Trieste
Trieste Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Card Breakdown
Note: Trieste is a game in which the cards dictate the rules and gameplay. If at any time a card's text conflicts with a rule in this manual, follow the card's instructions.
The game includes 175 cards as follows:
City Watch: Blue Deck
- 33 cards
- 3 Hero cards
Merchant: Green Deck
- 33 cards
- 3 Hero cards
Thief: Red Deck
- 33 cards
- 3 Hero cards
56 treasure cards:
- 1 Diamond — Value: 4
- 4 Gold — Value: 3
- 12 Silver — Value: 2
- 39 Copper — Value: 1
11 Victory Condition cards
Playing the Cards
Cards are only played during the Play Phase of the turn, during which a single card from each player's hand is played face-down, and then revealed during the Payment Phase.
The cost of the card is in the upper left corner on most cards, and treasure cards have no cost to play them. When a card is revealed in the Payment Phase, the card must immediately be paid for by discarding treasure cards from the player's hand with a total value greater than or equal to the cost.
The effect of the revealed card, as described in the card's text box, is resolved during the Effect Phase. Once resolved, the revealed card is placed in that player's discard pile.
Revealed Thieves that are captured are placed in the captured pile, and their effects are not resolved. Revealed treasure cards go to the shared treasure discard pile.
Card anatomy:
- Title
- Cost
- Type
- Level
- Effect
Setting Up the Game
- The three faction decks are formed by first setting aside all Hero cards (these are used in advanced games), and then combining all remaining cards of a specific faction (Thief, Merchant, or City Watch), and shuffling each deck. Set aside the Victory Condition cards.
- Set aside six Copper treasure cards, then the treasure deck is formed by combining all remaining Copper, Silver, Gold, and Diamond cards, and shuffling.
- Each player chooses one of the three faction decks (Thief, Merchant, or City Watch) at random. Each faction must be represented by a player.
- To form their starting hand, each player draws two cards from their faction deck, then adds two of the set aside Copper treasure cards.
Static Rules
No Spare Change: Whenever a cost must be covered by treasure cards in hand, no change can be made or treasure cards exchanged. Costs must be met or exceeded in order to be fulfilled.
Any time an effect calls for a deck to be searched, that deck's owner must shuffle the deck after the search is completed.
Whenever the treasure deck is depleted, shuffle the treasure discard pile to form a new treasure deck.
Whenever a player's deck is depleted, that player can no longer draw cards from their deck. Note that character cards from the discard pile can still be returned in the End Phase.
Whenever a Thief character card's effect is successfully resolved (the character is not captured or otherwise negated), the Thief player gains Infamy, represented by Infamy Victory Condition cards, equal to the level of that Thief character. Note that this does not occur when Thief action cards are resolved.
Heroes: Advanced Setup
Once every player has been assigned a deck/faction, before the game begins, the players, in secret, each select one of their faction's available Hero cards. These chosen Heroes are kept secret from the other players, face-down by each deck, until revealed. Players may reveal their Hero card at the beginning of any phase before they take an action for that phase, even if other players have taken action that phase, unless the Hero card specifically states otherwise. The effects of Hero cards do not occur if the Hero is not revealed. Once a Hero has been revealed, it stays revealed unless an effect flips it face-down once more. Hero cards are unaffected by all cards unless they specifically state they interact with Hero cards.
Sequence of Play
Gameplay proceeds in a series of turns. Each turn has five phases. When all five are completed, a new turn begins, and they are repeated. During each phase, all players take the appropriate action(s) in the following order:
1: City Watch, 2: Merchant, 3: Thief
1: Draw Phase
In order, each player draws 2 cards. This could be 2 cards from the treasure deck, 2 cards from their faction deck, or 1 card from both decks. Players may draw their first card before deciding from which deck to draw the second.
2: Play Phase
In order, each player places a card from their hand face-down, or announces that they will not be playing a card this turn. Character or action cards may be played for their printed effect, and Copper or Silver treasure cards may be played to draw additional treasure cards equal to the value of the played treasure. Note that Gold and Diamond treasures cannot be played in this way. Played cards do not resolve until the Using Effects phase. Players may choose not to play a card, and save all cards in hand. Players will typically do this when they cannot afford to pay for any card's effect.
3: Payment Phase
In order, each player reveals their face-down card and immediately pays for the card by discarding treasure cards which are of equal or greater value than the card's cost. Discarded treasure cards are placed in the communal treasure discard pile, not in the player's discard pile. If a player cannot pay the cost, they must reveal their hand and the revealed card's effect is negated.
4: Effect Phase
In order, each player resolves the effect of their face-up revealed card. After the revealed card has been resolved, it is placed in that player's discard pile. Revealed Thieves that are captured are placed in the captured pile by the Law & Order victory condition, and any effects are negated. Revealed Copper and Silver treasure cards go to the treasure discard pile, and that player draws a number of treasure cards equal to the discarded treasure's value. A revealed Copper allows that player to draw one card from the treasure deck, and a revealed Silver allows for two draws from the treasure deck.
