The Queen's New Capital Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
  • Board Setup
  • Players Setup
  • Asymmetry Draft
• Scenarios
• Win Condition
• Gameplay
• Development Phase
  • Burn
  • 1st Player Die
• Province
• Structures
• Leaders
• Crisis
• Rebellion
• Reserve
• Action Cards
• Advanced Actions
• Free Board Actions
• Factions
• Score
• Alert
• Honorary Seal
• Hunger
• Advanced Modules
  • Extra Setup
• Guildmasters
• Faction Heroes
• Dilemmas
• Solo Mode
• FAQ
• Round Anatomy

Components

• 1x Province Attribute board
• 4x Player boards
• 4x Double-sided Icon Reference Sheet
• 1x 1st player dice
• 16x Colored wood cubes
• 40x Seal wood tokens
• 16x Attribute wood tokens
• 15x Rebellion wood tokens
• 15x Extra action wood tokens
• 15x Structure upgrade wood tokens
• 51x Reserve double-sided cardboard tokens
• 15x Vote double-sided cardboard tokens
• 60x Structure cards
• 4x Draft Structure cards
• 48x Leader cards
• 10x Draft Leader cards
• 40x Basic Action cards
• 50x Advanced Action cards
• 17x Hunger cards
• 18x Crisis cards
• Module 01: 12x Guildmaster cards
• Module 02: 12x Faction Heroes cards
• Module 03: 18x Dilemma cards
• 3x Scenario cards

Note: the component list above is transcribed as printed. The Scenarios section describes four scenarios (including "Learning the Game"), while the list prints 3x Scenario cards.

Game Setup

Board Setup

1. Place the Province Attribute board in the middle of the table.
2. Separate the Structure cards into their tiers (identifiable by the numbers on the back of the cards).
3. Deal 3 cards to the left of the Tier 1, 2 and 3 decks. Keep a space to the left of each row for the discard pile. These are known as the Structure Common pool.
4. Make the Crisis deck: Randomly pick 1 of the 3 cards from each challenge level (number on the back of the card) and stack them from highest to lowest, keeping the lowest numbered cards on top.
5. Reveal the top card of the Crisis deck and place it to the side of the deck.
6. Shuffle the Advanced cards. Deal 3 cards face-up to the right of the deck. Leave a space for a discard pile. This is known as the Advanced Cards Common Pool.
7. Shuffle the Leader cards. Deal 3 cards face-up to the right of the deck. Leave a space for a discard pile. This is known as the Leader Common Pool.
8. Select a Scenario and place it near the Province Attribute board.
9. Place the Hunger cards deck and the general supply of tokens nearby.

The layout shown in the manual is a proposition. It can be changed to accommodate different table sizes and number of players. The position of the components does not affect gameplay.

Players Setup

10. Each player selects a color and places 1 wooden token of each type on the 0 space in the matching track of the Province Attribute board.
11. Each player collects a player board, 3 cubes and 9 Seal tokens of their chosen color. Place a cube in each of the 3 red stroke spaces in the player board and keep all Seals in a reserve near the board.
12. Place the 10 cards of each player's Action decks on the left open space of the player board.
13. Choose a random player and give them the first player die.

Asymmetry Draft

Collect all cards with the Draft icon (10 Leaders and 4 Structures).

14. Randomly deal each player 1 of the Draft Structures. Place it next to their player board. Check the banner on the top right of the card. Move each player's diplomacy cube one slot in the direction of the Faction symbol shown on the card they got. Return all leftover cards to the box.
15. Deal each player 2 of the Draft Leaders. They select one and place the card below the Structure they just received. Return the leftover card to the box.

There are more steps to perform if you are playing with the advanced modules. They are all explained in the Extra Setup chapter on page 27 (as printed).

Scenarios

Before we delve into the gameplay mechanics, there's one important thing to cover. This game offers 4 different Scenarios, each providing varied experiences for players of different skill levels.

