The Old King's Crown Rulebook

Table of Contents

Credits
Components
Setup
Core Concepts
Component Overview
Sequence of Play
Start of the Year
- 1. Draw Cards
  - Attrition
- 2. Determine Turn Order
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Winning the Game
A Fractured Kingdom's Factions
Commands
Traits
Clarifications
Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup
- Advanced Setup
Glossary
Sequence of Play Summary

Credits

Game Design, Art & Rulebook: Pablo Clark
Game Development: Pablo Clark, Andrew McKelvey & Neo Teng Whay
Solo Mode Design: Pablo Clark & Richard Wilkins
Graphic Design: Andrew McKelvey & Ken Clark
Additional Art Team: Hazel France (Colour Assistant & Pattern Design) & Siobhan A. Hermitage (Card Back & Player Board Heraldry)
Lead Editor: Liz Davidson
Additional Editing & Proofreading: Miguel Conceição, Ryan Lord, Caleb Hobson, Marcin Drzewiecki & Iain Clark

Components

Rulebook & Rules Reference Sheets: x1 rulebook, x2 rules reference sheets
Kingdom Board: x1
Clash Markers: x3
Councils Tile: x1
Active Player Marker: x1
Influence Tokens: x32 (one-value), x16 (five-value)
Lore Tokens: x20
Kingdom's Favour Marker: x1
Round Marker: x1
Season Marker: x1
Kingdom Cards: x51
Player Boards: x4 (1 per Faction)
Tactic Tiles: x16 (4 per Faction)
Faction Decks: x4 (19 cards per Faction)
Sites of Power Tiles: x4 (1 per Faction)
Cardboard Faction Markers: x40 (10 per Faction)
Heralds: x4 (1 per Faction)
Order Markers: x4 (1 per Faction)
Hand Size Markers: x4 (1 per Faction)
Supporters: x20 (5 per Faction)

Setup

Before Setup begins players choose a game length:

Standard Game (five Rounds) - This is the recommended game length
Short Game (four Rounds) or Extended Game (six Rounds) (See Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup, pg. 48)

A. Create the Central Play Area

Place the Kingdom Board within reach of all players with the Councils Tile directly above it.

B. Populate the Great Road

Shuffle all Kingdom Cards and place them face-down on the leftmost space of the Great Road. This is the Kingdom Deck. Next, draw the top card of the deck and place it face-up on the rightmost available space of the Great Road. Repeat until all three spaces each have one face-up Kingdom Card. Finally, flip the top card of the Kingdom Deck for a total of four face-up Kingdom Cards on the Great Road.

C. Create the Reserve

Gather all Influence Tokens and Lore Tokens and place them near the Kingdom Board to create the collective Reserve.

D. Kingdom's Favour

Place the Kingdom's Favour Disc on the Harvest Field Location of the Kingdom Board.

E. Season Marker

Place the Season Marker in the Spring slot with the starting-hand icon on the Kingdom Board.

F. Round Marker

Place the Round Marker in the 1 slot of the Round Track.

G. Clash Markers

Place the three Clash Markers in a stack, with the III marker on the bottom and the I marker on the top, in the indicated slot on the Kingdom Board.

H. Choose Factions

Players may either choose or randomly determine their Factions (See Factions pg. 34 for a more detailed overview of each Faction). Then, each player takes their Faction's corresponding Player Board and places it in front of them.

I. Heralds & Supporters

Take the single Herald piece and five Supporter pieces associated with your Faction and place them in the corresponding slots on your Player Board.

J. Hand Size Marker

Place your Faction's Hand Size Marker in the top-left indentation of your Player Board. Orientate the marker so your starting Hand Size, denoted by a starting-hand icon, is aligned with the arrow on the board.

K. Tactic Tiles

Take the four Tactic Tiles associated with your Faction and place them in the lower slot of your Player Board, in any order, with their Unexhausted sides (the sides with text) face-up. Follow any additional printed SETUP instructions on your Tactics.

L. Faction Markers

Place the Faction Markers associated with your Faction in a pile near your Player Board.

M. Sites of Power

Place the Site of Power Tile associated with your Faction near your Player Board.

Site of Power Cards

Take the Faction Deck associated with your Faction and search it for all Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards. These cards are identified by a Lore Cost Value in the top right corner. Additionally, HQ Cards can also be identified by the HQ icon to the right of the card's title. Place these cards in a face-up pile on your Faction's Site of Power. Each Faction has five Site of Power cards.

N. Draw Starting Hand

Search your Faction Deck for your Heir card, also denoted by a starting-hand icon to the right of the card's title, and set it aside. Shuffle your remaining Faction Cards and place them face-down in the indicated space to the left of your Player Board. Finally, take your set-aside Heir into your Hand, then draw cards from your Deck until you have six cards in your Hand.

O. Determine Starting Order

Determine the players' starting positions on the Order Track by using an Absolute Primogeniture Law of Succession (oldest person first and then descending in age). Alternatively, if preferred, players may determine the starting order randomly. All players place their Order Markers on the Order Track in the determined order.

P. Active Player Marker

The player who is first on the Order Track takes the Active Player Marker.

You are now ready to begin the game.

Core Concepts

Aim of the Game

Compete against other players to accrue the most Influence, represented by Influence tokens, over a number of Rounds. At the end of the final Round of the game, the player with the most Influence in their Supply will be crowned the winner.

Gameplay Structure

Each game of The Old King's Crown is divided into Rounds, with each Round representing one year in the game's world. Within each Round there are Phases, which are broken up into Steps. Players progress through a Round as a group, and all players must complete the current Step before any player moves on to the next.

The Steps within each Phase may include mandatory instructions, timing windows during which mandatory Effects and Commands must be triggered, and opportunities for players to activate optional Actions and Commands. Certain Steps will resolve simultaneously, whilst others will resolve in turn order.

Simultaneous Steps - When a Step is performed simultaneously, all players complete this Step at the same time. All parts of a simultaneous Step are mandatory, unless otherwise stated.

In Turn Order Steps - When a Step is performed in turn order, resolve the Step, one player at a time, starting with the player whose Order Marker is highest on the Order Track and proceeding in descending order.

Once a player has completed the Step, they pass the Active Player Marker to the next player in turn order, who will then complete the Step. When the last player has completed the Step, the Active Player Marker returns to the player who is first on the Order Track.

Actions

Players have access to Actions from a variety of sources. All Actions have a corresponding Action Step during which they may be activated.

Action Steps are resolved in turn order. Actions are identified by a circular border.

Players may activate any number of their available Actions during the corresponding Action Step. Once a player has completed their Actions, play passes to the next player in turn order.

All Actions are optional and may only be activated once per Round, per player.

There are three Action Steps in a Round:

SPRING ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.
DAY ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.
AUTUMN ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.

Effects

Players have access to Effects from a variety of sources. All Effects have a corresponding Effects Step during which they are triggered.

Effects Steps are resolved simultaneously. Effects are identified by a hexagonal border.

All Effects are triggered automatically in their associated Effects Step.

All Effects are mandatory and may be triggered more than once per Round.

There are two Effects Steps in a Round:

NIGHT EFFECTS STEP in which Effects & Commands are triggered.
WINTER EFFECTS STEP in which Effects & Commands are triggered.

Commands

In addition to Actions & Effects, players will have access to six different Commands; Ambush, Retreat, Flank, Rally, Deploy & Deadly. Commands are named in bold.

Commands are printed on, or gained by, Faction Cards. There is no limit to how many Commands a Faction Card may have. A card with a printed Command may gain the same Command (see Printed, Gained & Blanked, pg. 46), however their effects do not stack.

Commands indicate the Step in which they will be activated or triggered. Certain Commands will state if they may be activated or triggered multiple times in a Round (see Commands, pg. 37).

Abilities

Players will also have access to abilities from a variety of sources. "Abilities" is a general term for all powers in the game which are not Actions, Effects or Commands. Unlike Actions, Effects and Commands, which have designated Steps associated with them, abilities will each specify when and how they may be used.

Examples of abilities include:

Passive abilities that provide ongoing benefits. A passive ability is lost if the card or component that grants the ability is discarded. These abilities are mandatory, unless otherwise stated.
Abilities that have a condition that must be met before being used. If an ability states 'must,' it is mandatory and must be triggered when the condition is met. If an ability states 'may,' it is optional and may be activated once the condition has been met.

In the rare instance that multiple players wish to use abilities during the same timing window, for example 'After a Clash is resolved but before any rewards are claimed,' players resolve these abilities in turn order.

NOTE - Multiple players may have access to cards or components that have Actions, Commands and abilities that share the same name. The "once per Round" limit does not prevent a player from activating an Action, Command or ability that a different player has already activated during the current Round.

You may only activate or trigger Actions, Effects, Commands and abilities you control, unless otherwise stated.

Component Overview

The Kingdom Board

The Kingdom Board makes up the majority of the play space and houses the following:

A. The Order Track

The Order Track is used to show the order in which players will act when resolving any Step in turn order. The players' starting order on the Order Track is determined during Setup. Subsequently, the Order Track will be adjusted, based on the amount of Influence in each player's Supply, during each Start of the Year Phase. Players with higher amounts of Influence are placed higher on the Order Track and must act before players with lower amounts of Influence, who are placed lower on the Order Track.

B. The Great Road

The Great Road houses a market of Kingdom Cards which can be acquired in Spring. These cards represent the inhabitants, areas, and artefacts drawn from across the length and breadth of the kingdom and grant players new Actions and abilities.

C. The Map

The Map represents areas of the kingdom that the players will compete over each Round. The Map is split into three rows, called Regions. Within each Region, there are two separate Locations. Players will take part in Clashes in each of the Regions, and the winner of each Clash will be able to claim a reward from one of the Locations in the Region where the Clash took place.

THE HIGHLANDS Region is made up of the CASTLE and WILDERNESS Locations.
THE PLATEAU Region is made up of the HARVEST FIELD and BATTLEFIELD Locations.
THE LOWLANDS Region is made up of the SHRINE and NECROPOLIS Locations.

D. The Round Track

The Round Track has six slots that are used to track the current Round of the game. At the end of each Round, the Round Marker is advanced forward one slot. At the end of the final Round (as determined by the game length), the game ends and a winner is declared.

Additionally, the Kingdom Board has slots for a Season Marker, which is used to track the Phases and Steps of the game, as the players move through a Round.

E. The Councils Tile

The Councils are seats of power within the kingdom, with each representing a different facet of rule.

Council of Relics
Council of Secrets
Council of Oaths

Throughout the course of the game, players will have the opportunity to Govern, allowing them to move their Faction Cards into these Councils. Cards at Councils contribute Votes, and each Council provides a different benefit that becomes more potent the more Votes a player has in that Council.

F. The Kingdom Discard

The Kingdom Discard is a communal space accessible to all players. During the game Kingdom Cards will be placed in the Kingdom Discard and are kept face-up. The Kingdom Discard is public information.

G. The Lost Pile

The Lost Pile is a communal space accessible to all players. During the game, Faction Cards and Supporters may end up in the Lost Pile. Certain abilities in the game allow you to reclaim your lost Faction Cards and Supporters. The Lost Pile is public information.

H. The Reserve

The Reserve is a communal space, allocated during Setup. It should be accessible to all players. The Reserve houses Influence and Lore tokens. Influence and Lore in the Reserve do not belong to any player. When a player gains Influence or Lore, it is taken from the Reserve and placed in their Supply.

Play Area & Player Board

Each player has their own play area, containing a Player Board which corresponds to their Faction and which houses a number of different components, as well as a space separate from the Player Board that is kept for their Supply.

A. Supply

Your Supply is the space around your Player Board. You may acquire cards, tiles, or tokens that will state they are placed in your Supply. Any Influence and Lore you gain is placed in your Supply. Other players may not interact with your Supply, unless otherwise stated.

B. Hand Size Marker

Your Hand Size is tracked using the Hand Size Marker. Throughout the game your Hand Size may change. When this happens, you will adjust the marker by rotating it to reflect your new Hand Size.

C. Kingdom Card Spaces

Throughout the game, you will acquire Kingdom Cards. You may hold up to two Kingdom Cards at a time on your Player Board. There is a slot underneath this section of the Player Board where you will slide the Faction Cards that you use to Occupy each Kingdom Card.

D. Kingdom's Favour Action

You may hold the Kingdom's Favour at certain points during the game. Holding this gives you access to a Faction-specific Action printed on your Player Board.

E. Deck

Your Deck is placed to the left of your Player Board and is made up of face-down Faction Cards.

F. Herald Slot

This holds your Faction's Herald piece.

G. Supporter Slots

These hold your five Supporter pieces.

H. Discard Pile

Your Discard Pile is placed to the right of your Player Board and is made up of face-up Faction Cards.

I. Tactics Slot

This holds your Faction's four unique Tactic Tiles.

J. Site of Power

Your Site of Power is kept to the side of and separate from your Supply. It houses your Faction's Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards. You may acquire these cards by spending Lore from your Supply.

Faction Cards

Faction Cards are arguably a player's most important resource and have a variety of uses. There are both Basic and Advanced Faction Cards.

BASIC FACTION CARDS - At the start of the game, your Deck is made up entirely of these cards. Every Faction's Basic Cards are identical, except for cosmetic differences.

ADVANCED FACTION CARDS - Advanced Faction Cards begin the game on your Site of Power, but may be added to your Deck. Every Faction's Advanced Cards are unique.

Anatomy of a Basic Faction Card:

Strength - Strength is represented as a value and is used when resolving Bids and Clashes.
Traits - These represent a card's innate abilities and grant special gameplay bonuses. A card may have more than one Trait.
Commands - Certain Faction Cards have Commands that are activated or triggered during their indicated Action or Effects Step.
Votes - The number of Votes added by this card when it is placed in a Council.
Faction Icon - The Faction to which the card belongs.
Archetype - A Faction Card's Archetype has no specific special rules or bonuses. However, certain abilities in the game may target or affect specific Archetypes.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Lore - The amount of Lore generated by this card when used to Journey. Lore is a resource used to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from your Site of Power.
Flavour Text - A thematic accompaniment to the card printed in italics. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - Certain Faction Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.
Cards with the starting-hand symbol begin the game in your Hand.

Anatomy of an Advanced Faction Card:

Lore Cost - Only Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards have this icon. These cards begin the game on your Site of Power. The number indicates how much Lore is required to acquire this card.

HQ Cards

HQ Cards are identified by the HQ icon. These cards begin the game on your Site of Power, alongside your Advanced Faction Cards, and are acquired during the game by paying their Lore Cost. Unlike Faction Cards, HQ Cards have no Strength value, Archetype, or Traits but provide your Faction with additional abilities. When you claim an HQ Card from your Site of Power, place it in your Supply and not into your Hand. Its abilities remain available unless the card is removed.

HQ Card Identifier - This icon indicates that the card is an HQ Card.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Faction Icon - The Faction to which the card belongs.
Flavour Text - A thematic accompaniment to the card printed in italics. This has no gameplay effect.
Lore Cost - HQ Cards begin the game on your Site of Power. The number indicates how much Lore is required to acquire this card.
Rules Text - HQ Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.

Kingdom Cards

Kingdom Cards provide players with unique abilities and benefits. Each Round, in Spring, players Bid for Kingdom Cards. Kingdom Cards are acquired from the Great Road and can also be stolen from other players. Kingdom Cards acquired by a player are usually kept on their Player Board and will be Occupied (i.e. guarded) by a Faction Card. Occasionally Kingdom Cards may be placed on the Map or in a player's Supply.

Kingdom Card Suit (Relics, Secrets or Oaths) - Every Kingdom Card belongs to a Suit. Suits have no special rules or bonuses associated with them but instead give an indication of the kind of ability the card provides.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - Kingdom Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.

Relics - These cards are focused on gaining Influence and Lore. Borrow, barter, and line your pockets with gold as you build your Faction's wealth and resources.

Secrets - These cards are focused on cunning and clever manipulation of your cards and abilities. Find hidden routes across the kingdom, set up devious traps and misdirect your rivals.

Oaths - These cards are focused on controlling Regions through military might. Bolster your Strength, Eliminate your rivals, and upgrade your defences.

Tactic Tiles

Each Faction has access to a unique set of four Tactic Tiles that helps to define their playstyle. All Tactic Tiles are Unexhausted and ready to use at the start of the game. You may activate any number of your Unexhausted Tactic Tiles in a Round. Most Tactic Tiles are flipped to their Exhausted side after use. Certain Tactic Tiles, however, indicate that they can be used multiple times before they become Exhausted. These uses are tracked using Faction Markers placed on the Tactic Tile during Setup. Tactic Tiles may only be Unexhausted through certain abilities.

Title - The name of the Tactic. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - The Unexhausted side of a Tactic Tile contains text describing its Action, Effect or ability.
Exhausted side

Influence & Lore

Influence Tokens: Influence Tokens are used to track how much Influence a player has. At the end of the game, the player with the most Influence in their Supply is declared the winner. Additionally, the amount of Influence in a player's Supply will be used to determine their position on the Order Track. Influence comes in two denominations: smaller one-value tokens and larger five-value tokens.

Lore Tokens: Lore Tokens are used to track how much Lore a player has. Lore Tokens are gained by Journeying and through the use of other abilities. Lore in a player's Supply may be spent to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from their Site of Power. A player may spend any amount of Lore in their Supply whenever they gain one or more Lore Tokens. Any spent Lore is returned to the Reserve.

Sequence of Play

The Old King's Crown is played over a set number of Rounds. All players, as a group, will move through a Round, completing Phases and the Steps within them. The Sequence of Play section of this rulebook will cover each of these Phases and Steps in detail. Below is a short summary of a complete Round.

Start of the Year - Players will draw cards and determine the player order for the coming Round. This Phase is skipped in the first Round of the game.
Spring - Players will acquire new Kingdom Cards, place their Heralds on the Map, place cards next to Regions, and may activate Actions and Commands.
Summer - Players will resolve Clashes across the three Regions of the Map. Winners of these Clashes will claim rewards.
Autumn - Players may Govern and Journey, allowing them to install themselves in Councils and to gain Advanced Faction and HQ Cards, respectively. Additionally, players may activate Actions and Commands.
Winter - Players will resolve any Effects, discard any remaining Active cards, perform cleanup, and advance the Round Track.

Start of the Year

NOTE - Skip this Phase in the first Round of the game.

1. Draw Cards

All players simultaneously draw Faction Cards from their Deck. You must draw up to your full Hand Size.

Attrition

Incurring Attrition - At any point in the game, if you must draw a card from your Deck and no cards remain, you incur Attrition.

NOTE - If you voluntarily trigger an ability that requires you draw from your Deck and your Deck is empty, you will also incur Attrition.

Resolving Attrition - To resolve Attrition, shuffle your Discard Pile and form a new face-down Deck. Next, reduce your Hand Size by one, rotating the Hand Size Marker one position clockwise. Finally, draw cards until the number of cards in your Hand equals your new Hand Size.

