A Study in Emerald (First Edition)
A Study in Emerald Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview
The game 'A Study in Emerald' draws its central plot from the award winning short story penned by Neil Gaiman, in which the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft are combined to telling effect. However, to create a world detailed enough for players, much has been added from real history. The nineteenth century was a time of unrest, with many colourful characters fighting both for and against the authorities. 'A Study in Emerald', is the outcome of the merging of these three worlds.
'A Study in Emerald' is for two to five players and should take around 90 to 120 minutes to play.
Each player will be assigned a 'secret identity', which will either be Restorationist or Loyalist. This identity is important for a number of reasons. It dictates what you will score points for, it may determine when the game ends, and it will come back to bite you if you do not work out which players are on the same side as you.
The game board will be seeded with twelve stacks of Game cards, one in each city.
You will begin with your own Initial deck of cards from which you will draw a hand of five. During the course of the game you will add cards to your deck, which will cycle through your hand as you exhaust your draw deck and shuffle your discard pile to make a new one.
Play will progress clockwise around the table, with each player taking a turn to perform two actions. The game will proceed in this manner until one of the game end conditions is met.
The majority of actions involve playing cards. Once you have completed your two actions you refill your hand to five cards.
Much of your time will be centered on the acquisition of more cards. You can claim a card if you have the most Influence points on it (a combination of cubes and agents), adding it to your discard pile. There is a wide variety of cards in the game, many of which will allow you to perform specific actions. A good number of these are agents, who you can use to do your bidding. You can also take control of cities, which score you points as well as giving you a card.
There are three resources in the game, which will appear as symbols on many of the cards. The cube symbol allows you to place and retrieve Influence cubes. The gold symbol allows you to buy more Influence cubes and move agents. The bomb symbol is used when carrying out assassinations.
'A Study in Emerald' portrays a secret war, which means there is a modicum of violence. This usually takes the form of assassinations. The Restorationists wish to assassinate the royal 'persons' who dominate the world. The Loyalists are out to assassinate the Restorationists. To assassinate a royal 'person' or another agent requires the playing of a specified number of Bomb points.
There are a number of conditions that will trigger the end of the game. Your strategy should be based around placing yourself in a winning position and then causing the game to end before another player can overtake you. The game will end if 1) a player reaches a set number of victory points, 2) a Restorationist player loses his main agent, 3) one marker reaches the top of the War or Revolution tracks or 4) a player plays the Zombie card when all eight Zombie pieces are on the board.
At the end of the game players reveal their secret identities if they haven't already. Each side is now assessed on points to see how well it has done. The inferior side is eliminated. The surviving player with the highest points scored is declared the winner. It is very important that you understand the rules that determine which side is eliminated. You may be ahead on points but still lose because of the poor performance of another player on the same side as you.
You do not have to understand what every card does before you start playing. You can learn about the cards as and when they come into play.
Components
As well as this rule book you also have the pieces described below.
Player pieces
Each player has these in their colour:
- Twenty Influence cubes
- Fifteen Control discs
- One Main Agent counter
- Ten Initial cards
Cards
- Sixty Game cards, all of which have the main image in an oval
- Twelve City cards
- Twelve Permanent Effect cards
- Six Secret Identity cards
Counters
- Twenty-two Agent counters
- Twenty-two Double-agent counters
- Eighteen Sanity counters
- Three 'Safe' counters
- Two Player Aid cards
Board
The game board, showing the twelve cities and the connections between them, the War track, the Revolution track, and the Victory Point track.
Wooden pieces
- Ten Blocking discs
- Two Track markers
- Eight Zombie pieces
Starting the game
Shuffle the Secret Identity cards and deal out one face-down to each player. This card determines which side you are on, which will either be the Restorationists or the Loyalists. You should look at the card you have been dealt, but keep it secret from other players. Place the remaining Secret Identity cards to one side, without examining them.
Place the Agent counters face-up by the side of the board. Some Agent counters are marked with Bomb symbols, which can be used when carrying out assassinations. An agent may also be marked 'AR', 'AA', or 'AA/R', which is to help remind you that the agent has the ability to assassinate royalty, another agent, or both.
Each player now selects a colour to play and takes the matching Main Agent counter, deck of Initial cards, Influence cubes, and Control discs.
You begin the game with six Influence cubes available to you (your Available stock). The remaining fourteen Influence cubes should be placed by the side of the board in an area called the Pool. You also have fifteen Control discs. These are used for a variety of purposes, such as marking your control of an agent or city.
Shuffle the Game cards. If there are four or five players then place four cards in each Game Card box, face-down. If there are two or three players then place three cards in each box. Place the remaining cards to one side, without examining them. Turn the top card in each stack face-up. If an agent is revealed then you should take the corresponding Agent counter and place it on the card.
Place the deck of City cards face-up in the City Card box. There is no need to shuffle these as players will sort through them to find the specific one they require.
Shuffle the Double-agent counters face-down. Each player draws a number of these counters, depending on the number of players in the game:
- Four or five players – draw two Double-agent counters each.
