Barons
Barons Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Contents
- Overview
- Anatomy of a Card
- Setup
- Paying Costs
- Church/Cathedral Costs
- Taking a Turn
- Winning
- 2 Player Games
- Basic Strategy
- Terminology: Adjacent vs. Connected
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Director's Cut Expansion
- Appendix: Red Cards
- Appendix: Blue Cards
- Appendix: Green Cards
- Appendix: Yellow Cards
Contents
Red Deck (48 core + 3 expansion): Red is the color of mines, metal, and technology. The cards focus on high volume production.
Blue Deck (48 core + 9 expansion): Blue is the color of rivers, trade, and religion. The cards focus on flexibility and interaction.
Green Deck (48 core + 3 expansion): Green is the color of forests and towns. The cards focus on infrastructure and diversity.
Yellow Deck (48 core + 3 expansion): Yellow is the color of pastures and peasants. The cards focus on actions and synergy.
Castle (6 cards): Your castle is the heart and foundation of your barony.
The Cards: There are three types of cards in the decks: Actions, Buildings, and Knights. The 4 decks are all different, but each deck contains 9 Knights and 5 Church/Cathedral cards. The Church/Cathedral cards are the same in every deck, and you will need 2 of them to win the game.
Overview
To win, you must first build a Church and then build a Cathedral in your barony. On your turn, you play cards to build your barony and acquire resources. In order, you may do the following:
- Play action cards and use building abilities.
- Add one land or one building to your barony.
- Tax your barony to draw cards.
After you tax, your turn is over and the next player clockwise (to the left) takes a turn. The game ends immediately when someone builds a Cathedral.
Anatomy of a Card
The card's parts are labeled as follows: title, cost (upper left corner), card type (upper right corner, shown as an icon), art, effects text, and number of copies in source deck (the dots along the right edge, with the source deck shown by the color of the card's edges and the icon at the bottom).
Setup
Shuffle each of the four decks (separately) and place them within reach of all players. Each player selects a Castle and surrounds it with 1 face down card from each of the 4 decks, so that they match the colored edges of the castle card (see diagram). Make sure you have sufficient room to build a barony around your Castle. Should two players' baronies touch, shift the baronies apart to give the players more play room. Baronies never connect to each other.
Each player simultaneously selects 1 of the 4 decks and draws 3 cards from it. Players examine their cards, then simultaneously discard 1 card from hand, keeping the other 2 cards as an opening hand. The player who discarded the card whose title is alphabetically first takes the first turn. Break ties randomly.
Paying Costs
Many cards require a cost to play them (during Phase 1 and Phase 2, described below), as indicated in the card's upper left corner. Costs are paid by discarding cards from hand of the indicated colors. Discards are stacked face up beside the appropriate deck. If a deck runs out, reshuffle the matching discard pile.
For example, if you are holding the following 3 cards, you could play any of them. To play the Town Hall, you need to discard your 1 blue and your 1 yellow card. (The three example cards shown are Town Hall, Drought, and Forest Brook.)
Some cards have two alternate cost options. You may pay either cost to use the card. So, to play a Forest Brook you can either discard 2 blue cards or 1 green card. Some cards have no cost, denoted "none", in which case they are free to play. You can play Drought without discarding any (additional) cards.
Church/Cathedral Costs
The Church/Cathedral card differs from other buildings. It can be played one of two ways, by rotating it around. To build it as a Church, you must pay 1 of each color. To build it as a Cathedral, you must pay 2 of each color.
Church: Discard your hand when built. You may tax up to 5 lands. Church cannot be attacked by enemy knights.
Cathedral: You must have a Church in play to play the Cathedral. You win the game.
Since building a Cathedral makes you win the game, if you see a Church/Cathedral card in play you know it is a Church. All Church/Cathedral cards are functionally identical, regardless of the deck they come from.
Taking a Turn
A turn consists of three phases, as summarized on the back of each Castle card:
- Playing Actions & Using Abilities
- Playing a Land or Building
- Taxing a Region
The back of each Castle card summarizes the turn: "Knights cannot attack your Castle or cards adjacent to it. On your turn, in order: (1) Play any number of actions, knights, and distinct activations. (2) Place 1 building or place 1 land. (3) Tax 1 to 4 connected lands of the same color."
After you tax, the player to your left takes a turn. Play continues until someone wins by building a Cathedral.
