played into examination, any Examine effects on the chosen card must be resolved if possible.

Note: Sometimes an effect will have a player Sway a Bias. When swaying a Bias on a Juror, players move the Bias token on that Juror's card one step towards their side.

IMPORTANT: Cards in an examination that are neutral (gray) or match the active player's color (red for the Prosecution, blue for the Defense) add their Value to that player's Influence. Cards in a player's examination that match their opponent's color do not add or subtract from either player's Influence.

IMPORTANT: If a card is ever removed from an examination, its total Value is subtracted from that player's Influence.

2. Play a Procedure card. Procedures can either be played into examination as a card to use its Bias symbols, or they can be played into the active player's Procedure area to be activated in a future turn. The action on the Procedure cannot be resolved in the turn the card is played. Procedures stay in play between Witnesses.

3. Activate a Procedure. Resolve the Action effect on a single Procedure card in the current player's Procedure area if they have the Judge's favor. The Procedure is then discarded and the other player gains the Judge's favor.

4. Sidebar. If the active player's Sidebar token is not exhausted, they may exhaust it to draw a card and gain the Judge's favor. Players can call a Sidebar even if they already have the Judge's favor. A player's Sidebar is refreshed when they lose a Witness.

5. Pass. Players may pass. Once a player passes, they cannot take any more actions until the current Witness is resolved; however they may still Object (see below). After a player passes, their opponent is allowed only 1 more Examination action. Their opponent may take any other actions that they choose as many times as they want, but are forced to immediately pass after their next Examination action. When both players have passed, move onto Resolving the Witness.

Objection!

Once per Witness, players may object to an Argument played by their opponent as long as they have an unexhausted Objection token. Players cannot object to Evidence or Procedures. When a player objects, they exhaust one Objection token, and their opponent's card is immediately discarded with no effect and their opponent must immediately take another action. If all of a player's Objection tokens are exhausted, they cannot Object.

Keep in mind that you have only 3 Objections for the entire trial so use them sparingly! Objection tokens can be refreshed by certain card effects.

Objection Variants

Overruled Objections: This variant allows players to Object more than 3 times per game. To set up, each player takes their Objection tracker card and places it on the Overruled Objections side. Then, they take one Objection token and place it on the leftmost space with the gavel. Players are only allowed 1 sustained Objection per Witness. When a player objects, they must roll a die and meet or exceed the result marked by their token to sustain the Objection (and negate the card played by their opponent). If they fail their first roll and have the Judge's favor, they can flip the judge to attempt a reroll. If your roll fails, your Objection is overruled. Each time a player objects, they must advance their token on this card one space to the right. If an Objection is refreshed, retreat your token to the left.

Bias Objections: This variant keeps the 3 Objection limit while introducing some restrictions. To set up, each player takes their Objection tracker card and places it on the Bias Objections side. Then, they take 3 Objection tokens and place them nearby. Players are still only allowed 1 Objection per Witness. A player can object to Arguments and Evidence. In order to successfully object, a player must have an uncovered bias symbol that matches the card they are objecting to. When a player objects, they cover one of their bias objections with an Objection token that matches a bias on the card discarded by the objection. As the game goes on, your objections will be limited to cards that have the uncovered bias symbols.

Sustained Objections: Set up the game normally giving each player 3 Objection tokens, but make sure the Bias die is out of the box and available. Players are only allowed 1 sustained Objection per Witness. When a player objects, they must roll the Bias die. If the bias icon they roll matches a Bias on the card they are objecting to, the Objection is sustained. Negate the opponent's card and exhaust an Objection token. If they fail their first roll and have the Judge's favor, they can flip the judge to attempt a reroll. If your roll fails, your Objection is overruled (do not exhaust token).