2. Determine Turn Order

Players adjust the Order Track, if required, based on the amount of Influence each player has in their Supply. The player with the most Influence places their Order Marker in the first position. Players continue to place their Order Markers according to their Influence. In the case of a tie, reverse the previous order of the tied players.

The player in the first position takes the Active Player Marker.

Order Examples

A. This is the position of the players on the Order Track in the Start of the Year Phase in the second Round of a game. This initial order was established during Setup.

B. During the first Round of the game, the Nobility player was able to score 3 Influence whilst the Clans player was able to score 2 Influence. Meanwhile the Gathering player scored 1 Influence, and the Uprising player has yet to add any Influence to their Supply.

The Order Track is adjusted. As the Nobility player has the most Influence in their Supply, they replace the Clans player as the player in the first slot on the Order Track. The Clans Order Marker is now moved into the second slot on the Order Track.

The Gathering and Uprising Order Markers do not need to be adjusted as the Gathering player has more Influence than the Uprising player and so is already higher on the Order Track.

C. The players have completed their second Round and are now in the Start of the Year Phase of the third Round. The Nobility player now has 5 Influence in their Supply, whilst the Clans player has 4 Influence, the Gathering player has 5 Influence, and the Uprising player has 4 Influence.

The Nobility and Gathering players are now tied for the most Influence in their Supply. Since the Nobility player was previously ahead of the Gathering player, they reverse the order, moving the Gathering player ahead of the Nobility player on the Order Track. The Gathering player's Order Marker is placed in the first slot on the Order Track and the Nobility player's marker is placed in the second slot.

Additionally, the Clans and the Uprising players are tied for Influence in their Supply. Since the Clans player was previously ahead of the Uprising player, they also reverse their positions, moving the Uprising player ahead of the Clans player on the Order Track. The Uprising player's Order Marker is placed in the third slot on the Order Track and the Clans player's marker is moved to the last slot on the Order Track.

D. This shows the Order Track after player order has been determined in the third Round.

Spring

1. Place Bids

At the beginning of Spring, players Bid to acquire Kingdom Cards. All players simultaneously choose a Faction Card from their Hand. This card is the player's Bidding card, and is placed face-down in front of them.

2. Resolve Bids

Once all players have placed their Bids, all Bidding cards are revealed simultaneously.

Each player takes the Strength of their Bidding card and adds any additional Strength provided by any abilities that affect Bids. This total is their Bidding Strength.

NOTE - When resolving a Bid, only the Strength value of the Bidding card is considered. The other attributes on a card, such as its Archetype, Traits, or abilities, are ignored unless otherwise stated.

The player with the highest total Bidding Strength resolves their Bid first. Once they have resolved their Bid, the next highest Bid resolves. This is repeated until all Bids have been resolved. In the case of a tie, the tied player who is higher on the Order Track resolves their Bid first.

Bidding Example - The Gathering player has revealed a Strength 6 card and the Clans player has revealed a Strength 4 card. Neither player has any additional sources of Strength to add to their Bids. Since the Gathering player has the higher total Strength, they will resolve their Bid first.

To resolve your Bid, choose one of the following options:

I - Choose a Kingdom Card from the Great Road and Occupy it.
II - Steal a Kingdom Card from an opponent and Occupy it.
III - Return your Bidding card to your Hand.

I. Choose a Kingdom Card from the Great Road and Occupy it.

Take a face-up Kingdom Card from the Great Road, then Occupy it with your Bidding card.

Example: The Gathering player chooses the Swansong Horn Kingdom Card and Occupies it with their Strength 6 Bidding card.

Occupying Kingdom Cards

When you acquire a Kingdom Card, whether by taking one from the Great Road or by stealing one from an opponent, you must immediately Occupy it unless otherwise stated.

To Occupy a Kingdom Card, choose either one of the spaces on your Player Board and place the Kingdom Card on it. Next, slot your Bidding card beneath it. The Kingdom Card is now Occupied by that card.

NOTE - Some Kingdom Cards begin with instructions that are written in bold text. These instructions indicate what must be done when you acquire the card. You must follow these instructions in full. In some cases, this may result in your Bidding card being discarded or otherwise affected in some way.

When placing a newly acquired Kingdom Card on a space on your Player Board, you are free to choose either an empty space or a space that is already filled by another Occupied Kingdom Card.

If the space you have chosen is already filled by another Occupied Kingdom Card, discard the Kingdom Card currently on that space and move the Faction Card that was Occupying it to your Hand (see Kingdom Cards, pg. 50). Then, place your new Kingdom Card and Occupy it with your Bidding card.

II. Steal a Kingdom Card from an opponent and Occupy it.

When resolving your Bid, you may attempt to steal an opponent's Occupied Kingdom Card.

To successfully steal an opponent's Occupied Kingdom Card, your Bidding Strength must be higher than the Strength, including any modifiers, of the Faction Card Occupying the targeted Kingdom Card.

If successful, move the stolen Kingdom Card to your Player Board, Occupying it with your Bidding card. Your opponent moves the Faction Card which previously Occupied the stolen Kingdom Card to their Hand.

Example: The Uprising player resolves their Strength 8 Bid. Instead of taking a card from the Great Road, they decide to steal the Forgotten Palace from the Nobility player. Since their total Bidding Strength (8 Strength) exceeds the Strength of the Occupying card (5 Strength), the Uprising player is able to successfully steal the Kingdom Card. The Uprising player moves it to their Player Board and Occupies it with their Bidding card. The Nobility player moves their 5 Strength card to their Hand.

III. Return your Bidding card to your Hand.

Instead of taking a Kingdom Card from the Great Road or stealing a Kingdom Card from an opponent, return your Bidding card to your Hand.

Repopulating the Great Road

Once all players have resolved their Bids, they do the following, in this sequence:

If one or more Kingdom Cards were taken from the Great Road, move the rightmost remaining Kingdom Card, if any, to the Kingdom Discard. Slide any remaining Kingdom Cards on the Great Road, one at a time, to fill the rightmost available spaces.

If no Kingdom Cards were taken from the Great Road during this Phase, instead move the two rightmost Kingdom Cards to the Kingdom Discard.
Next, draw and reveal new Kingdom Cards from the Kingdom Deck, placing them on the Great Road, one at a time, beginning with the rightmost available space, until all spaces are filled. Finally flip over and reveal the top card of the Kingdom Deck. There should now be four face-up cards on the Great Road.

NOTE - Occasionally Kingdom Cards may be taken from the Great Road outside of resolving Bids. After resolving any ability that removes one or more cards from the Great Road, outside of Bidding, repopulate the Great Road without discarding any cards first.

3. Place Heralds and Cards

Do the following, in this sequence:

A. Place Heralds

All players, in turn order, place their Herald on a Location.

Placing Heralds

When you place your Herald on the Map, you are free to place it on any Location, including Locations that already contain any number of Heralds, markers, and/or cards.

When Clashes are resolved later in the Round, Heralds allow you to gain additional Influence and steal Influence from opponents whose Heralds are in the same Location as your Herald (see Claim Rewards, pg. 30).

In Winter, during the Cleanup Step, all Heralds on the Map will be returned to their owners' Player Boards (see Winter, pg. 33).

Once all players have placed their Herald on a Location, play proceeds to the next Step.

B. Place Cards Next to Regions

All players simultaneously place cards from their Hand face-down next to the three Regions of the Map.

Each player must place one Faction Card next to each Region of the Map, for a total of three face-down cards.
Players may look at their own face-down cards next to Regions at any time, but may not look at their opponents' face-down cards.
In the rare case that a player has fewer than three cards in their Hand during this Step, they must place their cards before all other players. If multiple players are in this position, this is resolved in turn order.

NOTE - The side of the Map on which you place your Faction Cards has no gameplay effect.

4. Spring Action Step

Each player takes their Spring Action Step in turn order.

During your Action Step, you may activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

Placing Supporters

Placing Supporters is an example of an Action.

To place Supporters, move any number of Supporter pieces from your Player Board to any number of Regions.

Unlike Heralds, Supporters are placed on a Region as a whole, instead of on a specific Location within a Region.

When you place your Supporters on the Map, you are free to place them on any Region, including Regions that already contain any number of Supporters, Heralds, markers, and/or cards.

There is no limit to the number of Supporters that can be on a Region at the same time.

When Clashes are resolved later in the Round, each Supporter piece will contribute to your total Strength in the first Clash in that Region (see Resolve Clashes, pg. 25).

In Winter, during the Cleanup Step, all Supporters on the Map will be moved to the Lost Pile (see Winter, pg. 33).

Placing Supporters Example

The Gathering player takes their Action Step first this Round as they are first on the Order Track. They activate a number of Actions, including placing two Supporters in the Plateau, as they wish to bolster their Strength in that Region.

The Nobility player, who is next in turn order, has no Supporters remaining on their Player Board so they cannot place any Supporters on Regions. However, they have a number of other Actions that they wish to activate. Once those are resolved they pass the Active Player Marker to the Uprising player, who is next in turn order.

The Uprising player places all five of their Supporters on the Highlands Region and takes no further Actions.

Finally, the Clans player, who is last on the Order Track, activates a number of Actions, including placing one Supporter in each of the three Regions, as they are hoping to contest the other players in each Region when Summer arrives.

Spring Action Step Example

The Clans player is taking their Action Step and activates the following Actions.

A. First, they choose to activate their School of the Storms Tactic as an Action. They plan to use this ability during upcoming Clashes in Summer.
B. Second, they activate the Action on one of their Occupied Kingdom Cards: Forged Royal Pardons.
C. Finally, they place three Supporters on the Map, one on each Region.

With no more Actions or Commands they wish to activate, they pass the Active Player Marker. Since they are last in turn order, all players have concluded their Action Step and the Active Player Marker is returned to the player who is currently first on the Order Track.

Once the player with the Active Player Marker has completed their Action Step, they pass the marker to the next player in turn order, who then takes their own Action Step.

Once all players have taken their Action Step and the Active Player Marker is returned to the first player, play proceeds to Summer.

Summer

1. Place Clash Markers

The player who is last on the Order Track places a Clash Marker on each of the three Regions to indicate the order in which they will be resolved. The Clashes will then be resolved one at a time, beginning with the Region with the I marker and ending with the Region with the III marker.

In this example, the Clans player is last on the Order Track and so chooses the order in which the Regions will be resolved. They place the Clash Markers so that the Regions will be resolved in the following order: Plateau, Highlands, and finally Lowlands.

2. Resolve Clashes

To resolve Clashes in a Region, follow this sequence:

A - Reveal Cards
B - Day Action Step
C - Night Effects Step
D - Tally Strength & Declare an Outcome
E - Claim Rewards

A. Reveal Cards

All players simultaneously reveal all their face-down Faction Cards in the Region that is currently being resolved. These cards are now Active.

Active Cards

Any face-up Faction Card that is next to a Region is considered Active.

Cards that are Active in a Region and which have not taken part in a previous Clash in the Region this Round (see Resolve Tied Clashes, pg. 29) contribute their printed and gained information to the current Clash. A card will remain Active until it is no longer next to any Region.

B. Day Action Step

Each player takes their Day Action Step in turn order.

During your Action Step, you may activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

NOTE - Any Actions or Commands that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards may only be activated if the card is Active in the current Clash.

Once the player with the Active Player Marker has completed their Action Step, they pass the marker to the next player in turn order, who then takes their own Action Step.

After all players have taken their Action Step, if any face-down Faction Cards were added to the Clash, these cards are now simultaneously revealed. If any of these newly revealed cards have Actions or Commands, players may activate these in turn order.

NOTE - Only printed or gained Actions and Commands on these newly revealed cards may be activated and resolved. No other Actions or Commands, such as those on cards in other Regions, on Tactics, or on Kingdom Cards, may be activated by any player, unless otherwise stated.

Day Action Step Example

A. All players have just revealed their cards in a Region. The Gathering player has revealed an Heir and as they are first on the Order Track, they are first to resolve their Action Step. Since the Gathering player does not have access to any Actions and/or Commands they pass the Active Player Marker to the Nobility player, who is next in turn order.

B. The Nobility player activates a single Command, the Ambush Command on their revealed Ruse. The Ambush Command allows them to play another Faction Card from their Hand face-down to the Clash (see Ambush, pg. 37). Although they have access to other Actions, there are none they wish to use at this time, and so they pass the Active Player Marker to the next player in turn order.

C. The Uprising player has also revealed an Heir and is now wary of the newly placed face-down card that the Nobility player has added to the Clash. To protect their Heir they decide to activate the Action printed on their Unexhausted Tactic, Safehouses. This allows their Heir to gain the Retreat Command, allowing that card to return to its owner's Hand, removing it from the Clash (see Retreat, pg. 38). They then pass the Active Player Marker to the Clans player, who is last in turn order.

D. The Clans player has revealed a Captain and decides to activate their Sea Lanes Tactic, an Action, which allows them to give one of their Active Faction Cards the Flank Command for the duration of the Round. They choose to give this to their newly revealed Captain, as they too are wary of what the Nobility player's face-down card might be hiding. Flank allows cards in the current Clash to move to an unresolved Region (see Flank, pg. 38). Since the Highlands will be the next Region to be resolved (as it has the II Clash Marker on it), the Clans player moves their card to that Region and concludes their Action Step.

E. With all players having finished their Action Step, any newly added face-down cards in the current Clash are revealed. There is only one newly added face-down card and it belongs to the Nobility player. They reveal it and prove their opponents' fears to be well founded, as the revealed card turns out to be an Agent Faction Card, with the printed Deadly Command! Play proceeds to the next Step.

C. Night Effects Step

All players simultaneously resolve any Effects that trigger in this Step. All Effects are mandatory and trigger automatically.

NOTE - Any Effects or Commands that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards are only triggered if the card is Active in the current Clash.

Night Effects Step Example

Continuing from the previous example, which covered Actions, play has now moved to the Effects Step. All players now trigger all Effects. In this example, there is only one Effect to resolve:

The Nobility player's Agent has the printed Deadly Command (see Deadly, pg. 40), which reads:

'If this card is Active in the current Clash, it will Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Eliminated cards are removed from the Clash and are moved to the Lost Pile.'

The Agent Eliminates (i.e. removes) all opponents' Active cards from the current Clash, which in this case is only the Gathering player's Heir. As detailed in the previous Action Step example, both the Uprising and Clans players activated Actions that removed their cards from the Clash and from harm.

With all Effects having been resolved, play proceeds to the next Step.

D. Tally Strength & Declare an Outcome

All players simultaneously tally their total Strength. Your total Strength in a Clash is determined by adding together the following:

The Strength of all of your Active cards in this Region that have not taken part in any other Clashes in this Region during this Round. (+9 in this example)
+1 Strength for each of your Supporters in the Region that have not taken part in any other Clashes in this Region during this Round. (+3 in this example)
Any additional Strength from Actions or abilities. (+5 in this example)
= TOTAL STRENGTH 17

The player with the highest Strength is declared the winner of the current Clash.

NOTE - A player can still be part of a Clash, even if they have no Active cards in the Clash. If a player has no Active cards in the Clash, this portion of their total Strength is considered 0.

Resolve Tied Clashes

If two or more players are tied for the highest Strength in a Region, those players in turn order choose one of the following options:

Play a Faction Card from their Hand face-down to the Region
Pass

If one or more tied players choose to place a card face-down, a new Clash between the tied players begins. Repeat Steps A to D to resolve the new Clash.

If a tied player passes and does not play a card, they are still considered part of this new Clash.

However, if all tied players pass, either by refusing or by being unable to place another Faction Card, the Region is resolved as a tie. No further Clashes take place in this Region this Round and no players claim any rewards.

NOTE - A subsequent Clash that results from a tie is considered a new Clash, separate and distinct from the one before. Any Faction Cards and Supporters which took part in any previous Clashes in this Region during this Round, have no effect on the new Clash.

Additionally, any Actions, Effects, Commands or abilities that were activated or triggered in any previous Clashes in this Region during this Round, do not count towards the new Clash unless otherwise stated.

In this 2-player example, both the Nobility player and the Gathering player have a total Strength of 6 in the Clash. The Nobility player has 5 Strength from their Faction Card and 1 Strength from a single Supporter. The Gathering has a 6 Strength Captain. Since their total Strength is tied, the players can elect to begin a new Clash. The Nobility player is first in turn order and so is the first to decide whether to place a face-down card (and so begin a new Clash) or pass.

The Nobility player chooses to play a face-down Faction Card from their Hand, triggering a new Clash between the tied players. The Gathering player, who may play a face-down card or pass, also chooses to play a card. The cards are then revealed. As the players enter this Clash's Action Step the Gathering player is currently ahead with a Strength of 4.

E. Claim Rewards

If you win a Clash in a Region, do the following, in this sequence:

I. CHOOSE A LOCATION - Choose one of the two Locations in that Region. You will receive rewards from your chosen Location.
II. HERALD REWARDS - If your Herald is on your chosen Location, gain 1 Influence. Then, steal 1 Influence, if able, from each opponent whose Herald is also on that Location.
III. LOCATION REWARDS - Gain any Influence listed on your Location's printed Location Reward. Next, you may resolve any additional text on your chosen Location.

Once Location Rewards have been fully resolved, the Region is considered resolved for the Round. No further Clashes will take place in this Region, this Round.

3. Repeat

Once the Region with the I Clash Marker has been resolved, flip the marker to its resolved side to indicate that the Region has been resolved. Repeat Steps A to E of Resolve Clashes for the Region with the II Clash Marker, and then finally repeat for the Region with the III Clash Marker.

Claiming Rewards Example

In this 2-player example, the Gathering player has been declared the winner of the Clash in the Plateau Region. They choose the Harvest Field to claim rewards from.

Since their Herald is on the Harvest Field, the Gathering player is eligible to claim their Herald Reward. They gain 1 Influence from the Reserve and they also steal 1 Influence from the Nobility player whose Herald is also on the Harvest Field Location.

Finally, the Gathering player claims their Location Reward that is printed on the Harvest Field. They gain 1 Influence and claim the Kingdom's Favour from the Harvest Field Location.

Once all three Regions have been resolved, play proceeds to Autumn.

Autumn

Autumn Action Step

Each player takes their Autumn Action Step in turn order. You may do any of the following in any sequence:

Govern once with one card from your Hand.
Journey once with one card from your Hand.
Activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

NOTE - You are free to combine these in any way. You may, for example, activate a single Action, then Govern, then activate two different Actions or Commands, then Journey, and so on.

Govern

When you Govern, move one of your Faction Cards with one or more Votes icons into a Council of your choice. Each Council will grant you a unique bonus based on the number of your Votes there (see Councils, pg. 43).

Typically, you may Govern once in Autumn, using a Faction Card from your Hand. However, some abilities and rewards allow you to Govern in other ways at other times.