Phase 1: Playing Actions & Using Abilities
At the start of your turn, you may play any number of actions, knights, and/or use any activated abilities. You can use them in any order, but once you move on to Phase 2, you cannot go back and use more actions, knights, or building abilities.
Action cards have a fist in the top right corner. To play an action card, pay any cost shown in the top left corner, and discard the action to the appropriate discard pile. Then apply the effect written on the card. You may play as many action cards as you want each turn, provided you pay for them.
Activated building abilities are preceded by a fist superimposed on the building icon. Each activated building ability may only be used once per turn. Only buildings connected to your Castle may be used.
For example, if you have a Port connected to your Castle, then you may use it once during Phase 1. You can only use it once per turn, even if you have the cards to pay for its ability a second time. (The Port card reads: "If Port is adjacent to a river, discard 3 cards of any one color to draw 2 cards of any one color.")
Some buildings provide an effect without being activated. Those buildings can be used any number of times on your turn, as described on the card. For example, you can use the Market multiple times in one turn, since it does not display the building activation icon. (The Market card reads: "During your turn, you may freely trade cards in hand with willing players, even players without a Market.")
Knights
Knights have a soldier icon in the top right corner of the card. Knights are played much like actions: reveal the card, pay its cost, then trigger its effect. Every knight has 2 costs, one of which is strictly higher. If you pay the lower cost, you choose for the knight to either attack or defend. If you pay the higher cost, the knight first attacks and then defends.
If you play a Knight to defend, place it so that it is connected to your Castle. The cards in your barony directly adjacent to a Knight are protected from the attacks of enemy knights. A defending Knight does not protect itself, but a pair of adjacent knights will protect each other.
If you play a Knight to attack, choose an unprotected, unsurrounded card in any barony. That card is discarded from play. If you paid the knight's lower cost, then the attacking knight is also discarded. If you paid the knight's higher cost, then the attacking knight is placed in your barony as a defender.
Knights cannot attack cards that are protected - i.e. directly adjacent to a defending Knight or directly adjacent to a Castle. Knights cannot ever directly attack Churches or Castles. Knights cannot attack a card that is surrounded; a card is surrounded if it has no empty adjacent spaces. For example, in the following barony, only the orange cards can be attacked. The purple cards are safe from attack. (The barony diagram is not reproduced in text.)
Cards that become disconnected from their Castle remain in play, but cannot be used or taxed until they are reconnected. They are still part of that player's barony.
For example, if you wanted to play the Crusading Knight, you have 3 options: (a) pay 1 blue to attack, (b) pay 1 blue to defend, or (c) pay 1 blue and 1 red to attack and then defend. (The Crusading Knight card reads: "Attack or protect (or both). When this knight attacks a land, you may put that land into your barony.")
Phase 2: Playing a Land or Building
Each turn you may play at most 1 land or 1 building in your barony.
To play a land, place any card from your hand face down so that it is connected to your Castle. Some cards bear the mountain icon in the top right corner; they are special lands which count as multiple land types.
For example, to play the Alpine Woods, you would pay either 2 green or 1 red, just like you would for a building. However, once it is in play, it counts as a land and can be taxed as if it were a mine (red) or forest (green). Of course, if you didn't want to pay the cost, you could always play it face down as a forest (without paying any cost). (The Alpine Woods card reads: "Alpine Woods is a land that counts as both a mine and a forest.")
To play a building, pay the cost indicated on the card. Then place the card into your barony so that it is connected to your Castle. You may not ever have two face-up cards with the same name in your barony.
Some buildings only function if they are adjacent to certain types of terrain. For example, a Mill will only provide its bonus while next to a river (blue land). (The Mill card reads: "If Mill is next to a river, when you tax at least 2 pastures, you may draw 1 extra yellow card.") You are not required to place such building next to their supporting terrains, but you probably want to!
Phase 3: Taxing a Region
You draw cards by taxing a region. Unless you play a card that says otherwise, you can only tax (and draw) one color region each turn. Only land cards may be taxed -- you never tax buildings. Lands include face down cards, as well as face-up cards with the land icon.
To tax, choose up to four land cards of the same color that are connected to each other by adjacency. The tax region has to be connected back to your Castle. You can only tax one region per turn.
