Oriflamme: Ablaze Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Contents
• Setup
• Round of the Game
  • 1/ Placement Phase
  • 2/ Resolution Phase
    • Eliminate a Card
• A New Round of the Game
• Stacks of Cards
• End of the Game
• Abilities
  • Character Cards
    • Prince
    • Twin (Jumeau)
    • Queen (Reine)
    • Cutthroat (Coupe-jarret)
    • Apothecary (Apothicaire)
    • Felon (Félon)
    • Schemer (Intrigante)
  • Intrigue Cards
    • Usurpation
    • Machination
    • Ambush (Guet-apens)
    • Corruption

Goal of the Game

At the end of the 6 rounds of play, the player who has accumulated the most Influence Points for their family wins the game.

Contents

• 55 Influence cards (11 in 5 different colors)
• 70 Influence Point tokens, of values 1 and 5
• 1 First Player tile
• 1 Resolution Direction tile
• 5 Corruption tokens

Setup

• Each player takes the 11 cards of their family (identical backs: same color, same coat of arms) and the matching Corruption token:
  • They set aside the Twin (Jumeau) card, face up.
  • They shuffle the 10 remaining cards and discard 3 of them at random, which they set aside face down.
  • They keep the 7 remaining cards in their hand, without showing them to the other players.
• Each player receives 1 Influence Point, which they place in front of them. All the others are placed on the table within reach of all players and form the supply.
• The oldest player starts the game. They receive the First Player tile, which they place visible in front of them. Leaving enough room in the center of the table to lay out a queue of cards, they place the Resolution Direction tile nearby. This tile is a reminder of the direction in which the abilities of the cards will be applied for the entirety of the game (see 2/ Resolution Phase).

Round of the Game

Oriflamme plays over 6 rounds. Each round consists of 2 phases:

1. Placement phase
2. Resolution phase

1/ Placement Phase

Note: at any time, each player may look at their own family's face-down cards in the Influence Queue, as well as the cards they discarded during setup.

Over the course of the game, players lay cards down next to one another in the center of the table, forming the Influence Queue, commonly called the Queue.

Starting with the first player and then continuing clockwise, each player secretly chooses a card from their hand and lays it face down in the Queue:

• EITHER at the start of the Queue,
• OR at the end of the Queue,
• OR on top of one of their own family's cards already in the Queue (this choice is obviously impossible on the first round of play; for more details, see Stacks of Cards).
• If there is no card in the Queue (at the start of the game, for instance), the player simply lays their card in the center of the table.

The placement phase ends once all players have laid ONE card from their hand into the Queue.

Placement phase example:

• Red is the first player. They place one of their cards face down in the center of the table.
• Blue must play their card to the left or to the right of Red's card.
• Green must play their card to the left of Blue's or to the right of Red's. They cannot lay their card between Blue's and Red's cards.

2/ Resolution Phase

This phase takes place in the direction of the Queue, which is the same for the whole game.

Starting with the first card of the Queue and going through to the last, the owning player resolves the card:

1) If the card is face down, they have two options:

• Leave the card face down. They place 1 Influence Point on it, taken from the supply. If they leave the card face down for several rounds, there will therefore be several Influence Points on it.
• Reveal the card. They turn the card over and immediately apply its ability. If there are Influence Points on it (because the player did not reveal it in the previous round or rounds), they gain those points.

2) If the card has already been revealed in a previous round, they have no choice: they immediately apply its ability.

Applying the ability of a revealed card is mandatory. For example, a Cutthroat (Coupe-jarret) must always eliminate an adjacent card, even one of its own family.

Eliminate a Card

Some abilities allow you to eliminate a card.

Important: each time a player eliminates a card (no matter its family), they gain 1 Influence Point. This is recalled by the Influence Point symbol on the card's ability.

If the eliminated card was still face down, any Influence Points on it are lost and the card is revealed.

In every case, the eliminated card is immediately taken out of the Queue. If it was between two cards, slide the cards of the Queue together to close the gap.

Note: discarded or eliminated cards are placed face up in front of their owner. All players may consult them.

A New Round of the Game

The player who had the First Player tile gives it to the player on their left. A new round of the game begins. The cards present in the Influence Queue stay where they are, as they are.

Stacks of Cards

Starting with the 2nd round of the game, it is possible to place a card in the Influence Queue by creating a stack of cards.

A player may place a card ON another of their own cards, already in play, whether revealed or not.

The newly placed card then covers the previous one, including any Influence Points that may have been on it. This is called a "stack of cards". As long as a card is covered, it is no longer taken into account during the resolution phase. A covered card can therefore not be revealed, cannot receive additional Influence Points, cannot apply its ability, and cannot be targeted.

There is no limit to the number of cards that can be stacked. That said, be careful not to stack too many cards, since that many abilities — and possibly Influence Points — become unavailable while they stay covered.

Thanks to a stack of cards, a player can protect one of their cards from being eliminated, or place a Cutthroat (Coupe-jarret) in the middle of the Queue to eliminate cards otherwise out of reach, or set up a cascade of actions.

Example: Red reveals the Usurpation card he had placed on his already-revealed Queen. Red applies Usurpation's ability and discards it. The Queen underneath immediately becomes active again and applies its ability. If the Queen had still been face down, Red would have had the normal choice of not revealing it and adding 1 Influence Point to it instead.