You are free to choose any Council, and you may have cards in multiple Councils at the same time.

There is no limit to the number of cards each player may have in a Council.

In their Autumn Action Step, the Clans player chooses to Govern with an Agent card from their Hand. They place the card in a Council of their choice (in this case it is the Council of Oaths). This card will now contribute its two Votes to that Council until it is removed.

The Gathering player, who is next on the Order Track, is taking their Autumn Action Step and also chooses to Govern. They choose a Captain from their Hand and also select the Council of Oaths. They place their card above the Clans player's card, so that the Votes symbols on all cards in the Council remain visible.

Journey

When you Journey, choose one of your Faction Cards with one or more Lore icons and move it to the Lost Pile. Then add Lore Tokens to your Supply equal to the Lore icons on your chosen card. This Lore can then be spent to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from your Site of Power.

Typically, you may Journey once in Autumn using a Faction Card from your Hand. You gain additional opportunities to Journey from abilities or rewards.

Whenever Lore Tokens are added to your Supply, including when you Journey, you may immediately spend any number of Lore Tokens in your Supply to acquire one or more cards from your Site of Power by paying their Lore Cost (see Sites of Power, pg. 44).

In their Autumn Action Step, the Uprising player chooses to Journey with a Faction Card from their Hand. The chosen card is moved to the Lost Pile. Since the card has one Lore icon, the Uprising player adds 1 Lore Token to their Supply.

Autumn Action Step Example

It is the Uprising player's turn to take their Autumn Action Step. They begin by Journeying with a Follower card from their Hand. They move it to the Lost Pile and gain 1 Lore. They then activate the Command Rally (Self) on their Active Heir card and move it back to their Hand. Next, they decide to Govern with the Heir they just moved to their Hand. They place it in the Council of Oaths. Finally, as an Action they activate the Council of Oaths, allowing them to move previously spent Supporters to their Player Board.

Once all players have taken their Autumn Action Step and the Active Player Marker is returned to the first player, play proceeds to Winter.

Winter

1. Winter Effects Step

All players simultaneously resolve any Effects that trigger in this Step. All Effects are mandatory and trigger automatically.

2. Cleanup

All players simultaneously perform the following Cleanup Steps, in this sequence:

A. Remove Pieces

Players return all Heralds on the Map back to their respective Player Boards. All Supporters on the Map are moved to the Lost Pile.

B. Remove Clash Markers

Players remove the Clash Markers from the Map and place them in a stack in the indicated slot on the Kingdom Board.

C. Remove Active Cards

Players move all remaining Active cards without Influence on them to their respective Discard Piles. If any Active cards have Influence on them, instead remove 1 Influence from each card.

3. Advance the Round Track

Players advance the Round Marker one slot on the Round Track. If the marker is already in the final slot of the Round Track, the game ends (see Winning the Game, pg. 34). If not, a new Round begins.

Winning the Game

At the end of the final Round, the game ends.

Each player tallies up the total Influence in their Supply.

The player with the most Influence is the winner.

If two or more players are tied for the most Influence, the tied player who has control of the Kingdom's Favour is the winner. If none of the tied players have the Kingdom's Favour, the tied player who is highest on the Order Track is the winner.

A Fractured Kingdom's Factions

With the old king gone, this ancient kingdom has entered a new era of uncertainty and mounting calls for change. It is a period of factionalism and division, as people flock to gather under the shadows of newly-raised banners and arms. This land, littered with statues and monuments that recall lost lineages and old orders, once more faces a crisis of rule.

In The Old King's Crown, each player stands at the head of one of four of these prominent factions as they stake their claim to the land and make their bid for the throne.

Each Faction begins the game with a visually distinct but identical starting Deck of Basic Faction Cards. However, the way that each Faction leverages these cards and empowers them is defined by their unique, Faction-specific assets:

Advanced Faction Cards that can be acquired with Lore and added to a Faction's Deck. These represent the powerful characters that may be recruited to your side.
HQ Cards that can also be acquired with Lore and added to your Supply. Once there, expand your Faction's abilities with new persistent bonuses.
Tactics are powerful abilities that can swing the momentum of the game in your favour. Most Tactics are Exhausted after they are used, however certain Tactics may have multiple activations, tracked using Faction Markers.
The Kingdom's Favour represents the support of the people. So long as you hold the Kingdom's Favour, you will continue to leverage a Faction-specific Action that typifies your chosen side's strengths.

The Nobility

The Nobility, the old inheritors of the kingdom. They are the ancient order of things, the last-of-lines ossifying in their great, half-sunken estates. They wait and watch the glories dim, the dust drift, the ivy grow, whilst outside their gates and walls time rushes on.

Only one young heir remains. Most of the servants are gone. However, a few still recall their old power, its locks and keys. Tithes to collect, schemes to sow. The House of Dawns and Dusks has stirred awake once more.

Choose the Nobility if you enjoy a playstyle that favours potent defence, the ability to sustain and exert control.

The Clans

The Clans, assembled on the margins of the kingdom, sail for its heart. Undertaking this great migration, a people of the steppes and sea.

At their head is an heir of exiles carrying a great accord, inked by the many that sail in her wake, each pledged to her cause. Their banners of many colours snap in the wind as they aim their prows, arrow-true, towards the lands they lost long ago.

Bright boats, full of songs and spears, bring means enough to start anew.

Choose the Clans if you enjoy a playstyle that favours mobility, momentum and overwhelming force.

The Uprising

The Uprising is the alleys and lanes. A wick lit to signal a midnight ship. Codes, schematics and messages hidden indelibly in ink. It's a finger pressed to hushed lips. The people assembled in the streets, rattling at the gates. Unions and pickets, placards and printing presses. Steam, tumult, stacked steepled towns, the heaving docks and long labour of progress mandated in measures of miles not inches.

It's generations of grief, finally being bared like teeth.

Choose the Uprising if you enjoy a playstyle that favours scheming, careful feints and eliminating rival cards.

The Gathering

The Gathering grow each night.

The lost and the lonely are seen wandering the woods, drawn by strange effigies and sights. A procession of sleepers that tread the dark vaults of trees in the blue hours of sleep, dreaming the same dream: of a shape in the night, alive with a starless light.

A cult, a congregation. One stands unmasked among them, and as she turns her head towards the sky, they all turn with her, as one.

Choose the Gathering if you enjoy a playstyle that favours card manipulation, subversion and the creeping accrual of power.

Commands

Commands are found printed on Faction Cards in bold. Some abilities allow Faction Cards to temporarily gain additional Commands.

Each specific Command indicates the associated Step in which it may be played, whether it is optional or mandatory, and whether it may be activated or triggered more than once per Round.

Ambush (Day Action Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash and has not already activated its Ambush Command during this Clash, you may add a face-down Faction Card from your Hand to the Clash.

Once all players have completed their Action Step, any face-down cards that were added to the Clash, whether by Ambush or other means, are revealed. These cards are now Active. If there are any Actions or Commands on these newly revealed cards, they may be activated in turn order.

Activating the Ambush Command is optional. Each card with Ambush may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this Clash, the Uprising player has revealed a 0 Strength Ruse.

Seeing that the Nobility player has revealed a Captain Faction Card with a Strength of 6, they opt to use the Ambush Command on their Ruse.

They play a Captain with a Strength of 8 from their Hand, placing it face-down in the Region where the current Clash is taking place. The Nobility player passes without activating any Actions and/or Commands and the Action Step ends. The face-down Uprising Captain card is then revealed and becomes Active in the Clash.

With no Effects to be resolved, the Uprising player wins this Clash, as they have the highest Strength.

Retreat (Day Action Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash, you may move any number of your Active cards in this card's Region to your Hand, including this card. Additionally, you may move your Herald and any number of your Supporters in the current Region to your Player Board.

Activating the Retreat Command is optional. Each card with Retreat may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this example, the Gathering player has revealed a Ruse card. They see that the Clans player has revealed a card with the Deadly Command. The Gathering player assesses the cards in their Hand and sees no good response to this threat, and so opts to Retreat rather than Ambush. They take the Ruse card back to their Hand and then remove their Herald from the Shrine Location, returning it to their Player Board.

Flank (Day Action Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash, you may move it to a different unresolved Region. If this card Flanks to a new Region, it is now an Active card in that Region instead and is no longer considered part of the current Clash.

If there are no other unresolved Regions remaining this Round, this card may not Flank and must remain in its current Region.

Activating the Flank Command is optional. Each card with Flank may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this example, the Nobility player reveals a Cavalry card in the first Region to be resolved: the Highlands. They are hoping to bolster their Strength for a crucial upcoming showdown in the Plateau. As a result, during their Action Step, they choose to activate the Flank Command on their card and move it to the Plateau, thus adding an additional 5 Strength to their efforts there.

Rally (Autumn Action Step)

The Rally Command is often followed by a qualifier, detailed below. Any time text refers to Rally, it refers to all cases of Rally, regardless of the qualifier.

Rally (Self) - If this card is Active, you may move it to your Hand.
Rally (Any X) - If this card is Active, you may move up to the listed number of Active cards to your Hand. One of these cards may be this card.

Activating the Rally Command is optional. Each card with Rally may activate this Command once per listed Step.

A. In this first example, the Uprising player's Heir card is Active in Autumn. As a part of their Action Step, they choose to use the Rally (Self) Command to move their Heir to their Hand.

B. In this second example, the Gathering player chooses to activate the Rally (Any Two) Command on their Trader card. This allows them to move both their Trader and their Active Agent card back to their Hand.

Deploy (X) (Autumn Action Step)

If this card is in your Hand, you may place it face-up next to a Region. This card is now Active. Then place Influence on this card, from the Reserve, equal to this card's Deploy value (X).

The Deploy Command is optional. Each card with Deploy may activate this Command once per listed Step.

In this example, during their Action Step, the Nobility player chooses to use the Deploy (1) Command printed on Woe, a War Machine card in their Hand.

They choose to place it next to the Highlands Region and place 1 Influence on it from the Reserve. In Winter, during the Cleanup Step, they remove the 1 Influence to the Reserve and the card remains Active in the Highlands, thus improving the Nobility player's ability to secure that Region next Round.

Deadly (Night Effects Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash, it will Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Eliminated cards are removed from the Clash and are moved to the Lost Pile.

This Command is mandatory and resolves simultaneously.

This can result in multiple cards with the Deadly Command Eliminating each other at the same time. If this happens, they are all considered to have caused the Elimination.

Cards with other Effects still resolve these, even if they have been Eliminated, as all Effects resolve simultaneously.

Each card with Deadly only triggers this Command once per Clash. This Command may be triggered multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this Clash, the Nobility player has revealed an Heir, and the Gathering and the Uprising players have both revealed Agent cards.

In the Effects Step both of these Agent cards automatically trigger their Deadly Command.

In this Clash, it would result in all cards being Eliminated, with both the Gathering and Uprising players being considered to have Eliminated cards in this Clash.

Traits

Traits are found printed on Faction Cards. Faction Cards may also temporarily gain Traits through various abilities. Unlike Actions, Effects and Commands which have a specific Step in which they may be activated or automatically triggered, Traits are passive and are always considered to be in effect.

Resilient

If this card is Eliminated, move the card to your Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile.

In this example, the Nobility Heir has been Eliminated by an opponent during the Effects Step of a Clash.

The Nobility player's card is removed from the Clash. However, it has the Resilient Trait, and so instead of being moved to the Lost Pile, it is moved to the Nobility player's Discard Pile.

Invulnerable

This card is immune to being Eliminated by cards with the Deadly Command or by any other Actions or abilities that would Eliminate a card.

The Gathering player has revealed a Captain card. The Uprising player has revealed an Agent card with the Deadly Command. Finally, the Clans player has revealed a card with the Invulnerable Trait.

In the Effects Step, the Deadly Command automatically triggers. This would normally Eliminate all opponents' cards in the Clash. However, the Clans player's card has Invulnerable and so is unaffected by Elimination.

The Gathering Captain is still Eliminated, and is removed to the Lost Pile.

Pathfinder

If this card is used to Journey, move the card to your Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile. You gain Lore as normal.

The Clans player chooses to Journey with a Champion card that has the Pathfinder Trait. Instead of being moved to the Lost Pile, it is moved to the Clans player's Discard Pile.

The Clans player then gains 2 Lore from the Reserve, and places it in their Supply.

Clarifications

The Ruling Rule

If text on a card or component contradicts the rules in this book, that text takes precedence.

Active Cards

An Active card refers to any face-up Faction Card that is next to a Region.

Faction Cards are not considered Active when they are:

Face-down next to a Region.
In your Hand.
In your Deck.
At your Site of Power (see Sites of Power, pg. 44).
In your Supply.
In your Discard Pile.
In the Lost Pile.
Occupying Kingdom Cards.
In a Council.
Burned (see Burn/Burned below).

Burn/Burned

Certain abilities in the game cause you to Burn a component. When this happens, the component is removed from the game and returned to the game box. A Burned component has no further effect on gameplay unless otherwise stated.

Councils

The Councils Tile is made up of three separate Councils.

The Councils, like Kingdom Cards, belong to one of three Suits (Relics/Secrets/Oaths). Suits have no special rules or bonuses associated with them. Instead, they give an indication of the kind of ability the Council provides.

Each Council has a unique ability that players gain access to if they have one or more Votes in that Council, and which gets more potent the more Votes a player has in that Council. The most common way to add Votes to a Council is to Govern with cards, although there are other abilities in the game that let you generate Votes in a Council.

There is no limit to the number of cards that may be in each Council.

Moving a Card into a Council - Cards are added to Councils in the following ways:

Claiming the Castle Location Reward. This allows a player to Govern with either an Active card or a card in their Hand that has at least one Vote.
Taking the Govern Action in Autumn with a card in their Hand that has at least one Vote.
Using an ability that lets you move cards into a Council or take additional Govern actions.

NOTE - Some abilities may allow you to move a card into a Council without Governing. Cards moved this way do not need to have any Votes icons.

NOTE - When placing a card in a Council, make sure not to fully obscure any cards already in that Council. Whether a card is above or below another card has no gameplay effect, but for the sake of readability for all players at the table, the Votes icons should be visible for all cards at the Councils.

Removing cards from a Council - Cards are removed from Councils in the following ways:

Claiming the Castle Location Reward. A player who moves a card into a Council this way removes all other cards from that Council, including any other cards in that Council that they own.
Actions or abilities that remove cards from a Council.

NOTE - When a card is removed from a Council for any reason, it is moved to its owner's Discard Pile unless otherwise stated.

Here, the Nobility has 2 Votes from their card in the Council of Secrets and 1 Vote from their card in the Council of Oaths. The Gathering has 1 Vote in the Council of Secrets.

Council Clarifications

Council of Relics - The Council of Relics allows you to gain additional Influence when claiming your Herald Reward.

When you claim your Herald Reward, you may remove any number of your cards and/or markers at this Council to gain Influence equal to the total number of Votes discarded this way. This is in addition to the Influence gained from your Herald Reward.

Cards removed this way are discarded to their owner's Discard Pile, unless otherwise stated. Markers removed this way are returned to their owner's Supply, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE - If a card or marker contributes two or more Votes you must remove it from the Council to claim the Influence.

Council of Secrets - The Council of Secrets allows you to claim a Location Reward outside of winning a Clash by granting you an Action that converts your Votes into Faction Markers on Locations.

Action - You may place Faction Markers from your Supply, equal to the number of Votes you have in this Council, on one or more Locations of your choice. You are free to place all markers on a single Location or to spread them across several Locations.

After placing your markers, if any Location has four or more of your markers on it, remove all your markers from that Location and resolve its Location Reward, ignoring all Influence on the reward. If two or more Locations have four or more markers on them, resolve them, one at a time, in any order you choose. Markers removed this way are returned to your Supply. Faction Markers are not a finite resource, if you run out of markers to use, you may use proxies instead.

Your Faction Markers persist on the Map from Round to Round. They are only removed as detailed above and are not affected if your cards are removed from the Council of Secrets.

The Council of Secrets only allows you to claim a Location Reward and does not allow you to claim a Herald Reward, even if your Herald is on the chosen Location.

NOTE - Any Faction Markers that are placed on cards on a Location or Region, do not count towards the Council of Secrets.

Council of Oaths - The Council of Oaths grants you an Action that allows you to return Supporters to your Player Board.

You may move a number of your Supporters from the Map and/or Lost Pile to your Player Board equal to the number of Votes you have in this Council.

Additionally, if you have the most Votes in this Council when you activate it, you may return one additional Supporter to your Player Board.

NOTE - You must have at least one Vote in this Council to be eligible to have the most Votes.

Sites of Power

Each Faction has its own Site of Power. Sites of Power are a part of a player's play area, separate from their Player Board and their Supply. A Faction's Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards start the game on their Faction's Site of Power and may be acquired with Lore throughout the game.

Additionally, if a player's Site of Power is empty of cards at the end of the game, that player is able to convert any remaining Lore in their Supply into Influence.

Acquiring Cards From Your Site of Power

Whenever you place one or more Lore into your Supply, through Journeying or other abilities, you may immediately spend any number of Lore from your Supply to acquire cards from your Site of Power. You may acquire any number of cards at the same time as long as you are able to pay the associated Lore Cost/s in full. Move any Lore you spend this way from your Supply to the Reserve.

You may only spend Lore when you add Lore to your Supply. If you choose not to spend Lore in that moment, that Lore will remain in your Supply and you will be able to spend it next time you add one or more Lore to your Supply.

When you acquire an Advanced Faction Card, immediately move it to your Hand. If you are already holding a number of cards equal to your Hand Size, move the acquired card to the top of your Deck (see Hand Size, pg. 47).
When you acquire an HQ Card, immediately move it to your Supply.

In the example below, the Uprising player already had 1 Lore in their Supply. They then gained an additional 1 Lore, bringing the total amount of Lore in their Supply to 2 Lore.

Since they just gained one or more Lore, they can choose to spend some or all of it to purchase one or more cards from their Site of Power. Alternatively, they can choose to keep it for later.

In this case, they choose to purchase Arch Agitant from their Site of Power, paying its Lore Cost of 2 Lore. They move both Lore from their Supply to the Reserve and move Arch Agitant to their Hand.

No Cards Left on Your Site of Power

If there are no cards left on your Site of Power (because they have been acquired or removed through other means), your Site of Power gains the following ability:

At the end of the game, before Influence is tallied, if there are no cards here, gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore you have in your Supply.

Kingdom's Favour

The Kingdom's Favour allows the player who currently has control of the Kingdom's Favour to perform a unique Faction-specific Action that is listed on their Player Board.

Claiming the Kingdom's Favour

When a player claims the Harvest Field's Location Reward, they may claim the Kingdom's Favour, regardless of whether it is currently at the Harvest Field or under the control of another player. The player moves the Kingdom's Favour to the indicated slot on their Player Board, with the III positioned as indicated.