- Three players – draw three Double-agent counters each.
- Two players – draw four Double-agent counters each.
Once you have taken your counters you can look at them but you should keep them secret from other players.
Place one Track marker on the zero space of the War track, and the other on the zero space of the Revolution track.
Each player places one of their Control discs on the zero space of the Victory Point track.
Shuffle the Sanity counters and place them face-down by the side of the board.
Each player shuffles their Initial cards to form their personal draw deck, which is placed face-down in front of them, then draws the top five cards to form their starting hand.
Shuffle the Permanent Effect cards and place by the side of the board, face-down. Draw the top two cards and place face-up on display.
Place the Blocking discs in the Pool by the side of the board.
Finally, randomly determine who will be the first player. In player order each player places their Main Agent counter in a City box on the board. More than one Main Agent can be in the same city. Make sure the counters are on their 'human' side and not their 'vampire' side.
Playing the game
Play commences with the first player and continues clockwise.
When it is your turn you perform two actions. Any cards that you play should be placed face-up on your discard pile. After performing two actions you draw your hand back up to five cards. If your draw deck is exhausted and you need to draw a card then shuffle your discard pile to make a new deck.
Example: You should have an arrangement similar to the one shown above, with your Secret Identity card to one side, your draw deck in the middle, and your discard pile to the right.
If at any time during the game you are forced to lose a card from your hand, draw a replacement card immediately. You will always start your turn with at least five cards in your hand.
Many of the cards in the game have multiple ways they can be used. When played though, a card can only ever be used in one of those ways, being either for: one type of symbol on it, or its action.
Example: The Okhrana card can either be used for the cube symbol, or the gold symbol, or the action marked at the bottom.
Example: Agent Monday plays three cards, each with one cube symbol on it. He takes three Influence cubes from his Available stock and places them on the Shoggoth card.
The actions that are available to you are:
- Place Influence cubes
- Claim one card
- Retrieve Influence Cubes
- Buy Influence Cubes
- Move agents
- Move markers
- Discard cards
- Reveal your secret Identity
- Reveal Double-Agent
- Card action
- Pass
Action: Place Influence cubes
Play one or more cards, each of which must have at least one cube symbol on it, from your hand. You must then take a number of Influence cubes from your Available stock equal to the number of cubes on the played cards. These cubes can either be placed on a face-up Game or Permanent Effect card, or in a City box.
All of the Influence cubes placed in a single action must be placed in the same place. There is no limit to the number of cubes that can be on a card or in a City box. You cannot deliberately play more cards than you need to. The only time you can play fewer cubes than the number indicated is if you play a card with two cubes on it and you only have one available.
Action: CLAIM ONE CARD
There are three types of cards you can claim: Game cards, Permanent Effect cards, and City cards.
Important: You can only claim a card with your first action AND only if you haven't performed a free action yet that turn.
You can claim a card if no other player has more points of influence assigned to it than you do. At least one of your points of influence must be an Influence cube, i.e. you cannot claim a card just with influence gained from your agents. Each Influence cube is worth one point of influence. Each agent you have in the same city (including your Main Agent) is worth one point of influence. Note that the Influence points from agents will count towards claiming both Game cards and City cards.
If there is a tie for points then the tied player who has the most agents in the city has the higher total.
When you claim a Game card you place it on your discard pile. If the card is marked 'Agent' then move the matching Agent counter from the Game card to the City box and place one of your Control discs on the counter to show that you control him or her. After taking the Game card, the next card in the stack should be turned face-up. If it is marked 'Agent' then place the matching Agent counter on it. When the final card is taken from a Game Card box move the War marker two spaces up the War track and draw one Permanent Effect card, placing it face-up on display.
When you claim a Permanent Effect card, place it face-up in front of your position. You do not draw a new Permanent Effect card to replace the one just claimed.
Example one: Agent Monday can claim the Shoggoth card as his first action. He has a total of four Influence points (three cubes and one agent in the city). Agent Thursday also has four points but Agent Monday breaks the tie due to having more agents involved than Agent Thursday. Agent Monday places his three cubes in Limbo. Agent Thursday retrieves his cubes and places them in his Available stock. Note that Agent Monday cannot claim the Berlin card as he does not have any Influence cubes in the City box. Agent Monday must also draw a Sanity counter.
If you take any card marked with the Sanity symbol then you must draw one Sanity counter. (The upcoming Sanity Counter section will explain these further).
When you claim a City card take the corresponding card from the City card deck or ask the player who presently controls the city to find the card and hand it to you. If that player had the City card in his hand then he draws a replacement card from his draw deck. If the player had to retrieve the card from his draw deck then he shuffles his deck. You also place a Control disc in the space indicated for the city and increase your victory points score by the number of victory points the city is worth, as shown on the board. If the city was previously controlled by another player then they retrieve their Control disc and reduce their victory points score by the same amount.
All of your Influence cubes used to claim a card are now placed in Limbo. Any other Influence cubes involved are returned to the Available stocks of their owning players.