Each Scenario card displays three key pieces of information: Victory Condition, Honorary Seal, and Alert Trigger (⚠). Don't worry if these terms sound unfamiliar right now; we'll explain them in the upcoming chapters. But for now, if this is your first time playing, we suggest picking the Scenario card called "LEARNING THE GAME".

Choosing the right scenario allows you to tailor the game to your group's preferences and experience level, ensuring an enjoyable and well-suited gameplay session for everyone involved.

• Learning the Game (Beginner game): Victory Condition 4 Seals (medal icon); Honorary Seal shown as a T3 Tier 3 structure icon; Alert Trigger shown as a star icon.
• Swift Game (Intermediary game): After you've played your first game, we recommend moving on to this scenario. It's suited for those who want a faster-paced challenge. Victory Condition 6 Seals; Honorary Seal shown as a laurel icon with x2; Alert Trigger shown as a fishbone (Hunger) icon.
• Friendly Dispute (Intermediary game): This scenario requires a bit more strategic thinking in your choices but won't significantly increase playtime. It's an ideal choice for groups of 4 players who prefer a game that doesn't extend for too long. Victory Condition 6 Seals; Honorary Seal shown as a pawn icon with x8; Alert Trigger shown as a fishbone (Hunger) icon.
• Uprising (Advanced game): This scenario presents a greater challenge to all players and might become lengthy for some. We recommend it for players who are already familiar with the other scenarios and want an even more demanding experience. Victory Condition 8 Seals; Honorary Seal shown as power >6 and control >6 icons; Alert Trigger shown as a fist (Rebellion) icon.

Note: the Scenario cards' values are printed only as icons. The values above are read from the card art on page 8 of the manual; the Learning the Game card's Honorary Seal icon is read from the small card illustration and is not spelled out in the text.

Win Condition

To win a game, a player must score a set amount of Seals (as indicated on the Scenario card). To score a Seal, players must collect points in the four tracks on the Province Attribute Board:

Influence; Might; Morale; and Wealth.

Players move their tokens in each track as they score Attribute Points. Whenever they get to the 5th space on each track, players win a bonus and move one of their Seals from their reserve to their Player board.

At the end of the round in which they acquired a Seal, players move their respective tokens back to the 0 space and restart the cycle.

The end of the game triggers when a player places the required number of Seals on their Player board. The game continues until the conclusion of that same round. Alternatively, if the Crisis deck runs out of cards (by the end of the 6th round), the game also ends.

If more than one player wins in the same round (or the Crisis deck runs out), the player who scored the most Seals wins the game. If that results in a tie, the player who ranks higher in the Honorary Seals, wins the game. In the unlikely event that no player scored an Honorary Seal and the game ended in a tie, the player with the highest total sum of Structure and Leader cards wins. Lastly, If 2 players scored the Honorary Seal at the same moment, and they both tie for victory, they share the victory.

Gameplay

The Queen's New Capital is a card-driven game. Players draw and play Action cards from their hand (kept in secret from other players).

A game is played over several rounds. A round is divided into 4 phases, starting with the Development phase, where players plan and execute their actions.

Following the Development Phase there is a Crisis Phase, a Score Phase and a Refresh Phase. For now, let's focus on the Development Phase.

Development Phase

During the Development Phase players draw 6 cards, and will play one each turn until all players have played 4 cards. After resolving the effects of their chosen card, they pass to the next player in clockwise order. This sequence continues until all have played their 4 cards (if they ever run out of cards to draw in their decks, shuffle the discard pile, and make it the new deck).

After playing all their action cards, as a free action, players may Burn one of the leftover cards in their hand (explained below), and discard all the rest.

There are three categories of Action cards that can be used in the Development Phase: Improvement (green), Warfare (red), and Political (blue).

• Improvement cards (green) are played face-up, their benefits are collected immediately, and the card is discarded right after being used.
• The Warfare (red) and Political (blue) cards are played face down in front of each player's board and are only revealed at the Crisis Phase. They are moved to the discard pile at the end of the Crisis Phase.

Through the game, players can acquire Advanced Action cards. These cards share the same name and core functions as the basic actions but provide extra bonuses, allowing for more powerful strategies.

