3 Kings Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction to the Game
• Components
• Game Setup
• Rules
  • The 6 Game Phases
  • 1. Recruitment
  • Special Phase: Count of the Fallen
  • 2. Secret Planning
  • 3. Character Action
• Character Cards
• Action Cards
  • 4. Counselors at Court
  • 5. Intrigue of the Throne
  • 6. Awarding of VP
  • Player Board Scoring Summary
• End of the Game
• Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

Introduction to the Game

3 Kings is a game of intrigue, power and betrayal that will lead the players to take on the role of Leaders of powerful Factions with the aim of imposing their power on the Triumvirate, while awaiting the appointment of a new King.

Each player must carry out a strategy to impose their allies on the Thrones without the opponents discovering their identity, balancing cunning and strength.

Components

A box of 3 Kings contains, besides this rulebook:

• 1 Game board
• 8 Player boards (summary of scoring and game phases)
• 4 Faction tokens (Owl, Wyvern, Serpent and Lodge)
• 1 First Player card
• 54 Character cards
• 33 Action cards
• 8 Corruption cards
• 6 Purge cards
• 8 Faction Mark cards
• 1 Discard token
• 1 Infirmary token
• 1 Turn token
• 8 Counselor tokens

Game Setup

1. Place the Character cards Noble, Merchant and Priest of Value 1 on their respective Thrones, face up.
2. Place each Faction token in the corresponding space.
3. Place the Turn token on the turn track at position I.
4. Shuffle all the Character cards, the Corruption cards and the Purge cards into a single deck and place it face down in the designated space.
5. Shuffle all the Action cards and place them face down in the designated space.
6. Place the Infirmary and Discard tokens in their respective spaces.
7. The wisest and noblest player takes the First Player card.
8. Each player takes 1 Player board and 1 Counselor token of the same color as their own Player board.
9. Divide the Faction Mark cards into 4 decks placed face up (Mark of the Owl: Nobles and Royal Guards; Mark of the Wyvern: Merchants and Mercenaries; Mark of the Serpent: Priests and Spies; Eye of the Lodge: Corruption and Balance).
10. Based on the number of players, form a single deck as follows:
    • 3-4 players: take one card from each of the 4 decks and return the remaining cards to the box.
    • 5 players: cover the Owl, Serpent and Wyvern decks. Remove 1 deck at random without the players seeing it, then add 1 Eye of the Lodge card.
    • 6 players: cover all the decks and remove 1 deck at random without the players seeing it.
    • 7 players: remove 1 Eye of the Lodge card and use all the remaining cards.
    • 8 players: use all the Faction Mark cards.

Rules

A game of 3 Kings is played over 4 Turns. Each Turn is divided into 6 game phases. At the end of the 4 Turns the game ends and the Faction with the most Victory Points (VP) is declared the winner.

The 6 Game Phases

1. Recruitment
2. Secret Planning
3. Character Action
4. Dispatch of Counselors to Court
5. Intrigue of the Throne
6. Awarding of VP

Special phase: Count of the Fallen (see below). This special phase is triggered whenever Character cards must be drawn from the Character deck and it is exhausted.

1. Recruitment

Starting from the First Player and proceeding clockwise, all players must restore their hand to 6 cards by drawing them from the Character deck.

• If a player has fewer than 6 cards, they draw until they reach 6.
• If a player already has 6 cards, they skip this phase.
• If a player has more than 6 cards, they discard as many as they choose until they reach 6.

If the Character deck is not sufficient to restore a player's hand, the special phase "Count of the Fallen" is triggered.

Special Phase: Count of the Fallen

Whenever Character cards must be drawn from the Character deck and it is exhausted, the special phase Count of the Fallen is immediately triggered. During this phase the First Player performs the following operations in order:

1. Takes the cards in the Infirmary and shuffles them.
2. Reveals all the cards and separates them by Character type.
3. Awards VP to each Faction as follows:
   • +1 VP to the Coven of the Owl for each Mercenary card or Priest card.
   • +1 VP to the Guild of the Wyvern for each Noble card or Spy card.
   • +1 VP to the Pact of the Serpent for each Merchant card or Royal Guard card.
4. Removes VP from each Faction as follows:
   • -1 VP to the Coven of the Owl for each Noble card.
   • -1 VP to the Guild of the Wyvern for each Merchant card.
   • -1 VP to the Pact of the Serpent for each Priest card.
   • -1 VP to the Eye of the Lodge for each Corruption card.
5. Shuffles the cards just counted with the Discards and forms a new Character deck.
6. The Turn resumes from where it was interrupted.

