A Royal Will
A Royal Will Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Super Quick Overview
A Royal Will is played over a series of rounds called 'Wills.' You will be dealt 2 cards. Place 1 card face down to claim your Inheritance and the other face up to alter The Will. The game ends once a player's Inheritance reaches at least 10 coins.
Components
- 25x Character Cards
- 6x Check-up Charts
- 66x Coins
- 12x Tokens
- 18x Game Trackers
Note: the printed component list says 18x Game Trackers, while the rules text below says "20 Game Trackers." Both are reproduced as printed.
Preparing The Wills (or "Setting up the Game")
- Inheritance: Each player starts with a small Inheritance of 2 coins placed in a pile in front of them.
- Preparations: Each player also starts with 1 orange "Bust/Won" token and 1 green "+1/-1" token.
Reading A Will
- Call to order: Shuffle all 25 Character Cards together and deal 2 cards face down to each player. Pick up and look at your 2 cards. This is your hand for The Will.
- Present the assets of the will: Place the starting amount of coins in the center of the table. These are The Assets of The Will. The number of coins in the starting amount depends on the number of players in the game:
- 2 players: 5 coins
- 3 players: 7 coins
- 4 players: 10 coins
- 5 players: 12 coins
- 6 players: 15 coins
- Place the rest of the coins off to the side in a pile called The Bank (the box base can be used as The Bank). The remaining cards should also be placed to the side as they won't be needed until the reading of the next Will.
Devising a Deed (or "Playing a Will")
At the beginning of The Will, choose 1 card from your hand and place it face down in front of you. This will be your Coin Card. After each player has a face down Coin Card, place the remaining card in your hand face up next to your Coin Card. This is your Action Card.
Starting with the player who has the most coins in their Inheritance and then continuing to the player on their left, read out and perform the action on your face up Action Card.
If there is a tie between who should perform the first action of The Will, then the player who went first on the last Will goes first this Will.
If this is the first Will of the game, then the player who dealt out the cards starts.
Important: You must perform your character's action if possible even if it negatively effects you!
Diagram labels: "Coin Card", "Action Card", "A Card's Coin Count", "A Card's Action".
Devising a Deed (Continued)
After all players have performed the action on their Action Card, then, at the same time, all players reveal their face down Coin Card by flipping it face up.
The coin count on this card is the number of coins you are trying to take from The Assets and add to your Inheritance.
Should the total number on all the flipped Coin Cards add up to be less than or equal to the number of coins in The Assets, The Will is won! You must take your coins from The Assets and add them to your Inheritance.
BUT... should the total number on all of the Coin Cards be greater than the number of coins in The Assets, The Will is bust and no player takes any coins from The Assets.
If The Will has bust, the greediest player (the player with the highest coin count on their Coin Card) is punished. They must move 2 coins from their Inheritance into The Assets. If there is a tie for the greediest, then each tied player moves 2 coins from their Inheritance into The Assets.
The Will is over once it is won or bust. Now shuffle together all the Character Cards and read the next Will (see "Reading a Will"). But this time, if The Assets are below the starting amount for the next Will, add coins until it is equal to the starting amount. If The Assets are above the starting amount, leave it! This will be a larger, more tempting Will. (See "Present the Assets of the Will" for starting amounts.)
All effects of actions are removed at the end of a Will.
The Game
Once a player's Inheritance has reached at least 10 coins at the end of a Will, the game is over.
The player with the most coins wins the game!
If there is a tie between players then the player who received the most coins during the last Will wins the game.
Optional Game Trackers
Included in "A Royal Will" are 20 Game Trackers. Use these to help keep track of who has won a game. Instead of finishing after one game, play a set number of games and see who has won the most Game Trackers by the end!
(See the Components note above regarding the printed count of 18x.)
Common Questions
If I forget the character I placed for my Coin Card, can I peak at it to remind myself?
You may only peak at your Coin Card while other players are still choosing which cards to place for their Coin Card. Once all Coin Cards have been placed, you may not look at your Coin Card.
Can a coin count be 0 or negative?
A characters Coin Count can be 0, but it can never be negative. (Important: if the Forger's Coin Count is 0 you still take a coin from The Assets.