The top row of all action cards ability boxes displays the main benefit they will always provide. The lower row displays a secondary skill that only triggers if certain conditions are met.

Many cards in the game will have an "ID" number on their top left. This serves the purpose of making online searches for rules disambiguation easier.

Burn

Burn lets players remove one card on their hands (or the top card of their discard pile) from the game, moving them to a burn pile below their board. These cards are never drawn again. This helps players filter their decks, raising the odds of drawing their most desirable cards.

Some action cards also have the Burn symbol on them. For those, trigger the burn effect immediately when the card is used.

1st Player Die

In this game, the 1st Player marker is a D6 die. Its purpose is to display an easy-to-identify turn counter. The 1st player in every round takes it and becomes responsible for moving the numbers up to match the current amount of turns that they have taken so far.

The die also serves other purposes in the Advanced Modules and in the Solo mode. For the normal multiplayer mode, ignore the sides with the numbers "0" and "-1" on them.

Province

Each player has a board with several features on it. The open space to the lower left side of these boards houses the Action Deck (kept face-down), while the space to the lower right is for the discard pile (kept face-up).

As Structure and Leader Cards (the main source of Attribute points) are acquired, they are placed to the side of the player's board in 1 of 4 columns. Once placed, Structure cards cannot be moved anymore.

Only 1 set of Structures and 2 Leaders cards can be placed in each column. Leaders can only be played in columns with Structures on them.

The whole of the player area, from their individual board to the card columns is referred to as the Player's Province.

Players have the flexibility to position their Structures/ Leader cards either to the left or to the right of their player board, to suit their table layout preferences. However, the placement of the action deck and discard pile must remain in their designated positions (left and right respectively).

1. Structures and Leaders cards are played either to the left or to the right of the player board (whichever feels more comfortable according to the table position of the player). They are aligned in a maximum of 4 columns.
2. Structures can be upgraded, and when they are, they are stacked in the same column, with the bottom of all cards in the stack visible.
3. Leader cards are placed below Structures. Two Leader cards can be placed in each column. A Leader card cannot be placed in a column with no Structures.
4. The Action Deck is placed to the left of the board and the Discard pile to the right.
5. Burned cards are placed below the board and do not return to the game.
6. The Seal slots, the Faction Reputation tracker, and the Board Action tracker, are all located inside each player's board.
7. All Crisis cards (red and blue) are played face-down in the area in front of the player board. They are revealed only during the Crisis Phase.
8. Keep all collected tokens on the opposite side of the Structures/ Leaders.

Structures

Structures exist in 3 tiers, each providing 1 more Attribute Point than the lower tiers. Players can only build Tier 1 Structures on an empty column. To acquire higher tiers, they need to upgrade their existing Structures.

To perform an upgrade, players require Upgrade tokens. When they obtain these tokens, they must place them on top of one of their Structures. Once two tokens are placed on a Structure, players must immediately exchange them for a Structure card one tier above the top card of the column.

Players must match the type of Structures they want to upgrade. For example, a Tier 1 Port can only be upgraded with a Tier 2 Port. If a player is about to place a 2nd Upgrade token on a Structure but no card in the Tier 2 common pool is a match, they cannot place the token on that Structure (if there is no valid Structure for a token to be placed, it must be discarded).

When upgrading Structures, players must position the new card slightly above the original one, ensuring that the Attribute icons on both cards are visible. During the Score Phase, players score Attribute points for both the original and the upgraded Structures.

The Structure types are: Settlement, Commerce, Port, Academy and Barracks.

Each Structure card shows a Name and Illustration (flavor only), a Structure faction (the Faction banner on the top right), a Draft icon (for the Asymmetry Draft setup), a Structure type, and Attribute Points.

When building a Tier 1 structure, you gain Hunger (see page 26 as printed; the Hunger section is below).

Leaders

Leaders cards provide unique powers that will give players advantages to gain an edge over their opponents. Leaders come in 3 different types (with different card background colors): Score, Development and Crisis.