(The page also reproduces the Player board scoring summary, highlighting first the +1 rows and then the -1 row of each Faction; see Phase 6 for the full table.)

2. Secret Planning

Each player chooses up to 3 Character cards from their hand and places them face down in the 3 spaces in front of their Player board, in the order they prefer.

In this phase it is not possible to play Purge and Corruption cards, since these are reserved exclusively for the Intrigue of the Throne phase. In the remote event that a player has only Purge and Corruption cards in hand, they cannot play any card during this phase.

The player may decide to fill all the spaces of the Player board, only some of the spaces (e.g. 1 or 2), or leave them all empty.

When all players have finished their Secret Planning, proceed to the next phase.

3. Character Action

During this phase, the players carry out 3 Rounds as follows:

• They all simultaneously reveal the card placed in the first space on the left of their Player board. If a player has not placed a card in this space, they reveal no card.
• Starting from the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player, one at a time, performs the Action of their Character card and then puts it face down in the Discards.

After all players have resolved the card in the first space of their Player board, the Round ends and the same is done for the cards placed in the second and third spaces.

Character Cards

A Character card is structured as follows:

• A - Faction icon: indicates the Faction the Character belongs to.
• B - Character Value: indicates the power of the Character Effect and its ability to influence the Intrigue of the Throne phase. This Value can be I, II or III.
• C - Character name.
• D - Character Effect: indicates the Action performed by the Character if played during the Secret Planning phase.

Note: the card texts quoted below are those of Value 1 cards; higher-Value cards state a larger number (e.g. the Value 2 Mercenary: "Draw and use up to 2 Action cards from the Action deck"; the Value 3 Noble: "Swap up to 3 Thrones with 3 Character cards from your hand").

Noble. The Noble allows replacing the Character cards on the Thrones with an equal number of cards from your hand, regardless of their Value, and taking the First Player card. (Card text: "Swap up to 1 Throne with 1 Character card from your hand.")

It is not possible to replace a Throne with Corruption or Purge cards.

Royal Guard. The Royal Guard allows examining the cards in the Discards and choosing which to put in the Infirmary and which at the bottom of the Discards. (Card text: "Draw 1 card from the Discards. Choose whether to put it in the Infirmary or at the bottom of the Discards.")

Purge and Corruption cards can also be put in the Infirmary.

Merchant. The Merchant allows drawing cards from the Character deck or from the Discards. The player can choose how many cards to draw from each deck. (Card text: "Draw 1 Character card from the Character deck or from the Discards.")

Mercenary. The Mercenary allows drawing and performing cards from the top of the Action deck. (Card text: "Draw and use up to 1 Action card from the Action deck.")

Priest. The Priest allows randomly stealing cards from another player's hand and adding them to your own hand. (Card text: "Steal up to 1 Character card from the hand of a player.")

Spy. The Spy allows drawing and performing Action cards from the top of another player's Past Actions space. (Card text: "Draw and use up to 1 Action card from another player's discards.")

Mercenary and Spy. The Action cards drawn must be shown to everybody. The player then decides whether to perform them or to place them face down in the Past Actions space beside their Player board. Past Actions is a virtual space beside your Player board in which to put the Actions played or discarded.

First Player. In a game of 3 Kings the First Player changes often thanks to the Effect of the Noble card. If this happens in one of the 3 Rounds of the Character Action phase, the next Round will be played clockwise starting from the new First Player.

The First Player card can pass to multiple players during the same Round.

Action Cards

An Action card is structured as follows:

• A - Rank: indicates the order of execution of the Action card.
• B - Discard / Eliminate: indicates whether the card must be discarded (Past Actions space) or put back in the box, eliminating it from the game.
• C - Action name.
• D - Action Effect: indicates the effect of the Action card if it is performed and not discarded.

(Example card: "The Death of the Traitor", Rank 2: "You may put 1 card from your hand in the Infirmary. If you do, draw 1 card from the Character deck.")

When a player draws 1 or more Action cards, they must lay them out in front of them in order of Rank from lowest to highest (in case of equal Rank between 2 or more cards they may decide the order). Then, following the order of placement, for each card they must perform the following operations:

• Read aloud the Action Name and Action Effect.
• Perform the Action indicated by the card, or discard it.
• If the card bears the "X" symbol, put it back in the game box.
• If the card bears the "C" (return arrow) symbol, put it face down in the Past Actions space beside their Player board.