Example two: Agent Thursday can claim the Berlin City card as his first action. He has a total of two Influence points in the City box. Note that if he only had one cube in the box he would not be able to claim the card as he would not have more points of influence than Agent Monday. After taking the card, Thursday places a Control disc in the circle below the City box and advances his disc on the Victory Track six spaces.
Action: RETRIEVE INFLUENCE CUBES
Play one or more cards, each of which must have at least one cube symbol, from your hand. Retrieve Influence cubes equal to the number of cube symbols on the cards played and place them in your Available stock. Cubes may be retrieved from any combination of Limbo, City boxes, Game cards and Permanent Effect cards.
You cannot deliberately overpay cards. The number of cubes you retrieve must match the number of cubes on the cards you have played (unless you have played a single card with two cubes on it and you only have one cube to retrieve). You cannot obtain cubes from the Pool in this manner.
Action: BUY INFLUENCE CUBES
Play one or more cards, each of which must have at least one gold symbol on it, from your hand. For every two gold symbols you played, take one of your Influence cubes from the Pool and add it to your Available stock. You cannot deliberately overpay and you must spend gold in multiples of two. If you do not have any cubes in the Pool then you cannot perform this action.
Action: MOVE AGENTS
You can move one or more Agent counters under your control, which includes your Main Agent counter. The cost of moving one agent along one connection is shown in the silver circle on the connection. Within an action, each agent may travel as many connections as you can afford, but he or she must use the cheapest route, i.e. you cannot go along a more expensive route just to use extra cards. If a connection has a junction then an agent may use any path stemming from that junction (other than the path they just travelled to reach that junction) for the stated cost.
After moving agents, determine the total cost and then play cards from your hand so that the number of gold symbols matches the cost. You cannot overpay cards unless the cost is one and you have played a single card with two gold symbols on it.
There is no limit to the number of agents that can be in a City box.
Example: Agent Tuesday moves three of his agents to Paris, as shown above. The total cost is four gold. Note that Tuesday could not deliberately move Moriarty along a longer route just to expend additional cards. Tuesday pays with the cards shown.
Action: MOVE MARKERS
The Restorationists wish to encourage the masses to rise up and revolt against their inhuman masters. The Loyalists wish to engineer a war that will create enough madness to give their masters the strength to open Eldritch portals. These portals will allow more creatures to travel to Earth from the dark dimensions wherein they currently reside.
Play one or more cards, each of which must have at least one arrow symbol on it, from your hand. If there is more than one arrow on a card then you must choose one, you cannot use both. If you choose a pink arrow then move the Revolution Track marker a number of spaces equal to the number inside the arrow and in the direction the arrow indicates. If you choose a green arrow do the same, except on the War track. You can use multiple cards to move one or both markers. For example, you can play one card to move the Revolution marker up one space and another card to move the War marker down one space. A marker can never move below zero and you cannot play a card if you cannot move the corresponding marker at least one space with that card.
Restorationists will earn victory points from the Revolution track, Loyalists from the War track. These points will be scored by all players who are on that side, making this a means to pass on points to players on your side. Note that players do not immediately claim victory points gained from here as to do so would reveal their identity. They only do so when they reveal their identity.
Example: Agent Friday plays the three cards shown. He then moves the marker up the Revolution track five spaces. Note that he doesn't move the War marker down as he can only use the London card for one of the arrows on it.
Action: DISCARD CARDS
Select one or more cards from your hand and place them on your discard pile. If you discard more than one card you may place them in such a way that only one card is visible, thus keeping the identity of the other cards a secret from other players. Note that you still do not draw cards until the end of your turn.
Action: REVEAL YOUR SECRET IDENTITY
Reveal your identity BUT only if by doing so you cause the game to end, i.e. the number of victory points that are dependent on your secret identity, such as those gained from the Revolution and War tracks, are enough to move your Victory Point marker to or past the necessary space on the Victory Point track to trigger the end of the game.
Action: REVEAL DOUBLE-AGENT
Reveal one of your Double-agent counters and take control of the agent named on it. You can only take control of an agent that is already controlled by another player. The player in question removes his Control disc, finds the card that goes with the agent (in the same manner as if it were a City card) and hands it to you. You place the card on your discard pile. You place a Control disc on the agent.
You cannot reveal an assassinated agent as a double-agent.
Note: Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty are exceptions to these rules:
- If a player reveals Sherlock Holmes as a double-agent then, if the controlling player is Restorationist, he has the opportunity to immediately reveal his secret identity and retain control of Holmes.
- If a player reveals Professor Moriarty as a double-agent the controlling player has the choice to reveal his secret identity. If he is a Loyalist he retains control of the Professor.
Action: CARD ACTION
Play one card and perform the action described on it. If the card is marked 'Free action' then this does not count towards your two action limit. If the card is marked 'One use action' then after performing the action you must remove the card from the game.
Action: Pass
Relax for a bit and enjoy the ambience.
Sanity counters
During the game you will be required to draw Sanity counters, either due to taking a card with Sanity symbol on or when assassinating/hiding a royal 'person'.