A Leader card shows: 1. Flavor name and illustration, no gameplay function. 2. Leader's ability. 3. Leader's Faction. 4. Bonus reward for Faction Alignment (see below).

• Score type: Works in the same manner as Structures, triggering their abilities every round during the Score Phase. They may have conditions that have to be met for them to activate.
• Development type: These have abilities that are related to the Development Phase and are triggered only by playing Action cards during that phase.
• Crisis type: These have abilities that are related to the Crisis Phase and are triggered only during that phase.

Please refer to the ICON REFERENCE SHEET for a detailed explanation of the meanings of all the icons and their combinations.

Leader cards can be REPLACED and MOVED. Whenever a new Leader is recruited, players can choose to place it over a Leader that was recruited before. If they choose to do it, they have to either flip down the older one or move it to a valid empty slot. This effect does not cascade, meaning that a Leader being moved cannot be placed on top of another, thereby moving that one as well.

If in the moment they are first acquired, a Leader is placed in a column where the top Structure shares the same Faction (banner on top right), they immediately (and only once) give a Faction Alignment bonus - listed below the Faction banner.

Crisis

In the 2nd phase of every round, players will have to deal with the 2 crises that are affecting the Kingdom, one political in nature and the other warfare.

When the Crisis phase starts, all players turn face-up all face-down action cards played this round. These cards will have an amount of power (X) and/or control (crown) that represents how much effort each player deployed this round.

Players must first deal with the WARFARE CRISIS, then proceed to deal with the POLITICAL CRISIS. These crises can be either an individual or a group challenge. The types are visually distinguishable: individual challenges have only one big number, while group challenges have 3 variations with the number of players listed on top of each value.

When facing individual challenges (skull icon), players must individually reach the number of power / control listed on the Crisis card. All those who fail to reach that amount suffer the penalty (Hunger or Rebellion) listed on the top of the card.

When facing group challenges, sum up all the power / control on the action cards played by all players, and check the total value against the number listed on the Crisis card (according to the number of players). If they fail to reach that amount, all players suffer the penalty listed on the top of the card.

After checking each Crisis, if a player has outperformed the others by adding more power / control than everyone else, they will gain a reward (laurel icon) for their outstanding performance. If there is a tie, all tied players win it. Rewards are only awarded for Crises that have been beaten. The type of reward is shown on the side/bottom of the card correspondent to the Crisis they have outperformed. Follow player's order and immediately award the reward.

The Crisis card layout, as printed on page 17 of the manual, is:

1. The penalty for failing in the Crisis challenge (Hunger or Rebellion).
2. The amount of power / control that players need to deploy in order to beat it.
3. The reward that is given to the player who outperforms the other players.
4. The amount of power / control added by the card.
5. The double-sided Reserve tokens.
6. The Rebellion tokens.

Rebellion

Whenever a player gains a Rebellion token, they have to place it on one of their Structure's columns that does not already have a Rebellion token (they can choose which). If all Structure's columns have a Rebellion token on them, the player places a second token on one of their columns.

All Structure cards in a column with a Rebellion do not provide Attribute Points (Structure Attribute icon) during the Score phase. They can still be upgraded.

The Hunger mechanic is explained on page 26 (as printed; the Hunger section itself is printed on page 24).

Reserve

Action cards are not the only way to deal with the Crises. Each player has a RESERVE, represented by power (red) and control (blue) tokens. Each of these tokens is equivalent to 1 power or 1 control.

Power or control listed on action cards represent the building of military and political power to be used later. Collecting these tokens is the very last step of the Crisis Phase.

After all face-down cards are revealed during the Crisis Phase, players decide how much they will add from their reserve (they do so in player order, and add both power and control tokens together). Once all players have added their bids, check against the Crisis cards as explained in the previous page.

Action Cards

These are the 10 Action cards that all players start with in their deck. Within these 10 cards you will find all of the primary actions used in the game.

RESEARCH (Improvement, green) Pick one of the 3 available Advanced Action cards in the common pool and place it on the top of your deck. Refill the common pool.

