The last time I had played the game was maybe back in 2012 at a protospiel event. I might have played it one more time since then, but to be honest, I don't remember if I did.
Well, I decided to bring it back to life at my last weekly playtesting session of 2019, and since I didn't remember what changes I was considering, we played it as-written (circa 2012). Then we discussed the game, and I brought it back out today, and played 2 more games, with some significant changes. Good news: I think the changes were for the better!
Since it's been so long, I'll run down the basic rules as I'd write them as of right now:
Setup:
As before, place the plot tokens and character figures in their home spaces on the board.
Shuffle mission cards and deal 4 to each player.
Give each player a reference mat and 1 One For All card.
Deal each player a secret goal card (using only the ones for the appropriate player count).
Set a pile of VP tokens in a supply
NO GUARDS AT ALL
Game play:
On your turn, you have an Action phase and a Draw phase.
Action phase:
During the Action phase you can do any number of actions from the following list, in any order (most are limited to 1x/turn):
a1) Move (1x/turn): Choose any 1 character and move them up to 3 steps. You may double back, but you must stop the move action upon encountering another character. If carrying a Horse, may choose to have the character ride instead, moving exactly 4 steps, jumping over tokens and figures.
a2) Pick up tokens: While moving, you may have the moving character pick up any number of tokens in the spaces you visit by discarding 1 card for each. Note that when riding, you may not pick up the tokens you jump over. Characters have no capacity limit. (you may pick up the a token in the location of another character you encountered - wording above might make it sound like you can't since I said the move action ends)
ONCE PICKED UP, TOKENS ARE NEVER DROPPED. In order to move them to another character, a Demand action is required (see below)
b) Demand a plot token (1x/turn): If 2 characters are in the same location, you may have one of them demand a plot token held by the other. In this case, a duel ensues to determine the outcome. Note: You do not have to use the same character that you moved - more than 1 character can act on your turn.
c) Complete a mission (1x/turn): Choose a character. If the conditions of a mission card in your hand are met, you may complete the mission with that character (some missions require a specific character to do them). Receive points based on the type of mission and the tokens you deliver (see below), and then bump 1 of that character's favored story tracks per token delivered (max 1 bump per track per mission). ONCE A TRACK HAS MAXED OUT, IT'S COMPLEMENT TRACK IS ALSO LOCKED IN AND NO LONGER MOVES.
c1) Duel missions: 3vp (and draw 1 card)
c2) Character delivery (either/or): 4vp for 1 token, 6vp for both
c3) Any Character mission (2 req'd): 5vp
c4) Standard delivery (req'd/bonus/bonus): 4/6/8vp for 1/2/3 tokens
d. Play One For All card for some effect:
d1) Play when completing a mission to gain an additional 2 VP
d2) Play when picking up tokens to cover the discard cost of all pickups this turn (so max 3 tokens, since you can move up to 3 steps)
d3) Play during a duel for 3 offensive moves (or during another player's turn for 0 offensive moves, but you get it back immediately)
d4) Play during the draw phase of the turn to draw 2 additional cards
d5) Play to immediately end your turn (skipping the draw phase) and start another. This allows for a 2nd move action, a 2nd demand action, or a 2nd mission.
Draw phase:
Draw 2 mission cards from the deck.
You may play One For All to draw 2 additional cards.
Then reclaim your One For All card.
Max hand size = 8 cards (including One For All). If you have more than 8 cards, discard mission cards until you have only 8
Game ends when all 3 story tracks are maxed out
Duels:
Duels between characters are triggered by Demand actions and by Duel missions. In any case, when you trigger a duel on your turn with a character (the one making the demand, or one of the two in the duel mission), you choose one of that character's story tracks to fight for. Announce the chosen character, the nominated track, and if applicable the token being demanded (and maybe from whom, to help other players out).
All players must play 1 card simultaneously, then reveal. Blue cards are worth 1 offense (2 if it's that character's signature move), red cards are worth 1 defense, white cards (riposte) are worth 2 defense. Add up all offense and all defense. If there is more offense than defense, the the duel has been WON. If there is more defense than offense, the duel is LOST. If there is the same amount of offense and defense, then the duel is TIED.
If WON: NOMINATED track is bumped. Token IS moved in the case of a demand.
If LOST: OPPOSITE track is bumped. Token IS NOT moved in the case of a demand.
If TIED: NO track is bumped. Token IS moved in the case of a demand.
One For All card played by active player is worth 3 offense.
One For All card played by any other player is worth 0 offense, and they get it back immediately.
Abilities and Signature Moves: as before. Aramis' ability to avoid guards must change (since there are no guards now): You may discard a card to move beyond another character. If that proves too useless, maybe it doesn't need to cost a card.
--- End Rules ---
So the big differences from before are:
1. No guards at all
2. 8 card hand
3. Draw 2 cards per turn instead of 1
4. Pay cards to pick up tokens (making that more intentional)
5. No such thing as dropping tokens or hand-offs, it's all just demand actions
6. No "active character" for the turn - you can act with different characters in a turn (move Aramis, demand with Athos, complete a mission with MiLady)
And to clean up some exceptions:
7. Make all Meeting missions into Duels (so they're all the same)
7. Make all Meeting missions into Duels (so they're all the same)
8. Allow riding a horse over dashed lines (ferry crossing and catacombs)
Both 4p games we played today took about 60 minutes, and this mix of rules seemed to work really well.
I added a few connections on the map, and I think a few more might be in order. Might want to sort of revisit the whole map and also the mission cards to make sure that (a) named locations are sort of evenly spaced out (ideally not less than 4 steps between any 2 named locations), and (b) based on token starting locations, no missions are doable on the first turn (at least not without using the One For All card for extra actions)
Due to the higher hand size and extra card draws, the deck almost ran out in our 4p games, and I suspect for 5 players it would definitely run out, so more missions are needed. I'd begin by making more missions with Horses as required or bonus tokens.
I think this is a big improvement over the previous version with respect to fiddliness and rules overhead. It feels good to see some progress on this game -- the biggest disappointment of my game design career is that nothing has ever come of this game.
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