A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition)
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Second Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Winter is Coming
"Oh, my sweet summer child," Old Nan said quietly, "what do you know of fear? Fear is for the winter, my little lord, when the snows fall a hundred feet deep and the ice wind comes howling out of the north. Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides its face for years at a time, and little children are born and live and die all in darkness while the direwolves grow gaunt and hungry, and the white walkers move through the woods."
—George R.R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire
Welcome to A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, a game of politics, battle, intrigue, and betrayal based on George R.R. Martin's bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series. This second edition core set provides a fresh start to the A Game of Thrones (AGoT) card game for new and experienced players alike.
Game Overview
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game can be played by two or more players. A two-player game uses the joust format, while a game with three or more players uses the melee format.
In the game, each player plays as one of eight great factions vying to influence and control the Iron Throne and gain power in Westeros. Each player controls two decks: a draw deck that provides the forces a player's faction has at its command each round, and a special plot deck that is used to develop and manage a long term strategy.
Over the course of the game the players engage one another in military, intrigue, and political conflicts, until a single player emerges victorious. The first player to amass 15 power wins the game.
Using this Book
This Learn to Play book is written as an introduction to A Game of Thrones: The Card Game for new players. We recommend that new players learn the basics of the game using the joust (two-player) format—this format has the fewest steps and components, making it ideal for first time players. Games with three or more players require the melee format, which is explained in a later section of this book. After players have learned the basics of the game, they will be ready to enrich their experience by customizing and building their own original decks.
The complete rules of play can be found in the Rules Reference (RR), which also addresses more advanced topics such as the interpretation of card text, resolution of timing conflicts, and a detailed phase sequence. It is recommended that new players become familiar with the game using the Learn to Play book and only look up details in the Rules Reference as they occur in play.
Components
The components in the game are presented here for identification purposes. A complete card anatomy can be found on pages 30-31 of the Rules Reference.
- 8 Faction Cards (double-sided, agenda cards on back)
- 28 Plot Cards
- 6 Title Cards
- 192 Player Cards
- 30 Gold Tokens
- 10 Influence Tokens (double-sided)
- 30 Power Counters
- 1 First Player Token
A Living Card Game
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is a two to four player game that can be played using just the contents of this core set. With an additional core set, up to six players can play the game together. In addition, A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is a Living Card Game® (LCG®), and the enjoyment and experience of the game may be customized and enhanced through the purchase of regularly released 60 card expansions called Chapter Packs, as well as larger deluxe box expansions. Unlike collectible card games, all LCG expansions have a fixed distribution: there is no randomization to their contents.
Tutorial Joust Game Setup
To setup the tutorial game, players perform the following steps, in order. (Setup rules for all other formats are in the RR under the heading "setup.")
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Select decks. The tutorial is a joust (two-player) game using a Stark starter deck and a Lannister starter deck. Each player selects one of the decks described below.
House Stark: This player's draw deck consists of all the Stark cards (141-159, 203A), 1 copy each of Littlefinger (28), Rattleshirt's Raiders (30), and Milk of the Poppy (35), and 2 copies each of The Kingsroad (39) and The Roseroad (40). The Stark player should use the following plot deck: Summons, Wildfire Assault, A Noble Cause, Calling the Banners, Filthy Accusations, Calm Over Westeros, Supporting the Faith.
House Lannister: This player's draw deck consists of all the Lannister cards (84-102, 200A), 1 copy each of Littlefinger (28), Rattleshirt's Raiders (30), and Milk of the Poppy (35), and 2 copies each of The Kingsroad (39) and The Roseroad (40). The Lannister player should use the following plot deck: Summons, Wildfire Assault, Marching Orders, A Clash of Kings, Power Behind the Throne, Taxation, A Feast for Crows.
Note that these starter decks are smaller than standard decks, so it is more likely the tutorial game will end with a player running out of cards. If this occurs, the player with the most power counters on cards he or she controls wins. This is an exception to the standard rules.
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Determine first player. Randomly determine a player to be denoted as FIRST PLAYER while setting up the game. Place the first player token in front of this player.
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Place factions. Each player places the faction card (200A or 203A) indicating his or her faction faceup in his or her play area.