When you draw a Sanity counter, reveal it. If it says 'Sane' then remove it from the game. If it says 'Mad', keep it. If you have three 'Mad' Sanity counters then you must reveal your secret identity. If you are a Restorationist then the game ends immediately. If you are a Loyalist then the game continues with your Main Agent counter remaining where it is.
If there are no more Sanity counters left and you are required to draw one then it is presumed you have gained enough 'Mad' counters to reveal yourself. If you are a Loyalist and your secret identity has been revealed then you only draw Sanity counters to determine whether an agent of yours dies while carrying out an assassination of a royal 'person'. In all other cases you do not draw any counters.
Scoring Victory Points
There are a number of ways of scoring points in the game. However, while your identity remains a secret there are only some points which are recorded immediately. The point of this rule is that you can never give away your identity through the points you score. Your actual points score is only calculated when your identity is revealed. Consequently, the position of your disc on the Victory Point track is not necessarily an accurate indicator of your total.
While your identity is a secret you score points for the following:
- cities you control,
- royal 'persons' you have assassinated and/or hidden, and
- taking the Necronomicon card.
When your identity is revealed you adjust your victory points to give a more accurate total (although it may still not be the true one, as will be explained below). Points are scored as described below.
Restorationists and Loyalists will both score points for the following:
- Each controlled city: score points shown in the City box.
- Necronomicon: score three points.
A Restorationist player will score points for the following:
- Each royal 'person' they've assassinated: score the points shown in the Royal 'Person' box.
- Revolution track: score points shown on the highest victory point earning space reached by the marker.
- Controlled Agent counters: some agents are worth victory points, as indicated on the Agent counter. You do not score these points if the agent in question is a vampire.
- The Black Hand: score an extra two victory points for every royal 'person' you have assassinated.
A Loyalist player will score points for the following:
- Each royal 'person' they've hidden: score the points shown in the Royal 'Person' box.
- War track: score points shown on the highest victory point earning space reached by the marker.
- Vampires: if you have the Vampire card score one point per vampire agent, including your Main Agent, that you control on the board.
- Zombies: if you have the Zombie card and all eight zombie pieces are in play then you score eight points.
- Yog-Sothoth: if you have this card score two points for each agent you have sacrificed to this god.
A Loyalist player will also score for the following when the game ends:
- Each Restorationist agent they've assassinated: score one point for each agent, including a Main Agent, they've assassinated that was controlled by a Restorationist player.
Ending the Game
The game ends as soon as one of the following game end conditions has been met. These are:
- The marker reaches the top space on the War track
- The marker reaches the top space on the Revolution track
- One player reaches a set number of victory points, as indicated on the Victory Point track for the number of players in the game. Note the game still ends even if the player's adjusted score ends up below this threshold.
- A Restorationist player's Main Agent is killed, which may be the result of an assassination, destruction by a Shoggoth, or drawing a third 'Mad' Sanity counter.
- A player plays the Zombie card as their first action and all eight zombie pieces are on the board.
All of the players should now reveal their identities, if they have not already done so, and adjust their victory point scores according to the rules described earlier.
Determining a winner
If all players are on the same side, the player with the most points wins.
If there are players on both sides, the side whose player has the lowest individual points total is eliminated. In the case of a tie, Loyalists are eliminated. Then the player with the highest score on the remaining side wins.
If there is a tie between players on the same side, the player with the most Control discs on the board is the winner. If that is also a tie then the tied players share the win.
Note: having your Main Agent die does not stop you from being able to win the game.
Example: In the situation shown above any player on the same side as Agent Tuesday (green) will be eliminated. If green and yellow are Loyalists, and blue and red Restorationists, blue would win.
Card actions
Many of the cards in the game have multiple potential uses. However, when a card is played it can only be used for one purpose, e.g. if you use a card for its cube symbols you cannot also use its action or any other type of symbol on it at the same time.
Some cards give you the choice to assassinate royalty or an agent. You must decide which of these you wish to perform; you cannot do both within an action.
Playing a card effect marked 'Free action' does not count towards your two action limit. It still counts as an action for the purposes of claiming a card.
If a card is marked 'One use action' then after you have played it for the action on it you must place it to one side, where it remains for the rest of the game. If you played the card for any symbols on it, thus not using the action, then you place it on your discard pile instead of removing it from play.
In all cases the rules below take priority over the text on the cards. Please make sure you check how each card works as the text on them is only intended to be an aide memoire, not a full explanation.
ASSASSINATE ROYALTY – If you use an agent Game card to carry out this action then you must perform the assassination in the city occupied by the matching Agent counter. If you use a Hired Assassin card then you can carry out the action in any city that you have at least one agent in (including your Main Agent).
You must match the defence value of the royal 'person', marked in the Bomb symbol in their box, with Bomb points. Each Bomb symbol on Agent counters under your control in the city in question counts toward your total (including the agent carrying out the assassination). You can then play one or more cards from your hand that have Bomb symbols on them to add to this total. Any Bomb symbols on the card you played to carry out this action do not add to your total.
