The Rulebook

THE WORLD

Four rival manors carve a kingdom from broken land. You grow by claiming provinces, raising Keeps, and crowning thrones — racing to be first to the throne. But the land is not empty. Out on the wastes, the rebels are watching the weak.

HOW YOU WIN

First manor to the point target wins (shown top-left in "Your Path to Victory" — it tells you every way you could still score). Points come from Keeps, thrones, resource pairs, goals, most land, and cards.

A TURN, STEP BY STEP

• 1. Draw a Fate card. It names 2 goods — every province of those types produces, for everyone. (No dice, no numbers — the card is fate.) Watch for Bounty (double), Drought (nothing), and Raiders.
• 2. Spend your 3 actions. Building, buying a card, and Advancing each cost one action — you can't do everything, so choose. Trading at the bank and playing cards from your hand are free.
• 3. End Turn.

THE FIVE GOODS

• Grain · Timber · Stone · Steel are what you build with.
• Crown is currency — needed for Pardons, Advance, Thrones — needed for Advancing, Capitals, Relics and Tribute, and it trades 2:1 at the bank (everything else trades 3:1). Don't burn it on small stuff.
• Holding over 7 goods is dangerous (9 in Tier 2 / advanced maps) — a Rebels Fate card makes hoarders lose half. Spend, don't sit.

BUILDING (what you see on the map)

• Claim empty land touching yours — a Manor. More land = more income.
• Advance (once, early) unlocks Upgrades and the card market. Do it as soon as you can.
• Upgrade a province to a Keep — this is your main point engine, and it produces double. Each new build costs 1 more of everything than your last, so the bigger you grow, the dearer it gets.
• Throne — raise a Keep to a grand Throne: +2 points, triple output, and +1 more if it's nestled among 2+ of your own provinces (a heartland). Build these in the middle of your realm, not the edge.

THE REBELS

They live on the wastes. They are not a player — they are the pressure that stops any one manor running away with the game. Here's exactly what they do:

• They grow. Each round their strength rises by 1 (that's the counter climbing next to the skull). At strength 4 they start wrecking.
• They hunt the leader. Every round they march one step toward whoever is winning — then strike where they land.
• They rob and wreck. The province they sit on can't produce. When wrecking, they raze a capital all the way back to a Manor, smash a Keep down to a manor, or ruin a plain province (costing points until you Repair it). Losing a capital to rebels hurts — keep Soldiers or Tribute ready before you build one.
• Beating them — your sword: play a Soldiers card to hit their strength. Drop them to 3 or less and you've beaten them for +1 point.
• Holding them — your armour: pay Pardon to freeze them for a round and shield your goods. Tribute now costs more the more thrones you hold (1 gold + 1 per capital) — protecting an empire isn't cheap, so the leader can't just buy safety forever.

THE CARDS

After Advancing, three cards sit face-up in the market. Buy one, play it free on a later turn. Soldiers beat rebels; Land Grab takes free land; Saboteur bleeds every rival; Shield guards you; Relic Shards are quiet endgame points. Costs vary by power: cheap cards take spare Grain/Timber, the strongest demand the scarce goods (Stone, Iron, Gold). Cards win close games.

OPENING STRATEGY (read this!)

• In the draft, grab a pair. Two provinces of the same good means every Fate card naming it pays you double — and a pair is worth a point. Consistent income beats scattered variety.
• Don't chase every resource. You mainly need Stone + Iron to upgrade. Land rich in those turns into points fastest.
• Advance early, then upgrade relentlessly. Castles are how you actually score. A player with 4 Keeps beats a player sitting on a pile of goods every time.
• Bank your gold for Advance, a Throne, or a Relic — not small trades.
• Leading is dangerous — the rebels come for you. Keep a Soldiers card handy, or gold for Tribute, before you pull ahead.

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