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Create treasury. Place all the gold tokens, power counters, and influence tokens in a pile within reach of each player. This area is known as the TREASURY.
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Place plot deck. Each player places the seven plot cards (listed in step one) facedown and in a stack next to his or her faction card.
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Shuffle draw decks. Each player shuffles his or her draw deck (i.e., all the cards denoted for his or her deck that are not the faction card or the plot cards already placed in steps three and five).
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Draw setup hands. Each player draws seven cards from his or her draw deck. Each player has the option to take a single MULLIGAN by shuffling those seven cards back into his or her deck and drawing seven new cards. A mulligan is recommended if a player does not receive a decent starting hand—for instance, drawing no characters would be a good reason to take a mulligan.
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Place setup cards. Each player, in player order (see page 6), may place up to a total of 8 cost worth of character, location, and attachment cards from his or her hand as setup cards. Setup cards are placed facedown in a player's play area. A card's cost is indicated in the upper left corner, within the gold token graphic. A card's type (character, location, attachment, or event) is found just below its cost.
When placing setup cards, the following restrictions must be observed:
- No more than 8 total cost worth of cards may be placed.
- No more than one card with the "Limited" keyword may be placed.
- Only character, location, and attachment cards may be placed.
- Each attachment that is placed must be attached to an eligible target under its owner's control when the attachment is revealed in the next step. Attachments must always be attached to an eligible character, unless the text on the attachment states otherwise.
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Reveal setup cards. All players turn their setup cards faceup. If attachment cards need to be attached, each player attaches his or her attachments in player order.
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Replenish opening hand. Each player draws cards until there are seven cards in his or her hand. The game is now ready to begin.
Play Area Example (Mid-game)
A player's play area includes the following elements:
- Characters in Play
- Locations in Play
- First Player Token
- Gold Pool
- Revealed Plot Card
- Faction Card
- Draw Deck
- Plot Deck
- Discard Pile
- Dead Pile
Key Concepts
This section introduces a number of foundational concepts to keep in mind while learning and playing the game.
The Golden Rule
If the text on a card directly contradicts the text of the rules (either in this document or in the Rules Reference), the text on the card takes precedence.
Winning and Losing
The object of the game is to amass 15 power. Power represents the influence of a player's faction in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. The first player to have 15 (or more) power on cards he or she controls immediately wins the game.
Amass 15 power to win.
There are numerous means by which a player may acquire power in the game: winning power challenges, winning challenges unopposed, winning dominance, and by resolving card abilities which instruct the player to gain power.
Instant Loss: Running Out of Cards
If a player has no cards remaining in his or her draw deck, that player instantly loses the game.
Discard and Dead Piles
An important feature of A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is that each player has both a discard pile and a dead pile for cards that have left the play area. When a character is killed, place it facedown in its owner's dead pile. When a card is discarded or sacrificed, place it facedown in its owner's discard pile. Attachments on a card that leaves play are returned to their owners' hands.
Unique Cards
A diamond symbol next to a card's title indicates that the card is unique. A player cannot have more than one copy of any given unique card in play at a time. A player may use additional copies of unique cards as duplicates. (See Rules Reference, page 7.)
"In Player Order"
The phrase "in player order" is used throughout this document to dictate the order in which players resolve or execute a game step. When the players are instructed to do something "in player order," the first player does so first, followed by each other player, one player at a time, in clockwise order around the table.
Standing and Kneeling
Cards enter play in a standing position (upright). In order to declare for a challenge, or to use certain card abilities, many cards must kneel, which is indicated by rotating the card 90 degrees (sideways). A kneeling position indicates that the card has been used, and the card is not able to kneel again until it is standing (made so by a game step or card ability).
Standing — a card upright in its normal position.
Kneeling — a card rotated 90 degrees sideways to indicate it has been used.
Phase Sequence
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game is played over a series of rounds. During a round, players will reveal their plots, gather resources (in the form of cards and gold), marshal their forces into play, initiate challenges against one another, and finally regroup in anticipation of the next round. Each round is divided into the following seven phases:
- Plot
- Draw
- Marshaling
- Challenges
- Dominance
- Standing
- Taxation
Each phase is described in detail, below.