5: End Phase
In order, each player checks to see if they meet their faction's Victory Condition. Note that if two players both meet their Victory Conditions in the same turn, the player that goes first in order (City Watch, Merchant, then Thief) is the victor. Additionally, each player may pay the cost of any level 1-3 character cards in their discard pile to return those cards to their hand.
How to Win
Each of the three factions has a unique Victory Condition. A check for Victory Conditions are only made during each player's End Phase, rather than the game ending immediately upon a Victory Condition being met.
When a player has achieved their Victory Conditions during their End Phase, the game ends immediately, and that player is the victor.
City Watch wins the game when they have captured a total of 7 Thieves, checked during each End Phase.
Law and order has won the day, stamping out corruption and greed across the city!
The Merchant wins the game when, during their End Phase, they have treasure in hand equal to the total level of all Thieves captured by the City Watch plus 11.
You have earned untold riches, but someone has got to pay to keep the prisons open!
The Thief wins the game when they have 9 Infamy during their End Phase.
You have achieved the title of "Nine Tails" and the right to become the next leader of the Thieves' Guild!
Example of Play
In a game of Trieste, Cynthia is playing as the City Watch, Mark is playing as the Merchant, and Theodore is playing as the Thief. We join the three players mid-way through the game.
At the start of a new turn, Cynthia draws a card from the top of her City Watch deck, and decides to draw from the top of the treasure deck for her second card. Confident in his goal, Mark then draws a card from the top of the treasure deck, and then a second. Theodore chooses to draw a card from his Thief deck, considers his options, then draws a second Thief card from the top of his deck.
Cynthia, Mark, and Theodore each select a card from their respective hands, and place them face down on the table before them.
Once they have all been selected, Cynthia reveals her played City Watch card - a Patrol Officer. Hoping Theodore will reveal a level 1 or lower Thief card so that it can be captured by the Patrol Officer, Cynthia pays the cost of 1 for her Patrol Officer by discarding a Copper card from her hand to the communal treasure discard pile in the center of the table.
Mark then flips over his played card - Business as Usual. Mark's card has 0 cost associated with it, so he does not need to discard any treasure cards from his hand to play it.
Theodore reveals his card last, flipping over a Street Urchin character card. The Street Urchin card also has a cost of 0, and so no treasure cards need to be discarded to play it.
Cynthia's Patrol Officer card takes effect first - she checks to make sure that Theodore's Street Urchin is level 1 or lower, and seeing that it is, Cynthia captures Theodore's Street Urchin, taking it from the table and placing it next to her Law & Order Victory Condition card, where it counts towards the 7 captured Thief characters she needs to win the game. The Patrol Officer card is then discarded next to her City Watch deck.
Mark then carries out the effect of his Business as Usual action card. He draws two treasure cards from the treasure deck, and looks at them without revealing them to his opponents. From the two, he selects to keep a Gold treasure card and places it in his hand, and discards the other treasure card, a Copper, to the communal treasure discard pile.
Unfortunately for Theodore, his Street Urchin card was already captured by Cynthia's Patrol Officer. When a Thief character is captured, its effect is negated, and so nothing occurs during this Thief portion of the Effect Phase.
In the End Phase, victory conditions are checked for each player. Cynthia adds up the number of Thief characters she has captured, including the Street Urchin she captured earlier this turn. She finds she has less than the required number of 7.
Mark checks to see if he can afford the Untold Riches Victory Condition. He adds up the total value of all treasure cards and finds he has 9, including a nice boost from the Gold treasure card he drew earlier this turn by playing Business as Usual. He does not have enough to win this turn, but is getting close to victory.
In previous turns Theodore has managed to collect a certain amount of Infamy, represented by a small stack of Infamy cards in front of him, but when his Street Urchin was captured this turn he was unable to generate any more Infamy. When he reaches a total of 9 Infamy cards he will be crowned King of Thieves and the victor, but has not collected that total just yet.
Since no one has met their victory conditions, each player is allowed to buy back any character card level one or higher that was discarded this turn; the buy back cost is equal to the standard cost of the card. Play continues with a new turn's Draw Phase.
Quick Reference Guide
During each phase, all players take the appropriate action(s) in the following order:
1: City Watch, 2: Merchant, 3: Thief
Phases of the Turn:
Draw Phase — Draw 2 cards. Each card can be either from your faction deck or the treasure deck.
Play Phase — Choose a card from your hand and play it face down. You can play a character, action, or treasure card (Copper or Silver only).
Payment Phase — Discard treasure cards equal to the cost of the character or action card played. If you cannot pay the cost, reveal your hand.
Effect Phase — Resolve the effect of your character or action card and discard it. If instead you played a Copper/Silver, draw treasure cards equal to the played card's value (Copper = 1, Silver = 2).
End Phase — Check to see if you meet your Victory Condition. If not, you may buy back any level 1+ character cards in your discard pile by paying their cost.