RECRUIT (Improvement, green) Pick one of the 3 available Leader cards in the common pool and place it below one of your Structure sets. Refill the common pool.

BUILD (Improvement, green) Either Pick 1 of the available Tier 1 Structure cards in the common pool and place it in an empty column of your Province, or gain an Upgrade token and place it above one of your Structures. Refill the common pool.

ADMINISTRATE (Improvement, green) Either remove a Rebellion Token from one of your Structures or move one of your diplomacy cubes in any direction.

MOBILIZE ARMY, RAISE MORALE, ELITE DEPLOY, INTIMIDATE, SEND ENVOY (Warfare or Political, red or blue) These Crisis Action cards either add an amount of power and control to be used this round or an amount of reserve power and control, to be used in future rounds.

BRIBE (Political, blue) This Action Card may be played with your other face-down crisis cards in order to protect yourself from receiving one of the two possible Penalties for failing at the Crisis challenges. You may choose which one.

Extra Action token. Whenever players earn an Extra Action as a bonus, they collect one of these tokens. These can be spent at the end of the Development Phase (after all players played 4 turns), to play additional Cards during that round. They are spent one by one, going around in turns, following the normal turn order. Players may store these and use as many as they want in a single round.

The 10 initial cards. All initial decks are the same.

Advanced Actions

The advanced action cards that can be acquired through the game are better variations of the initial 10. Whenever these cards are acquired, they are placed on top of the player's deck.

Some of these card upgrades are quite obvious, providing more of the same stuff that their basic counterparts provide. Some pack extra actions that have conditions to trigger and others offer alternative actions within the same card.

Refer to the ICON REFERENCE SHEET for a detailed explanation of the meanings of all the icons and their combinations.

Free Board Actions

There is an area in the center of all player's boards that represents the Board Actions. Right before playing an action card, players may choose to perform one of the actions listed: SCOUT; RESUPPLY; FACTION ACTION; or SUPPORT ACTION. After resolving one of those, they still play a card.

Players can only perform one of these actions per round. Once a player decides to perform a Board Action, they move their cube from the top red-stroke slot to the chosen action slot. Once the round is over they move the cube back to the top slot.

• Resupply allows players to draw 2 cards from their Action deck to their hands. This action gives players more Action Cards to choose from.
• Scout allows players to search for the specific cards they need. Players first select either a color (type) or a Faction they desire. Following that, they select a single row of the Structures, Advanced actions, or Leaders, discard all cards in it, and immediately replace them with new cards. If, among all new cards revealed, none are of the chosen type, they discard the row and draw new cards again, until at least one card of the chosen type is among the revealed cards.
• Faction Action lets players trigger one of the special abilities provided by the Faction(s) they are favored by (explained in more detail in a future chapter).
• Support Action lets players trigger an ability described in another card. These are seen in the Hunger cards and in the Advanced Modules of the game.

The Free Board Action icon (feather) represents the Free Board Actions. Whenever a card shows it, players can immediately perform one more Board Action this round. They must choose a different action than the one their cube is covering.

It is important to notice that Free Board Actions do not trigger leader's abilities, only card actions do.

Factions

Every Leader and Structure card has a Faction banner on its top right. Whenever a player adds one of these cards to their province, they move one of their Diplomacy cubes (the name given to the 2 cubes placed in the Faction tracks) one space in the direction of the faction shown on the card.

There are 4 factions but only 2 tracks in the player's board, meaning that as you gain reputation with one, you lose it with the other.

At the 5th slot in each direction, there is a Favored space. As soon as a player reaches that space, they become Favored by one of the factions and score one Seal. The Diplomacy Cube no longer moves on tracks that have reached either Favored space.

Another advantage of being Favored is the unique FACTION Action provided by each Faction. Whenever a player activates their free board action, they can use it to perform the faction actions shown on the outer edge of the Player board, connected to the Faction symbol they are favored by.

If a player has both their Diplomacy cubes in the center slot, they are in a state of Diplomacy with the Factions. As long as their cubes stay in that space, players can perform the Diplomacy-symbol action as their Faction Action (the symbol is shown in the manual's Factions diagram; the manual does not spell out its name in the text).