For each card in the tax region, draw one card of that color. If a deck runs out of cards, simply reshuffle the discard pile and form a new deck. There is no limit on the number of cards you may hold in your hand.
If a special land says that it counts as several types, then it may be used as any one of those types during taxation. It will still only ever produce one card when taxed, and that card must match the color of the other taxed lands.
For example, with the barony shown below, you could tax for 4 yellow, 4 blue, 4 red, or 3 green. The blue building (a Monastery) and green building (a Guildhall) cannot be taxed, and will break up tax regions. Diagonals never count in Barons, so you cannot make use of either of the two forests in the top right corner. The Alpine Woods (located on the right side of the sample barony) can be taxed as either a forest or a mine. (The sample barony is a diagram of face-up cards that is not reproduced in text.)
Once you have a Church, your tax regions can be up to 5 cards (as stated on the Church card). Your tax region still has to be a connected region of one color. In the above example, you could tax for 5 red if you had a Church. You could still only tax for 4 yellow, 4 blue, or 3 green.
Winning
The first person to build a Cathedral in his or her barony wins the game. To build a Cathedral, you must first build a Church in your barony. There are 5 Church/Cathedral cards in each of the 4 decks.
As stated on the Church card, it costs one card of each color to build. Immediately after you play a Church, you must discard any remaining cards in your hand. Once you have a Church, your taxable regions can contain 1 to 5 cards, instead of 1 to 4 cards. All other restrictions still apply to tax regions. Churches cannot be directly attacked by enemy Knights, although the Church might become disconnected from your Castle via an attack, which would (temporarily) nullify its bonuses.
A Cathedral costs two cards of each color. It requires that you already have a Church in your barony. If you have a Church, but it is currently disconnected from your Castle, then you cannot build a Cathedral. When you build a Cathedral, you immediately win the game.
2 Player Games
In preparation for a 2 player game, remove the 6 Market cards from the blue deck and replace them with the 6 Fishing Pier cards. In games of 3 or more players, use Markets instead of Fishing Piers.
Fishing Pier
In 2 player games, replace the 6 Markets with the 6 Fishing Pier cards. To trigger Fishing Pier, you must reveal 2 cards with exactly the same name. A red Church/Cathedral and a yellow Church/Cathedral have the same name and will suffice. The red and green decks have the most name duplication.
Card text: If Fishing Pier is adjacent to a river, reveal 2 cards from your hand with the same name. Discard 1 of them, then draw 1 card of any color. (Replaces Market in 2 player games.)
Basic Strategy
All colors provide an early game strategy, and all pairs of colors provide a late game strategy, so your initial choice of specialization won't leave you stuck. However, you must always keep an eye out for an "exit strategy" for how you will diversify into new colors. After all, you need cards of every color in order to play Churches and Cathedrals.
In general it is easy to specialize, though important to diversify. As such, cards with costs that match their own color are effectively much cheaper than cards costed out of color. For example, the marginal cost to pay a Knight's higher cost (allowing it to both attack and defend) is pretty low. Most (but not all) of the time you'll want to play knights for their higher cost.
Terminology: Adjacent vs. Connected
In Barons, two cards are adjacent if they are edge-adjacent; diagonals do not count. Two cards are connected if you can reach one from the other by following a sequence of adjacencies. Your Barony consists of all cards you own, not just those connected to your Castle. New cards must always be placed so that they connect to your Castle. If a card becomes disconnected from your Castle, it remains in play but cannot be used until it is reconnected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: A Knight attacked my barony and disconnected some cards. What happens now?
A: The cards are no longer part of your barony, but remain on the table. You may play cards as needed to reconnect them to your Castle. Until you reconnect them, you may not use any of their abilities nor can you tax them. You cannot play a Cathedral if your Church is not connected to your Castle. However, they are still part of your barony, so you cannot play duplicates of disconnected face-up cards. (Transcribed as printed: the printed answer states both that the cards are no longer part of the barony and that they are still part of it.)
Q: Some of my cards are disconnected from my Castle. Can other players connect them to their baronies?
A: No. Only the player who played the card may connect it to his or her barony.
Q: Is there a limit to how many cards I may have in my hand?
A: No. You may hold as many cards as you want. However, there are cards that penalize you for holding a large numbers of cards -- King's Tax and Tithe.
Q: Can I trade cards with other players?
