Rogues to Riches
Rogues to Riches Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Lairs & Riches
Draw two Lairs from the chest in the centre and choose one to keep, playing it face up and discarding the other. Deal one Riches card face up into the Riches space on each Lair. Each player reads their Lair and Riches cards aloud.
Drafting the Traps
Deal four Traps to each player. Choose one to keep and pass the other three to the left, then pick up the three passed to you from the right. Choose one, then continue drafting cards in this way until you have chosen three Traps, and then discard the remaining card. Play one Trap face down in the Hidden Trap space to the right of your Lair. Play two other Traps face up in the Trap 1 and Trap 2 slots along the top edge of the Lair. The Trap in the Trap 1 slot will be faced first. Note that The Warlord's Castle and The Clockwork Factory have different Trap setups.
Gear cards
Deal each player four Gear cards to form their hand. Determine a starting player.
Gameplay
Choose a Lair
On your turn you are the Rogue and you must choose another player's Lair to break into. That player is the Defender, and the other players are the Observers.
The turn takes place over three stages: Plan - Rebuttal - Modification, with the Fate roll at the end. Sticking to these three stages without adding too much extra conversation will help the game stay on track.
The Plan
Describe how you use your Gear cards to get past the Trap. You can be simple and straightforward, or elaborate and imaginative. You may ask the Defender questions about the details of the Lair. If it's not clear on the card, they can make it up.
EXAMPLE: A player with the Bottle of Ether and the Rags might say, "I soak the rags in the ether then sneak up behind the Caffeine Riddled Security Guard and knock him out."
The Rebuttal
The Defender then describes how they think the Plan fails. As the Defender, use the descriptions and pictures of the Trap and the Lair to find flaws in the Rogue's logic and prevent them from getting through the Trap. You can ask questions about the Gear cards to clarify details.
EXAMPLE: The Defender says, "It's impossible for you to sneak up behind the Caffeine Riddled Security Guard since he's already seen you. See, he's got his coffee pot raised to defend himself!"
Modify the plan
Based on the rebuttal, you can revise the initial Plan and play new Gear cards to try a different approach. At this point, the observers can ask questions about details of the plan or rebuttal. All players should have a good understanding of how the plan is supposed to work.
Observers give away their dice
The observers now use their dice to show whether they think the plan will work or not. As an observer, give your dice to the Rogue if you think the plan will work, or to the Defender if you think the plan will fail. You can give your dice away in any combination: zero, one, or two dice, or even one each to the Rogue and Defender.
The Fate roll
The Rogue and the Defender roll their own dice plus the dice they've been given. Add the two highest dice together, and the player with the highest result wins. If there is a tie, add in the third highest dice, and so on until there is a clear winner. If a player does not have another dice to add, then it counts as zero and they lose. If there is a tie, the Rogue is successful.
If the plan succeeds, the Rogue takes the trap card as a reward and puts it in the 'defeated traps' slot in their lair. If the plan fails, their turn is over.
EXAMPLE 1: After the two observers have given out their dice, the Rogue has four dice and the Defender has three. The Rogue rolls 6, 4, 2, 1, and the Defender rolls 6, 3, 3. The Rogue wins with 6 + 4 = 10 compared with 6 + 3 = 9.
EXAMPLE 2: On the next round, the Rogue has 5 dice and rolls 5, 3, 2, 2, 2 and the Defender has 3 and rolls 5, 3, 3. In this case the two highest dice are tied (5 and 3), so the next highest dice is compared. The Defender wins with 3 over 2.
End the turn
Discard all Gear cards that you played this turn, and redraw up to four Gear cards. Stolen Riches cards do not count toward hand size. Return the dice so everyone has two. Play passes to the left.
Revealing the Hidden Trap
The Hidden Trap is revealed only when a Rogue chooses to attack it.
Stealing the Riches
When you defeat the Hidden Trap, immediately take the Riches card and place it in the Stolen Riches slot in your Lair, where they become a permanent addition to your hand. The Defender then flips over their Lair and the turn ends. Exception: the Tenements and the Wrestling Gym require an additional Plan and Fate Roll in order to steal the Riches.
Ending the Game
The game ends after three complete rounds. Everyone counts their Defeated Traps and Stolen Riches, and the player with the highest total wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most Stolen Riches wins. If there is still a tie, both players share in the victory.
Tips
For a shorter game, start with only two Traps in each Lair.
To involve more people in the game, anyone can play as an Observer and vote on the Plans.