Little Drop of Poison
Little Drop of Poison Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Setup
Randomly place one of the two kings face-up in the center of the table. (You'll choose a new king for each assassination round.)
Shuffle the rats and weasels (the peasant deck) and place one face-up in front of every player.
Shuffle the poison deck and deal two poison cards face-down to each player.
Select a method to keep track of points. (Pen/paper, dice, tokens, pennies etc.) Each player will need to track up to ten points.
Object of the Game
Players gain points for killing each other and the king. The game is divided into assassination rounds. (Use as many assassination rounds as necessary.) Each assassination round ends when the king is killed or there are one or fewer peasants remaining. (The king will know who the assassin is if there's only one.) Once a player reaches 10 points or more, the game ends at the end of that complete assassination round. If there is a tie, the player who gained the most points in the last assassination round is the winner. If there is still a tie, there is more than one winner.
As a weasel:
- Killing the rat king is worth 3 points.
- Killing the weasel king is worth 2 points.
- Killing a rat is worth 1 point.
- Killing another weasel is worth no points.
As a rat:
- Killing the weasel king is worth 3 points.
- Killing the rat king is worth 2 points.
- Killing a weasel is worth 1 point.
- Killing another rat is worth no points.
Game Play
The starting player is the person who last ate food that someone else tasted. They will remain the starting player for that entire assassination round. It will then move to the next player clockwise.
On a turn, you must play at least one poison card though you may play as many as you like. You must play poison cards on one character only, be it on a peasant or the king. You may play poison on yourself.
The starting player plays poison cards. Play proceeds clockwise. Once each player has had a turn to play poison cards, the poison round is complete. (It is important to remember where you played poison for one round!) Turn over all of the played poison cards at once and resolve them.
It takes three drops of any one poison type to kill a peasant.
- In a 3 or 4-player game, it takes 5 drops of any one poison type to kill a king.
- In a 5-player game, it takes 6 drops of any one poison type to kill a king.
- In a 6-player game, it takes 7 drops of any one poison type to kill a king.
- In a 7 or 8-player game, it takes 8 drops of any one poison type to kill a king.
If any peasant has enough poison to kill them played upon them, they are dead and are removed from the assassination round, and each player who contributed at least one drop of the correct poison type on this round will get the points for killing. If enough of two or more types of poison are played, all are considered the type of poison that triggered the killing. Any points for killing a peasant are taken immediately. Peasants that are killed still get points for killing. If this gives any player ten points, the assassination round must be completed and all points awarded at its conclusion.
If the assassination is complete, shuffle all of the decks and reset the table with a new king, new peasants, and two poison cards for everybody.
If the assassination is not complete at the end of a poison round, deal two more poison cards to each surviving peasant (as printed; presumably each player) and begin another poison round. Use as many poison rounds within an assassination round as necessary.
Any poison from previous poison rounds stays in play face-up, and poison played on each subsequent poison round will be added to these. Poison played in previous poison rounds is not credited to any assassin. Credit for killing a character only occurs for the correct type of poison played during the current poison round.
One-color Antidotes
This blue antidote only work on poison cards that include blue poison. (Including multi-colored poison cards.)
This antidote card will counteract any blue poison previously played during the current assassination round. (Discard any cards with blue poison for that character.) It will stay in play for the entire assassination round. Any further blue poison will have no effect on that character.
It may be played on a peasant or the king. It may be played in conjunction with other poison cards.
Universal Antidote
This antidote wipes out all poison played on the current poison round and all previous poison rounds for one character. It and all other poison is then discarded.
Multi-colored Poisons
These poison cards act as any other, but count as one drop of green poison and one drop of purple poison.