A: Normally, no. However, if you have a Market (a blue building), then you may trade during your own turn. Even with a Market, you may only trade cards in hand for other cards in hand -- never cards in play.
Q: Can I use Knights to attack my own Barony?
A: Yes. When attacking your own barony, you ignore protection provided by your Castle and Knights. You still may not attack surrounded cards, Churches, or Castles. On rare occasion, attacking your own barony is the right things to do, when you want to re-position a building or knight but cannot due to the duplication rule.
Q: Can I look at face-down cards?
A: Yes, if they are in your barony. You may not look at face down cards in other players' baronies.
Director's Cut Expansion
This mini-expansion contains cards spice up the play of Barons. However, they add complexities and subtleties to the game unsuitable for first-time and casual players. Do not include them until you have solid experience with the regular game.
Usurp the Throne
This card adds a second way to win the game, besides building a Cathedral. In fact, you do not even need to build a Church! There are only 3 copies of this card in the deck, so you probably shouldn't plan on this victory condition unless you already have a copy in hand.
Card text: If you have at least 1 knight of each color and at least 10 lands, then you win the game.
Garden
The Garden is a more complex version of Mill and Forge, and equivalent rulings apply. Depending on the placement of Garden, neither, one, or both of its two bonuses may apply. Combined with a Town Hall or Toll Bridge, a well placed Garden would boost a draw of 2 green and 2 blue to 3 green and 3 blue.
Card text: If Garden is adjacent to a pasture when you tax at least 2 forests, you may draw 1 extra green card. If Garden is adjacent to a mine when you tax at least 2 rivers, you may draw 1 extra blue card.
Crop Rotation
You have the option to pick up a card from your Barony and not replace it -- thus providing extra cards to spend (e.g. on a surprise Cathedral). Remember, you can always look at the face-down cards in your own barony, although you cannot rearrange them. So, you could cache a key card early on, and dig it up later. Crop Rotation works on any card in your Barony, even ones that are not connected back to your Castle (although the replacement card will still be disconnected).
Card text: Return one non-Castle card from your barony to your hand. Then, you may put a card from your hand in its place face-down, as a land.
Stables
With a Stables, Toll Bridge has the potential to provide 8 cards in a single taxation. If you play Cultural Unity, you can define a circuitous tax region using diagonals that includes all 4 of your initial lands -- allowing you to draw 1 card of each color from a single taxation.
Your Castle and defending knights now protect cards diagonally adjacent to them. Enemy cards don't count as being surrounded (for the purposes of evading your knight attacks) unless all 8 positions around them are filled in. Having a Stables does not allow you to stop someone else with a Stables from counting diagonals as adjacent -- it only lets you 'turn on' diagonals, not 'turn off' diagonals.
You cannot initially place the stables such that it only connects back to your Castle via diagonals. Its effect only begins once it is in play, not while you are identifying legal placements for it. However, if enemy knight attacks later result in the Stables being only connected to your Castle via diagonals, then it continues to function.
Your Stables cannot be protected by Knights and Castles, but you can still shield it from attack by surrounding it on all sides. You can selectively count diagonals as adjacent for only some purposes: just because you are letting your knights protect diagonally does not mean you also have to let enemy knight attacks count diagonals as adjacent. So, you can surround the Stables with just 4 cards...unless your opponent has a Stables too...
Card text: You may count diagonals for adjacency whenever it suits you. Stables is not protected by your Castle or your knights.
Appendix: Red Cards
Mill
If you are taxing a size-4 yellow region, the Mill will let you draw a 5th card. This does not violate the taxation rules, since you are not actually taxing a 5th land. Also note that if you tax only one pasture but draw 2 cards (through another special effect), the Mill will not provide a bonus card.
The Mill only functions if it is directly adjacent to a River. A special land that counts as a River is also sufficient to run the Mill.
Card text: If Mill is next to a river, when you tax at least 2 pastures, you may draw 1 extra yellow card.
Forge
The Forge functions much like the Mill, and equivalent rulings apply.
Card text: If Forge is next to a forest when you tax at least 2 mines, you may draw 1 extra red card.
Toll Bridge
If you choose to use the Toll Bridge's special taxation rules, then your tax region for the turn consists of the (up to 4) lands adjacent to the Toll Bridge (no diagonals!). This may result in you drawing cards of several different colors. Special lands can be taxed as any one of their types.