You cannot assassinate a royal 'person' who has already been assassinated or who is in hiding.
Once you have carried out the assassination you place one of your Control discs in the Royal 'Person' box and increase your victory point score by the amount indicated there. You must now draw one Sanity counter. If you draw a 'Mad' counter and you had used an agent to carry out the action then you lose the use of this agent. Place the card for that agent to one side and remove the Agent counter from the board.
Note: Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty and vampire agents cannot be lost due to a 'Mad' Sanity counter, but you do retain the Sanity counter.
Another player can interrupt and cause the assassination to fail if they reveal a Double-agent counter for any agents in the city that belongs to the active player. If a player does reveal a Double-agent counter in this way he immediately takes control of the agent in the same manner as described in the rules earlier.
It is only possible for you to target a player's Main Agent if a) they control no other agents and b) they are known to the authorities (explained in the section below).
If a player has his Main Agent assassinated then he reveals his identity. If he is a Loyalist he does not remove his counter. If he is a Restorationist then the game ends immediately and the assassinating player takes the Main Agent counter (as it may score points at the end of the game).
The player carrying out the assassination should keep the Agent counter and the Control disc on it as it may score points at the end of the game.
The assassination can be foiled by the revealing of a double-agent, as detailed in the rules on assassinating royalty.
Example: Agent Wednesday plays the Moriarty card. He can only assassinate Reclus, not Monday's Main Agent counter. Wednesday must play another three Bomb points to be able to carry out the assassination. Agent Monday must be known to the authorities as Reclus has the potential to give him two Victory Points.
Known to the authorities – At the start of the game all players are unknown to the authorities. While you remain unknown your agents are safe from assassination. Once you have one or more actual or potential victory points you become 'known to the authorities'. Place one of your Control discs in the 'Known to the Authorities' box. From this point your agents can now be assassinated. Once you are known to the authorities you cannot later become unknown. You have potential points if it would be possible for you to score points depending on your identity, for example, if you have control of an agent who grants victory points to a Restorationist, or if the War and/or Revolution markers have reached the point where they earn points, or you have assassinated another agent (even if you are a Restorationist).
Example: Agent Monday plays the Kravchinsky card and decides to assassinate the royal 'person' in Washington. He must match the Bomb defence of '5'. He already has two Bomb points (one from Kravchinsky and one from his Main Agent counter). He plays the two cards shown to add the necessary three Bomb points. No other player reveals Kravchinsky to be a double-agent, so the assassination succeeds. Monday places one of his Control discs in the Royal 'Person' space and increases his score on the Victory Point track by four. He must also draw one Sanity counter, which turns out to be 'Mad'. He retains the counter and removes the Kravchinsky counter from the board. He also removes the Kravchinsky card from play.
Assassinate agent – If you use an agent Game card to carry out this action then you must perform the assassination in the city occupied by the matching Agent counter. If you use a Hired Assassin card then you can carry out the action in any city in which you have at least one agent in (including your Main Agent).
You must match the Bomb defence of the city, marked in the Bomb symbol, with Bomb points (in the same manner as described in the rules on assassinating royalty).
You can only target agents controlled by players who are 'known to the authorities' which means they have a disc in the box with the same name (see below). You cannot assassinate vampire agents.
Hide royalty – Hiding Royalty works in the same manner as 'assassinating' a royal 'person' (i.e. you must equal or exceed the defence value of the royal 'person'). After completion, place one 'Safe' counter in the Royal 'Person' space and place a Control disc on top of it. You cannot hide royalty that has already been assassinated or hidden. You score the points for the royal 'person' in the same way as if you had assassinated them. You also draw a Sanity counter in the same way.
Special action cards
Several Game cards carry a special action described on the card itself. These are explained in full below.
BISMARCK – Select one city that you control. Remove all Influence cubes from the city and its associated Game card and place them in Limbo (including your own). Remove any Blocking Disc in the city and/or its associated Game Card box and place it back in the Pool. Remove any zombies and hand them back to their controlling player. Starting with the player to the left of the active player, and continuing clockwise, each player apart from the active player must move each of their agents in the city to an adjacent connected city, at no cost. A player can choose to move his agents to different eligible cities. Place the Bismarck card in the City box. Place your Control disc on top of the card. The city is now locked, which means you cannot lose control of it, only your agents may enter the city, no Influence cubes can be placed in the City box and only you may place Influence cubes on Game cards in the associated Game card box. No Zombie pieces can be placed in the city.
THE HOLY BROTHERHOOD – Move one or two of your Influence cubes from one place to one other place that you're allowed to place influence cubes. You're allowed to move the cubes from Limbo or your Available stock.
THE DIOGENES CLUB – Draw two cards. You can have more than five cards in your hand. Only place this card on your discard pile after both cards have been drawn.
INFERNAL MACHINE – Although this card is not an action you must still remove it from the game if you use it to add to your Bomb points.
IRENE ADLER – Take one unrevealed Double-agent counter randomly from a player of your choice. The player you are taking it from can look at it so they know which double-agent they have lost. You cannot take the last Double-agent counter held by a player. You cannot take Double-agent counters that have already been revealed.