Cards with the "X" symbol must be put back in the game box and eliminated from the game, whether they were performed or discarded.

Cards with the "C" symbol must be put face down in the Past Actions space, whether they were performed or discarded.

4. Counselors at Court

Starting from the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player performs one of these operations:

• If they have their Counselor available, they decide whether to place it on one of the Characters on the Thrones and perform the corresponding Action, or skip this phase.
• If their Counselor is already placed on a Character on a Throne, they decide whether to perform the corresponding Action or skip this phase.

Example: the Red player performs the Value 1 Merchant, drawing 1 card from the Character deck or from the Discards deck. The Light Blue player and the Purple player perform the Value 1 Priest, each stealing 1 card from the hand of another player of their choice.

Each Throne can host any number of Counselors. Each Counselor stays on the Character card until it is removed or replaced. If this happens, the player takes their Counselor back into their hand.

Each player may decide to skip this phase entirely.

5. Intrigue of the Throne

Starting from the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player must perform one of these operations:

• Place 1 card face down from their hand on an Intrigue space corresponding to one of the Thrones.
• Pass, thus ending their Intrigue of the Throne phase. If they still have cards in hand, they put them face down above their Player board. These cards can be used in the next Turn.

This phase continues until all players have passed or have run out of cards.

It is possible for one Intrigue space to receive many more cards than the others.

6. Awarding of VP

The First Player takes the cards placed in the Intrigue space of Throne 1, shuffles them, then reveals them and performs the following operations:

• Separates the Purge and Corruption cards from the others.
• Counts the Defense points by adding up:
  • the Value of the Character on the Throne;
  • the number of Counselors present on the Throne;
  • the Value of all the revealed cards of the same Faction as the Character on the Throne.
• Counts the Attack points by adding up the Value of all the revealed cards that have a Faction different from that of the Character on the Throne.

To keep secret the cards played by each player during the Intrigue of the Throne phase, it is important to shuffle them making sure not to look at the cards and not to show them to the other players.

If the Defense Value is greater than the Attack Value, the Character on the Throne is safe and will continue to reign in the following Turn.

If instead the Defense Value is less than or equal to the Attack Value, the Character on the Throne is put in the Infirmary. The vacant Throne is occupied by the Character of the highest Value among those of the Faction that contributed most to the Attack.

Example: On the first Throne the Merchant is safe because Merchant 1 + Mercenary 2 + Red Counselor have Defense 4 against Attack 2 of Noble 1 + Spy 1.

On the second Throne the Noble is safe because Noble 1 + Royal Guard 1 + Purple Counselor have Defense 3 against Attack 2 of Priest 1 + Spy 1.

On the third Throne the Priest will go to the Infirmary because Priest 1 + Priest 1 have Defense 2 against Attack 5 of Royal Guard 2 + Noble 3. In this case the Noble will go up on the Throne because it is the Character card of highest Value within the Faction.

In case of a tie within a Faction, the respective Leaders always prevail (Nobles for the Coven of the Owl, Merchants for the Guild of the Wyvern, Priests for the Pact of the Serpent).

In case of a tie between two Factions, the following tiebreaker rule is followed: Owl, then Wyvern, then Serpent, then Owl again (as shown by the arrow sequence Owl -> Wyvern -> Serpent -> Owl on the page).

Once it has been determined who reigns on the Throne, its moral integrity must be checked. The First Player counts the number of Purge cards and the number of Corruption cards. If the number of Corruption cards exceeds the number of Purge cards, the Character on that Throne is Corrupt.

The First Player then awards the VP for the Throne as follows:

1. If the Character on the Throne is Corrupt:
   • +2 VP to the Eye of the Lodge, regardless of the Character on the Throne. The Faction of that Character will receive no VP for this Throne.
2. If the Character on the Throne is not Corrupt:
   • +2 VP to the Coven of the Owl if the Character on the Throne is a Noble or a Royal Guard.
   • +2 VP to the Guild of the Wyvern if the Character on the Throne is a Merchant or a Mercenary.
   • +2 VP to the Pact of the Serpent if the Character on the Throne is a Priest or a Spy.

The revealed cards are then shuffled and put face down on top of the Discards, and the same operations are performed for Thrones 2 and 3.