Phase 1: Plot
The plot phase is divided into two steps:
- Choose plot cards
- Reveal plot cards
Step 1. Choose Plot Cards: Each player looks at all the cards in his or her plot deck, and chooses one that he or she intends to reveal in the next step. This choice is signaled by removing the card from the plot deck and placing it facedown on the table. Do not reveal the identity of the chosen card at this time.
Step 2. Reveal Plot Cards: Each player simultaneously reveals the plot card that he or she chose in step 1.
The player with the highest total initiative value wins initiative (see sidebar). The tiebreaker is the player with the lowest power total; if the tied players have the same power total, randomly select one of the tied players.
The player who wins initiative must now choose a first player for this round. Place the first player token in front of that player. The first player acts first during subsequent phases this round.
Some plot cards also have "When Revealed" ability text. "When Revealed" abilities resolve after the first player has been chosen. If multiple plot cards have "When Revealed" abilities, the first player decides the order in which those abilities resolve.
What do plots do?
Plot cards represent a long-term strategic commitment that will influence the remainder of the game round.
The first value (4) represents the amount of gold the plot provides, which is used to marshal cards into play. The second value (9) is initiative, which is used to determine which player wins initiative. The third value (1) is claim, which determines how effective your challenges are. The reserve value (6) on the bottom right of the card is a hand size limit, which is checked at the end of the round. Most plots also feature an ability that either resolves when the plot card is revealed, or persists while the plot remains revealed and in play.
Plot States
Plot cards exist in three states: in the plot deck, revealed, or in the used pile. When a player reveals a plot card, it leaves the plot deck, enters the revealed state, and is placed on top of his or her previously revealed plot card. All plot cards under a player's currently revealed plot card are considered that player's used pile.
When a player reveals the final card of his or her plot deck, the cards in that player's used pile are returned to his or her plot deck after all plot cards just revealed have taken effect. Note that the just revealed plot card remains revealed, and does not return to the plot deck.
Phase 2: Draw
Each player simultaneously draws two cards from his or her draw deck.
Phase 3: Marshaling
During the marshaling phase, each player (in player order) becomes the active player. The active player has the opportunity to marshal (bring into play) character, location, and attachment cards from his or her hand.
When a player becomes the active player during the marshaling phase, that player collects income by adding the gold value on his or her revealed plot card to the total value of any active gold modifiers that affect that value (usually found on cards the active player controls), and taking that number of gold tokens from the treasury and adding them to his or her gold pool.
The active player may now marshal a character, location, or attachment card from his or her hand by paying the card's gold cost (indicated in the upper left corner of the card) and placing the card in his or her play area. A player pays a gold cost by returning the indicated number of gold tokens from his or her gold pool to the treasury.
Cards enter play as follows:
- Character cards enter play standing, in the front row of a player's play area.
- Location cards enter play standing, in the back row of a player's play area.
- Attachment cards enter play standing, and must be attached to (overlapped by) another card. The default state for attachment cards is to attach to a character, but some attachments have text that enables them to attach to other card types.
The active player may continue to marshal character, location, and attachment cards from his or her hand until he or she chooses to stop, or cannot marshal any more cards. A player may choose not to spend all of his or her gold in the marshaling phase, as that gold may be used to pay for some card abilities throughout the round. However, this is the only part of the round during which a player may marshal character, location, and attachment cards from his or her hand.
Event Cards
Character, location, and attachment cards are marshaled into play during the marshaling phase. Event cards, however, may be played directly from a player's hand at various times throughout the game round. The specific time at which an event card may be played can be identified by the event card's text.
After the active player announces that he or she is done marshaling cards, each of the other players (in player order) becomes the active player and has an opportunity to marshal.
Phase 4: Challenges
During the challenges phase, each player (in player order) becomes the active player, and as the active player has the opportunity to initiate challenges against his or her opponent(s).
There are three types of challenges in the game. Each type follows the same general rules of initiation and resolution, but has different potential outcomes.
- Military challenge: The goal of a military challenge is to kill an opponent's characters.