Card text: Instead of your normal taxation, you may tax each of the lands adjacent to this card.
Outpost
Once per turn, you can create a new land adjacent (no diagonals!) to the Outpost, using a face-down card from one of the decks (not your hand!). You can either fill a vacancy or replace a card already in your barony. You cannot ever replace your Castle.
Card text: Take a card from the top of any deck and place it face-down adjacent to Outpost or on top of Outpost. Discard any card previously in that location.
Armory
If you attack with a knight who steals cards it defeats, the Armory will still provide a bonus card of the defeated/stolen card's color. Enemy knights benefiting from the Armored Knight's bonus can still return your knights to your hand without paying an extra cost; that is not an attack.
Card text: Whenever you attack with a knight, you may draw 1 card of the eliminated card's color. Enemy knights attacking your knights cost 1 extra card of the defending knight's color.
Search for Gold
Play this card when you have a lot of red cards in hand and want to get into a new color. Remember, you can attempt to draw a card of any color, but you can only match costs with red cards in your hand.
Card text: Discard the top card of any deck, then reveal a red card from your hand. If they cost the same, take the discarded card to hand. If a card has two cost options, use either.
Fertile Hill
Fertile Hill is a red card, but once in play it counts as both a Mine (red) and a Pasture (yellow). You can tax it for yellow if it is part of a yellow region or for red if it is part of a red region. It does not let you draw cards of multiple colors from a single tax region.
Card text: Fertile Hill is a land that counts as both a mine and a pasture.
Knight of the Woods
You may not steal a knight if you already have a copy of that knight in your barony. Such an attack is legal, but you cannot opt to steal the defeated knight -- you must eliminate it as usual.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). When this knight attacks a knight, you may put the defeated knight into your barony (face-up).
Crusading Knight
You cannot steal a face-up land if you already have a copy of that land. The attack is legal, but you must opt to eliminate the card instead of stealing it. Of course, you can always steal a face-down land, since duplicate face-down lands are permitted.
Conquering Knight
Since the defeated building card is placed in your hand, the duplication rule does not come into effect. It is perfectly ok to attack and steal a building that you already have in your barony -- you just won't be able to play that building!
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). When this knight attacks a building, you may put that card into your hand.
Appendix: Blue Cards
Port
You choose which 3 cards you discard; discards are never chosen at random in Barons. You may draw cards of the same color that you discarded, if you wish, as a means of searching for a particular card in a deck. If you have less than 3 cards of a color, then you cannot discard that color to activate Port.
Card text: If Port is adjacent to a river, discard 3 cards of any one color to draw 2 cards of any one color.
Market
If you have a Market, then during Phase 1 of your turn you may freely trade with willing players. You may make several trades in a turn, and your trading partners do not need to have Markets. Trades only involve cards in your hand for cards in the other player's hand, but they do not have to involve an equal number of cards from each player. Trades never involve cards in play. You can decline to reveal the names of the cards you will be trading, but you cannot lie about the contents of a trade. However, promises about the future are unenforceable, and trades are only binding at the moment when they occur.
Card text: During your turn, you may freely trade cards in hand with willing players, even players without a Market.
Monastery
If there are fewer than 4 cards in the deck you choose, then first reshuffle the discard pile (including the card you just discarded) and place it under the current cards in the deck. If there are still fewer than 4 cards in the deck, then just view the entire deck.
Card text: Discard 1 card from your hand to view the top 4 cards of that color deck. Keep 1 and discard the rest.
Papal Decree
Since you ignore all building bonuses, you cannot use an enemy Toll Bridge or benefit from the larger tax region granted by Churches. However, actions you played earlier in the turn can still improve your taxation, such as Bountiful Harvest and Cultural Unity.
Card text: This turn, you may tax another player's barony, ignoring all bonuses from all buildings.
King's Tax
King's Tax affects you as well as the other players, but it takes effect after the King's Tax card has left your hand. Special (face-up) lands and your Castle are not buildings, and they do not afford protection against taxation. Churches are buildings, so they provide (some) protection.
Card text: Each player chooses 4 cards from hand, plus 1 more card per building, then discards the rest.
Tithe
You are affected by Tithe, but it takes effect after the Tithe card has left your hand. Tithe will force each player to discard at most 1 card of each color, for a maximum of 4 cards. As with all discards in Barons, players choose which of their own cards to discard.