Resolving the Witness

After both the Prosecution and Defense have passed, the Witness is resolved, according to the following:

1. Compare Influence. Players start by comparing the total Influence gathered while questioning the Witness. To do so, they can compare the current total as shown on their Influence dials. The player with the most Influence wins that Witness. If there is a tie, the player who currently has the Judge's favor wins.
2. Resolve Victory/Defeat Effects. The player who lost the Witness resolves any Defeat effects on the top card of their examination and on the Witness card. Then the player who won the Witness resolves any Victory effects on the top card of their examination and on the Witness card. Each player may choose the order in which they resolve these effects. Players adjust their current Influence in function of Victory / Defeat effects.
3. Spend Influence to sway Bias. Subtract the loser's Influence from the winner's Influence. The winner then spends this difference to sway Bias. To sway a Bias on a Juror, they must spend Influence equal to that Juror's Skepticism value in the upper right. The same Juror can be swayed as many times as desired until the token is locked, as long as the player has enough Influence to pay the cost for every step the token is moved. Any unspent Influence is lost.
4. Claim the Witness and Clean-up. Players take all cards in their examinations and discard them to their personal discard piles. The player who won the Witness claims that card and places them in their Claimed Witness area. The player who lost the Witness gains the Judge's favor and refreshes their Sidebar. Both players then reset their Influence to zero.
5. Draw. Each player may discard any number of cards from their hand. Then players draw cards until they have cards equal to their hand size. If a player's deck runs out of cards, there is no reshuffling. If a player's deck is empty, they continue playing normally until the game is over.
6. End Step. The player who just lost and has gained the Judge's favor will call the next Witness and a new Questioning Phase begins.

Additional Rules

Case 04: Private Eye

In this case, the Defense and Prosecution have a lot of asymmetry. The goal of the Defense is to solve the case by investigating clues before they are framed in court. The Prosecution focuses on gaining Red Herrings to hinder the investigation.

Solving the Case: The Defense may get two opportunities throughout the trial to try and solve the case: when the Defense calls the Defendant and during Closing Statements. To solve the case, the Defense must guess the Culprit, Murder Weapon and Crime Scene correctly.

Allies: Allies have effects that act like Procedures and may be triggered by spending an action. (Example: the Defense spends 2 Clues on Claire Aquila to investigate and move those Clues to the Culprit Proof and cover Red Herrings.)

Gaining Clues: Only the Defense gains Clues. When a Clue is gained, it must immediately be placed on a matching Red Herring or on an Ally in play. Clues gained through card effects are usually of a certain type (a gained Clue of a given Bias type may cover a Red Herring of that type on a Proof or must be placed on an Ally in play). Clues that are gained and cannot be immediately placed are lost.

Investigate Action: The Defense may play any Evidence card to their examination and take the Investigate action with it. When the Defense Investigates with a piece of evidence, that card is worth 0 Value (its number covered with a fingerprint token) and they must choose a Proof deck (Murder Weapon, Crime Scene, or Culprit) to investigate. Each Bias icon on the card played generates a Clue of the same type. These Clues are immediately placed on the matching icons of any Red Herrings on the back of the Proof. Any Bias icons on the card played that do not match a Red Herring icon of the Proof generate Clues that are placed on Allies in play. If there are no Allies in play, the Defense does not gain these additional Clues. The Prosecution cannot object to Investigate actions. If the Prosecution passes, an Investigate Action counts as an Examination Action, then the Defense must pass.

Uncovering Proof: When a Proof card has all of its visible Red Herrings covered, the Proof is uncovered and collected by the Defense. The Defense resolves any Setback effects on the card and marks their Notepad with the information gained from the Proof. Any Red Herring tokens on the Proof should be placed in an out of play pile. The Proof card may then be discarded.

Conspire: Requires that the current Witness meet the criteria to activate the effect. If the current Witness does not meet the criteria, you may discard a Claimed Witness that does to trigger the effect. (Example: Conspire with a Patsy requires that the current Witness is a Patsy to trigger. If they're not, you may discard a claimed Patsy to trigger this effect.)

Gaining Red Herrings: Only the Prosecution gains Red Herrings either from card effects or from swaying into a Juror spot with a Red Herring. When a Red Herring is gained, you must first take a Red Herring from a Juror (if able) and place it on the top card of one of the Proof decks that does not have the same Red Herring already on it. If you cannot place any of the Red Herrings currently on Jurors, you may gain one from the out of play pile.