Diagram notes: score a Seal immediately after becoming Favored. The Faction Actions are shown in a box attached to the end of each track; the trigger for them is the Faction Action symbol.

Score

At the end of every round, there is a SCORE Phase. Players may all gain their Structure Attribute Points simultaneously. Then, in turn order, each player activates their Score Type Leaders. Players must follow placement order to score their Leaders (the ones on the columns closest to the player board first). If any column contains 2 Score Type Leaders, activate the top one first.

Right after scoring all Attribute points, players check the position of their wood tokens. If a player has reached the end (the 5th space) of any attribute track, they will gain the bonus action depicted on that track, and place a Seal in one of the Seal slots on their player board. Following this, reset their Attribute Point token back to the 0 space of its associated track.

If multiple players have reached the end of any track in the same round, they must follow the turn order to gain bonuses and reset their tokens.

If a player scores more Attribute points than they need to get to the 5th space, they do not carry those points over after the RESET step.

Diagram caption: Reset the Attribute Tokens when reaching the 5th space.

The bonus actions provided by the Attribute Board are never blocked by restrictions on other cards and never trigger bonuses from Leaders.

Alert

When players score a Seal during the Score Phase, they might place it over an Alert symbol (⚠) on their own board. If an Alert symbol is covered, players must immediately check the Scenario card to determine the triggered effect. Immediately gain what is listed there.

Honorary Seal

An Honorary Seal represents a special objective that players can pursue during their game. When players successfully complete the challenge described on the Scenario card, they immediately place one of their Seals in the Honorary Seal space on the Province Attribute board. This Seal is unique since it is not placed in the Player board, however, it still counts towards Victory as all other Seals.

Only one Honorary Seal per player can be scored. The first player to achieve the objective claims the 1st spot in the Honorary Seal chart, and subsequent players follow suit, taking the available spots accordingly.

One of the significant advantages of obtaining an early spot on the chart is the tie-breaking ability it grants. If, at the end of the game, multiple players tie in the number of Seals scored, their position in the Honorary Seal chart serves as the ultimate tiebreaker.

On the rare occasion that more than one player triggers the condition for the Honorary Seal in the exact same phase, place both their Seals in the same slot. If they also tie at the end of the game, they share the victory.

Hunger

Anytime a penalty or game effect shows the Hunger Icon, players must add a Hunger card to the top of their discard pile.

Hunger cards cannot be burned like the other action cards, and can only be removed from the deck by performing the free board action "Support action". When the Support action is used, players remove a single Hunger card currently in their hand.

There are three ways in which Hunger cards are added to the deck (the manual's text says "three" but lists the four items below; all four are transcribed as printed):

• TERRITORY EXPANSION: Whenever a player expands their province by adding a Tier 1 Structure card to a new column, that player gets a Hunger card.
• CRISIS PENALTY: Whenever a player fails to deal with one of the Crisis challenges, and Hunger is listed as the penalty, they get a Hunger card.
• ALERT TRIGGERS: Some Scenario cards give Hunger cards when players cover the Alert Triggers in their player boards.
• DILEMMAS ADVANCED MODULE: The Hunger icon is also seen as the consequence of several Dilemma cards.

If there are no more Hunger cards in the Hunger deck, replace any Hunger penalty with a Rebellion penalty.

Advanced Modules

The Queen's New Capital comes with 3 advanced modules for players to add to their games once they are feeling comfortable with the core game.

• GUILDMASTERS adds an extra strategic advantage choice for the 1st player of every round. This is a module that can be added as early as a 2nd or 3rd game. Easy complexity. 2 - 4 players.
• FACTION HEROES adds special powerful leader cards bound to each faction. Medium complexity. 1 - 4 players.
• DILEMMAS adds a voting mechanic, letting players collectively decide on the outcome of events that will impact each round. High complexity. 1 - 4 players.