Card text: For each color, each player with 3 or more cards of that color must discard 1 card of that color.
Abundant Island
Once in play, it counts as all 4 types of land. As with the double-typed lands, it still only provides 1 card at a time. It does not let you tax for more than one color at a time, but on different turns it can be part of different color tax regions. It can power a Mill or a Forge.
Card text: Abundant Island is a land that counts as a pasture, a river, a forest, and a mine.
Forest Brook
Forest Brook is a blue card, but once in play it counts as both a River and a Forest. You can tax it for green if it is part of a green region or for blue if it is part of a blue region. It does not let you draw cards of multiple colors from a single tax region.
Card text: Forest Brook is a land that counts a both a forest and a river.
Commanding Knight
If the next card you play after Commanding Knight is another Knight, then it costs 1 less card. If you play that second knight for its higher cost, you choose which card to drop from its cost.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). Immediately after playing this knight, you may play another knight at -1 cost.
Rebellious Knight
After you play this knight (and resolve any attack it made), you may name an opponent. If that player has any knights in hand, then he must give you one of them of his choice. Knights in play are unaffected. The player you demand a knight from might be a different player from the one you attacked.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). When played, force one opponent to give you a knight from hand if able.
Wandering Knight
After you play this knight (and resolve any attack it made), you may do one of three things: (1) do nothing; (2) pick up one card in your barony and put it back down in any legal placement (do not flip it over!); (3) pick two cards in your barony and swap locations. Castles are fair game!
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). When played, you may move 1 card or swap 2 cards in your barony.
Appendix: Green Cards
Guildhall
When you build a building and have a Guildhall in play, you can reduce the cost of the new building by any 1 card in its cost. Churches and Cathedrals are buildings, but special lands are not. You cannot reduce the cost of a card below zero.
Card text: Buildings cost you 1 less card (of your choice) to build.
City Wall
Your lands and knights are still vulnerable to attack; the wall only protects buildings. The City Wall does not protect itself from attack, and once it is eliminated your other buildings immediately become vulnerable. Of course, a surrounded City Wall is safe from attack, as is any card.
Card text: Enemy knights cannot attack your other buildings.
Town Hall
With a Town Hall, your tax regions can break 1 color boundary. You can still only tax a total of 4 lands (5 with a Church), and they must still be sequentially adjacent. However, you can have up to 2 types of lands within the tax region, and thus you can draw up to 2 colors of cards in a single tax.
Card text: Your taxable regions may contain up to 2 colors, instead of just 1. They must still be connected.
Mason's Lodge
The turn you build the lodge, you may immediately lay a land and/or build any number of buildings (if you can pay for them). Churches and Cathedrals are buildings, but lands (including special face-up lands) are not.
Card text: You may build any number of buildings each turn (including this one), in addition to playing 1 land.
Cooper
Players may opt to tax for less than their maximum permitted amount in order to prevent you from drawing from the Cooper. If you only tax one land but you draw additional cards from Bountiful Harvest, the Cooper still takes effect.
Card text: Whenever an opponent draws 5 or more cards during taxation, draw 1 card of 1 of those colors. When you tax only 1 land, draw 1 extra card of that color.
Tavern
Unlike the Market, the Tavern forces a trade upon an unwilling recipient. The player you choose gets to pick the card he gives you, and you may opt to give back the same card you received. In fact, if you have no cards when you trigger Tavern, you will be forced to give the card back!
Card text: A player of your choice must choose and give you 1 card from hand. You then give back 1 card from hand.
Alpine Woods
Alpine Woods is a green card, but once in play it counts as both a Mine and a Forest. You can tax it for green if it is part of a green region or for red if it is part of a red region. It does not let you draw cards of multiple colors from a single tax region.
Card text: Alpine Woods is a land that counts as both a mine and a forest.
Holy Knight
While in your Barony as a defender, you can pay 1 less card to build a Church or Cathedral. You pick which color the cost is reduced by, and this discount can be combined with Guildhall. Of course, the Holy Knight provides no bonus if it becomes disconnected.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). While protecting, building Churches and Cathedrals costs you 1 less card.
Guardian Knight
When you pay a cost, Guardian Knight does not help you at all. If a card is discarded from play, it also does not count. The Guardian Knight only protects you from cards you are forced to discard from your hand.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). While protecting, whenever an action would make you discard cards from hand, discard 1 less card.