Investigation Example: The Defense plays Hollywood Blacklist (Investigate: Unless the Prosecution conspires with Dudley Cromwell, shuffle 1 Co-Conspirator into the Witness Deck. Then draw a new Witness to replace them. Victory: Sway 1) into their examination as an Investigate action, covering up its value with a fingerprint token and triggering the Investigate effect. They choose to Investigate the Crime Scene deck. Hollywood Blacklist has 3 icons at the top and generates 3 Clues. Two of the Clues cover up the corresponding Red Herrings on the Crime Scene deck. The third Clue cannot be applied to the Crime Scene, so it may be placed on Claire Aquila (an Ally the Defense has in play; Reaction: Spend 2 Clues from Claire to gain 2 Clues of chosen types, then discard this card). All of the Red Herring icons on the Crime Scene have been covered, so the Proof is uncovered and the top card of the Crime Scene deck is revealed and collected by the Defense. It is Chateau Marmont (Setback: The Prosecution gains 1 Red Herring. The Defense exhausts 1 of their Objections. Chateau Marmont is NOT the Crime Scene.) The Defense suffers the Setback and then marks that the Crime Scene cannot be Chateau Marmont on their Notepad. They are one step closer to solving the case!

Case 05: Casino Heist

This case skips the Discovery phase and goes right to Trial. Players should start by drawing 3 cards from their Base deck. The Discovery phase is integrated into each round of Witness Questioning and changes the standard sequence of play:

1. Calling a Witness: The player who currently has the Judge's favor calls the Witness from the Lineup of Witnesses.
2. Cons: After a Witness has been called, before Discovery/Drafting, both players draw a card from the top of the Con deck. Each player looks at it and then places it facedown next to the Witness.
3. Discovery: Players then conduct one round of Discovery, each drawing 3 cards from the Case deck. Each chooses 1 to keep, 1 to give to their Opponent, and 1 to bury. These cards are added to players' hands so that they have a hand of 5 cards at the start of Questioning. Keep in mind that many of the Witnesses in this case have Discovery effects for drafting.
4. Questioning Phase: Takes place like a normal game.
5. Resolve Cons: After both players pass, before determining victory and resolving the Witness, both players reveal their Con. Starting with the player who has the Judge's favor, each player checks the Setup of their Con. If they have failed to meet the condition, they resolve the Failure effect. If they do meet it, they resolve the Success effect. A player may discard a claimed Witness that matches their Con to automatically meet its condition and succeed.
6. Resolving the Witness: Resolve the Witness as normal, then during clean-up discard all Cons faceup into a Cons discard pile. Finally, each player draws up to 3 cards from their deck instead of 5 before calling the next Witness.

Cons (card parts): 1. Con Name. 2. Witness Associated with Con: discard a claimed Witness listed here to automatically succeed this Con. 3. Setup: condition that must be met for Success. 4. Success: positive effect for successfully meeting the Con's condition. 5. Failure: negative effect for missing the Con's condition. Example: Double-Cross (Con – Hector Vasquez-Garcia) – Setup: Have a card from your opponent's base deck in your examination. Success: Your opponent cannot resolve the "Success" effect of their Con and must resolve the "Failure" effect of their Con. Failure: Your opponent draws 1 card from your deck.

Resolving Defendants: The Defendants in this case each represent a separate trial that each player is racing to win the verdict in. The player with the most sway on the Defendant wins that verdict in that Defendant's case. Whichever player wins more cases wins the game. In order to win a verdict in the case, you must have reached the spot of the track listed on the Defendant card (the spot just below the lock) or higher on your track of that Defendant. If both players have reached that spot, it is a mistrial and neither player has won that Defendant.

In order to guarantee a win over a Defendant's verdict, players need to claim them. If a player has a Claimed Witness whose name matches the Defendant card, they may spend Influence to reach the top (lock) spot. When a player reaches this spot, they immediately claim the Defendant for Closing Statements.

Example (Quinn Haylee Harper, The Gambler): if the game ended, the Prosecution would win this Defendant. The Prosecution has not claimed Quinn, so they cannot spend Influence to reach the lock spot. The Defense has claimed Quinn, so they could spend 4 Influence to sway their token to the top lock spot and win this Defendant.

Cooperative / Team Play

If you own Season 1 and 2 and/or have multiple copies of a Base deck, you can play cooperatively against an Automa opponent or competitively 2v2. Split your drafted evidence between the two players and shuffle it into each player's Base deck. Instead of drawing 5 cards from your deck each round, each player should only draw 4 cards. Then without communicating, players alternate taking turns. Players share their 3 Objections and Sidebar. Players cannot trigger procedures in the other player's Procedure area.