Extra Setup

• GUILDMASTERS: Place the Guildmasters deck below the Province Attribute Board. Leave a space beside it for the discard pile.
• FACTION HEROES: Stack all Faction Hero cards according to their Factions, creating 4 pools of 3 cards. Shuffle them. Place the decks face-up around the central area in an easy-to-access spot for all players.
• DILEMMAS: Randomly pick 5 Dilemma cards and place them face-down in between every Crisis card. Fill all 5 spaces that exist between the 6 Crisis cards. Return all other Dilemma cards to the box. Give each player 3 Vote tokens.

Guildmasters

Easy complexity. 2 - 4 players.

The Queen would not have requested such tremendous effort from her allies and let them be without any help. She asked her most trusted advisors, the newly appointed GUILDMASTERS, to visit all provinces and support their development.

At the beginning of every round, right after players draw their 6 cards, the 1st player (for that round) will be dealt 2 Guildmaster cards from the common pool. That player will choose one of the 2 and discard them both face-up beside the main deck, keeping the chosen one on top. The top Guildmaster of the discard pile is considered the active one.

Once the Guildmasters deck is out of cards, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the main deck.

The Guildmaster's abilities are buffs and debuffs to different aspects of the game. They affect all players (when they use the keywork 1st, they refer to the first each player perform). The first player MUST choose one of the Guildmasters to be active, even if both are disadvantageous to them.

The Guildmaster advanced module shares a lot of similarities with the Dilemma advanced module, although much simpler. We do not recommend using both of them together. Keep the Guildmaster as the go-to module when playing with 2 players, or groups who do not enjoy direct negotiations.

Faction Heroes

Medium complexity. 1 - 4 players.

There are key figures who led the revolt against the old tyrant. These exceptional leaders can be enlisted to aid in a province's progress, but players must first demonstrate their loyalty to the factions they are aligned with.

Faction Heroes are formidable Leader cards that can only be obtained if a player has become Favored with their corresponding Faction.

Faction Heroes have their own distinct pool, separate from the general pool of Leader cards. There are three unique leaders for each Faction. At the beginning of the game, shuffle the 3 leaders of each faction type together, and then place each of these stacks face up somewhere near the standard leaders, within reach of all players.

Players can only recruit a single Hero per Faction, to a maximum of 2 per player. Only the card at the top of each deck can be recruited. Once a new card is revealed, that card becomes the recruitable Leader of that Faction.

Faction Heroes do not give placement bonuses, and instead, just display the faction hero icon.

Dilemmas

High complexity. 1 - 4 players.

It is quite common for political leaders to be stuck with only complex options when dealing with unforeseen events. To emulate these challenging moments, the Dilemmas advanced module can be introduced.

With this module in play, whenever players would reveal a new Crisis card at the Refresh phase, they instead first reveal a Dilemma event card. The card must be resolved immediately. Players vote for one of two outcomes and trigger the winning result.

Players vote using Vote Tokens - with a green and red side to them. In player's order, each player declares their vote: Against, In Favor, or Abstain (play no token). After all players have voted, players may reinforce their votes by casting a 2nd and a 3rd vote of the same type. Once a player decides to stop adding tokens, they are out of the voting cycle for the round.

If only 1-2 players are playing, flip a token (from the box) after the 1st round of votes (only once per round), as if the Queen is also adding her vote to the pool. The vote that shows the most among all tokens is considered the winner. If there is a tie, always consider "Against" as the winner. Place one of the winner tokens on the top of the card (as a reminder of which side won) and discard all other used tokens to the supply.

Players start the game with 3 vote tokens only and do not automatically recover these tokens. If a player calls Abstain, they may recover 1 spent token back. Players can never have more than 3 vote tokens.

If the Dilemma card triggers an effect that impacts the following round, keep it face-up near the Crisis deck. Place a token above it to remind players of the outcome. Discard it when the next Dilemma card is revealed.

Solo Mode

The solo mode of The Queen's New Capital has a very similar dynamic to the multiplayer mode of the game. There are, however, some adjustments made to compensate for the lack of player interactions.

