The Court of Xiang Chi
The Court of Xiang Chi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Needed to play:
- The deck of 54 Court cards
- 15-20 counters to use as copper pieces (CP)
- 20 counters each equalling 1 Victory Point (1VP)
- 10 counters each equalling 10 Victory Points (10VP)
Game diagram labels (the printed Game Diagram shows a typical layout): Draw Deck; Society Row; Costs to purchase cards during Phase 1A (0CP + Cost Modifier, 1CP + Cost Modifier, 2CP + Cost Modifier, 3CP + Cost Modifier); Cost Modifier and/or Victory Point Value; Position in Court; Card Power; Clan Icon; Card Layout; Sun, Moon and Earth Clan Icons; Defeated Daemon Princes; Court of the Daemon Princes; Discard Pile for Courtesans, Tax Collectors and Phase 1B cards; The Royal Court.
Setup
Shuffle the 54 cards and place them face down as a draw pile. Four cards are dealt face up to form Society Row.
The player chooses 3 of these cards to place below in their Royal Court as starting cards. The cards may be placed in any of the 4 spaces in either of the 2 rows forming the Royal Court. If any Daemon Prince cards are drawn, they are set aside and will be shuffled back into the deck after the player chooses the three they want (dealing out replacement cards to Society Row). The player also begins the game with 10 copper pieces (CP). These starting cards will not have their powers activated during the Game Setup.
Then, slide the fourth card next to the draw deck and deal 3 new cards from the draw deck to Society Row.
Play
A game turn consists of three phases:
Phase 1A. The player may purchase 1 card from Society Row and place in the Royal Court OR they may skip this phase and go to Phase 1B.
If the player purchases a card, any cards to the left of the gap slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row.
Cards will be purchased during the game from this row in an auction format, the card closest to the draw deck costs 0CP + the card's listed Cost Modifier, the next card 1CP + Cost Modifier, 2CP + Cost Modifier, and the rightmost card 3CP + Cost Modifier.
The player may place the card in any of the 8 spaces of the Royal Court. As the game progresses the player may cover older cards with newer cards.
After the player has placed the card in their Royal Court, the card's power is activated. Card powers only act upon the topmost card in each of the spaces of the Royal Court.
Card Powers
- Ministers - On this turn the player gains CP equal to the total of the listed VP values for each Tax Collector in the Royal Court. If the Minister's clan icon matches a Tax Collector clan icon the player gains +1CP extra from that Tax Collector.
- Generals - The black number on a General's card is the General's strength in combat with a Daemon Prince in Society Row. If the player has 3 or more Generals in the Royal Court representing each of the three clan icons, the player adds +2 to the total strength to the Generals. To defeat one Daemon Prince, the total of all Generals' strengths must be equal to or greater than the Daemon Prince's strength. The player may additionally pay CP to add 1CP/1 Strength to this total. The defeated Daemon Prince is placed to the left of the draw deck, any cards to the left of the gap slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row. The player gains VP as listed on the Daemon Prince card.
- Courtesans - Courtesans are placed in the Royal Court after purchase. On a subsequent Phase 1A game turn, the player may exchange the Courtesan for a card of equal VP value. The Courtesan card is then discarded and the new card is placed in the Courtesan's postion in the Royal Court. The newly placed card's power is now activated. Lastly, any cards to the left of the gap in Society Row slide to the right and a new card is drawn. The player may still purchase a card during this phase as normal.
- Tax Collectors - On this turn the player may, if they choose to, discard any other card in the Royal Court matching the Tax Collector's clan icon, and either gain the VP value as shown on the discarded card, or gain CP equal to the VP value. If this second option is chosen the card is placed in the Court of the Daemon Princes to the far right of the Society Row. Tax Collectors are also worth additional CP during Phase 1B.
- Poets - On this turn the player gains VP for each card matching the Poet's clan icon in the Royal Court as listed on each card.
- Daemon Princes - When these cards are drawn they will remain in Society Row until defeated by the player's Generals. At the end of the turn, if there are any number of Daemon Princes in the Society Row, the rightmost non-Daemon Prince card is removed from the Society Row and placed in the Court of the Daemon Princes, any cards to the left of the gap slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row. At the end of the game the VP from all cards in the Daemon Prince pile are subtracted from the player's total VP score.
Phase 1B. If the player does not wish to purchase any cards, the rightmost, non-Daemon Prince card is discarded and all remaining cards slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row. The player then receives 1CP and an additional 1CP for each Tax Collector in the Royal Court.
Phase 2. The player may now use the combined strength of their Generals to combat one Daemon Prince. If the player has 3 or more Generals in the Royal Court representing each of the three clan icons, the player adds +2 to the total strength to the Generals. To defeat one Daemon Prince during this phase, the total of all Generals' strengths must be equal to or greater than the Daemon Prince's strength (as shown by the black number). The player may additionally pay CP to add 1CP/1 Strength to this total. The defeated Daemon Prince is placed to the left of the draw deck, any cards to the left of the gap slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row. The player gains VP as listed on the Daemon Prince card.
Phase 3. If Daemon Princes remain in Society Row, the rightmost non-Daemon Prince card is removed from the Society Row and placed in the Court of the Daemon Princes. All remaining cards slide to the right and a new card is drawn and placed in Society Row.
Game End
The game will end after Phase 3 if either:
- 4 Daemon Princes are in the Society Row, or
- all 9 Daemon Princes have been drawn.
The player then adds up the total VP gained during the game and additionally gains 1VP for every 3CP they have left. Each card in the Daemon Prince pile subtracts its listed VP from the player's VP score.
Aristocracy
| VP | Rank |
|---|---|
| 1-15 VP | Commoner (Shumin) |
| 16-25 VP | Yeoman (Shi) |
| 26-40 VP | Bureaucrat (Daifu) |
| 41-55 VP | Minister (Qing) |
| 56-70 VP | Noble (Zhuhou) |
| 71+ VP | Emperor/Empress |
Advanced Game
The player uses only 6 spaces in the Royal Court. 2 rows, each with 3 cards.