Ending the Game

When no more Key Witnesses can be called, the game proceeds to Closing Statements; at this point the game ends and a winner is determined. Some cases have special victory conditions that can end the game preemptively or they can have altered Closing Statements.

Ending Case 04

The game ends immediately if the Prosecution ever has all of the Jurors on their side or if the Defense solves the case. Otherwise, the game proceeds to closing statements after all Key Witnesses (excluding the Defendant) have been called and resolved.

Closing Statements: Before the Prosecution spends Influence to sway the jury, the Defense may attempt to solve the case. If they correctly guess the Culprit, Crime Scene, and Murder Weapon, they win! If the Defense fails to solve the case, the Prosecution gains 3 Influence for each Witness they have claimed and spends it on swaying Bias. If the Prosecution has every Juror on their side at the end of Closing Statements, they win. Otherwise, the Defense wins.

Ending Case 05

The game immediately proceeds to closing statements when all the Defendants have been claimed, the Lineup cannot be filled with 5 Witnesses, when either player cannot draw up to 3 cards from their deck, or when a player needs to draw a card from the Case deck for Discovery and the deck is empty.

Closing Statements: For each Defendant that has not been claimed, the player who has more sway on that Defendant claims them if their token is at the verdict spot of their track or higher. If players are tied on a Defendant, neither player claims the Defendant. After closing statements, the game ends. The Prosecution wins if they have claimed more Defendants than the Defense. Otherwise, the Defense wins.

Ending Case 06

The game proceeds to closing statements after all Key Witnesses have been called and resolved.

Closing Statements: Each player counts up their Victory Points based on the Assets they won (Bias token on their color), their Attitudes, and the Key Assets listed on their Strategy card. The player with the highest Victory Point total "wins" the Divorce. A tie is an amicable divorce.

Amicable Divorce Cooperative Challenge: It can be quite challenging to end with an amicable divorce, but players may agree to attempt this coop challenge. The game is largely played the same, with the goal being to reduce the differential between your Victory Points at the end of the game. A tie is the perfect equitable outcome, but a differential of less than 3 points is considered a success. The caveat is that players may not communicate to share their Attitudes, hand of cards, etc. Players may only discuss open information such as their Strategies and Assets. For increased challenge, restrict all communication/discussion of the game between players.

Gameplay Example

The Defense has called Slade Williams (Celebrity; Primary 4 P, Secondary 2 N; Called: Draw 1 card. Then give 1 card from your hand to your opponent. Victory: Gain the Judge's Favor. You call the Witness next round), turning the top left Value (P4) towards them. Since this Value is not beneficial to the Defense, they don't advance their Influence dial. However, the Prosecution value is beneficial to the Prosecution player, who advances their dial by 2 (the Secondary Value), bringing the current Influence to D0-P2.

The Defense takes the first action and plays Sexting with Olivia (Evidence, Scandalous, 4 D), taking the lead with Influence D4-P2. They search the Buried Evidence for 2 Scandalous cards, draw 1 and give the other to the Prosecution.

The Prosecution wants to play Key to the City but it doesn't match any Bias icons on the Witness so they play Inadmissible (Procedure, 0 P) as a wild card instead.

The Defense plays Key Evidence (Argument, 2 D; Examine: +3 Value if the previous card in your examination is Evidence). The card's printed Value is 2 but the Examine effect increases this to 5. Influence is now D9-P2.

The Prosecution plays Key to the City (Evidence, 3 P; Examine: Flip TV Royalties to Nonprofit. Victory: Refresh your Sidebar) and flips the TV Royalties Asset over to the Nonprofit side. Influence is D9-P5.

The Defense feels good about their lead and wants to trigger their Victory effect on Key Evidence, so they pass. The Prosecution can now only take 1 more Examination action, but can take other actions as much as they want. The Prosecution takes the Sidebar action, flipping the Judge to their side and draws a card. They draw Co-Counsel, a Procedure. The Defense has passed, so the Prosecution takes another action and plays down Co-Counsel in their Procedure area. The Prosecution then activates Co-Counsel to refresh their Sidebar and plays The Atlanta Estate (Evidence, 4 N) ignoring Bias. Influence is D9-P9.