After finishing the awarding of VP for all the Thrones, check whether a Faction controls the Majority of the Thrones:

• If there is a Majority, nothing happens.
• If there is NO Majority, +3 VP are awarded to the Eye of the Lodge.

The Majority is determined by the number of Characters and not by their Value. For example, with 2 Noble Value 1 and a Priest Value 2 there is a Majority in favor of the Owl.

Finally, advance the Turn token by one space and begin a new Turn.

Player Board Scoring Summary

Each Player board summarizes the VP of each Faction (crown icon = Character on a Throne at the Awarding of VP; skull icon = cards counted in the Count of the Fallen; red skull = VP lost in the Count of the Fallen):

Faction	Throne: +2 VP	Count of the Fallen: +1 VP	Count of the Fallen: -1 VP
Mark of the Owl	Noble, Royal Guard	Priest, Mercenary	Noble
Mark of the Wyvern	Merchant, Mercenary	Noble, Spy	Merchant
Mark of the Serpent	Priest, Spy	Merchant, Royal Guard	Priest
Eye of the Lodge	Corrupt Throne: +2; No Majority: +3		Corruption: -1

End of the Game

The game ends in two circumstances:

• At the end of the Turn in which the Eye of the Lodge reaches or exceeds 15 VP. In this case the Eye of the Lodge has won the game even if there are no players belonging to this Faction and even if another Faction has obtained a greater number of VP.
• At the end of Turn IV. In this case a final special phase Count of the Fallen is performed, then each player reveals their identity and those belonging to the Faction with the most VP are declared the winners.

The Eye of the Lodge can win in two ways: by reaching 15 VP or by being the Faction with the most VP at the end of Turn IV.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

If I place the Counselor on a Noble, can I swap that Noble with a card from my hand? Yes. In this case your Counselor returns to you, but your Counselors at Court phase is nonetheless over.

How is the Majority calculated if one or more Thrones are deactivated by the effect of the Action card Kidnapping (Rapimento)? The Majority is calculated only on the Thrones that are still active. If there are 2 active Thrones, there is a Majority if a single Faction controls both. If there is only one active Throne, the Faction that controls it is always in the Majority.

What happens if my Counselor is already on a Throne in the Counselors at Court phase? During your Turn in this phase you can choose whether to perform the Action of the Character on that Throne or skip this phase. In this case you will not be able to place the Counselor until the next Counselors at Court phase.

If, during the Awarding of VP phase, the Corruption cards on a Throne exceed the Purge cards by 2 or more, how many VP are awarded to the Eye of the Lodge? A single Corrupt Throne can never award more than 2 VP, regardless of the number of Corruption cards in excess of the Purge cards. The Eye of the Lodge may however receive up to 2 VP for each other Corrupt Throne, up to a maximum of 6 VP.

Does a Corrupt Throne count for determining the Majority? Absolutely yes. The Corrupt Throne simply awards VP to the Eye of the Lodge, but retains its membership in the Faction indicated on the Character card.

Which Effects does the Action card Bodyguards (Guardie del Corpo) make me immune to? To all the Effects that interact directly with you, in any phase of the Turn. For example, cards cannot be stolen from you in any way, nor can you be the target of card swaps or of other Effects of Action/Character cards.

Must I necessarily perform the Effect of a Character or Action card after playing it? No. You can decide not to perform the Effect of the Character inserted in the Secret Planning and likewise not to perform the Action cards drawn with the Mercenary or Spy. In every case, you must still show the cards you have decided not to perform.

What happens if I have only Corruption cards or Purge cards in hand? The probability of this happening is really very low, but it is still part of the game. Should it happen, we advise you to put on your best poker face and carefully plan your moves during the Intrigue at Court phase.

What happens if at the end of Turn IV the Eye of the Lodge is in the lead but no player belongs to this Faction? The Eye of the Lodge has won anyway. This applies to any Faction that obtains the highest score at the end of the game, regardless of whether there are players belonging to that Faction.

If my Counselor is already present on a Throne during the Counselors at Court phase, can I move it to another Character? No. To move your Counselor you must first take it back into your hand. The Counselor can be taken back into hand only if the Character card on which it is placed is removed from the Throne.

What are the Infirmary and Discards tokens for? During the game you must interact many times with the Character deck, the Discards and the Infirmary. These tokens, placed on their respective decks, allow you to distinguish them easily.