NOTE - If a player claims the Kingdom's Favour and they are already in possession of it, they reset its number of available uses by rotating the Kingdom's Favour back to its III value.

Activating the Kingdom's Favour

The Kingdom's Favour grants its controlling player a new, Faction-specific Action. When a player activates it, following its instructions, they rotate the disc clockwise to the next value in descending order. If a player ever rotates the disc beyond the I value, activating its third and final use, they immediately return the Kingdom's Favour to the Harvest Field Location.

The Clans player claims the Kingdom's Favour, aligning the III value with the arrow indicated in the top right corner of their Player Board. The Clans player activates their Kingdom's Favour Action and rotates the disc to the II value, indicating it now has two more uses left.

Printed, Gained & Blanked

Printed

This refers to any information that appears directly on a card or other component. Abilities may target or otherwise affect printed information, including printed Strength, Traits, Actions, Effects, Commands, or other abilities.

Gained

When a card or component is stated to gain Strength, Traits, Actions, Effects, Commands, or other abilities, these are not considered printed on the card or component. Any effect that would target or otherwise affect printed information does not affect gained information.

Example: This Faction Card has the printed Invulnerable Trait icon. The same Faction Card has gained the Deadly Command for the duration of a Round. This is not considered printed on the card.

Blank

If an ability would 'blank' one or more pieces of information on a card or component, then that information is ignored and has no gameplay effect. Additionally, an ability will state whether it only blanks printed information.

Activate & Trigger

Activate is used to describe Actions, Commands and abilities that are optional and are resolved in turn order.

Trigger is used to describe Effects, Commands and abilities that are mandatory and are resolved simultaneously.

Gaining / Stealing / Moving Influence & Lore

Gaining Influence / Lore

When a player is instructed to gain any amount of Influence and/or Lore, the indicated number of tokens are moved from the Reserve to their Supply.

Stealing Influence / Lore

When an ability allows a player to steal Influence and/or Lore, that player moves the indicated number of tokens from an opponent's Supply to their own Supply. Players cannot steal from the Reserve.

Moving Influence / Lore

When an ability moves Influence and/or Lore from one area to another, it will specify where the tokens come from and where the tokens will be moved to.

Hand Size

Exceeding Hand Size

A player may not have more cards in their Hand than their current Hand Size allows, unless otherwise stated.

If a player is already holding cards equal to their current Hand Size and wishes to add one or more cards to their Hand, they must instead place those cards on top of their Deck.
If at any point a player has more cards in their Hand than their current Hand Size allows (for example if they suffer Attrition and are holding more cards than their newly reduced Hand Size), they must immediately discard cards from their Hand until the number of cards in their Hand equals their current Hand Size.

Minimum and Maximum Hand Size Limits

A player may never increase their Hand Size above eight.

A player may never decrease their Hand Size below three.

If a player has reached these limits and an ability would cause them to go above or below these thresholds, that part of the ability is ignored.

No Cards Left in a Clash

If a player has no cards left in a Clash, either because their cards were Eliminated or because they were removed from the Clash through other means, that player is still considered to be taking part in the Clash. When tallying total Strength in a Clash, if a player has no Active cards in the Clash, the Strength contributed by their Faction Cards in the Clash is 0. However, they still tally the Strength from their Supporters and/or any other relevant abilities as normal.

Public, Private and Hidden Information

Private Information

This information is available only to the player who owns or has control over the associated gameplay elements. The controlling player may look through these at any time. Private elements include:

Faction Cards in their Hand.
Their face-down Faction Cards used to Bid in Spring.
Their face-down Faction Cards placed next to Regions.

NOTE - Players are allowed to discuss private information but they are not allowed to physically reveal private gameplay elements to any opponents.

Hidden Information

This information is not available to any player. No player may look through hidden gameplay elements unless otherwise stated, regardless of whether they own these elements or not. These gameplay elements include:

Face-down cards in a player's Deck, whether their own or those belonging to other players.
Face-down Kingdom Cards in the Kingdom Deck.

NOTE - If an ability would allow a player to look at hidden information, they are allowed to discuss the hidden information but they are not allowed to physically reveal hidden gameplay elements to any opponents.

All other information is considered public information and may be looked at by players at any time.

Targeting Cards

Player/s - When an ability targets or otherwise affects one or more players, it can be used on any player, including the person who is using the ability.

Opponent/s - When an ability targets or otherwise affects one or more opponents, it can only be used on other players and not on the player who is using the ability.

Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup

Before beginning Setup, players have a choice of three different game lengths.

Standard Game (five Rounds) - This is the recommended game length. The game at this length is balanced to accommodate all play styles. Players will have ample opportunities to expand and to score but must still be wary of Attrition.

Short Game (four Rounds) - A tight and tense skirmish. Attrition will potentially play less of a role. Players will need to consider their moves carefully as the window to develop their position and score is shorter.

Extended Game (six Rounds) - An all out war. This slower pace means players have more opportunities to score and to acquire assets but Attrition is also more of a threat. The increased playtime should also be considered.

Advanced Setup

Advanced Setup is recommended for players who have experience with the game and are comfortable with more asymmetric starting positions. The Advanced Setup rules may be used in all game lengths.

To use the Advanced Setup, players include the following Steps during Setup:

I. After Step A of Setup, each player is dealt five face-down Kingdom Cards. Each player is free to look at these cards, and is free to discuss them, however, they may not show them to other players. Then continue Setup as normal.

II. During Step N of Setup, after looking at the cards in their Hand, each player decides whether they will redraw their Hand (take a Mulligan) or not. Once all players have decided, any players who wish to redraw their Hand do the following, in sequence:

A. Return all cards in their Hand without the starting-hand symbol to the top of their Deck.
B. Shuffle their Deck and draw cards until they reach their Hand Size.

Each player may only do this once.

III. Players then choose one of the five Kingdom Cards that they were previously dealt and place it face-down on their Player Board. Then they place a card from their Hand face-down on top of that Kingdom Card. All Kingdom Cards that were not chosen are then shuffled back into the face-down Kingdom Deck (keeping the top face-up card aside until the shuffling is complete).

IV. During Step O of Setup players determine the starting order as normal. Once the order has been determined, all face-down Kingdom Cards and face-down Faction Cards on them are revealed. The Kingdom Card becomes Occupied by the Faction Card that was placed on top of it.

NOTE - Any revealed Kingdom Cards that have instructions printed in bold are resolved in turn order.

V. Players draw up to their Hand Size if required.

Players are now ready to begin the game.

Glossary

Action - Denoted by a circular border and activated in an associated Action Step. Activating an Action is optional. Each player may only activate Actions they control once per Round, unless stated otherwise. There is no limit to the number of Actions a player can activate in a Round. Actions, pg. 8
Action Steps - Are resolved in turn order, with each player activating any number of their available optional Actions before passing to the next player in turn order, thus completing their Action Step. The Action Steps are: Spring Action Step, Day Action Step and Autumn Action Step. Actions, pg. 8
Active - Faction Cards which are face-up next to a Region are considered Active. Many effects and abilities will target or otherwise interact with Active cards. Any Influence placed on an Active card is removed if the card stops being Active. Active Cards, pg. 43 / Deploy, pg. 39
Active Player Marker - This marker is held by the player who is first on the Order Track. When a Step needs to be resolved in turn order, the holder of the Active Player Marker becomes the active player. Once they have resolved the Step, they pass the Active Player Marker to the next player on the Order Track, who then becomes the active player. Once all players have completed the Step, the Active Player Marker is returned to the player who is first on the Order Track. In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8 / Determine Turn Order, pg. 17
Archetype - An icon directly below a Faction Card's Strength value. A card's Archetype gives a general indication of the role the card plays. Certain abilities will reference specific Archetypes or only target cards of a specific Archetype. Archetypes otherwise have no effect on gameplay. Faction Cards, pg. 13
Archetype List - Agent, Captain, Cavalry, Champion, Follower, Heir, Ruse, Trader, War Machine.
Attrition - A player incurs Attrition when they try to draw from their Deck but there are no cards left. A player does not incur Attrition if their Deck is empty, only when they try to draw from an empty Deck. Each time a player incurs Attrition, their Hand Size is reduced by one. A player may not reduce their Hand Size below three. Attrition, pg. 16 / Hand Size, pg. 47
Autumn - The fourth Phase in a Round. The whole Phase is made up of the Autumn Action Step, which is resolved in turn order. In the Autumn Action Step players can activate any number of their optional Actions. Additionally, players can Govern with one Faction Card from their Hand and/or Journey with one Faction Card from their Hand. This may be done in any sequence a player wishes. Autumn, pg. 31 / Govern, pg. 31 / Journey, pg. 32
Bid / Bidding - During Spring, players use a Faction Card from their Hand to Bid. A player's total Bidding Strength is determined by the Strength value of the Bidding card, plus any additional Strength from abilities that affect Bids. When Bidding, a card's Archetype, Traits, Commands and any other information or abilities are not used. Bids are resolved from highest Strength to lowest, with ties being broken by the player who is higher on the Order Track. When a player resolves their Bid, they can choose to gain a Kingdom Card from the Great Road, steal an Occupied Kingdom Card from an opponent, or return their Bidding card to their Hand. Place Bids, pg. 18 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18
Burn - When instructed to Burn a game component (e.g. card, token, etc.) set the component aside, outside of the play space. It is considered removed from the game and cannot be targeted and/or interacted with, unless explicitly stated. All Burned components are public information. Burn/Burned, pg. 43
Clash - During the Summer Phase, players will resolve Clashes at each Region. There will always be at least one Clash per Region, per Round. The outcome of a Clash is determined by each player's total Strength in the Clash. A player's total Strength in a Clash is determined by the total Strength of all of their Active cards in the Region which have not been involved in a Clash in this Region during this Round, all of their Supporters which have not been involved in a Clash in this Region this Round, and any additional Strength provided by other abilities. Each Clash has a Day Action Step where optional Actions may be activated and a Night Effects Step where mandatory Effects are triggered. If a Clash ends in a tie, the tied players may begin a new Clash. The winner of a Clash is able to claim Herald and Location Rewards in that Region. Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Clash Markers - Clash Markers are placed on the Map in Summer, one on each Region, by the player who is last on the Order Track. They determine the order in which Regions will be resolved for the Round. Place Clash Markers, pg. 25
Commands - Commands are either printed on or are gained by Faction Cards. All Commands are written in bold. Each Command indicates whether it is optional or mandatory and in which Action or Effects Step it is activated or triggered, as well as if it may be activated or triggered more than once per Round (unlike Actions, some Commands may be activated more than once per Round). There are six different named Commands: Ambush, Deadly, Deploy, Flank, Rally, Retreat. Commands, pg. 9 / Commands (Clarifications), pg. 37
Councils - The Councils Tile is separated into three distinct Councils: the Council of Relics, the Council of Secrets and the Council of Oaths. Each Council provides a unique benefit to a player with one or more Votes in that Council, with the benefit increasing with the amount of Votes. Players can Govern with cards to add them to a Council. When a card is removed from a Council, for whatever reason, the card is moved to its owner's Discard Pile unless otherwise stated. Councils, pg. 43
Current Clash - Certain text will refer to the 'Current Clash.' This is whichever Clash the players are in the process of resolving. There can only ever be one 'Current Clash.' Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Day - An Action Step that takes place during the Summer Phase, during a Clash, in which a player may activate any number of their Actions and/or Commands before passing. Every Clash has one Action Step, meaning there are multiple Action Steps in a Round. This Step is resolved in turn order. Day Action Step pg. 26
Deck - A player's Deck is made up of Faction Cards (both Basic and Advanced). Each player's Deck is face-down and hidden information to all players. If a player would draw cards from their Deck but are unable to as the Deck is empty, they incur Attrition. Faction Cards, pg. 13 / Attrition, pg. 16
Discard Pile - Each player's Discard Pile is face-up and public information available to all players. Cards in the Discard Pile can be accessed via the Necropolis Location Reward and other abilities. Cards in the Discard Pile are not Active. If a player is instructed to discard one or more cards, that player moves those cards to their Discard Pile. If a player is ever instructed to shuffle their Discard Pile, they shuffle it face-down. If a player suffers Attrition, they create a new Deck from all the cards in their Discard Pile.
Effects - Denoted by a hexagonal border and are triggered automatically in an associated Effects Step. Effects are mandatory and may trigger more than once per Round. Effects, pg. 9
Effects Steps - Effects Steps are resolved simultaneously, with each player triggering any of their mandatory Effects and/or Commands. The Effects Steps are: Night Effects Step, Winter Effects Step. Effects, pg. 9
Eliminate / Eliminated - When a card is Eliminated, it is removed from the Clash and is moved to the Lost Pile. Cards which trigger the Deadly Command in the Night Effects Step Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Additionally, there are other abilities that reference Eliminate. A Faction Card with the printed or gained Invulnerable Trait is immune to Elimination. A Faction Card with the printed or gained Resilient Trait is moved to its owner's Discard Pile instead of to the Lost Pile after being Eliminated in a Clash. Deadly, pg. 40 / Invulnerable, pg. 41 / Resilient, pg. 41
Exhausted / Unexhausted - Tactic Tiles may either be Unexhausted or Exhausted. All Tactic Tiles begin the game on their Unexhausted side with their printed rules visible. Most Tactic Tiles are flipped to their Exhausted side once their ability has been used, however, certain Tactic Tiles indicate that they can be used multiple times before they become Exhausted. These uses are tracked using Faction Markers placed on the Tactic Tile during Setup. Tactic Tiles may only be Unexhausted through certain abilities. Tactic Tiles, pg. 15
Faction Cards - Faction Cards come in two types: Basic Faction Cards, which begin the game in your Hand and/or Deck, and Advanced Faction Cards, which are identified by the Lore Cost icon and which begin the game on your Site of Power. These can be acquired by paying Lore from your Supply equal to the value printed within the Lore Cost icon. The term Faction Card refers to all Faction Cards, Basic or Advanced, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Faction Cards are used throughout the game in many different ways: to resolve Bids, Occupy Kingdom Cards, to take part in Clashes, to Govern, adding their Votes to a Council, and to Journey, gaining Lore to your Supply. Faction Cards become Active when they are face-up next to a Region. Faction Cards, pg. 13 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18 / Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25 / Govern, pg. 31 / Journey, pg. 32 / Councils, pg. 43 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Govern - When a player Governs, they move one of their Faction Cards with one or more Votes icons into a Council of their choice. The manner and timing of when a player Governs will dictate where the Governing card must come from. During the Autumn Action Step, players may Govern once with a card from their Hand. The Castle Location Reward allows players to Govern with either an Active card or a card from their Hand. There is no limit to how many times in a Round a player can Govern. Autumn, pg. 31 / Councils, pg. 43 / Votes, pg. 51
Great Road - The Great Road houses Kingdom Cards which can be acquired by Bidding on them in Spring. The Great Road consists of four spaces in which Kingdom Cards will be placed. The left-most space also houses the face-down Kingdom Deck which will be drawn from to repopulate the Great Road with Kingdom Cards. The Great Road begins the game with four Kingdom Cards available and will be repopulated after all players have resolved their Bids in Spring. If a player gains a Kingdom Card from the Great Road through an ability that resolves outside of these Bids, the Great Road is immediately repopulated. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Place Bids, pg. 18 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18 / Repopulating the Great Road, pg. 20 / Kingdom Deck, pg. 50
Hand - Each player's Hand of Faction Cards is private information and cannot be shown to other players, though it may be freely discussed. Cards in a player's Hand are not Active. Public, Private and Hidden Information, pg. 47
Hand Size - A player's Hand Size is tracked using their Hand Size Marker. At the start of the game, a player's Hand Size is set to the number indicated with the starting-hand icon. Certain conditions in the game may cause a player's Hand Size to increase or decrease. The number of cards in a player's Hand may never exceed their Hand Size limit. Attrition, pg. 16 / Hand Size, pg. 47
Herald - Heralds are placed on a Location during the Spring Phase. There is no limit to how many Heralds can be on the same Location. Heralds can gain Influence and steal Influence from opponents' Heralds when resolving Herald Rewards. The Council of Relics increases the Influence gained as part of Herald Rewards. Heralds return to their owners' Player Boards during Winter. Spring, pg. 18 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Highlands - The topmost Region of the Map. It is made up of the Castle and Wilderness Locations.
HQ Cards - HQ Cards are identified by the HQ icon and begin the game on your Site of Power. They can be acquired during the game by paying their Lore Cost. HQ Cards have no Strength value, Archetype, or Traits and instead provide a unique ability once acquired. Unlike Advanced Faction Cards, which are moved to your Hand when acquired, an HQ Card is placed face-up in your Supply. HQ Cards in your Supply remain in your Supply unless stated otherwise. Sites of Power, pg. 44
Influence - Influence is represented by the Influence icon. The player with the most Influence in their Supply at the end of the game is the winner. Influence tokens begin the game in the Reserve. When a player gains Influence, they move the indicated number from the Reserve to their Supply. A player can never have less than 0 Influence in their Supply. Influence may be used to track various abilities when placed on certain cards and components, for example when a card uses Deploy (X). This Influence is not considered to be in a player's Supply. Winning the Game, pg. 34 / Deploy, pg. 39
In Turn Order - This term is used when resolving certain Steps or instructions. It is printed in italics. In turn order Steps and instructions are resolved by players one at a time, beginning with the player who is first on the Order Track, then the player who is second, and so on. A player resolves the Step or instruction fully before passing to the next player in turn order. In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8
Journey - When a player Journeys, they choose one of their Faction Cards with one or more Lore icons and move it to the Lost Pile. They then add Lore Tokens to their Supply equal to the Lore icons on the chosen card. This Lore can then be spent to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from their Site of Power. Faction Cards with the Pathfinder Trait are moved to their owner's Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile when they are used to Journey. The manner and timing of when a player Journeys will dictate where the Journeying card must come from. During the Autumn Action Step, players may Journey once with a card from their Hand. The Wilderness Location Reward allows players to Journey with either an Active card or a card from their Hand. There is no limit to how many times in a Round a player can Journey. Lore, pg. 15 / Autumn, pg. 31 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Kingdom Board - The Kingdom Board is the central play space which houses the Order Track, the Great Road, the Map and the Round Track. It also provides space for cards to be placed next to Regions of the Map. As players progress through a Round, they move the Season Marker from slot to slot, indicating their progress through the various gameplay Steps.
Kingdom Cards - Kingdom Cards are neutral cards which can be gained from the Great Road or stolen from other players. Each Kingdom Card provides a unique ability and belongs to one of three Suits (Relics, Secrets, Oaths). The most common way a player interacts with a Kingdom Card is by Occupying it. Faction Cards are used to Occupy Kingdom Cards, and Occupied Kingdom Cards take up a dedicated space on a Player Board. A player may only have two Occupied Kingdom Cards on their Player Board. To steal a Kingdom Card, a player must have a higher total Bidding Strength than the Strength of the current Occupying Faction Card. Whenever a player ceases to Occupy a Kingdom Card, for whatever reason, its Occupying Faction Card is immediately moved to its owner's Hand. Kingdom Cards are not Active. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18
Kingdom Cards on the Map - Certain Kingdom Cards may instruct you to place them on the Map, on a Region or Location. There is no limit to the amount of Kingdom Cards that may be on the same Region or Location at once. If a Kingdom Card is discarded from the Map and it has any tokens on it, those tokens are removed. Faction Markers may be used to track ownership of these cards but do not contribute towards the Council of Secrets. Council of Secrets, pg. 44
Kingdom Deck - The Kingdom Deck is made up of Kingdom Cards. It is kept face-down and is hidden information to all players. Whenever the Great Road is first populated, or is repopulated throughout the course of the game, the top card of the Kingdom Deck will be flipped and revealed. This card, along with all other face-up cards on the Great Road, can be acquired by players. If players ever have to draw a card from the Kingdom Deck and the Kingdom Deck is empty, then players create a new Kingdom Deck using the Kingdom Discard.
Kingdom Discard - The Kingdom Discard is a pile of cards made up of all the Kingdom Cards that have been discarded. It is face-up and is public information to all players. If players ever have to shuffle the Kingdom Discard, they do so face-down.
Kingdom's Favour - A disc that is placed on the Harvest Field Location during Setup. Claiming the Harvest Field Location Reward allows a player to claim the Kingdom's Favour, moving it to their Player Board (or regaining all its spent activations if they already have it), granting them access to their Faction's unique Kingdom's Favour Action. Each time a player activates their Kingdom's Favour Action, they expend a use of that Action, tracked by rotating the disc. In a case where two or more players are tied for the highest amount of Influence at the end of the game, holding the Kingdom's Favour is the first tiebreaker. Winning the Game, pg. 34 / Kingdom's Favour, pg. 46
Location - Two Locations make up each Region of the Map. Heralds are placed on Locations. When a player wins a Clash in a Region, they choose a Location in that Region from which they may then claim rewards. Each Location has a unique Location Reward. Placing Heralds, pg. 21 / Claim Rewards, pg. 30
Location Rewards - Players can claim Location Rewards, most commonly by winning Clashes but also through other abilities. Location Rewards are separate and distinct from Herald Rewards. Any Influence gain listed on a Location Reward is mandatory, but players may skip any additional ability detailed in the reward. Claim Rewards, pg. 30
Lost Pile - Is made of face-up Faction Cards and spent Supporters. Cards which have been Eliminated by the Deadly Command or other means and cards that have been used to Journey are moved to the communal Lost Pile. Some abilities and Actions also move cards to the Lost Pile. The Lost Pile is face-up and public information available to all players. Unlike cards in player's Discard Pile, their cards in the Lost Pile are not shuffled back into their Deck when players incur Attrition. Cards in the Lost Pile are not Active. Additionally, any Supporters that are on the Map in Winter are moved to the Lost Pile. Journey, pg. 32 / Deadly, pg. 40 / Public, Private and Hidden Information, pg. 47
Lore - Lore is represented by the Lore icon. It is gained through the Journey Action, as well as through other abilities. Players spend Lore from their Supply to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from their Site of Power. Lore tokens begin the game in the Reserve. When a player gains Lore, they move the indicated number from the Reserve to their Supply. When a player adds one or more Lore to their Supply, they may immediately spend any number of Lore in their Supply, or pass on the opportunity of spending Lore until the next time they add Lore to their Supply. Outside of this window, Lore may not be spent unless otherwise stated. When Lore is spent, it is returned to the Reserve. Additionally, if a player has no more cards on their Site of Power, the remaining Lore in their Supply is worth Influence at the end of the game. Journey, pg. 32 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Lowlands - The bottommost Region of the Map. It is made up of the Shrine and the Necropolis Locations.
Map - The Map is a portion of the Kingdom Board, depicting a view of a part of the game's kingdom. The Map is made up of three rows, called Regions, with each Region being made up of two Locations. Heralds and Supporters are placed on the Map, as are other components.
Night - An Effects Step that takes place during the Summer Phase, during a Clash, in which all players automatically trigger mandatory Effects and/or Commands. Every Clash has one Effects Step, meaning there are multiple Effects Steps in a Round. This Step is resolved simultaneously. Night Effects Step, pg. 28
Occupy / Occupied - Faction Cards can Occupy Kingdom Cards. Cards which are Occupying a Kingdom Card are not considered Active, and any text or abilities they have are not considered in play unless stated otherwise. Only a single Faction Card can Occupy a Kingdom Card at any one time. Whenever a Faction Card ceases to Occupy a Kingdom Card, it is moved to its owner's Hand. Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19
Order Track - The Order Track houses each player's Order Marker and is used to determine the order in which players will resolve certain Steps and instructions. Order is initially determined during Setup and is adjusted during the Start of the Year Phase in each subsequent Round. Players will adjust their position on the Order Track based on the amount of Influence in each player's Supply, with the players with higher amounts going higher on the track. The player who is first on the track has to resolve in turn order Steps and instructions first and then passes to the player who is next on the Order Track. The player who is last on the Order Track will choose the order in which Regions are resolved in Summer, using Clash Markers. A player's position on the Order Track is used as the game's second tiebreaker when determining a winner. Determine Turn Order, pg. 17 / Place Clash Markers, pg. 25 / Winning the Game, pg. 34
Phase - A Round is made up of five Phases: Start of the Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Players move through these in sequence, using the Season Marker to track their progress. Each Phase is made up of one or more Steps. Start of the Year, pg. 16 / Spring, pg. 18 / Summer, pg. 25 / Autumn, pg. 31 / Winter, pg. 33
Plateau - The central Region of the Map. It is made up of the Harvest Field and the Battlefield Locations.
Player Board - Each player has a Player Board that corresponds to their Faction and that houses various gameplay elements: a player's Herald, their Supporters, two spaces for Occupying Kingdom Cards, a slot for the Hand Size Marker and another for the Kingdom's Favour, and four Faction-specific Tactics. It makes up part of a player's play area, alongside their Deck, Discard Pile, Site of Power and a space reserved for their Supply.
Region - The Map is divided into three Regions: the Highlands, Plateau and Lowlands. Each Region is a row containing two Locations. Clashes take place in Regions during Summer. Supporters are placed on Regions and Faction Cards are placed next to Regions.
Reserve - A communal bank of Influence and Lore. When players gain Influence or Lore, they move it from the Reserve to their Supply. There is no limit to the number of tokens that may be held in the Reserve. In the unlikely event that players run out of Influence or Lore tokens, players should use proxies. Gaining / Stealing / Moving Influence / Lore, pg. 47
Round - The game is played over a set number of Rounds, typically five. These are tracked with the Round Marker, which is advanced at the end of each Round. A Round represents one year in the world of the game.
Sites of Power - Each player has a Site of Power Tile that is part of their play area but separate and distinct from the space reserved for a player's Supply. A player's Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards begin the game on their Site of Power Tile. These cards are acquired by spending Lore from their Supply. Cards on a Site of Power are not Active. If a player has no cards remaining on their Site of Power, then at the end of the game before scores are tallied, that player will gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore in their Supply. Lore, pg. 15 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Spring - The second Phase in a Round. Bids are placed and resolved in Spring. When a player resolves their Bid, they choose to either gain a new Kingdom Card from the Great Road, steal an Occupied Kingdom Card from an opponent, or return their Bidding card to their Hand. After all Bids are resolved, players, in turn order, place their Heralds on the Map. Then, all players simultaneously place three Faction Cards from their Hand, one next to each Region of the Map. Finally, in turn order, players will resolve the Spring Action Step, activating any number of Actions they control, before passing to the next player in turn order. Spring, pg. 18
Start of the Year - The first Phase of a Round. Players must draw Faction Cards up to their Hand Size. Then players will adjust the Order Track based on the amount of Influence in their Supply, determining the order in which players will act this Round during any Steps or instructions that are resolved in turn order. The Start of the Year Phase is skipped in the first Round of the game. Start of the Year, pg. 16
Step - Each of the five Phases in a Round is made up of one or more Steps. Steps will indicate if they are resolved in turn order or simultaneously. During Action Steps, players will optionally activate Actions and Commands corresponding to those Steps. During Effects Steps, players will automatically trigger Effects and Commands corresponding to those Steps. Simultaneous Steps, pg. 8 / In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8
Strength - Strength is used to determine the outcome of Bids and Clashes. Faction Cards have a printed Strength value on the upper left corner of each card. Each Supporter piece in a Region adds one Strength to the first Clash they are involved in each Round. Additionally, Strength may be added or gained through various abilities and sources. Resolve Bids pg. 18 / Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Suit - All Councils and Kingdom Cards belong to one of three Suits: Relics, Secrets or Oaths. These Suits have no rules associated with them, but they may be referenced or targeted by abilities. Additionally, each Suit gives an indication of the type of effect a card will have. Relics is focused on acquiring resources and growing your income. Secrets is focused on card manipulation and circumventing restrictions. Oaths is focused on Strength, Elimination and winning Clashes. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Councils, pg. 43
Summer - The third Phase in a Round. In Summer, the player who is last on the Order Track will place three Clash Markers, one on each Region. These markers will determine the order in which the Regions will be resolved for the Round. Each Region is then resolved one at a time by resolving one or more Clashes in each Region. The winners of these Clashes will claim rewards based on the Locations in the Region. Summer, pg. 25
Supply - A separate space within a player's play area that houses various components, including: Influence, Lore, acquired HQ Cards, certain Kingdom Cards and Faction Markers. Certain abilities may steal or remove Influence or Lore from a player's Supply. Kingdom Cards in your Supply may not be stolen, unless otherwise stated. At the end of the game, before Influence is tallied, if there are no cards remaining in a player's Site of Power they gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore in their Supply. Then, players will tally all the Influence in their Supply to determine the winner of the game. A player's Supply is public information. No cards in a player's Supply are considered Active.
Tactics - Each Faction has four Tactic Tiles, each with a different Tactic printed on it. Each Tactic provides a unique Action or ability to that Faction. Players begin the game with their Tactics all set to their Unexhausted side (text showing). Once a player has used a Tactic, it is flipped over to show its Exhausted side (no text showing) unless otherwise stated. Certain abilities may allow players to flip an Exhausted Tactic back over to its Unexhausted side. Tactics Tiles pg. 15
Traits - Traits are icons that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards. When they are printed on a card, they are found in the upper left hand corner of the Faction Card, below the card's Strength value and Archetype. Traits are always in effect and are mandatory to resolve. Traits, pg. 41
Votes - Votes are typically printed on and gained by Faction Cards. Faction Cards that are added to a Council, usually by Governing, contribute their Votes to that Council. Votes in a Council grant special abilities to players. Govern, pg. 31 / Councils, pg. 43
Winter - The fifth and final Phase in a Round. During Winter, players will simultaneously trigger any mandatory Effects in the Winter Effects Step. Then, all players will perform a cleanup Step: Heralds on the Map are returned to their owner's Player Boards, Supporters on the Map are moved to the Lost Pile, and all remaining Active cards without Influence on them are discarded to their owners' Discard Piles. Active cards with Influence on them, then have 1 Influence removed from them. Finally, the Round Marker advances to the next Round, or in the case of the last Round, signals the end of the game. Winter, pg. 33