As their final Examination Action, the Prosecution plays Gossip Blogs (Evidence, Scandalous, 2 N; Examine: If the current Witness is a Celebrity, you may take another action. Defeat: Your opponent gets -5 Influence) to end with Influence at D9-P11.

The Prosecution wins the Witness: 11 Influence to the Defense's 9. The Prosecution does not trigger Gossip Blogs' Defeat effect, but does get Slade Williams' Victory effect. Then, the Prosecution would spend 2 Influence swaying Assets.

Each player puts all the cards in their examination into their discard. Since the Defense lost the Witness, they refresh their Sidebar and would normally gain the Judge's favor, but Slade Williams' victory effect (gaining Judge's Favor and calling the Witness next round) negates this from happening. Players may discard any remaining cards before they both draw back up to 5 cards in their hand. A new Questioning Phase begins with the Prosecution calling the next Witness.

Card Reference

Discredit the Witness: When the current Witness is discredited, their Primary or Secondary Value is reduced to 0, and a Discredit token is placed to cover that value on the card. Current Influence is recalculated in the light of the canceled Value. If "Surprise Witness" or another effect changes the Witness, the Discredit token is discarded and the new Witness enters play not discredited.

For the Greater Good: Players may look through all of the cards in their opponent's examination for the Victory effect that they want. It does not have to be their opponent's top card.

Surprise Witness: When a player resolves "Surprise Witness", they claim the current Witness to their Claimed Witness area, but do not resolve any other effects of claiming the Witness. Then they draw the top card of the Witness deck as the new Witness. Both players' examinations remain in play. The new Witness replaces the old and the player who called them may orient the card either way, to their best benefit. The current total Influence is then adjusted in function of the new Witness' values. Any Called effects on the new Witness are ignored, but Defeat/Victory effects are still resolved as normal.

Logical, Moral, Legal, Evidential, or Emotional Argument: These Arguments all have an Examine effect that sets their Value based on a Bias symbol. When one of these cards is played, it gains +2 Value for each card (including this one) in that player's examination featuring the listed Bias. Once this card is played, its Value is not further changed by adding more cards with the same symbol. If the card is removed from an examination, its total Value is subtracted from that player's Influence.

Special Procedure – Wire Tap Warrant (0 P): Starts in the Prosecution's Procedure area. Action: If there are any Criminal Activities in the Dossier discard, peek at the top 3 cards of the Dossier and choose 1 to resolve. Then lose the Judge's favor and discard this card.

Bidding Mini Expansion (optional): After a Witness has been called, choose 1 Bid card and place it facedown next to the Witness. When you pass, reveal your chosen Bid card. Resolve its effect first after determining who won the Witness. (Example Bid: Victory: +5 Influence.)

Automa Rules

Set up the game as normal based on the selected case, but substitute the Solo Base deck in for the Automa's role deck. Games are played following the normal rules. When it is the Automa's turn, resolve their action based on the rules below.

Build an Automa player by selecting a Personality card, a Discovery card, and the Questioning card corresponding to the Automa's role (Prosecution or Defense) in the selected case. Some cases have Neutral Questioning cards that can be used for the Automa to play either role.

The Automa's Hand: Draw 6 cards from the top of the Automa's deck and stack them facedown to make the Automa's hand for each witness. Whenever the Automa draws a card, draw the top card of their deck and add it to their hand. Then shuffle the Automa's hand and place the stack facedown. Finally, take both the Bias die and a d6.

Discovery: The player will draft all the cards during Discovery based on the selected Discovery card restrictions. Roll both dice, then draft with the condition matching the Bias die for the next X rounds, where X is the result of the d6. Each round of drafting consists of the player drawing 3 cards at a time and choosing a card to add to the player's deck, a card to add to the Automa's deck and a card to bury in the Buried Evidence. When Discovery is over, you can flip the Automa's Discovery card over to the Pass Conditions side.

Example: The player rolls a Bias result on the Bias die and a "3" on a d6. According to the Automa's Discovery card, it will bury the card with the most Bias (icons) on it for the next 3 rounds of drafting. After drawing 3 cards to draft, the player would immediately bury the card with the most Bias on it. If there is a tie, the player may choose.