What if there are not enough coins in the Assets for the Forger to get their guaranteed coin?
In the event that this occurs, the Forger can take their coin from The Bank for this Will.
Is the Heir immune to everything?
Yes, the Heir is immune to EVERYTHING! However, it is good to note that the Heir does NOT stop actions that they are not the target of such as stopping The Sleight from busting The Will.
What if I add or subtract 1 to the Sleight?
The Sleight has a Coin Count of 0. The Sleight's Coin Count can be increased but keep in mind if you bust The Will as The Sleight and have the highest Coin Count you will be punished!
Example Will
Lord Laser, Thrashkar, and Dan are each dealt 2 cards for their hand. Dan places 1 of his cards face down and shortly after both Thrashkar and Lord Laser have placed a card face down. Now that all players have a Coin Card face down in front of them, all players simultaneously place their remaining card face up as their Action Card.
Now it is time to perform the actions on each face up Action Card in order. Thrashkar performs his action first as he has the most coins in his Inheritance. He placed an 'Executor' so he swaps his Coin Card with Dan's Coin Card. After Thrashkar performs his action, then Dan, to the left, performs his 'Tax Collector' action by taking 1 coin from Thrashkar's Inheritance and putting it into The Assets. Finally, Lord Laser placed an 'Heir' which means she is immune to any actions this Will and thus could never have been the target of either of the previous actions.
Now that every player has performed their action, at the same time every player flips over their Coin Card. The coin count on the Coin Card is the number of coins each player is trying to take from The Assets. Dan's flipped card is worth 1 coin, Thrashkar's is worth 3 coins, and Lord Laser's is worth 2 coins, this adds up to 6 coins. As The Assets contain 7 coins, each player must take their set amount of coins. Dan takes 1 coin, Thrashkar takes 3 coins, and Lord Laser takes 2 coins, each adds them to their Inheritance.
However, say Dan's Coin Card was worth 4 coins, then the total coin count would add up to 9 coins! 2 more coins than what is in The Assets. In this case, NO player takes any coins from The Assets and Dan, as he tried to take the most coins from The Assets, must put 2 coins from his Inheritance into The Assets. The next Will is now worth 9 coins!
The Characters
Each character card has a coin count located in the bottom left corner and an action represented by the symbol on the banner to the right.
For an overview of all the character actions look to the right of this page or use the check-up charts in game for a quick reference!
All action effects are removed at the end of a Will.
Don't worry about remembering all the character actions. After a few Wills you'll have it down in no time!
Character Actions
Advisor (coin count 2)
- Action: Predict whether The Will is 'won' or 'bust' by placing a 'won/bust token' on this card. At the end of the round, if your prediction is correct, take 2 coins from The Bank (not The Assets).
Executor (coin count 2)
- Action: Swap the position of any 2 face down Coin Cards without looking at or revealing the cards.
Solicitor (coin count 3)
- Action: Increase(+) or decrease(-) a player's total coin count by 1. Place a '+/- token' next to the player you choose. This increase/decrease is attached to the player and not the Coin Card, should that player's Coin Card be changed.
Tax Collector (coin count 3)
- Action: Move 1 coin from a player's Inheritance into The Assets or into The Bank.
Heir (coin count 4)
- Action: You are Immune. You cannot be the target of any character actions this entire Will. This action takes effect as soon as this card is placed.
Forger (guaranteed 1 coin)
- Coin Count: You are always guaranteed 1 coin. If The Will is bust or if your coin count is 0, take 1 coin from The Assets. This is not an action.
- Action: If you have an Inheritance, perform a wager by placing at least 1 or more coins from your Inheritance on top of this card. The coin count on your Coin Card is increased by 1 for every coin you wager. If The Will busts, put all your wagered coins in The Assets. If The Will is won, your wagered coins are returned to your Inheritance in addition to the coins you earned from The Assets.
The Sleight (coin count X, bust)
- Coin Count: The Sleight has a coin count of 0. When The Sleight is revealed, The Will is automatically bust even if the total coin count wouldn't have bust The Will! The Sleight cannot bust a pot if 3 Coin Cards are the same character. This is not an action.
- Action: After a Will is won and every player has received their coins, take the remaining coins from The Assets and add them to your Inheritance.