DUCHESS D'UZES – Place one Influence cube on a Game card, Permanent Effect card, or in one City box.
MATVEI GOLOVINSKY – Move the War marker up to two spaces up the War track.
THE FREEMASONS – Discard as many cards from your hand as you wish and then draw the same number of cards, plus another one for this card. Only place this card on your discard pile after both cards have been drawn. As with the Discard action you can 'hide' cards when you discard them, only showing the top card.
NADAR – Move one of your agents to any City box on the board without the need to spend gold.
HIRED ASSASSIN – You may perform the assassination in any city where you have an agent (including your Main Agent). No agent is lost if you draw a 'Mad' sanity counter at the conclusion of the assassination.
OKHRANA – Remove one or two Influence cubes belonging to another player from the board and place them in Limbo. The cubes can be removed from the same or different places.
PETER RACHKOVSKY – When you claim this agent card you also take two Double-agent counters from those available (drawing randomly). Note that this card functions differently from the other cards here in that the effect is resolved when the card is claimed, not when it is played.
THE PEOPLES' WILL – Take one of your Influence cubes from the Pool and add it to your Available stock.
PINKERTON AGENTS – When you play this card (not when you claim it) you randomly draw four Double-agent counters from those available. You select two to retain and shuffle the other two back into the remaining Double-agent counters, face-down.
PLACE/REMOVE BLOCKING DISC – You can use this card to either place or remove one Blocking disc. If you use it to place a disc then you take one from the Pool and place it either on a Game card, a Permanent Effect card or in a City box. While a card or City box has a Blocking disc on it no player can claim that card. You cannot place a Blocking disc on a card or City box that already has one. If you choose to remove a Blocking disc you decide which one you wish to remove and then return it to the Pool.
SHOGGOTH – Destroy an agent controlled by another player. Destroying an agent is similar to assassinating them. It does not require the use of bombs or the presence of one of your agents, you simply remove the agent from play. The agent must be one who could be legally assassinated. You retain the Agent counter with its Control disc, as you may score points for it at the end of the game.
TERRORS OF THE NIGHT – Select one player (not yourself) and force them to draw one Sanity counter.
THE THIRD SECTION – Each time you use this card's action choose one of the following:
- Take the top Game card from one stack and remove it from the game. Any cubes on the card are placed in Limbo. You cannot do this to a card with a Blocking disc on it. The next card in the pile is revealed.
- Select one Permanent Effect in the display and remove it from the game. Do not draw a replacement.
- Select one card from your hand to remove permanently from play. The card should be placed face-down so that other players are not sure what card it is. If you remove the Necronomicon from your hand in this manner then when the game ends you lose the points gained from it. You cannot remove a City card from your hand. If you remove an agent from your hand then you leave the agent counter on the board.
VLADIMIR BURTSEV – Select one player. He must reveal his identity to you (but not to any other players). You can tell other players which side the player is on if you wish, although you do not have to be honest!
VAMPIRES – Each time you use this card's action choose one of the following:
- Flip one of your agents (including your Main Agent) to its 'vampire' side OR
- convert another player's agent (but not a Main Agent) to a vampire if you have a vampire agent in the same city and the player controlling the targeted agent is 'known to the authorities'. Flip the converted Agent counter to its vampire side and replace the Control disc with one of your own. The owner of the agent must give you the corresponding card.
All vampire agents (except for a player's Main Agent) can assassinate 'royal' persons and other agents. You need to assume that the card for the agent has the action on allowing that agent to assassinate royalty or another agent.
Vampires cannot be assassinated. They are not lost due to drawing a 'Mad' Sanity counter when carrying out an assassination of a royal 'person'. Vampire agents that have the ability to move the Revolution and War markers may be used to do so.
A vampire can still be a double-agent.
If a player reveals his identity as a Loyalist and he has the vampire card then he gains one victory point for each vampire agent under his control on the board.
ZOMBIES – The action on this card comprises of two stages, which must be performed in sequence.
- You may kill one agent in each city in which you have one or more zombies (the first time you play this card you won't be able to do this). You choose the order in which you wish to kill agents. Note that you do not expend Bomb points to do this. You cannot target a Main Agent unless its player has no other agents on the board. You can only target agents that belong to players who are 'known to the authorities'.
- You now place up to three zombies on the board (up to the number of pieces available). You can place a zombie in any city in which you already have an agent or a zombie. You can also place a zombie in a city that is immediately connected to a city that contains one or more zombies. Once placed a zombie cannot be moved. No zombies can be placed in a city that has had the Bismarck or Cthulhu card played on it.
Any player can kill a zombie by playing an agent Game card with the Assassinate Royalty or Assassinate Agent action on it, or a Hired Assassin card, or a card for an agent who is a vampire (given that they can all carry out assassinations). In the first case the agent in question must be in the same city. In the second case you must have at least one agent in the same city. Note that in both cases you retain the card played and you do not check Sanity. You do not need to match the Bomb defence of the city to kill a zombie, the only cost is the use of an action and a card. Assassinated zombies are returned to the Available stock of the controlling player and can be placed again in later turns.