Calling a Witness: When the Automa needs to call a Witness, refer to the Automa's Decisions for that case. Select the Witness that best matches. If there is ever a conflict or tie, the player may choose from the viable Witness options. Resolve the Calling effect for the Automa as best as you are able. For example, the Automa does not have choices outlined for every card effect so for a called effect such as "draw 1 card from your opponent's discard" they cannot search and make a decision. In this instance, you could randomly draw a card from the player's discard and add it to the Automa's hand, but other effects may be too hard to interpret. When in doubt, ignore any effects that are too hard to interpret for the Automa. Refer to the "Automa's Decisions" for any sway, lock/unlock, and other effects for that case.

After a Witness is Called: Roll the d6 to set the Automa's pass condition for this Witness. The Automa will take the pass action when this condition is met or if it runs out of cards from its hand.

Questioning Step: Resolve the action that the Automa takes as its turn in the following order:

1. Check if the Pass condition based on the d6 result has been met. If it has, the Automa passes. The Automa cannot pass on its first turn of the Witness.
2. Check the Automa's Procedures in play. If a Procedure can be activated, the Automa activates the procedure as its action. If multiple procedures can be activated, the player decides which one to trigger.
3. Check to see if the Automa's Sidebar ability triggers. If it does, the Automa resolves this ability as its action, gains the judge's favor, and draws a card to its hand. Exhaust the Automa's sidebar.
4. If none of the above are resolved as the Automa's action, the Automa takes an Examination action. Draw 1 card from the Automa's deck.
   • If this card is one of the cards from the base Solo deck, the Automa plays this card to its examination and resolves the card's Examine effect.
   • If this card is a case specific card (marked with "case XX"), the Automa adds this card to its examination without resolving the card's Examine effect. Then, roll the Bias die. If the card just played has a Bias symbol matching your rolled Bias die result, trigger the effect on the Questioning Step card.

Resolving the Witness: Resolve the Witness normally, but any time the Automa needs to sway Jurors, refer to the Automa's Decisions for the case you are playing. If the Automa has a Victory effect on the top card of its examination, roll the Bias die and resolve the effect that matches the result on the Victory Effects card. If the Automa ever has a Victory effect on a Witness that you cannot resolve, roll the Bias die and resolve the effect that matches the result on the Victory Effects card.

Objecting: The Automa will automatically Object to any Argument that generates 5+ Influence once per Witness if it has an unexhausted Objection token. You may object to any of the Automa's arguments as normal. When you do, negate and discard the card. Then, draw a new card for the Automa for its turn.

Decisions by Case

Case 00

• Calling a Witness: 1. Highest primary Value for the Automa. 2. Highest neutral primary Value. 3. Highest primary Value for the player. 4. Lowest secondary Value for the player.
• Swaying Bias: The Automa sways the Bias currently in favor of the player on the card with the highest Skepticism that can be afforded. If there is no Bias opposed to the Automa, it sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that can be afforded. When the Automa sways (for free), it always sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that it can still sway.

Case 01

• Setup: Pick a random strategy for the Automa.
• Calling a Witness: 1. Highest primary Value for the Automa. 2. Highest neutral primary Value. 3. Most Bias symbols matching the Automa's Strategy card. 4. Highest primary Value for the player. 5. Lowest secondary Value for the player.
• Swaying Bias: When swaying or locking via an effect, the Automa always goes for the juror with the highest skepticism that it can sway or lock. As the Prosecution, the Automa first checks jurors that are one step away from locking and locks as many as it can with the influence it has. After that, the Automa spends Influence to sway the juror with the highest skepticism that it can afford.
• Closing Statements: When spending influence during closing statements, the Automa spends Influence to sway the Juror currently not on its side with the highest skepticism it can afford. When in doubt, spend influence and sway jurors as if you were playing as the Automa.