Sequence of Play Summary

Start of the Year

Draw Cards - Simultaneously draw up to your Hand Size.
Determine Turn Order - Adjust the Order Track based on Influence totals.

Spring

Place Bids - Simultaneously Bid one face-down card from your Hand.
Resolve Bids - Simultaneously reveal your Bids. Resolve each Bid, one at a time, from highest to lowest Strength. To resolve a Bid, choose one of the following:
- I. Take a Kingdom Card from the Great Road.
- II. Steal a Kingdom Card.
- III. Return your Bidding card to your Hand.
Place Heralds and Cards
- A. Place Heralds - In turn order place your Herald on a Location.
- B. Place Cards Next to Regions - Simultaneously place one face-down card from your Hand next to each Region.
Spring Action Step - In turn order activate your Actions and/or Commands.

Summer

Place Clash Markers - The player who is last on the Order Track places a Clash Marker on each Region. This dictates the sequence in which they are resolved.
Resolving Clashes - Resolve the three Regions in sequence. The winner of the Clash in each Region will claim rewards.

Autumn

Autumn Action Step - In turn order take your Autumn Action Step, in any sequence:
- Govern - You may move one Faction Card with one or more Votes icons from Hand into a Council.
- Journey - You may move one Faction Card with one or more Lore icons from Hand to the Lost Pile. Gain Lore Tokens equal to the Lore icons on the card.
- Activate any number of Actions and/or Commands.

Winter

Winter Effects Step - Simultaneously resolve Effects.
Cleanup - Simultaneously:
- Remove Pieces - Move Heralds to Player Boards and Supporters on the Map to the Lost Pile.
- Remove Clash Markers - Return Clash Markers to their slot on the Kingdom Board.
- Remove Active Cards to Discard Piles - Active cards without Influence on them are moved to their owners' Discard Piles. If an Active card has Influence on it, instead remove 1 Influence.
Advance the Round Track

Winning the Game

At the end of the final Round, the game ends. Each player tallies up the Influence in their Supply. The player with the most Influence is the winner.

If any players are tied, the tied player who has control of the Kingdom's Favour is the winner. If none of the tied players have the Kingdom's Favour, the tied player who is highest on the Order Track is the winner.

The Old King's Crown Rulebook

Table of Contents

Credits
Components
Setup
Core Concepts
Component Overview
Sequence of Play
Start of the Year
- 1. Draw Cards
  - Attrition
- 2. Determine Turn Order
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Winning the Game
A Fractured Kingdom's Factions
Commands
Traits
Clarifications
Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup
- Advanced Setup
Glossary
Sequence of Play Summary

Credits

Game Design, Art & Rulebook: Pablo Clark
Game Development: Pablo Clark, Andrew McKelvey & Neo Teng Whay
Solo Mode Design: Pablo Clark & Richard Wilkins
Graphic Design: Andrew McKelvey & Ken Clark
Additional Art Team: Hazel France (Colour Assistant & Pattern Design) & Siobhan A. Hermitage (Card Back & Player Board Heraldry)
Lead Editor: Liz Davidson
Additional Editing & Proofreading: Miguel Conceição, Ryan Lord, Caleb Hobson, Marcin Drzewiecki & Iain Clark

Components

Rulebook & Rules Reference Sheets: x1 rulebook, x2 rules reference sheets
Kingdom Board: x1
Clash Markers: x3
Councils Tile: x1
Active Player Marker: x1
Influence Tokens: x32 (one-value), x16 (five-value)
Lore Tokens: x20
Kingdom's Favour Marker: x1
Round Marker: x1
Season Marker: x1
Kingdom Cards: x51
Player Boards: x4 (1 per Faction)
Tactic Tiles: x16 (4 per Faction)
Faction Decks: x4 (19 cards per Faction)
Sites of Power Tiles: x4 (1 per Faction)
Cardboard Faction Markers: x40 (10 per Faction)
Heralds: x4 (1 per Faction)
Order Markers: x4 (1 per Faction)
Hand Size Markers: x4 (1 per Faction)
Supporters: x20 (5 per Faction)

Setup

Before Setup begins players choose a game length:

Standard Game (five Rounds) - This is the recommended game length
Short Game (four Rounds) or Extended Game (six Rounds) (See Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup, pg. 48)

A. Create the Central Play Area

Place the Kingdom Board within reach of all players with the Councils Tile directly above it.

B. Populate the Great Road

C. Create the Reserve

Gather all Influence Tokens and Lore Tokens and place them near the Kingdom Board to create the collective Reserve.

D. Kingdom's Favour

Place the Kingdom's Favour Disc on the Harvest Field Location of the Kingdom Board.

E. Season Marker

Place the Season Marker in the Spring slot with the starting-hand icon on the Kingdom Board.

F. Round Marker

Place the Round Marker in the 1 slot of the Round Track.

G. Clash Markers

Place the three Clash Markers in a stack, with the III marker on the bottom and the I marker on the top, in the indicated slot on the Kingdom Board.

H. Choose Factions

I. Heralds & Supporters

Take the single Herald piece and five Supporter pieces associated with your Faction and place them in the corresponding slots on your Player Board.

J. Hand Size Marker

K. Tactic Tiles

L. Faction Markers

Place the Faction Markers associated with your Faction in a pile near your Player Board.

M. Sites of Power

Place the Site of Power Tile associated with your Faction near your Player Board.

Site of Power Cards

N. Draw Starting Hand

O. Determine Starting Order

P. Active Player Marker

The player who is first on the Order Track takes the Active Player Marker.

You are now ready to begin the game.

Core Concepts

Aim of the Game

Gameplay Structure

Simultaneous Steps - When a Step is performed simultaneously, all players complete this Step at the same time. All parts of a simultaneous Step are mandatory, unless otherwise stated.

Actions

Players have access to Actions from a variety of sources. All Actions have a corresponding Action Step during which they may be activated.

Action Steps are resolved in turn order. Actions are identified by a circular border.

Players may activate any number of their available Actions during the corresponding Action Step. Once a player has completed their Actions, play passes to the next player in turn order.

All Actions are optional and may only be activated once per Round, per player.

There are three Action Steps in a Round:

SPRING ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.
DAY ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.
AUTUMN ACTION STEP in which Actions & Commands may be activated.

Effects

Players have access to Effects from a variety of sources. All Effects have a corresponding Effects Step during which they are triggered.

Effects Steps are resolved simultaneously. Effects are identified by a hexagonal border.

All Effects are triggered automatically in their associated Effects Step.

All Effects are mandatory and may be triggered more than once per Round.

There are two Effects Steps in a Round:

NIGHT EFFECTS STEP in which Effects & Commands are triggered.
WINTER EFFECTS STEP in which Effects & Commands are triggered.

Commands

In addition to Actions & Effects, players will have access to six different Commands; Ambush, Retreat, Flank, Rally, Deploy & Deadly. Commands are named in bold.

Commands indicate the Step in which they will be activated or triggered. Certain Commands will state if they may be activated or triggered multiple times in a Round (see Commands, pg. 37).

Abilities

Examples of abilities include:

Passive abilities that provide ongoing benefits. A passive ability is lost if the card or component that grants the ability is discarded. These abilities are mandatory, unless otherwise stated.
Abilities that have a condition that must be met before being used. If an ability states 'must,' it is mandatory and must be triggered when the condition is met. If an ability states 'may,' it is optional and may be activated once the condition has been met.

NOTE - Multiple players may have access to cards or components that have Actions, Commands and abilities that share the same name. The "once per Round" limit does not prevent a player from activating an Action, Command or ability that a different player has already activated during the current Round.

You may only activate or trigger Actions, Effects, Commands and abilities you control, unless otherwise stated.