- Intrigue challenge: The goal of an intrigue challenge is to discard cards from an opponent's hand.
- Power challenge: The goal of a power challenge is to move power from an opponent's faction card to yours.
The active player is permitted to initiate one challenge of each type during this phase, in any order. When a player initiates a challenge against an opponent, he or she is the attacking player, and the opponent is the defending player.
After the active player has resolved each of his or her challenges, or has passed on an option to initiate a challenge, the next player (in player order) becomes the active player, until all players have been the active player and had the opportunity to perform challenges.
Initiating and Resolving a Challenge
To initiate and resolve a challenge, perform the following steps, in order:
- Attacking player announces challenge type, opponent, and declares attackers.
- Defending player declares defenders.
- Compare STR and determine challenge winner.
Each of these steps is now explained in further detail:
Step 1. Announce challenge type, opponent, and declare attackers: To initiate a challenge, the active player does the following:
- Announces the type of challenge being initiated.
- Announces the opponent against whom the challenge is being initiated.
- Announces which characters (under his or her control) are being declared as attackers, and kneels those characters.
In order to be declared as an attacker, a character must have a challenge icon that corresponds with the type of challenge being initiated, and the character must be standing. At least one character must be declared as an attacker to initiate a challenge.
Step 2. Declare defenders: The defending player now has the option to declare characters he or she controls as defenders.
In order to be declared as a defender, a character must have a challenge icon that corresponds with the type of challenge that is currently underway, and the character must be standing. Each character declared as a defender is knelt at this time.
Cersei Lannister may be declared as an attacker or defender in an intrigue challenge, or in a power challenge, because she has those challenge icons. While participating in a challenge, she contributes 4 STR to her controller's side.
Step 3. Compare STR and determine challenge winner: Add together the STR of each attacking character, as well as any modifiers the attacking player has active. This value becomes the total attacking STR. Next, add together the STR of each defending character, as well as any modifiers the defending player has active. This value becomes the total defending STR.
The player whose side has the higher total STR wins the challenge. (Note: in the case of a tie, the challenge is won by the attacking player.) If this player does not have a total STR of 1 or higher, and/or if there are no participating characters on this player's side when this step (i.e., the STR comparison) occurs, neither player wins nor loses the challenge.
If the attacking player wins a challenge of any type and the defending player has a total defending STR of 0 (Note: having no defending characters gives a player a base defending STR of 0), the attacking player gains 1 bonus power for his or her faction. This is known as the unopposed bonus, and occurs in addition to all other effects of winning a challenge.
If the defending player wins a challenge, no unopposed bonus or claim effect takes place.
If the attacking player wins a challenge, one of the following claim effects occurs, depending on the type of challenge that is resolving:
Military challenge: The defending player must choose a number of different characters under his or her control equal to the claim value on the attacking player's revealed plot card, and kill those characters. (The chosen characters do not have to be characters that participated in the challenge.) Killed characters are placed in their owner's dead pile. (Each attachment on any card that leaves play is returned to its owner's hand.)
Intrigue challenge: The defending player must discard, at random, a number of cards from his or her hand equal to the claim value on the attacking player's revealed plot card. (This can be done by shuffling the hand and fanning the cards facedown towards the opponent, and allowing the opponent to choose which cards are discarded.)
Power challenge: The defending player removes a number of power counters from his faction card equal to the claim value on the attacking player's revealed plot card, and moves them to the attacking player's faction card.
Phase 5: Dominance
Each player simultaneously counts the total combined STR of his or her standing characters, and adds 1 to this total for each gold token in his or her gold pool. The player with the highest total wins dominance for the round, and gains 1 power for his or her faction. If there is a tie for the highest total, no player wins dominance.
Phase 6: Standing
Simultaneously stand each kneeling card in play.
Phase 7: Taxation
The taxation phase is divided into two steps:
- Return unspent gold
- Check reserve
Step 1. Return unspent gold: Each player simultaneously returns all unspent gold in his or her gold pool to the treasury.
Step 2. Check reserve: In player order, each player compares his or her current hand size (i.e., the number of cards in the player's hand) with the reserve value in the lower right corner of his or her revealed plot card. If a player's hand size is higher than his or her reserve value, that player must choose and discard cards from hand until the hand size is equal to the reserve value.