Case 02

• Setup: Pick a random strategy for the Automa.
• Calling a Witness: The Automa calls Witnesses on its Strategy card in order from top to bottom. If there are no Witnesses remaining on its strategy card, it will call the Witness whose primary value is worth the most to the Automa. If they are all worth the same, the Automa will call the Witness whose primary value is worth the most to the player.
• Swaying Bias: The Automa sways Bias as efficiently as possible to maximize the number of jurors currently in favor of the player that it can sway to its side. When in doubt, sway Bias so that no influence is wasted. If there is no Bias opposed to the Automa, it sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that can be afforded. When the Automa sways (for free), it always sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that it can still sway.
• The Dossier: When an effect would give the Automa a choice, it always chooses correctly (even during Closing Statements): resolving Dossier cards that help itself and discarding the Player's Dossier cards. The Automa has no need to peek at the Dossier, so you can ignore any effects that call for the Automa to do that.

Case 03

• Adding Witnesses to the Row: For the sake of the Automa's decisions, it selects the Witness to add to the back of the row whose primary Value is the highest for the Automa.
• Calling a Witness: The Automa will always spend claimed witnesses to call the Witness with the most Bias tokens on them that it can. Otherwise it calls the Witness at the front of the row.
• Swaying Bias: The Automa always sways from the Mob as long as there is still Bias on it. The Automa will never sway bias from the front to the back of the row.

Case 04

• Setup: Pick a random strategy for the Automa. If the Automa is playing as the Defense, it is not dealt an Ally.
• Calling a Witness: The Automa will call the Witness who is worth the most value to it that it is able to call (including the Defendant). If there is ever a tie in value, it calls Witnesses from left to right from the bottom row.
• Conspiring: The Automa always conspires if able.
• Gaining Clues: Clues are never wasted by the Automa and always applied to a relevant Proof card. If a Clue cannot be played, it becomes a wild clue and can cover any available Red Herring. If the Automa is playing as the Defense, it never investigates.
• Gaining Red Herrings: Whenever the Automa gains a Red Herring, it places it on the Proof with the fewest Red Herrings currently on it. If there is a tie, the player may choose which Proof.
• Swaying Bias: The Automa sways the Bias currently in favor of the player on the card with the highest Skepticism that can be afforded. If there is no Bias opposed to the Automa, it sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that can be afforded. When the Automa sways (for free), it always sways the Bias on the card with the highest Skepticism that it can still sway.
• Closing Statements: If the Automa is playing as the Defense, it can only solve the case if it has uncovered all of the corresponding proof. Otherwise, it guesses incorrectly. When spending influence during closing statements, the Automa spends Influence to sway the Juror currently not on its side with the highest skepticism it can afford. When in doubt, spend influence and sway jurors as if you were playing as the Automa.

Case 05

• Setup: Set up the game normally.
• Automa's Hand: After resolving a Witness, the Automa draws 3 cards instead of 6 in this case. Then you'll add two cards to their hand through drafting. Shuffle their hand before starting Questioning.
• Calling a Witness: The Automa will always first try and call a Witness from the Lineup who is also a Defendant. If there is more than one Witness in the Lineup who is a Defendant, the Automa will choose the Witness whose primary value is worth the most to the player from those choices. Otherwise if there are no Witnesses in the Lineup who are Defendants, it will call the Witness whose primary value is worth the most to the Automa. The Automa does not draw and is not subjected to Cons.
• Claiming Witnesses: When the Automa is allowed to claim a Witness from the Lineup through a card effect, it will always choose a Witness that is also a Defendant when able. Otherwise it chooses the leftmost Witness in the Lineup that it can claim.
• Swaying Bias: When the Automa sways bias it first goes after any Defendants that it has claimed the matching Witness for. If there is a tie, it will sway the Defendant that costs the most influence that it can afford. Next the Automa attempts to sway the Defendant who the Automa has furthest up the track that it can still move. Finally, the Automa will never waste Influence and will sway any Defendant that it can afford to spend any remaining influence on so that it spends its influence as efficiently as possible.

Case 06

• Setup: Randomly deal an Attitude to the Automa facedown. The Automa can draw and swap Attitudes like normal. After the player has selected their attitude and strategy, randomly draw a strategy for the Automa and set up the game accordingly. The Automa does not use the Key Assets effect on their strategy.
• Calling a Witness: The Automa calls Witnesses on its Strategy card starting with the first and making its way down the list. If there are no Witnesses remaining on its strategy card, it will call the Witness whose primary value is worth the most to the player. Note: Giving cards to sway bias – you can still do this effect, just discard the card instead of giving it to the Automa.
• Swaying Bias: When the Automa sways bias it goes for the Asset that is not currently on its side that is worth the most points that it can afford. If there is a tie, it will sway the asset that costs less influence. Next, the Automa will sway bias on the Asset worth the most points that it can afford that is already on its side. The Automa will never waste Influence and will sway anything that it can afford to spend all of its influence as efficiently as possible.
• Closing Statements: Flip over and score the Automa's Attitudes like normal.