Handsome Knight
Tournament is a yellow action that rewards the player with the most knights in hand. While in your hand, the Handsome Knight just counts 1 towards a Tournament. However, while defending your barony, he contributes 3. Normally, knights in play count nothing towards a Tournament.
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). While protecting, this knight counts 3 towards Tournaments.
Appendix: Yellow Cards
Bountiful Harvest
If another special ability allows you to tax lands of several different colors, your bonus draw may match any one of those colors. The bonus card does not count as taxing an extra land, so it does not count when evaluating Mill, Forge, or Cooper.
Card text: When you tax this turn, draw 1 extra card of a color you are taxing.
Cultural Unity
When played, you may ignore the taxation restriction of only gathering one color. You are still limited to a connected region of 4 cards (5 with a Church). Multi-typed special lands in the chosen tax region may be taxed for any one of their land types.
Card text: This turn, the region you tax may contain any mix of different colors. It must still be connected.
Barn Raising
For the rest of your turn, any time you add a new building or land to your Barony you draw 1 card of any color. If this bonus triggers multiple times (e.g. via Population Boom or Mason's Lodge), the bonus cards may be from different decks or from the same deck.
Card text: This turn, whenever you build a building or lay a land, you may draw 1 card of any color.
Population Boom
You cannot use Population Boom to lay special lands face-up, although you can still use it to place special lands face-down. Adding lands with Population Boom does not affect playing one building or one (additional) land during Phase 2.
Card text: Place a card from your hand into your barony face-down as a land. This does not count as playing your land for the turn.
Tournament
Starting with the player on your left, players one at a time reveal any number of knights from their hands. Players don't have to reveal all their knights. Be sure to take note of any Handsome Knights (a green knight) that are in players' baronies.
Card text: Choose a prize color. In turn order (you last), each player reveals any number of knights from hand. The player who reveals the most knights draws 1 card of the chosen prize color. Tied winners all draw.
Peasant Revolt
The choices your opponents make about what cards to lose are simultaneous; players cannot react to each other. Protection from Knights and Castles do not inhibit the choice of what card to lose. However, it is a very bad idea to choose one of the 4 lands adjacent to your castle.
Card text: Each other player chooses and eliminates 1 non-Castle card from his or her barony.
Prayer
You can play actions and use building effects prior to playing Prayer. Building effects that do not bear the building activation icon are unaffected (such as Mill or Market). Prayer protects you when you are about to build a Cathedral, but it does not stop others from building one first.
Card text: Until your next turn, no one can play knights, actions, or building abilities.
Famine
You are also affected by the Famine. Players who do not have cards in hand of the chosen color are completely unaffected. Players with a Mill (a red building) are also immune to the effects. As with all discards, players choose which card they lose.
Card text: Name a color. Each player without a Mill must discard 1 card of that color if able.
Drought
You are affected by drought the turn you play it but not on your next turn. Drought prevents the chosen type of land from being taxed by any means, including Toll Bridge. Multi-typed lands that partially match the chosen land type cannot be taxed for any color. Cooper is a green building.
Card text: Name a color. Until the beginning of your next turn, players without a Cooper cannot tax lands of that color.
Wetlands
Wetlands is a yellow card, but once in play it counts as both a River (blue) and a Pasture (yellow). You can tax it for yellow if it is part of a yellow region or for blue if it is part of a blue region. It does not let you draw cards of multiple colors from a single tax region.
Card text: Wetlands is a land that counts as both a river and a pasture.
Yellow Knights
All yellow knights work the same way. The special ability only triggers on knights you play once the yellow knight is in play as a defender; it does not trigger on itself. It also only triggers if the follow-up knight is played for its higher cost -- to attack and defend. When you play a knight for its higher cost, you must both attack and defend (even if you just want to do one of the two). The cards drawn by Knights Errant match the color of the follow-up knight, not the Knight Errant. Armored Knight's power triggers before the attack.
Questing Knight
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). If this knight is protecting when you play another knight for its higher cost, you may draw 1 card of any color.
Knight Errant
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). If this knight is protecting when you play another knight for its higher cost, you may draw 3 cards of the knight's color.
Armored Knight
Card text: Attack or protect (or both). If this knight is protecting when you play another knight for its higher cost, you may first return an enemy knight to owner's hand.