The end of the taxation phase also marks the end of the game round. Play proceeds to the plot phase of the next game round, and continues until one player wins the game.
What's Next?
You now know the basics of how to play A Game of Thrones: The Card Game. After playing the tutorial, you may wish to try different out-of-the-box starter decks, a melee format game, or to build your own custom decks. Rules for these formats await on pages 12-15. A quick reference of icons and keywords is placed on the back cover of this guide. Also remember, much additional information about the game can be found in the Rules Reference.
Challenges Phase Example
The challenges phase has begun. JoAnn is the first player, and is playing House Lannister. She is permitted to initiate each of her challenges before the Stark player, Jeff, may initiate his.
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JoAnn wants to start with an intrigue challenge, and chooses to declare "Cersei Lannister" as an attacker by kneeling her. She could have also declared "The Tickler" and/or "Tywin Lannister" as attackers, but she wants to save them for different challenges.
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Jeff has one standing character with an intrigue icon, "Catelyn Stark." He could declare Catelyn as a defender, but he would not have enough STR to win the challenge, so he chooses to declare no defenders.
JoAnn has an attacking STR of 4 and Jeff has no defenders, so JoAnn wins the challenge! Since the challenge was unopposed, she gains 1 power and places it on her faction card.
For the claim effect, she discards 2 cards at random from Jeff's hand: 1 because her revealed plot card has a printed claim value of 1, and 1 because Cersei's ability raises that claim value by 1.
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Next, JoAnn decides to initiate a military challenge by declaring "The Tickler" as an attacker (kneeling him in the process). She could have also declared "Tywin Lannister" as an attacker, but she chooses not to do so.
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Jeff defends with "Vanguard of the North" (kneeling it in the process).
JoAnn's attacking STR is 2, and Jeff's defending STR is 4. Jeff wins the challenge as the defending player, so no claim effect occurs.
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JoAnn could now initiate a power challenge with Tywin, but she wants to keep him available to defend against Jeff's challenges, so she passes. Jeff becomes the active player and may now initiate his challenges.
Melee Rules
The three to six player—or melee—game follows the same basic round structure and rules as the joust game. In addition to that basic structure, it also introduces the title cards to the game.
Title Cards
Each of the six title cards represents a position on the Small Council at King's Landing. During each round of the melee game, each player assumes one of these roles, which create relationships of alliance and opposition among the players. Each title also provides a unique bonus ability that its bearer may use during the game round.
When setting up a melee game, place the six title cards (numbered 206-211) in a title pool near the treasury, within easy reach of all players.
Using the title cards in a melee game adds a third step to both the basic structure of the plot phase and the taxation phase, as detailed below.
Melee Plot Phase
In a melee game, the plot phase is divided into three steps:
- Choose plot cards
- Reveal plot cards
- Select titles
Steps 1 and 2 are played following the same rules as in a joust game, as detailed on page 7.
Melee Plot Phase, Step 3. Select Titles: Shuffle the titles facedown and randomly remove one of them from the pool for this phase by placing it on the table facedown near the treasury. (In a three player game, two titles are removed at random; in a six player game no titles are removed.)
In player order, each player secretly selects one of the title cards from the pool and places that title facedown near his or her faction card. Once each player has selected a title, all players simultaneously reveal their selections by turning the selected titles faceup. Any title cards not selected are returned facedown to the title pool—they won't be used this round.
Melee Taxation Phase
In a melee game, the taxation phase is divided into three steps:
- Return unspent gold
- Check reserve
- Return titles
Steps 1 and 2 are played following the same rules as in a joust game, as detailed on page 10.
Melee Taxation Phase, Step 3. Return Titles: Each player simultaneously returns his or her title, facedown, to the title pool.
Title Abilities
The following is a description of the terms, symbols, restrictions, and effects that are associated with the title cards.
Supports
If a player's title supports another title, that player cannot initiate challenges against the player holding the title that he or she supports.