Glossary

Bury refers to when a card is shuffled into the Buried Evidence.

Called effects are on Witness cards and trigger when that Witness is called. Sometimes these only can be triggered by one role, i.e. Defense Called is only triggered by the Defense.

Conspire: requires that the current Witness meet the condition to activate the effect. If the current Witness does not meet the criteria, you may discard a Claimed Witness that does to trigger the effect as well. (Conspire with a Patsy to draw 1 card requires that the current Witness is a Patsy to trigger. If they're not, you may discard a claimed Patsy to trigger this effect.)

Defeat effects are resolved when a player loses a Witness. Only Defeat effects on the Witness and on the top card of the losing player's examination are resolved.

Discovery effects and conditions on Witnesses in Case 05 are resolved during the drafting phase of that Witness.

Draw effects cause a player to draw the top card of a deck. If drawing from a revealed set of cards (i.e. either player's discard), the active player looks through all the cards in the discard and selects one to draw.

Examine effects trigger when cards are played into a player's examination. When cards are added to an examination, these effects do not trigger.

Influence refers to the total Value generated by cards in a player's examination and the side of the current Witness facing a player, and typically tracked on the Influence dials.

Judge's Favor refers to the side of the Judge card that is currently face-up. For example, if the Judge card is on the Defense side, then the Defense has the Judge's favor.

Key Witness refers to the current Witness being questioned and any other Witnesses face-up waiting to be called. Once a Witness is claimed (or removed from the game via some other effect), they are no longer a Key Witness.

Peek is used when looking at a number of cards from the top of a deck or at an opponent's hand. Cards are always put back in the same order unless specified.

Refresh refers to flipping over an exhausted token (Sidebar or Objection) so that it may be used again.

Search refers to when a normally hidden set of cards, such as a player's deck or the Buried Evidence, is looked through. When a set of cards is searched, it is always shuffled afterwards.

Shared occurs in Case 06 and refers to swaying to the neutral gray spot of an asset.

Shuffle is a type of card effect (i.e. Shuffle 1 card from your discard into your deck.) Unless otherwise specified, you may choose the card to shuffle into the deck.

Top Card refers to the card on top of an examination. This is typically the card most recently played, but cards like Bribery may add cards to an examination without playing them.

Value refers to the Value found in the upper left of Argument, Evidence, and Procedure cards. Many Examine effects might modify the Value of the card being played (i.e. +3 Value). As soon as one of these effects is removed from play or discarded, the relative Influence bonus is immediately subtracted from the affected player's current Influence.

Victory effects are resolved when a player wins a Witness. Only Victory effects on the Witness and on the top card of the winning player's examination are resolved.

Quick Reference

• Discovery: Draw 3 cards and draft 1 for Defense, 1 for Prosecution and bury 1.
• Trial: Whoever has the Judge's Favor calls the next Witness.
• Questioning Phase: On your turn, you can take the following actions: play a card to your examination; play a Procedure to your Procedure Area; activate a Procedure in your Procedure Area; exhaust your Sidebar (draw a card and gain the Judge's favor); pass (your opponent may take only 1 more Examination action).
• Resolve: Player with the most Influence claims the current Witness and spends Influence to sway Jury. Loser gains Judge's favor and refreshes Sidebar.
• Clean-up: Discard examination and cards from your hand that you want. Then draw back up to 5.
• Objecting: If you have an unexhausted Objection token, you can object to any Argument played by your opponent once per Witness. Exhaust an Objection token to negate the Argument. Then, your opponent takes another turn. Remember you can object after you've passed.
• Swaying Jurors: Spend Influence equal to a Juror's Skepticism value to move the Bias token on that Juror one space towards your side.
• Influence: Cards added to your examination add their Value to your current total Influence if they are your color or gray (Neutral).