Component Overview

The Kingdom Board

The Kingdom Board makes up the majority of the play space and houses the following:

A. The Order Track

B. The Great Road

C. The Map

THE HIGHLANDS Region is made up of the CASTLE and WILDERNESS Locations.
THE PLATEAU Region is made up of the HARVEST FIELD and BATTLEFIELD Locations.
THE LOWLANDS Region is made up of the SHRINE and NECROPOLIS Locations.

D. The Round Track

Additionally, the Kingdom Board has slots for a Season Marker, which is used to track the Phases and Steps of the game, as the players move through a Round.

E. The Councils Tile

The Councils are seats of power within the kingdom, with each representing a different facet of rule.

Council of Relics
Council of Secrets
Council of Oaths

F. The Kingdom Discard

The Kingdom Discard is a communal space accessible to all players. During the game Kingdom Cards will be placed in the Kingdom Discard and are kept face-up. The Kingdom Discard is public information.

G. The Lost Pile

H. The Reserve

Play Area & Player Board

A. Supply

B. Hand Size Marker

Your Hand Size is tracked using the Hand Size Marker. Throughout the game your Hand Size may change. When this happens, you will adjust the marker by rotating it to reflect your new Hand Size.

C. Kingdom Card Spaces

D. Kingdom's Favour Action

You may hold the Kingdom's Favour at certain points during the game. Holding this gives you access to a Faction-specific Action printed on your Player Board.

E. Deck

Your Deck is placed to the left of your Player Board and is made up of face-down Faction Cards.

F. Herald Slot

This holds your Faction's Herald piece.

G. Supporter Slots

These hold your five Supporter pieces.

H. Discard Pile

Your Discard Pile is placed to the right of your Player Board and is made up of face-up Faction Cards.

I. Tactics Slot

This holds your Faction's four unique Tactic Tiles.

J. Site of Power

Your Site of Power is kept to the side of and separate from your Supply. It houses your Faction's Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards. You may acquire these cards by spending Lore from your Supply.

Faction Cards

Faction Cards are arguably a player's most important resource and have a variety of uses. There are both Basic and Advanced Faction Cards.

BASIC FACTION CARDS - At the start of the game, your Deck is made up entirely of these cards. Every Faction's Basic Cards are identical, except for cosmetic differences.

ADVANCED FACTION CARDS - Advanced Faction Cards begin the game on your Site of Power, but may be added to your Deck. Every Faction's Advanced Cards are unique.

Anatomy of a Basic Faction Card:

Strength - Strength is represented as a value and is used when resolving Bids and Clashes.
Traits - These represent a card's innate abilities and grant special gameplay bonuses. A card may have more than one Trait.
Commands - Certain Faction Cards have Commands that are activated or triggered during their indicated Action or Effects Step.
Votes - The number of Votes added by this card when it is placed in a Council.
Faction Icon - The Faction to which the card belongs.
Archetype - A Faction Card's Archetype has no specific special rules or bonuses. However, certain abilities in the game may target or affect specific Archetypes.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Lore - The amount of Lore generated by this card when used to Journey. Lore is a resource used to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from your Site of Power.
Flavour Text - A thematic accompaniment to the card printed in italics. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - Certain Faction Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.
Cards with the starting-hand symbol begin the game in your Hand.

Anatomy of an Advanced Faction Card:

Lore Cost - Only Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards have this icon. These cards begin the game on your Site of Power. The number indicates how much Lore is required to acquire this card.

HQ Cards

HQ Card Identifier - This icon indicates that the card is an HQ Card.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Faction Icon - The Faction to which the card belongs.
Flavour Text - A thematic accompaniment to the card printed in italics. This has no gameplay effect.
Lore Cost - HQ Cards begin the game on your Site of Power. The number indicates how much Lore is required to acquire this card.
Rules Text - HQ Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.

Kingdom Cards

Kingdom Card Suit (Relics, Secrets or Oaths) - Every Kingdom Card belongs to a Suit. Suits have no special rules or bonuses associated with them but instead give an indication of the kind of ability the card provides.
Title - The name of the card. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - Kingdom Cards have rules printed on them. These may be Actions, Effects or other abilities.

Relics - These cards are focused on gaining Influence and Lore. Borrow, barter, and line your pockets with gold as you build your Faction's wealth and resources.

Secrets - These cards are focused on cunning and clever manipulation of your cards and abilities. Find hidden routes across the kingdom, set up devious traps and misdirect your rivals.

Oaths - These cards are focused on controlling Regions through military might. Bolster your Strength, Eliminate your rivals, and upgrade your defences.

Tactic Tiles

Title - The name of the Tactic. This has no gameplay effect.
Rules Text - The Unexhausted side of a Tactic Tile contains text describing its Action, Effect or ability.
Exhausted side

Influence & Lore

Sequence of Play

Start of the Year - Players will draw cards and determine the player order for the coming Round. This Phase is skipped in the first Round of the game.
Spring - Players will acquire new Kingdom Cards, place their Heralds on the Map, place cards next to Regions, and may activate Actions and Commands.
Summer - Players will resolve Clashes across the three Regions of the Map. Winners of these Clashes will claim rewards.
Autumn - Players may Govern and Journey, allowing them to install themselves in Councils and to gain Advanced Faction and HQ Cards, respectively. Additionally, players may activate Actions and Commands.
Winter - Players will resolve any Effects, discard any remaining Active cards, perform cleanup, and advance the Round Track.

Start of the Year

NOTE - Skip this Phase in the first Round of the game.

1. Draw Cards

All players simultaneously draw Faction Cards from their Deck. You must draw up to your full Hand Size.

Attrition

Incurring Attrition - At any point in the game, if you must draw a card from your Deck and no cards remain, you incur Attrition.

NOTE - If you voluntarily trigger an ability that requires you draw from your Deck and your Deck is empty, you will also incur Attrition.

2. Determine Turn Order

The player in the first position takes the Active Player Marker.

Order Examples

A. This is the position of the players on the Order Track in the Start of the Year Phase in the second Round of a game. This initial order was established during Setup.

The Gathering and Uprising Order Markers do not need to be adjusted as the Gathering player has more Influence than the Uprising player and so is already higher on the Order Track.

D. This shows the Order Track after player order has been determined in the third Round.

Spring

1. Place Bids

2. Resolve Bids

Once all players have placed their Bids, all Bidding cards are revealed simultaneously.

Each player takes the Strength of their Bidding card and adds any additional Strength provided by any abilities that affect Bids. This total is their Bidding Strength.

NOTE - When resolving a Bid, only the Strength value of the Bidding card is considered. The other attributes on a card, such as its Archetype, Traits, or abilities, are ignored unless otherwise stated.

To resolve your Bid, choose one of the following options:

I - Choose a Kingdom Card from the Great Road and Occupy it.
II - Steal a Kingdom Card from an opponent and Occupy it.
III - Return your Bidding card to your Hand.

I. Choose a Kingdom Card from the Great Road and Occupy it.

Take a face-up Kingdom Card from the Great Road, then Occupy it with your Bidding card.

Example: The Gathering player chooses the Swansong Horn Kingdom Card and Occupies it with their Strength 6 Bidding card.

Occupying Kingdom Cards

When you acquire a Kingdom Card, whether by taking one from the Great Road or by stealing one from an opponent, you must immediately Occupy it unless otherwise stated.

NOTE - Some Kingdom Cards begin with instructions that are written in bold text. These instructions indicate what must be done when you acquire the card. You must follow these instructions in full. In some cases, this may result in your Bidding card being discarded or otherwise affected in some way.

When placing a newly acquired Kingdom Card on a space on your Player Board, you are free to choose either an empty space or a space that is already filled by another Occupied Kingdom Card.

II. Steal a Kingdom Card from an opponent and Occupy it.

When resolving your Bid, you may attempt to steal an opponent's Occupied Kingdom Card.

To successfully steal an opponent's Occupied Kingdom Card, your Bidding Strength must be higher than the Strength, including any modifiers, of the Faction Card Occupying the targeted Kingdom Card.

III. Return your Bidding card to your Hand.

Instead of taking a Kingdom Card from the Great Road or stealing a Kingdom Card from an opponent, return your Bidding card to your Hand.

Repopulating the Great Road

Once all players have resolved their Bids, they do the following, in this sequence:

If one or more Kingdom Cards were taken from the Great Road, move the rightmost remaining Kingdom Card, if any, to the Kingdom Discard. Slide any remaining Kingdom Cards on the Great Road, one at a time, to fill the rightmost available spaces.

If no Kingdom Cards were taken from the Great Road during this Phase, instead move the two rightmost Kingdom Cards to the Kingdom Discard.
Next, draw and reveal new Kingdom Cards from the Kingdom Deck, placing them on the Great Road, one at a time, beginning with the rightmost available space, until all spaces are filled. Finally flip over and reveal the top card of the Kingdom Deck. There should now be four face-up cards on the Great Road.

NOTE - Occasionally Kingdom Cards may be taken from the Great Road outside of resolving Bids. After resolving any ability that removes one or more cards from the Great Road, outside of Bidding, repopulate the Great Road without discarding any cards first.

3. Place Heralds and Cards

Do the following, in this sequence:

A. Place Heralds

All players, in turn order, place their Herald on a Location.

Placing Heralds

When you place your Herald on the Map, you are free to place it on any Location, including Locations that already contain any number of Heralds, markers, and/or cards.

In Winter, during the Cleanup Step, all Heralds on the Map will be returned to their owners' Player Boards (see Winter, pg. 33).

Once all players have placed their Herald on a Location, play proceeds to the next Step.

B. Place Cards Next to Regions

All players simultaneously place cards from their Hand face-down next to the three Regions of the Map.

Each player must place one Faction Card next to each Region of the Map, for a total of three face-down cards.
Players may look at their own face-down cards next to Regions at any time, but may not look at their opponents' face-down cards.
In the rare case that a player has fewer than three cards in their Hand during this Step, they must place their cards before all other players. If multiple players are in this position, this is resolved in turn order.

NOTE - The side of the Map on which you place your Faction Cards has no gameplay effect.

4. Spring Action Step

Each player takes their Spring Action Step in turn order.

During your Action Step, you may activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

Placing Supporters

Placing Supporters is an example of an Action.

To place Supporters, move any number of Supporter pieces from your Player Board to any number of Regions.

Unlike Heralds, Supporters are placed on a Region as a whole, instead of on a specific Location within a Region.

When you place your Supporters on the Map, you are free to place them on any Region, including Regions that already contain any number of Supporters, Heralds, markers, and/or cards.

There is no limit to the number of Supporters that can be on a Region at the same time.

When Clashes are resolved later in the Round, each Supporter piece will contribute to your total Strength in the first Clash in that Region (see Resolve Clashes, pg. 25).

In Winter, during the Cleanup Step, all Supporters on the Map will be moved to the Lost Pile (see Winter, pg. 33).

Placing Supporters Example

The Uprising player places all five of their Supporters on the Highlands Region and takes no further Actions.

Spring Action Step Example

The Clans player is taking their Action Step and activates the following Actions.

A. First, they choose to activate their School of the Storms Tactic as an Action. They plan to use this ability during upcoming Clashes in Summer.
B. Second, they activate the Action on one of their Occupied Kingdom Cards: Forged Royal Pardons.
C. Finally, they place three Supporters on the Map, one on each Region.

Once the player with the Active Player Marker has completed their Action Step, they pass the marker to the next player in turn order, who then takes their own Action Step.

Once all players have taken their Action Step and the Active Player Marker is returned to the first player, play proceeds to Summer.

Summer

1. Place Clash Markers

2. Resolve Clashes

To resolve Clashes in a Region, follow this sequence:

A - Reveal Cards
B - Day Action Step
C - Night Effects Step
D - Tally Strength & Declare an Outcome
E - Claim Rewards

A. Reveal Cards

All players simultaneously reveal all their face-down Faction Cards in the Region that is currently being resolved. These cards are now Active.

Active Cards

Any face-up Faction Card that is next to a Region is considered Active.

B. Day Action Step

Each player takes their Day Action Step in turn order.

During your Action Step, you may activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

NOTE - Any Actions or Commands that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards may only be activated if the card is Active in the current Clash.

Once the player with the Active Player Marker has completed their Action Step, they pass the marker to the next player in turn order, who then takes their own Action Step.

NOTE - Only printed or gained Actions and Commands on these newly revealed cards may be activated and resolved. No other Actions or Commands, such as those on cards in other Regions, on Tactics, or on Kingdom Cards, may be activated by any player, unless otherwise stated.

Day Action Step Example

C. Night Effects Step

All players simultaneously resolve any Effects that trigger in this Step. All Effects are mandatory and trigger automatically.

NOTE - Any Effects or Commands that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards are only triggered if the card is Active in the current Clash.

Night Effects Step Example

Continuing from the previous example, which covered Actions, play has now moved to the Effects Step. All players now trigger all Effects. In this example, there is only one Effect to resolve:

The Nobility player's Agent has the printed Deadly Command (see Deadly, pg. 40), which reads:

'If this card is Active in the current Clash, it will Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Eliminated cards are removed from the Clash and are moved to the Lost Pile.'

With all Effects having been resolved, play proceeds to the next Step.

D. Tally Strength & Declare an Outcome

All players simultaneously tally their total Strength. Your total Strength in a Clash is determined by adding together the following:

The Strength of all of your Active cards in this Region that have not taken part in any other Clashes in this Region during this Round. (+9 in this example)
+1 Strength for each of your Supporters in the Region that have not taken part in any other Clashes in this Region during this Round. (+3 in this example)
Any additional Strength from Actions or abilities. (+5 in this example)
= TOTAL STRENGTH 17

The player with the highest Strength is declared the winner of the current Clash.

NOTE - A player can still be part of a Clash, even if they have no Active cards in the Clash. If a player has no Active cards in the Clash, this portion of their total Strength is considered 0.

Resolve Tied Clashes

If two or more players are tied for the highest Strength in a Region, those players in turn order choose one of the following options:

Play a Faction Card from their Hand face-down to the Region
Pass

If one or more tied players choose to place a card face-down, a new Clash between the tied players begins. Repeat Steps A to D to resolve the new Clash.

If a tied player passes and does not play a card, they are still considered part of this new Clash.

NOTE - A subsequent Clash that results from a tie is considered a new Clash, separate and distinct from the one before. Any Faction Cards and Supporters which took part in any previous Clashes in this Region during this Round, have no effect on the new Clash.

Additionally, any Actions, Effects, Commands or abilities that were activated or triggered in any previous Clashes in this Region during this Round, do not count towards the new Clash unless otherwise stated.

E. Claim Rewards

If you win a Clash in a Region, do the following, in this sequence:

I. CHOOSE A LOCATION - Choose one of the two Locations in that Region. You will receive rewards from your chosen Location.
II. HERALD REWARDS - If your Herald is on your chosen Location, gain 1 Influence. Then, steal 1 Influence, if able, from each opponent whose Herald is also on that Location.
III. LOCATION REWARDS - Gain any Influence listed on your Location's printed Location Reward. Next, you may resolve any additional text on your chosen Location.

Once Location Rewards have been fully resolved, the Region is considered resolved for the Round. No further Clashes will take place in this Region, this Round.

3. Repeat

Claiming Rewards Example

In this 2-player example, the Gathering player has been declared the winner of the Clash in the Plateau Region. They choose the Harvest Field to claim rewards from.

Finally, the Gathering player claims their Location Reward that is printed on the Harvest Field. They gain 1 Influence and claim the Kingdom's Favour from the Harvest Field Location.

Once all three Regions have been resolved, play proceeds to Autumn.

Autumn

Autumn Action Step

Each player takes their Autumn Action Step in turn order. You may do any of the following in any sequence:

Govern once with one card from your Hand.
Journey once with one card from your Hand.
Activate any number of Actions and Commands that you have available.

NOTE - You are free to combine these in any way. You may, for example, activate a single Action, then Govern, then activate two different Actions or Commands, then Journey, and so on.

Govern

Typically, you may Govern once in Autumn, using a Faction Card from your Hand. However, some abilities and rewards allow you to Govern in other ways at other times.

You are free to choose any Council, and you may have cards in multiple Councils at the same time.

There is no limit to the number of cards each player may have in a Council.

Journey

Typically, you may Journey once in Autumn using a Faction Card from your Hand. You gain additional opportunities to Journey from abilities or rewards.

Autumn Action Step Example

Once all players have taken their Autumn Action Step and the Active Player Marker is returned to the first player, play proceeds to Winter.

Winter

1. Winter Effects Step

All players simultaneously resolve any Effects that trigger in this Step. All Effects are mandatory and trigger automatically.

2. Cleanup

All players simultaneously perform the following Cleanup Steps, in this sequence:

A. Remove Pieces

Players return all Heralds on the Map back to their respective Player Boards. All Supporters on the Map are moved to the Lost Pile.

B. Remove Clash Markers

Players remove the Clash Markers from the Map and place them in a stack in the indicated slot on the Kingdom Board.

C. Remove Active Cards

Players move all remaining Active cards without Influence on them to their respective Discard Piles. If any Active cards have Influence on them, instead remove 1 Influence from each card.

3. Advance the Round Track

Players advance the Round Marker one slot on the Round Track. If the marker is already in the final slot of the Round Track, the game ends (see Winning the Game, pg. 34). If not, a new Round begins.

Winning the Game

At the end of the final Round, the game ends.

Each player tallies up the total Influence in their Supply.

The player with the most Influence is the winner.

A Fractured Kingdom's Factions

In The Old King's Crown, each player stands at the head of one of four of these prominent factions as they stake their claim to the land and make their bid for the throne.

Advanced Faction Cards that can be acquired with Lore and added to a Faction's Deck. These represent the powerful characters that may be recruited to your side.
HQ Cards that can also be acquired with Lore and added to your Supply. Once there, expand your Faction's abilities with new persistent bonuses.
Tactics are powerful abilities that can swing the momentum of the game in your favour. Most Tactics are Exhausted after they are used, however certain Tactics may have multiple activations, tracked using Faction Markers.
The Kingdom's Favour represents the support of the people. So long as you hold the Kingdom's Favour, you will continue to leverage a Faction-specific Action that typifies your chosen side's strengths.

The Nobility

Choose the Nobility if you enjoy a playstyle that favours potent defence, the ability to sustain and exert control.

The Clans

The Clans, assembled on the margins of the kingdom, sail for its heart. Undertaking this great migration, a people of the steppes and sea.

Bright boats, full of songs and spears, bring means enough to start anew.

Choose the Clans if you enjoy a playstyle that favours mobility, momentum and overwhelming force.

The Uprising

It's generations of grief, finally being bared like teeth.

Choose the Uprising if you enjoy a playstyle that favours scheming, careful feints and eliminating rival cards.

The Gathering

The Gathering grow each night.

A cult, a congregation. One stands unmasked among them, and as she turns her head towards the sky, they all turn with her, as one.