There isn't a 1P challenge level for group challenges in the Crises cards, players engaging in the solo mode will have to face the 2P challenge level by themselves. To gain additional support without other players, solo players will need to use the 1st player die: Whenever checking against any group challenge in the Crisis Phase, the solo player rolls the die. The result on it will symbolize the number of power / control added by a phantom player (the "-1" side of the die subtracts 1 instead of adding).

Whenever checking for the group challenge bonuses, the solo player will compare the amount they have deployed to the number in the dice. If they have added an amount equal to or higher (and have beaten the Crisis challenge), they collect the bonus. For the individual challenge bonuses, the solo player just needs to deploy an amount higher than the one listed on the card. If they do, they collect the bonus.

At the Refresh Phase (only in the solo mode), perform a SCOUT board action as an extra step, to simulate the refreshing of cards from the multiplayer mode.

The Solo game will end right before the Refresh Phase of the round described in the "Victory Condition" column of the Scenario card.

For a more challenging solo mode, try adding the Dilemma advanced module to your solo games. The Faction Heroes module softens the game difficulty and should be added with that in mind. The Guildmaster advanced module is only available in multiplayer games.

FAQ

Q. When should I replace cards that are picked from the common pools? A. When players pick cards from the common pools (Leaders, Structures, and Advanced Actions), they should promptly replace the chosen card with a new card drawn from the deck. If the common deck is empty, shuffle all discarded cards and make the new deck with them.

Q. Is it ok for players to discuss the cards they are playing face down? A. Players should never openly share the numbers on the cards they are playing but are free to give hints and bluff.

Q. What happens If I acquire an Upgrade Token but there are no matching available Structures in the common pool for me to upgrade? A. If there are no valid targets for an Upgrade Token, discard it.

Q. Can a building still be upgraded if it has a Rebellion token on it? A. Yes it can.

Q. Can I lose diplomacy with a Faction after becoming Favored with them? A. No. After becoming Favored your Diplomacy cube becomes locked to that space and will not move anymore.

Q. If a connecting symbol connects multiple actions, can you exchange all of them freely? A. Yes, you may exchange any of them for the others.

Q. Do Guildmaster or Dilemma cards prevent bonuses from being scored by outperforming in the Crisis challenges or reseting in the Province Attribute board? A. The bonuses provided by those 2 events are always scored, even if there is an effect in play blocking them.

Q. If you get an Attribute point during the Reset step due to the placement bonus of a Leader, do you still get the bonus/ seal/ reset? A. Yes, if the game is still in the Reset step, you may trigger the Reset.

Q. There is an infinite loop when I trigger my Leader's abilities and a Faction Action. Did I broke the game? A. Free Board Actions DO NOT trigger any of the Leader's abilities. They are only triggered by playing Action Cards.

Round Anatomy

The round anatomy is printed on the back of the manual.

Development Phase

1. Draw 6 cards.
2. (AD.MOD.) The 1st player draws 2 Guildmaster cards and chose one.
3. Play 4 cards.
4. Play extra action tokens (if available).
5. Burn one card from the hand or the top from the discard pile (except hunger).
6. Discard all left over cards in hand.

Crisis Phase 7. Reveal played Crisis Action cards. 8. In turn order add power and control Reserve tokens. 9. Check against Warfare Crisis, and resolve bonus/penalty in turn order. 10. Check against Political Crisis, and resolve bonus/penalty in turn order. 11. Score all power, control or reserve icons listed on the Crisis Action cards played (the icons are printed as symbols in the source). 12. Discard all Crisis Action cards played.

Score Phase 13. Score all Attribute points on Structure cards simultaneously. 14. Score the Score type Leaders (if their condition is met). 15. In turn order, take bonus track actions, place scored seals, trigger alerts, and reset 5th space track markers to the 0 space.

Refresh Phase 16. Check for the victory condition. If triggers, the game ends now. 17. (AD.MOD.) Reveal and vote for the Dilemma event and resolve the winner. 18. Reveal a new Crisis Challenge card. 19. Reset the Free Board Action token. 20. Pass the 1st player token (die) clockwise.