Rivals
If a player's title rivals another title, that player is rewarded for winning a challenge against the player holding the title that he or she rivals. A player gains 1 additional power for his or her faction after winning a challenge (as the attacking or defending player) against an opponent holding a rival title. In each round, a player cannot gain more than 1 power per rival opponent in this manner by winning a challenge against that opponent.
Crown Regent
This title contributes 2 STR to its bearer's total during the determination of the dominance winner. This title also has a special ability that can be used to redirect one challenge each round. After a player initiates a challenge and declares a target and attackers, the Crown Regent may use this title to force that player to choose a new target for the attack.
Note that the Crown Regent title has no "supports" or "rivals" relationship with any of the other titles.
Hand of the King
This title contributes 1 STR to its bearer's total during any power challenge in which its bearer controls at least one participating character.
The bearer of this title may initiate one additional power challenge during the challenges phase. However, this challenge cannot be initiated against an opponent that this bearer has already initiated a power challenge against this phase. (In other words, the additional challenge must be initiated against a different opponent.)
Master of Laws
This title increases the number of cards its bearer draws during the draw phase by 1.
This title provides its bearer with a +1 reserve modifier.
Master of Ships
This title contributes 1 STR to its bearer's total during any military challenge in which its bearer controls at least one participating character.
During military challenges, the bearer of this title increases the claim value on his or her revealed plot card by 1 while attacking an opponent he or she rivals.
Master of Whispers
This title contributes 1 STR to its bearer's total during any intrigue challenge in which its bearer controls at least one participating character.
The bearer of this title may resolve his or her claim effect against any number of opponents each time he or she wins an intrigue challenge as the attacker. (The full claim effect is resolved against each opponent chosen by this title's bearer.) This ability only affects how claim is handled; the challenge is still considered won against (and lost by) the defending player.
Master of Coin
This title provides its bearer with a +2 gold modifier.
Deckbuilding
The A Game of Thrones: The Card Game core set is designed to be a complete game experience with significant replayability. After learning the basics of the game, players may wish to explore building original decks. The deckbuilding rules are presented here.
Why Build a Custom Deck?
Deckbuilding is a process by which a player may customize his or her deck to challenge opponents with original strategies and ideas. This allows a player to experience the game in new ways; instead of adapting his or her play to the strategy of a starter deck, a player may construct a deck that functions as he or she desires. Custom decks open up new layers of possibility, and lead to games in which a player feels more invested. When a player constructs an original deck, that player doesn't just participate in the game: he or she actively shapes how it is played.
Custom Deckbuilding
The following are the deck customization rules for sanctioned tournament play. Note that for more customization options, players may want to obtain additional copies of this core set and/or other expansion sets containing new cards.
- A player must choose exactly 1 faction card.
- A player may choose 1 agenda card, or may choose to not use an agenda.
- A player's plot deck must contain exactly 7 cards. Up to one of the chosen plot cards may be duplicated once (by title) within the plot deck. No more than 1 copy of each of the other plot cards may be in the plot deck.
- A player's draw deck must contain a minimum of 60 cards, and can only contain up to 3 copies (by title) of any given card.
- There is no upper limit on a player's deck size.
- Unless otherwise permitted by an ability (e.g. the Banner agendas), each card in a player's deck and plot deck must be neutral or its affiliation must match the affiliation of that player's faction card.
Loyalty
Loyalty is a deckbuilding restriction that limits which cards can be used out-of-faction. A card is loyal to its faction if it has a scroll of parchment below its shield. A loyal card's affiliation must match the affiliation of a deck's faction card in order to be included in the deck. Certain card abilities (such as the Banner agenda cards in this core set) permit players to use non-loyal cards out-of-faction in a deck.
House Baratheon, Loyal
House Baratheon, Non-Loyal
Out-of-the-Box Decks
Two to four players sharing a single core set can enjoy a full game experience without the need to build their own decks by using pre-constructed "out-of-the-box" decks. These decks are intended only for games played out of a single core set, and ignore the loyalty rules that are used for custom deckbuilding.