Choose the Gathering if you enjoy a playstyle that favours card manipulation, subversion and the creeping accrual of power.

Commands

Commands are found printed on Faction Cards in bold. Some abilities allow Faction Cards to temporarily gain additional Commands.

Each specific Command indicates the associated Step in which it may be played, whether it is optional or mandatory, and whether it may be activated or triggered more than once per Round.

Ambush (Day Action Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash and has not already activated its Ambush Command during this Clash, you may add a face-down Faction Card from your Hand to the Clash.

Activating the Ambush Command is optional. Each card with Ambush may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this Clash, the Uprising player has revealed a 0 Strength Ruse.

Seeing that the Nobility player has revealed a Captain Faction Card with a Strength of 6, they opt to use the Ambush Command on their Ruse.

With no Effects to be resolved, the Uprising player wins this Clash, as they have the highest Strength.

Retreat (Day Action Step)

Activating the Retreat Command is optional. Each card with Retreat may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

Flank (Day Action Step)

If there are no other unresolved Regions remaining this Round, this card may not Flank and must remain in its current Region.

Activating the Flank Command is optional. Each card with Flank may activate this Command once per Clash. This Command may be activated multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

Rally (Autumn Action Step)

The Rally Command is often followed by a qualifier, detailed below. Any time text refers to Rally, it refers to all cases of Rally, regardless of the qualifier.

Rally (Self) - If this card is Active, you may move it to your Hand.
Rally (Any X) - If this card is Active, you may move up to the listed number of Active cards to your Hand. One of these cards may be this card.

Activating the Rally Command is optional. Each card with Rally may activate this Command once per listed Step.

A. In this first example, the Uprising player's Heir card is Active in Autumn. As a part of their Action Step, they choose to use the Rally (Self) Command to move their Heir to their Hand.

Deploy (X) (Autumn Action Step)

If this card is in your Hand, you may place it face-up next to a Region. This card is now Active. Then place Influence on this card, from the Reserve, equal to this card's Deploy value (X).

The Deploy Command is optional. Each card with Deploy may activate this Command once per listed Step.

In this example, during their Action Step, the Nobility player chooses to use the Deploy (1) Command printed on Woe, a War Machine card in their Hand.

Deadly (Night Effects Step)

If this card is Active in the current Clash, it will Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Eliminated cards are removed from the Clash and are moved to the Lost Pile.

This Command is mandatory and resolves simultaneously.

This can result in multiple cards with the Deadly Command Eliminating each other at the same time. If this happens, they are all considered to have caused the Elimination.

Cards with other Effects still resolve these, even if they have been Eliminated, as all Effects resolve simultaneously.

Each card with Deadly only triggers this Command once per Clash. This Command may be triggered multiple times, by the same card, in a Round.

In this Clash, the Nobility player has revealed an Heir, and the Gathering and the Uprising players have both revealed Agent cards.

In the Effects Step both of these Agent cards automatically trigger their Deadly Command.

In this Clash, it would result in all cards being Eliminated, with both the Gathering and Uprising players being considered to have Eliminated cards in this Clash.

Traits

Resilient

If this card is Eliminated, move the card to your Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile.

In this example, the Nobility Heir has been Eliminated by an opponent during the Effects Step of a Clash.

The Nobility player's card is removed from the Clash. However, it has the Resilient Trait, and so instead of being moved to the Lost Pile, it is moved to the Nobility player's Discard Pile.

Invulnerable

This card is immune to being Eliminated by cards with the Deadly Command or by any other Actions or abilities that would Eliminate a card.

The Gathering Captain is still Eliminated, and is removed to the Lost Pile.

Pathfinder

If this card is used to Journey, move the card to your Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile. You gain Lore as normal.

The Clans player chooses to Journey with a Champion card that has the Pathfinder Trait. Instead of being moved to the Lost Pile, it is moved to the Clans player's Discard Pile.

The Clans player then gains 2 Lore from the Reserve, and places it in their Supply.

Clarifications

The Ruling Rule

If text on a card or component contradicts the rules in this book, that text takes precedence.

Active Cards

An Active card refers to any face-up Faction Card that is next to a Region.

Faction Cards are not considered Active when they are:

Face-down next to a Region.
In your Hand.
In your Deck.
At your Site of Power (see Sites of Power, pg. 44).
In your Supply.
In your Discard Pile.
In the Lost Pile.
Occupying Kingdom Cards.
In a Council.
Burned (see Burn/Burned below).

Burn/Burned

Councils

The Councils Tile is made up of three separate Councils.

There is no limit to the number of cards that may be in each Council.

Moving a Card into a Council - Cards are added to Councils in the following ways:

Claiming the Castle Location Reward. This allows a player to Govern with either an Active card or a card in their Hand that has at least one Vote.
Taking the Govern Action in Autumn with a card in their Hand that has at least one Vote.
Using an ability that lets you move cards into a Council or take additional Govern actions.

NOTE - Some abilities may allow you to move a card into a Council without Governing. Cards moved this way do not need to have any Votes icons.

NOTE - When placing a card in a Council, make sure not to fully obscure any cards already in that Council. Whether a card is above or below another card has no gameplay effect, but for the sake of readability for all players at the table, the Votes icons should be visible for all cards at the Councils.

Removing cards from a Council - Cards are removed from Councils in the following ways:

Claiming the Castle Location Reward. A player who moves a card into a Council this way removes all other cards from that Council, including any other cards in that Council that they own.
Actions or abilities that remove cards from a Council.

NOTE - When a card is removed from a Council for any reason, it is moved to its owner's Discard Pile unless otherwise stated.

Here, the Nobility has 2 Votes from their card in the Council of Secrets and 1 Vote from their card in the Council of Oaths. The Gathering has 1 Vote in the Council of Secrets.

Council Clarifications

Council of Relics - The Council of Relics allows you to gain additional Influence when claiming your Herald Reward.

Cards removed this way are discarded to their owner's Discard Pile, unless otherwise stated. Markers removed this way are returned to their owner's Supply, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE - If a card or marker contributes two or more Votes you must remove it from the Council to claim the Influence.

Council of Secrets - The Council of Secrets allows you to claim a Location Reward outside of winning a Clash by granting you an Action that converts your Votes into Faction Markers on Locations.

Your Faction Markers persist on the Map from Round to Round. They are only removed as detailed above and are not affected if your cards are removed from the Council of Secrets.

The Council of Secrets only allows you to claim a Location Reward and does not allow you to claim a Herald Reward, even if your Herald is on the chosen Location.

NOTE - Any Faction Markers that are placed on cards on a Location or Region, do not count towards the Council of Secrets.

Council of Oaths - The Council of Oaths grants you an Action that allows you to return Supporters to your Player Board.

You may move a number of your Supporters from the Map and/or Lost Pile to your Player Board equal to the number of Votes you have in this Council.

Additionally, if you have the most Votes in this Council when you activate it, you may return one additional Supporter to your Player Board.

NOTE - You must have at least one Vote in this Council to be eligible to have the most Votes.

Sites of Power

Additionally, if a player's Site of Power is empty of cards at the end of the game, that player is able to convert any remaining Lore in their Supply into Influence.

Acquiring Cards From Your Site of Power

When you acquire an Advanced Faction Card, immediately move it to your Hand. If you are already holding a number of cards equal to your Hand Size, move the acquired card to the top of your Deck (see Hand Size, pg. 47).
When you acquire an HQ Card, immediately move it to your Supply.

In the example below, the Uprising player already had 1 Lore in their Supply. They then gained an additional 1 Lore, bringing the total amount of Lore in their Supply to 2 Lore.

Since they just gained one or more Lore, they can choose to spend some or all of it to purchase one or more cards from their Site of Power. Alternatively, they can choose to keep it for later.

No Cards Left on Your Site of Power

If there are no cards left on your Site of Power (because they have been acquired or removed through other means), your Site of Power gains the following ability:

At the end of the game, before Influence is tallied, if there are no cards here, gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore you have in your Supply.

Kingdom's Favour

The Kingdom's Favour allows the player who currently has control of the Kingdom's Favour to perform a unique Faction-specific Action that is listed on their Player Board.

Claiming the Kingdom's Favour

NOTE - If a player claims the Kingdom's Favour and they are already in possession of it, they reset its number of available uses by rotating the Kingdom's Favour back to its III value.

Activating the Kingdom's Favour

Printed, Gained & Blanked

Printed

Gained

Example: This Faction Card has the printed Invulnerable Trait icon. The same Faction Card has gained the Deadly Command for the duration of a Round. This is not considered printed on the card.

Blank

Activate & Trigger

Activate is used to describe Actions, Commands and abilities that are optional and are resolved in turn order.

Trigger is used to describe Effects, Commands and abilities that are mandatory and are resolved simultaneously.

Gaining / Stealing / Moving Influence & Lore

Gaining Influence / Lore

When a player is instructed to gain any amount of Influence and/or Lore, the indicated number of tokens are moved from the Reserve to their Supply.

Stealing Influence / Lore

When an ability allows a player to steal Influence and/or Lore, that player moves the indicated number of tokens from an opponent's Supply to their own Supply. Players cannot steal from the Reserve.

Moving Influence / Lore

When an ability moves Influence and/or Lore from one area to another, it will specify where the tokens come from and where the tokens will be moved to.

Hand Size

Exceeding Hand Size

A player may not have more cards in their Hand than their current Hand Size allows, unless otherwise stated.

If a player is already holding cards equal to their current Hand Size and wishes to add one or more cards to their Hand, they must instead place those cards on top of their Deck.
If at any point a player has more cards in their Hand than their current Hand Size allows (for example if they suffer Attrition and are holding more cards than their newly reduced Hand Size), they must immediately discard cards from their Hand until the number of cards in their Hand equals their current Hand Size.

Minimum and Maximum Hand Size Limits

A player may never increase their Hand Size above eight.

A player may never decrease their Hand Size below three.

If a player has reached these limits and an ability would cause them to go above or below these thresholds, that part of the ability is ignored.

No Cards Left in a Clash

Public, Private and Hidden Information

Private Information

This information is available only to the player who owns or has control over the associated gameplay elements. The controlling player may look through these at any time. Private elements include:

Faction Cards in their Hand.
Their face-down Faction Cards used to Bid in Spring.
Their face-down Faction Cards placed next to Regions.

NOTE - Players are allowed to discuss private information but they are not allowed to physically reveal private gameplay elements to any opponents.

Hidden Information

Face-down cards in a player's Deck, whether their own or those belonging to other players.
Face-down Kingdom Cards in the Kingdom Deck.

NOTE - If an ability would allow a player to look at hidden information, they are allowed to discuss the hidden information but they are not allowed to physically reveal hidden gameplay elements to any opponents.

All other information is considered public information and may be looked at by players at any time.

Targeting Cards

Player/s - When an ability targets or otherwise affects one or more players, it can be used on any player, including the person who is using the ability.

Opponent/s - When an ability targets or otherwise affects one or more opponents, it can only be used on other players and not on the player who is using the ability.

Adjusting Game Length & Advanced Setup

Before beginning Setup, players have a choice of three different game lengths.

Advanced Setup

Advanced Setup is recommended for players who have experience with the game and are comfortable with more asymmetric starting positions. The Advanced Setup rules may be used in all game lengths.

To use the Advanced Setup, players include the following Steps during Setup:

A. Return all cards in their Hand without the starting-hand symbol to the top of their Deck.
B. Shuffle their Deck and draw cards until they reach their Hand Size.

Each player may only do this once.

NOTE - Any revealed Kingdom Cards that have instructions printed in bold are resolved in turn order.

V. Players draw up to their Hand Size if required.

Players are now ready to begin the game.