Resolution phase example:

• As indicated by the Resolution Direction tile, cards are resolved from left to right.
• Red decides not to reveal his card. He takes 1 Influence Point from the supply and places it on his card.
• Blue decides to reveal his card. He immediately gains the Influence Point that was on his card, and reveals a Cutthroat. He must eliminate an adjacent card.
• Blue eliminates the next red card. He reveals it — it is a Queen — discards it, and the 2 Influence Points that were on it are lost. Blue does not gain an Influence Point for the elimination, since he only eliminated a single card, but the Queen's own ability grants him 1 Influence Point.
• With the red card eliminated, it is Green's turn. He decides not to reveal his card, and adds 1 Influence Point from the supply onto it.
• The blue Felon (Félon) is already revealed, so each player must lose 1 Influence Point for every card of their own family adjacent to the Felon. Green therefore loses 1 Influence Point, which he returns to the supply.

End of the Game

Because each player started the game with 7 cards in hand, at the end of the 6th round, each player will have 1 card left in hand. This card is not played.

Whoever has accumulated the greatest number of Influence Points wins the game!

Each player's Influence Points are visible throughout the game.

At the end of the game, Influence Points still present on cards in the Influence Queue do not count toward the final score.

If there is a tie, the tied player with the most cards of their family still present in the Influence Queue wins.

Abilities

There are two types of cards: Character cards and Intrigue cards.

Character Cards

When a Character card is revealed, its ability applies immediately, but the card remains in the Queue face up. In each following round, its ability applies again, in Queue order.

Prince

When you reveal the Prince, place your family's Twin (Jumeau), revealed, into the Queue. Gain 1 Influence Point. When the Prince is eliminated, discard your family's Twin, unless it is covered.

Twin (Jumeau)

Gain 1 Influence Point. When the Twin is eliminated, discard your family's Prince, unless it is covered.

During setup, only the Prince is shuffled in with your family's 10 cards. The Twin can enter play only by way of the Prince, and can then be placed normally at either end of the Queue, or cover a card of your own family — except the Prince.

Certain cards let a player have 2 Princes or 2 Twins in play at the same time. Eliminating one copy of either one causes every copy of the other to be discarded. Example: you have 2 Princes and 1 Twin. If a Prince is eliminated, the Twin is discarded, and the second Prince remains in play. If your Twin is eliminated, both of your Princes are discarded.

Queen (Reine)

Gain 2 Influence Points. If an opposing player eliminates the Queen, they gain 1 additional Influence Point.

Cutthroat (Coupe-jarret)

Eliminate an adjacent card, along with every revealed opposing card of the same name. If only one card is eliminated, you do not gain the Influence Point for the elimination.

Examples: if your Cutthroat eliminates 1 Felon, you gain no Influence Points. If it eliminates 2 Felons, you gain 2 Influence Points. If it eliminates 1 opposing Queen, you gain 1 Influence Point. If it eliminates 2 opposing Queens, you gain 4 Influence Points.

Apothecary (Apothicaire)

Eliminate a card that is adjacent to another card of your family.

The other card of your family may be revealed or not. The eliminated card is always eliminated by the Apothecary — for example, if the eliminated card is an Ambush, it is the Apothecary that is discarded. If you have no other card of your family in the Queue, the Apothecary's ability has no effect.

Felon (Félon)

Each player loses 1 Influence Point for every card of their own family adjacent to the Felon.

If a card of your own family is adjacent to your Felon, you lose 1 Influence Point. If a player has 2 cards of their family adjacent to the Felon, they lose 2 Influence Points.

Schemer (Intrigante)

If this card is adjacent to a stack of cards, discard it; otherwise, gain 2 Influence Points.

Discard the Schemer only if it is adjacent to a stack of cards at the moment you activate its ability.

Intrigue Cards

When an Intrigue card is revealed, its ability applies immediately and the card is discarded, as noted on the ability text.

Usurpation

Eliminate an adjacent card. If it is an opposing Character card, replace it with the same character from among your own set-aside, discarded, or eliminated cards, revealed. Discard Usurpation.

If the eliminated character was on an opponent's stack of cards, you cannot put a character of your own family in its place. Using Usurpation on a Prince does not let you bring your own Twin into play, since your Prince enters play already revealed. The Twin is not among the 3 cards set aside at the start of the game — using Usurpation on a Twin only brings your own Twin into play if it was previously discarded or eliminated.

Machination

Discard Machination. Activate the ability of any revealed Character card of your family. Each Influence Point present on Machination may either be gained, or discarded to repeat the effect above.

You may choose a different Character card for each repetition — it can be the same one or a different one each time. Fully resolve each activated ability before deciding whether to discard or gain the next Influence Point.

Ambush (Guet-apens)

Discard any Influence Points present on Ambush and gain 1 Influence Point. Discard Ambush.

OR: if Ambush is eliminated by an opposing card, discard the opposing card and steal 3 Influence Points from its owner. When a player eliminates Ambush, they gain 1 Influence Point before having 3 Influence Points stolen from them.

Tip: the second ability is, of course, Ambush's main appeal. If no one fell into your trap, the first ability still lets you gain a single Influence Point as a consolation prize.

Example 1: an opposing Apothecary eliminates your Ambush. The Apothecary's owner gains 1 Influence Point, and you steal 3 Influence Points from them. The Apothecary is discarded.

Example 2: your own Apothecary eliminates your own Ambush. You gain 1 Influence Point. Your Apothecary remains in the Queue, since Ambush's steal ability only triggers against opposing cards.

Corruption

Place your family's Corruption token on any revealed Character card. That character now belongs to your family. Discard Corruption.

If you place your Corruption token on a character that already has a Corruption token, replace it with your own. You cannot play your Corruption token on a character that is on an opponent's stack of cards. When a character bearing a Corruption token is discarded or eliminated, discard the Corruption token, and place that character with the eliminated cards of the family that originally owned it.