The Old Ways (Stark/ Greyjoy)
This deck includes:
- The Stark faction card (203A)
- All of the Stark cards (141-159)
- All of the Greyjoy cards (65-83)
- One copy each of the following neutral cards: The Roseroad, The Kingsroad, Seal of the Hand, Littlefinger, Rattleshirt's Raiders, Varys, and Milk of the Poppy
- The following plot cards: Summons, The Winds of Winter, Supporting the Faith, Naval Superiority, Rebuilding, Confiscation, Calm Over Westeros
At the Wall (Night's Watch/ Baratheon)
This deck includes:
- The Night's Watch faction card (202A)
- All of the Night's Watch cards (122-140)
- All of the Baratheon cards (46-64)
- One copy each of the following neutral cards: The Roseroad, The Kingsroad, Rattleshirt's Raiders, Put to the Torch, Wildling Horde, The Iron Throne, Syrio's Training, and Superior Claim
- The following plot cards: Wildfire Assault, Building Orders, Marched to the Wall, Marching Orders, Fortified Position, Filthy Accusations, Jousting Contest
From East to West (Targaryen/ Martell)
This deck includes:
- The Targaryen faction card (204A)
- All of the Targaryen cards (160-178)
- All of the Martell cards (103-121)
- One copy each of the following neutral cards: The Roseroad, The Kingsroad, Varys, Put to the Torch, Wildling Horde, Milk of the Poppy, Noble Lineage, Put to the Sword
- The following plot cards: Summons, A Feast for Crows, A Noble Cause, Power Behind the Throne, A Storm of Swords, A Clash of Kings, Counting Coppers
Secrets and Schemes (Lannister/ Tyrell)
This deck includes:
- The Lannister faction card (200A)
- All of the Lannister cards (84-102)
- All of the Tyrell cards (179-197)
- One copy each of the following neutral cards: The Roseroad, The Kingsroad, The Hand's Judgment, Bodyguard, Superior Claim, Little Bird, Tears of Lys, Littlefinger
- The following plot cards: Wildfire Assault, Taxation, Calling the Banners, A Game of Thrones, Heads on Spikes, Sneak Attack, Reinforcements
When players are ready to move beyond these pre-constructed out-of-the-box decks, they are encouraged to try different combinations of factions, neutral cards, and plot decks to explore the full breadth of the game.
Quick Reference
Phase Sequence
- Plot
- Draw
- Marshaling
- Challenges
- Dominance
- Standing
- Taxation
Keywords
A keyword is an attribute that conveys specific rules to its card.
Ambush (X): You may, as a player action, pay the ambush cost (in gold) to put this card into play during the challenges phase. The "X" is the ambush cost.
Insight: After you win a challenge in which this character is participating, you may draw 1 card.
Intimidate: After you win a challenge in which you control one or more attacking characters with intimidate, you may choose and kneel a character, controlled by the losing opponent, with a STR equal to or lower than the amount of STR by which the challenge was won. No more than one character can be knelt by intimidate per challenge.
Limited: A player may not marshal or play more than 1 limited card each round, or place more than 1 limited card during setup.
No attachments: This card cannot have attachments.
Pillage: After you win a challenge in which this character is participating, you may discard 1 card from the top of the losing opponent's deck.
Renown: After you win a challenge in which this character is participating, you may gain 1 power on this character.
Stealth: When this character is declared as an attacker, you may choose a character without stealth controlled by the defending player. That character cannot be declared as a defender for this challenge.
Terminal: (Appears on attachments.) If the attached card leaves play, this attachment does not return to its owner's hand, and is discarded from play.
Symbols & Icons
- Unique card — indicated by a diamond symbol next to the card's title.
- Military icon or military challenge.
- Intrigue icon or intrigue challenge.
- Power icon or power challenge.
- Gold modifier — a gold coin icon showing the modifier value (e.g. +1).
- Initiative modifier — a diamond icon showing the modifier value (e.g. +1).
- Reserve modifier — a diamond icon showing the modifier value (e.g. +1).
Factions
Each faction has a distinct sigil shown in both a loyal (colored) and non-loyal (grey) version, along with an in-text symbol used in card text:
- House Stark
- House Lannister
- House Baratheon
- House Greyjoy
- House Tyrell
- House Martell
- House Targaryen
- The Night's Watch