Glossary

Action - Denoted by a circular border and activated in an associated Action Step. Activating an Action is optional. Each player may only activate Actions they control once per Round, unless stated otherwise. There is no limit to the number of Actions a player can activate in a Round. Actions, pg. 8
Action Steps - Are resolved in turn order, with each player activating any number of their available optional Actions before passing to the next player in turn order, thus completing their Action Step. The Action Steps are: Spring Action Step, Day Action Step and Autumn Action Step. Actions, pg. 8
Active - Faction Cards which are face-up next to a Region are considered Active. Many effects and abilities will target or otherwise interact with Active cards. Any Influence placed on an Active card is removed if the card stops being Active. Active Cards, pg. 43 / Deploy, pg. 39
Active Player Marker - This marker is held by the player who is first on the Order Track. When a Step needs to be resolved in turn order, the holder of the Active Player Marker becomes the active player. Once they have resolved the Step, they pass the Active Player Marker to the next player on the Order Track, who then becomes the active player. Once all players have completed the Step, the Active Player Marker is returned to the player who is first on the Order Track. In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8 / Determine Turn Order, pg. 17
Archetype - An icon directly below a Faction Card's Strength value. A card's Archetype gives a general indication of the role the card plays. Certain abilities will reference specific Archetypes or only target cards of a specific Archetype. Archetypes otherwise have no effect on gameplay. Faction Cards, pg. 13
Archetype List - Agent, Captain, Cavalry, Champion, Follower, Heir, Ruse, Trader, War Machine.
Attrition - A player incurs Attrition when they try to draw from their Deck but there are no cards left. A player does not incur Attrition if their Deck is empty, only when they try to draw from an empty Deck. Each time a player incurs Attrition, their Hand Size is reduced by one. A player may not reduce their Hand Size below three. Attrition, pg. 16 / Hand Size, pg. 47
Autumn - The fourth Phase in a Round. The whole Phase is made up of the Autumn Action Step, which is resolved in turn order. In the Autumn Action Step players can activate any number of their optional Actions. Additionally, players can Govern with one Faction Card from their Hand and/or Journey with one Faction Card from their Hand. This may be done in any sequence a player wishes. Autumn, pg. 31 / Govern, pg. 31 / Journey, pg. 32
Bid / Bidding - During Spring, players use a Faction Card from their Hand to Bid. A player's total Bidding Strength is determined by the Strength value of the Bidding card, plus any additional Strength from abilities that affect Bids. When Bidding, a card's Archetype, Traits, Commands and any other information or abilities are not used. Bids are resolved from highest Strength to lowest, with ties being broken by the player who is higher on the Order Track. When a player resolves their Bid, they can choose to gain a Kingdom Card from the Great Road, steal an Occupied Kingdom Card from an opponent, or return their Bidding card to their Hand. Place Bids, pg. 18 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18
Burn - When instructed to Burn a game component (e.g. card, token, etc.) set the component aside, outside of the play space. It is considered removed from the game and cannot be targeted and/or interacted with, unless explicitly stated. All Burned components are public information. Burn/Burned, pg. 43
Clash - During the Summer Phase, players will resolve Clashes at each Region. There will always be at least one Clash per Region, per Round. The outcome of a Clash is determined by each player's total Strength in the Clash. A player's total Strength in a Clash is determined by the total Strength of all of their Active cards in the Region which have not been involved in a Clash in this Region during this Round, all of their Supporters which have not been involved in a Clash in this Region this Round, and any additional Strength provided by other abilities. Each Clash has a Day Action Step where optional Actions may be activated and a Night Effects Step where mandatory Effects are triggered. If a Clash ends in a tie, the tied players may begin a new Clash. The winner of a Clash is able to claim Herald and Location Rewards in that Region. Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Clash Markers - Clash Markers are placed on the Map in Summer, one on each Region, by the player who is last on the Order Track. They determine the order in which Regions will be resolved for the Round. Place Clash Markers, pg. 25
Commands - Commands are either printed on or are gained by Faction Cards. All Commands are written in bold. Each Command indicates whether it is optional or mandatory and in which Action or Effects Step it is activated or triggered, as well as if it may be activated or triggered more than once per Round (unlike Actions, some Commands may be activated more than once per Round). There are six different named Commands: Ambush, Deadly, Deploy, Flank, Rally, Retreat. Commands, pg. 9 / Commands (Clarifications), pg. 37
Councils - The Councils Tile is separated into three distinct Councils: the Council of Relics, the Council of Secrets and the Council of Oaths. Each Council provides a unique benefit to a player with one or more Votes in that Council, with the benefit increasing with the amount of Votes. Players can Govern with cards to add them to a Council. When a card is removed from a Council, for whatever reason, the card is moved to its owner's Discard Pile unless otherwise stated. Councils, pg. 43
Current Clash - Certain text will refer to the 'Current Clash.' This is whichever Clash the players are in the process of resolving. There can only ever be one 'Current Clash.' Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Day - An Action Step that takes place during the Summer Phase, during a Clash, in which a player may activate any number of their Actions and/or Commands before passing. Every Clash has one Action Step, meaning there are multiple Action Steps in a Round. This Step is resolved in turn order. Day Action Step pg. 26
Deck - A player's Deck is made up of Faction Cards (both Basic and Advanced). Each player's Deck is face-down and hidden information to all players. If a player would draw cards from their Deck but are unable to as the Deck is empty, they incur Attrition. Faction Cards, pg. 13 / Attrition, pg. 16
Discard Pile - Each player's Discard Pile is face-up and public information available to all players. Cards in the Discard Pile can be accessed via the Necropolis Location Reward and other abilities. Cards in the Discard Pile are not Active. If a player is instructed to discard one or more cards, that player moves those cards to their Discard Pile. If a player is ever instructed to shuffle their Discard Pile, they shuffle it face-down. If a player suffers Attrition, they create a new Deck from all the cards in their Discard Pile.
Effects - Denoted by a hexagonal border and are triggered automatically in an associated Effects Step. Effects are mandatory and may trigger more than once per Round. Effects, pg. 9
Effects Steps - Effects Steps are resolved simultaneously, with each player triggering any of their mandatory Effects and/or Commands. The Effects Steps are: Night Effects Step, Winter Effects Step. Effects, pg. 9
Eliminate / Eliminated - When a card is Eliminated, it is removed from the Clash and is moved to the Lost Pile. Cards which trigger the Deadly Command in the Night Effects Step Eliminate all opponents' Active cards in the current Clash. Additionally, there are other abilities that reference Eliminate. A Faction Card with the printed or gained Invulnerable Trait is immune to Elimination. A Faction Card with the printed or gained Resilient Trait is moved to its owner's Discard Pile instead of to the Lost Pile after being Eliminated in a Clash. Deadly, pg. 40 / Invulnerable, pg. 41 / Resilient, pg. 41
Exhausted / Unexhausted - Tactic Tiles may either be Unexhausted or Exhausted. All Tactic Tiles begin the game on their Unexhausted side with their printed rules visible. Most Tactic Tiles are flipped to their Exhausted side once their ability has been used, however, certain Tactic Tiles indicate that they can be used multiple times before they become Exhausted. These uses are tracked using Faction Markers placed on the Tactic Tile during Setup. Tactic Tiles may only be Unexhausted through certain abilities. Tactic Tiles, pg. 15
Faction Cards - Faction Cards come in two types: Basic Faction Cards, which begin the game in your Hand and/or Deck, and Advanced Faction Cards, which are identified by the Lore Cost icon and which begin the game on your Site of Power. These can be acquired by paying Lore from your Supply equal to the value printed within the Lore Cost icon. The term Faction Card refers to all Faction Cards, Basic or Advanced, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Faction Cards are used throughout the game in many different ways: to resolve Bids, Occupy Kingdom Cards, to take part in Clashes, to Govern, adding their Votes to a Council, and to Journey, gaining Lore to your Supply. Faction Cards become Active when they are face-up next to a Region. Faction Cards, pg. 13 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18 / Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25 / Govern, pg. 31 / Journey, pg. 32 / Councils, pg. 43 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Govern - When a player Governs, they move one of their Faction Cards with one or more Votes icons into a Council of their choice. The manner and timing of when a player Governs will dictate where the Governing card must come from. During the Autumn Action Step, players may Govern once with a card from their Hand. The Castle Location Reward allows players to Govern with either an Active card or a card from their Hand. There is no limit to how many times in a Round a player can Govern. Autumn, pg. 31 / Councils, pg. 43 / Votes, pg. 51
Great Road - The Great Road houses Kingdom Cards which can be acquired by Bidding on them in Spring. The Great Road consists of four spaces in which Kingdom Cards will be placed. The left-most space also houses the face-down Kingdom Deck which will be drawn from to repopulate the Great Road with Kingdom Cards. The Great Road begins the game with four Kingdom Cards available and will be repopulated after all players have resolved their Bids in Spring. If a player gains a Kingdom Card from the Great Road through an ability that resolves outside of these Bids, the Great Road is immediately repopulated. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Place Bids, pg. 18 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18 / Repopulating the Great Road, pg. 20 / Kingdom Deck, pg. 50
Hand - Each player's Hand of Faction Cards is private information and cannot be shown to other players, though it may be freely discussed. Cards in a player's Hand are not Active. Public, Private and Hidden Information, pg. 47
Hand Size - A player's Hand Size is tracked using their Hand Size Marker. At the start of the game, a player's Hand Size is set to the number indicated with the starting-hand icon. Certain conditions in the game may cause a player's Hand Size to increase or decrease. The number of cards in a player's Hand may never exceed their Hand Size limit. Attrition, pg. 16 / Hand Size, pg. 47
Herald - Heralds are placed on a Location during the Spring Phase. There is no limit to how many Heralds can be on the same Location. Heralds can gain Influence and steal Influence from opponents' Heralds when resolving Herald Rewards. The Council of Relics increases the Influence gained as part of Herald Rewards. Heralds return to their owners' Player Boards during Winter. Spring, pg. 18 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Highlands - The topmost Region of the Map. It is made up of the Castle and Wilderness Locations.
HQ Cards - HQ Cards are identified by the HQ icon and begin the game on your Site of Power. They can be acquired during the game by paying their Lore Cost. HQ Cards have no Strength value, Archetype, or Traits and instead provide a unique ability once acquired. Unlike Advanced Faction Cards, which are moved to your Hand when acquired, an HQ Card is placed face-up in your Supply. HQ Cards in your Supply remain in your Supply unless stated otherwise. Sites of Power, pg. 44
Influence - Influence is represented by the Influence icon. The player with the most Influence in their Supply at the end of the game is the winner. Influence tokens begin the game in the Reserve. When a player gains Influence, they move the indicated number from the Reserve to their Supply. A player can never have less than 0 Influence in their Supply. Influence may be used to track various abilities when placed on certain cards and components, for example when a card uses Deploy (X). This Influence is not considered to be in a player's Supply. Winning the Game, pg. 34 / Deploy, pg. 39
In Turn Order - This term is used when resolving certain Steps or instructions. It is printed in italics. In turn order Steps and instructions are resolved by players one at a time, beginning with the player who is first on the Order Track, then the player who is second, and so on. A player resolves the Step or instruction fully before passing to the next player in turn order. In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8
Journey - When a player Journeys, they choose one of their Faction Cards with one or more Lore icons and move it to the Lost Pile. They then add Lore Tokens to their Supply equal to the Lore icons on the chosen card. This Lore can then be spent to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from their Site of Power. Faction Cards with the Pathfinder Trait are moved to their owner's Discard Pile instead of the Lost Pile when they are used to Journey. The manner and timing of when a player Journeys will dictate where the Journeying card must come from. During the Autumn Action Step, players may Journey once with a card from their Hand. The Wilderness Location Reward allows players to Journey with either an Active card or a card from their Hand. There is no limit to how many times in a Round a player can Journey. Lore, pg. 15 / Autumn, pg. 31 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Kingdom Board - The Kingdom Board is the central play space which houses the Order Track, the Great Road, the Map and the Round Track. It also provides space for cards to be placed next to Regions of the Map. As players progress through a Round, they move the Season Marker from slot to slot, indicating their progress through the various gameplay Steps.
Kingdom Cards - Kingdom Cards are neutral cards which can be gained from the Great Road or stolen from other players. Each Kingdom Card provides a unique ability and belongs to one of three Suits (Relics, Secrets, Oaths). The most common way a player interacts with a Kingdom Card is by Occupying it. Faction Cards are used to Occupy Kingdom Cards, and Occupied Kingdom Cards take up a dedicated space on a Player Board. A player may only have two Occupied Kingdom Cards on their Player Board. To steal a Kingdom Card, a player must have a higher total Bidding Strength than the Strength of the current Occupying Faction Card. Whenever a player ceases to Occupy a Kingdom Card, for whatever reason, its Occupying Faction Card is immediately moved to its owner's Hand. Kingdom Cards are not Active. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Resolve Bids, pg. 18
Kingdom Cards on the Map - Certain Kingdom Cards may instruct you to place them on the Map, on a Region or Location. There is no limit to the amount of Kingdom Cards that may be on the same Region or Location at once. If a Kingdom Card is discarded from the Map and it has any tokens on it, those tokens are removed. Faction Markers may be used to track ownership of these cards but do not contribute towards the Council of Secrets. Council of Secrets, pg. 44
Kingdom Deck - The Kingdom Deck is made up of Kingdom Cards. It is kept face-down and is hidden information to all players. Whenever the Great Road is first populated, or is repopulated throughout the course of the game, the top card of the Kingdom Deck will be flipped and revealed. This card, along with all other face-up cards on the Great Road, can be acquired by players. If players ever have to draw a card from the Kingdom Deck and the Kingdom Deck is empty, then players create a new Kingdom Deck using the Kingdom Discard.
Kingdom Discard - The Kingdom Discard is a pile of cards made up of all the Kingdom Cards that have been discarded. It is face-up and is public information to all players. If players ever have to shuffle the Kingdom Discard, they do so face-down.
Kingdom's Favour - A disc that is placed on the Harvest Field Location during Setup. Claiming the Harvest Field Location Reward allows a player to claim the Kingdom's Favour, moving it to their Player Board (or regaining all its spent activations if they already have it), granting them access to their Faction's unique Kingdom's Favour Action. Each time a player activates their Kingdom's Favour Action, they expend a use of that Action, tracked by rotating the disc. In a case where two or more players are tied for the highest amount of Influence at the end of the game, holding the Kingdom's Favour is the first tiebreaker. Winning the Game, pg. 34 / Kingdom's Favour, pg. 46
Location - Two Locations make up each Region of the Map. Heralds are placed on Locations. When a player wins a Clash in a Region, they choose a Location in that Region from which they may then claim rewards. Each Location has a unique Location Reward. Placing Heralds, pg. 21 / Claim Rewards, pg. 30
Location Rewards - Players can claim Location Rewards, most commonly by winning Clashes but also through other abilities. Location Rewards are separate and distinct from Herald Rewards. Any Influence gain listed on a Location Reward is mandatory, but players may skip any additional ability detailed in the reward. Claim Rewards, pg. 30
Lost Pile - Is made of face-up Faction Cards and spent Supporters. Cards which have been Eliminated by the Deadly Command or other means and cards that have been used to Journey are moved to the communal Lost Pile. Some abilities and Actions also move cards to the Lost Pile. The Lost Pile is face-up and public information available to all players. Unlike cards in player's Discard Pile, their cards in the Lost Pile are not shuffled back into their Deck when players incur Attrition. Cards in the Lost Pile are not Active. Additionally, any Supporters that are on the Map in Winter are moved to the Lost Pile. Journey, pg. 32 / Deadly, pg. 40 / Public, Private and Hidden Information, pg. 47
Lore - Lore is represented by the Lore icon. It is gained through the Journey Action, as well as through other abilities. Players spend Lore from their Supply to acquire Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards from their Site of Power. Lore tokens begin the game in the Reserve. When a player gains Lore, they move the indicated number from the Reserve to their Supply. When a player adds one or more Lore to their Supply, they may immediately spend any number of Lore in their Supply, or pass on the opportunity of spending Lore until the next time they add Lore to their Supply. Outside of this window, Lore may not be spent unless otherwise stated. When Lore is spent, it is returned to the Reserve. Additionally, if a player has no more cards on their Site of Power, the remaining Lore in their Supply is worth Influence at the end of the game. Journey, pg. 32 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Lowlands - The bottommost Region of the Map. It is made up of the Shrine and the Necropolis Locations.
Map - The Map is a portion of the Kingdom Board, depicting a view of a part of the game's kingdom. The Map is made up of three rows, called Regions, with each Region being made up of two Locations. Heralds and Supporters are placed on the Map, as are other components.
Night - An Effects Step that takes place during the Summer Phase, during a Clash, in which all players automatically trigger mandatory Effects and/or Commands. Every Clash has one Effects Step, meaning there are multiple Effects Steps in a Round. This Step is resolved simultaneously. Night Effects Step, pg. 28
Occupy / Occupied - Faction Cards can Occupy Kingdom Cards. Cards which are Occupying a Kingdom Card are not considered Active, and any text or abilities they have are not considered in play unless stated otherwise. Only a single Faction Card can Occupy a Kingdom Card at any one time. Whenever a Faction Card ceases to Occupy a Kingdom Card, it is moved to its owner's Hand. Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19
Order Track - The Order Track houses each player's Order Marker and is used to determine the order in which players will resolve certain Steps and instructions. Order is initially determined during Setup and is adjusted during the Start of the Year Phase in each subsequent Round. Players will adjust their position on the Order Track based on the amount of Influence in each player's Supply, with the players with higher amounts going higher on the track. The player who is first on the track has to resolve in turn order Steps and instructions first and then passes to the player who is next on the Order Track. The player who is last on the Order Track will choose the order in which Regions are resolved in Summer, using Clash Markers. A player's position on the Order Track is used as the game's second tiebreaker when determining a winner. Determine Turn Order, pg. 17 / Place Clash Markers, pg. 25 / Winning the Game, pg. 34
Phase - A Round is made up of five Phases: Start of the Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Players move through these in sequence, using the Season Marker to track their progress. Each Phase is made up of one or more Steps. Start of the Year, pg. 16 / Spring, pg. 18 / Summer, pg. 25 / Autumn, pg. 31 / Winter, pg. 33
Plateau - The central Region of the Map. It is made up of the Harvest Field and the Battlefield Locations.
Player Board - Each player has a Player Board that corresponds to their Faction and that houses various gameplay elements: a player's Herald, their Supporters, two spaces for Occupying Kingdom Cards, a slot for the Hand Size Marker and another for the Kingdom's Favour, and four Faction-specific Tactics. It makes up part of a player's play area, alongside their Deck, Discard Pile, Site of Power and a space reserved for their Supply.
Region - The Map is divided into three Regions: the Highlands, Plateau and Lowlands. Each Region is a row containing two Locations. Clashes take place in Regions during Summer. Supporters are placed on Regions and Faction Cards are placed next to Regions.
Reserve - A communal bank of Influence and Lore. When players gain Influence or Lore, they move it from the Reserve to their Supply. There is no limit to the number of tokens that may be held in the Reserve. In the unlikely event that players run out of Influence or Lore tokens, players should use proxies. Gaining / Stealing / Moving Influence / Lore, pg. 47
Round - The game is played over a set number of Rounds, typically five. These are tracked with the Round Marker, which is advanced at the end of each Round. A Round represents one year in the world of the game.
Sites of Power - Each player has a Site of Power Tile that is part of their play area but separate and distinct from the space reserved for a player's Supply. A player's Advanced Faction Cards and HQ Cards begin the game on their Site of Power Tile. These cards are acquired by spending Lore from their Supply. Cards on a Site of Power are not Active. If a player has no cards remaining on their Site of Power, then at the end of the game before scores are tallied, that player will gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore in their Supply. Lore, pg. 15 / Sites of Power, pg. 44
Spring - The second Phase in a Round. Bids are placed and resolved in Spring. When a player resolves their Bid, they choose to either gain a new Kingdom Card from the Great Road, steal an Occupied Kingdom Card from an opponent, or return their Bidding card to their Hand. After all Bids are resolved, players, in turn order, place their Heralds on the Map. Then, all players simultaneously place three Faction Cards from their Hand, one next to each Region of the Map. Finally, in turn order, players will resolve the Spring Action Step, activating any number of Actions they control, before passing to the next player in turn order. Spring, pg. 18
Start of the Year - The first Phase of a Round. Players must draw Faction Cards up to their Hand Size. Then players will adjust the Order Track based on the amount of Influence in their Supply, determining the order in which players will act this Round during any Steps or instructions that are resolved in turn order. The Start of the Year Phase is skipped in the first Round of the game. Start of the Year, pg. 16
Step - Each of the five Phases in a Round is made up of one or more Steps. Steps will indicate if they are resolved in turn order or simultaneously. During Action Steps, players will optionally activate Actions and Commands corresponding to those Steps. During Effects Steps, players will automatically trigger Effects and Commands corresponding to those Steps. Simultaneous Steps, pg. 8 / In Turn Order Steps, pg. 8
Strength - Strength is used to determine the outcome of Bids and Clashes. Faction Cards have a printed Strength value on the upper left corner of each card. Each Supporter piece in a Region adds one Strength to the first Clash they are involved in each Round. Additionally, Strength may be added or gained through various abilities and sources. Resolve Bids pg. 18 / Occupying Kingdom Cards, pg. 19 / Resolve Clashes, pg. 25
Suit - All Councils and Kingdom Cards belong to one of three Suits: Relics, Secrets or Oaths. These Suits have no rules associated with them, but they may be referenced or targeted by abilities. Additionally, each Suit gives an indication of the type of effect a card will have. Relics is focused on acquiring resources and growing your income. Secrets is focused on card manipulation and circumventing restrictions. Oaths is focused on Strength, Elimination and winning Clashes. Kingdom Cards, pg. 14 / Councils, pg. 43
Summer - The third Phase in a Round. In Summer, the player who is last on the Order Track will place three Clash Markers, one on each Region. These markers will determine the order in which the Regions will be resolved for the Round. Each Region is then resolved one at a time by resolving one or more Clashes in each Region. The winners of these Clashes will claim rewards based on the Locations in the Region. Summer, pg. 25
Supply - A separate space within a player's play area that houses various components, including: Influence, Lore, acquired HQ Cards, certain Kingdom Cards and Faction Markers. Certain abilities may steal or remove Influence or Lore from a player's Supply. Kingdom Cards in your Supply may not be stolen, unless otherwise stated. At the end of the game, before Influence is tallied, if there are no cards remaining in a player's Site of Power they gain 1 Influence for every 2 Lore in their Supply. Then, players will tally all the Influence in their Supply to determine the winner of the game. A player's Supply is public information. No cards in a player's Supply are considered Active.
Tactics - Each Faction has four Tactic Tiles, each with a different Tactic printed on it. Each Tactic provides a unique Action or ability to that Faction. Players begin the game with their Tactics all set to their Unexhausted side (text showing). Once a player has used a Tactic, it is flipped over to show its Exhausted side (no text showing) unless otherwise stated. Certain abilities may allow players to flip an Exhausted Tactic back over to its Unexhausted side. Tactics Tiles pg. 15
Traits - Traits are icons that are printed on or gained by Faction Cards. When they are printed on a card, they are found in the upper left hand corner of the Faction Card, below the card's Strength value and Archetype. Traits are always in effect and are mandatory to resolve. Traits, pg. 41
Votes - Votes are typically printed on and gained by Faction Cards. Faction Cards that are added to a Council, usually by Governing, contribute their Votes to that Council. Votes in a Council grant special abilities to players. Govern, pg. 31 / Councils, pg. 43
Winter - The fifth and final Phase in a Round. During Winter, players will simultaneously trigger any mandatory Effects in the Winter Effects Step. Then, all players will perform a cleanup Step: Heralds on the Map are returned to their owner's Player Boards, Supporters on the Map are moved to the Lost Pile, and all remaining Active cards without Influence on them are discarded to their owners' Discard Piles. Active cards with Influence on them, then have 1 Influence removed from them. Finally, the Round Marker advances to the next Round, or in the case of the last Round, signals the end of the game. Winter, pg. 33

Sequence of Play Summary

Start of the Year

Draw Cards - Simultaneously draw up to your Hand Size.
Determine Turn Order - Adjust the Order Track based on Influence totals.

Spring

Place Bids - Simultaneously Bid one face-down card from your Hand.
Resolve Bids - Simultaneously reveal your Bids. Resolve each Bid, one at a time, from highest to lowest Strength. To resolve a Bid, choose one of the following:
- I. Take a Kingdom Card from the Great Road.
- II. Steal a Kingdom Card.
- III. Return your Bidding card to your Hand.
Place Heralds and Cards
- A. Place Heralds - In turn order place your Herald on a Location.
- B. Place Cards Next to Regions - Simultaneously place one face-down card from your Hand next to each Region.
Spring Action Step - In turn order activate your Actions and/or Commands.

Summer

Place Clash Markers - The player who is last on the Order Track places a Clash Marker on each Region. This dictates the sequence in which they are resolved.
Resolving Clashes - Resolve the three Regions in sequence. The winner of the Clash in each Region will claim rewards.

Autumn

Autumn Action Step - In turn order take your Autumn Action Step, in any sequence:
- Govern - You may move one Faction Card with one or more Votes icons from Hand into a Council.
- Journey - You may move one Faction Card with one or more Lore icons from Hand to the Lost Pile. Gain Lore Tokens equal to the Lore icons on the card.
- Activate any number of Actions and/or Commands.

Winter

Winter Effects Step - Simultaneously resolve Effects.
Cleanup - Simultaneously:
- Remove Pieces - Move Heralds to Player Boards and Supporters on the Map to the Lost Pile.
- Remove Clash Markers - Return Clash Markers to their slot on the Kingdom Board.
- Remove Active Cards to Discard Piles - Active cards without Influence on them are moved to their owners' Discard Piles. If an Active card has Influence on it, instead remove 1 Influence.
Advance the Round Track

Winning the Game

At the end of the final Round, the game ends. Each player tallies up the Influence in their Supply. The player with the most Influence is the winner.