If you play the Zombie card and all eight Zombie pieces are on the board then the game ends immediately. You will score an extra eight victory points for having all eight pieces on the board if you are a Loyalist. You do not score any points for zombies if you have less than eight of them on the board at the end of the game.
Permanent Effect cards
There are twelve Permanent Effect cards in the game. At the start of the game they should be shuffled and placed by the side of the board. Two cards are then drawn and placed face-up on display, making them available to be claimed. Whenever a stack of cards on a city is exhausted one Permanent Effect card should be drawn and placed on display by the side of the board.
You can claim these cards in the same way as a Game card or City card. When you claim one of these cards you place it face-up in front of your position (with the exception of Cthulhu). You can use the effect on the card as described below. Unless stated otherwise the effect on the card can be used in the same turn that it is claimed.
Change of Heart – You change the side you are on. This happens as soon as you claim the card. Place the card on top of your Secret Identity card.
Cthulhu – As soon as you claim this card you select one city to destroy. Any Influence cubes in the City box or associated Game card are placed back in the Pool. All agents in the city are permanently removed from the game, which means the counters are removed from the board and the corresponding cards need to be found and removed from the game. Starting with the active player and continuing clockwise, each player must move their Main Agent from the city to an adjacent connected city, at no cost. Any Control disc in the city is returned to the owning player, who then reduces his victory point total. The City card must be found and removed from the game. All of the Game cards should be removed from the board and placed to one side (which in turn will result in the War token being moved two spaces up the track and another Permanent Effect card being revealed). Place the Cthulhu card in the City box to indicate it has been obliterated. All of the other players must draw one Sanity counter. Note that you still play the card even if you go mad and die as a result of the Sanity counter you drew when you claimed it. No movement is allowed into or from the city. The city cannot be controlled. No zombies can be placed in the city.
Cultists – The Control disc you have in a city counts as two points of influence, both for the city and the associated Game Card box.
Devil's Island – You can play a City card as a free action and remove all Influence cubes belonging to one player from that city. Place the cubes in Limbo. Note that it would be possible for you to perform this action more than once during your turn.
Master of Disguise – If someone attempts to assassinate, destroy or convert to a vampire one of your agents, you can escape if you have that agent's card in your hand. You play the card and then draw a replacement. You then move the agent to a connected city of your choice at no cost. If someone attempts to assassinate your Main Agent then you can escape if you play the City card for the city where the assassination is being attempted, i.e you will be safer in cities that you control. You then move your Main Agent to a connected city of your choice (at no cost). You can use this power to escape from a city about to be destroyed by Cthulhu.
Mi-go – As a free action you can play a card for an agent from your hand on to this card. You then take the corresponding Agent counter from the board and place it on this card as well. While these are on the card the agent cannot be assassinated or destroyed (the agent's brain has gone to Pluto). The Agent counter can be placed back on the board in a later turn (not the same turn as your removed it from the board) as a free action, in a city of your choice. You place the card for the agent in your hand at this point, which may take you over your hand limit. You can have up to two agents on this card at any one time. Agents on this card count for the purposes of protecting your Main Agent from being assassinated. You cannot remove your Main Agent from the board in this manner.
Mrs Hudson – Once per turn you may discard one card and draw a replacement. This is a free action.
Dr Watson – Your hand size is now six. This effect comes into play at the end of your turn.
Yog-Sothoth (eater of souls) – You score two victory points for every non-vampire that you sacrifice to this card if you are a Loyalist. You can only sacrifice agents you control. You cannot sacrifice your Main Agent. This is an action and requires you to play the card for the agent in question. You remove the corresponding Agent counter from play. Place the sacrificed Agent counter on the Yog-Sothoth card.
Sebastian Moran – This card adds one to your Bomb points in all situations. All agents under your control have the ability to carry out the 'Assassinate Agent' action, i.e. assume that the Assassinate Agent action appears on all cards for agents under your control.
Sigmund Freud – It now takes five 'Mad' counters instead of three to force you to reveal your identity (and possibly die if you are a Restorationist). Once you have this card you cannot choose to ignore its effect, i.e. you cannot choose to die if you gain three 'Mad' counters.
Society of Leopold – When you claim this card all vampires and zombies must be removed from the board. For the remainder of the game the Vampire and Zombie cards are regarded as useless. If a player has his Main Agent removed in this manner then he must reveal his identity. If he is Restorationist then the game ends immediately, as if he had been assassinated. If he is a Loyalist then he places his Main Agent counter back on the board, in the same City box, making sure it is on its non-vampire side.
Design notes
The inspiration for 'A Study in Emerald' actually came from another book, 'The World That Never Was – a true story of dreamers, schemers, anarchists & secret agents' by Alex Butterworth. This work examines the history of anarchism and social revolution at the end of the nineteenth century. I felt that there was enough material here for a board game but was not sure about the reception it would receive. I had this feeling that some players might object to a game where your main occupation would be going around blowing up various world leaders. It just so happened that I had recently read 'A Study in Emerald' which suggested a solution to my problem – turn the leaders into monsters, thus depriving them of any sympathy they may otherwise garner.
I really do not want to bore you with the details of the process of designing the game. However, I would like to touch on a couple of elements that some people may question.
Firstly, zombies. I did not include zombies simply because they are flavour de jour. Alex Butterworth mentions in his book a character called Nicholas Fodorov, an anarchist doctor who thought he was on the brink of being able to bring the dead back to life. His intention was to rescue Prince Kropotkin from incarceration – if Kropotkin died then the authorities would release his body, at which point Fodorov would revive him. With the merest hint of artistic license I have allowed Fodorov to achieve his ambitions in this alternate reality, one inhabited by creatures who bring the dead back to life on a regular basis (which, I think, meets one of the definitions of a zombie).
The manner in which vampires are depicted in the game could also be considered to be at odds with the Cthulhu Mythos. The term 'vampirism' does crop up in H.P. Lovecraft's works but the vampires in this game are much more in the vein of Bram Stoker. If you are looking for a justification for their inclusion then I have a loose backstory of miscegenation involving humans and 'Old Ones' prepared. However, the truth is that around the time I was putting the game together I read Kim Newman's 'Anno Dracula' and just liked the idea of adding vampires to the mix.
I am sure there will be many who will question whether the game is balanced. Well, it's not, I'm just not quite sure which side is the one with the advantage, though. Best not to think about it, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Many thanks for purchasing this game.
Martin Wallace
Card Manifest
This game contains 140 cards. Here is a check list just in case you lose one:
There are five sets of Initial cards, ten cards per set with each one identical in composition:
- Agent X [cube]
- Agent X [gold]
- Agent X [two cubes]
- Agent X [two gold]
- Agent X [cube, gold]
- Agent X [cube, bomb] x 2
- Agent X [gold, bomb]
- Agent X Place or remove one Blocking disc. [cube]
- Agent X Assassinate Royalty or Agent. [two bombs]
The individual agents are:
- Baron Ungern-Sternberg
- Elisée Reclus
- Emma Goldman
- Errico Malatesta
- Evno Asef
- Irene Adler
- Johann Most
- Leon Czolgosz
- Louise Michel
- Marquis de Rochefort
- Nicholas Kibalchich
- Peter Rachkovsky
- Prince Kropotkin
- Professor Moriarty
- Ravachol
- Sergei Kravchinsky
- Sergei Nechaev
- Sherlock Holmes
- Vera Figner
- Vladimir Burtsev
- Wilhelm Stieber
- William Morris
Other Game cards:
- Bismarck
- The Black Hand
- The Diogenes Club x 2
- Duchess de Uzès
- Fenians
- Freemasons x 3
- Hide Royalty x 3
- Hired Assassin x 6
- The Holy Brotherhood x 2
- Infernal Machine x 2
- Inspector Lestrade
- Matvei Golovinsky
- Nadar x 2
- Necronomicon x 2
- Shoggoth x 2
- Okhrana x 2
- The Peoples' Will x 2
- Pinkerton Agents
- Terrors of the Night
- The Third Section
- Vampire
- Zombies
City cards:
- Berlin
- Cairo
- Constantinople
- The Hague
- London
- Madrid
- Paris
- Rome
- St. Petersburg
- Washington
- Vienna
- Zurich
Permanent Effect cards:
- Change of Heart
- Cthulhu
- Cultists
- Devil's Island
- Doctor Watson
- Master of Disguise
- Mi-go
- Mrs Hudson
- Sebastian Moran
- Sigmund Freud
- Society of Leopold
- Yog-Sothoth
Secret Identity cards:
- Loyalist Secret Identity x 3
- Restorationist Secret Identity x 3
Credits
Game designed by Martin Wallace
Artwork by Anne Stokes, John Woodward, Geof Banyard and Peter Dennis
Graphic design by Solid Colour
Playtested by Simon Bracegirdle, Andy Ogden, David Blowers, Angela Caunce, Don Oddy, Tim Cockitt, Chris Boote, Martin Hair, Andrew Smith, Daniel Smith, Stewart Pilling, Teik Chooi Oh, Brad Thompson, Nathan Grange, Katherine Boag, Amanda Milne, Kirstin Donaldson, David Taylor, Luke Badger, Gordon Lewis, Patrick Brennan, Julia Schiller, Rob Mulholland, Glenn Doyle, and as usual so many people that I cannot remember all of the names involved, but I do know they were at Stabcon, Australian Discworld Convention, Boardgames by the Bay, Corocon, Variable Magers or the King of Cards.
Thanks to Julia Wallace, Chris Boote, Patrick Brennan, Merrilee Heifetz, Sarah Nagel, Frank Jaeger, Shaun Pimlott, Adam Jones, Andy Pickens, Nick Cotton, The Pineapple Thief and Snapper Music.
Special thanks to Neil Gaiman.
The rules to 'A Study in Emerald' are © Martin Wallace 2013.