Council of Serpents Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Setup
• Player Turn
  • 1. Acquire an Influence Card
  • 2. Play an Influence Card
• Conflict Cards
  • Resolving a War
• Intrigue Cards
• Agreement Cards
• Guild Cards
• Planning Cards
• 3. Time Elapses
• Forming a Time track
• Game End & Determining Victory
  • When to evaluate
• 4-Player Game
• Hidden & Open Information
• 3 Player Variant - Keeper of Balance
• Solo Mode
  • Game Overview
  • Solo Setup
  • Serpentess' Turn
  • Forming a New Time track (solo)
• Windfall and Struggle Cards

Overview

Scheme to orchestrate the Triumph or Collapse of one of these great Houses by manipulating their three attributes: the amount of Wealth in their coffers, their Popularity with the people and the Strength of their army.

If one of these attributes ever reaches the Triumph symbol, the game immediately ends, and that House Triumphs. Whenever an attribute reaches the Collapse symbol, the game is also immediately over, and that House Collapses.

You achieve this by playing Influence cards to cause Conflicts, escalate Conflicts into Wars, prepare for these Wars by using Intrigue, make Peace and orchestrate support from powerful Guilds. After playing an Influence card, you resolve the top card of the Time track, often causing the Houses themselves to act. When the Time track runs out of cards you collectively build it anew, shaping the plans of the Houses for the turns to come.

When one of the Houses Collapses or Triumphs, the game ends and the player with the matching ambition wins the game!

Components

• 9 Attribute Markers: Strength, Wealth & Popularity
• 3 House Boards: the three noble Houses
• Time Track Board
• 63 Influence Cards: your way to influence the Houses
• 6 Ambition Cards: your victory conditions. The Keeper of Balance Ambition card is used in solo mode and as a variant for 3-player games.
• Active Player Marker
• Court Board
• 4 Player Aids
• 5 Starting Time track Cards
• 24 Serpentess Cards used in solo mode (12 Serpentess cards, 6 Windfall cards and 6 Struggle cards)
• 3 Tiebreaker Cards used in solo mode
• Serpentess (solo) Reference and Influence card overview

Setup

1. Setup the noble Houses. Place the three House boards in the centre of the table. For each House, place one of each attribute marker on their starting positions (marked with small icons: Wealth, Popularity & Strength).

2. Prepare the Time track. Place the Time track board next to the three Houses. Shuffle the 5 Starting Time track cards and place them on the board from bottom to top, partially overlapping so that their effects are visible.

3. Prepare the Influence cards. Place The Court board next to the three Houses. Shuffle all Influence cards and place them in a face down deck on the rightmost space on The Court board. Draw 4 cards and place them faceup on the spaces 1-4.

4. Player setup. Deal 3 Influence cards to each player and give each player a Player aid card. Shuffle the 6 Ambition cards and deal 2 to each player in a 2 or 3 player game, or 1 in a 4 player game. In a 4-player game you play in teams. The 1st player forms a team with the 3rd, the 2nd player forms a team with the 4th.

   Note: Keep your Ambition & Influence cards hidden from the other players!

5. Select starting player. The player who most recently visited a castle is the starting player.

Player Turn

In Council of Serpents you take turns in clockwise order until the game end is triggered. During your turn, perform the following three steps in order:

1. Acquire an Influence card
2. Play one Influence card
3. Time elapses

Then the turn goes to the next player.

1. Acquire an Influence Card

Choose which of the opportunities and rumours in The Court you want to act on.

Draw one of the four faceup Influence cards from The Court to your hand. After acquiring a card, refill The Court: slide cards to the left, and flip a new Influence card faceup into the rightmost space.

If the Influence deck ever runs out of cards, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

Example: you acquire the Peace Agreement card (1). Slide the other cards in The Court to the left (2), and flip a new card (3).

2. Play an Influence Card

Act on previously acquired information and rumours. You can start conflicts, instigate wars, make peace, support Houses, hire assassins and more.

Play one Influence card from your hand. When you play an Influence card, resolve the effect at the bottom of the card. Ignore the Time track effect on the left side of the card.

Influence cards are divided in five categories, which are played at different locations as shown below.

1. Play AGREEMENT cards between two Houses.
2. Play INTRIGUE cards facedown at a House.
3. Play CONFLICT cards between two Houses.
4. Play GUILD cards at a House.
5. Play PLANNING cards to influence the Time track.

When Influence cards are discarded, they go to a faceup discard pile.

Conflict Cards

Cause conflicts by stirring up old grievances between two Houses or by spreading misinformation. Later, you can escalate these conflicts into a full blown war.

Play Conflict cards faceup between two Houses. The first Conflict card starts a Conflict between the two Houses, and causes the Houses to gain or lose Wealth or Popularity (upper effect).

The second Conflict card played between two Houses escalates the Conflict into a War. The two Houses will fight the War for either Wealth or Popularity (lower effect), as dictated by the second Conflict card.

Card anatomy: 1. Card name. 2. Card type and play indication. 3. Effect if it is the first Conflict card between two Houses. 4. Effect if it is the second Conflict card between two Houses.

Resolving a War

To resolve a War, perform the following four steps in order:

I. Prepare for War. Reveal all Intrigue cards at the two respective Houses.

II. Fight the War! Compare Strength between the two Houses. The House with the most Strength wins. The winning House takes Wealth / Popularity from the losing House equal to the difference in Strength. Note: the winning House cannot gain more Wealth / Popularity than the losing House has available. In case of a tie in Strength, neither House wins the war.

III. Inflict losses. Regardless of the outcome of the war, both Houses lose half their Strength. Round up the remaining Strength (for example, 5 Strength becomes 3 Strength).

IV. The War ends. Discard all Conflict and Intrigue cards involved in the War.

Example: you escalate the Conflict between House Clay (3 Wealth & 9 Strength) and House Jane (5 Wealth & 4 Strength) by playing a Conflict for Riches card. House Clay and House Jane will fight a War for Wealth.

• Step I: Reveal the Intrigue card at House Jane; a Hire Assassin card. This reduces the Strength of House Clay by 2, to 7 Strength, and costs House Jane 1 Wealth.
• Step II: Compare Strength. House Clay has 3 Strength more (7 Strength vs 4 Strength), so steals 3 Wealth from House Jane.
• Step III: Both Houses lose half their Strength. House Clay will have 4 Strength remaining (7 > 4), while House Jane will have 2 Strength remaining (4 > 2).
• Step IV: Discard the Conflict and Intrigue cards, and end the war.

House Clay ends the War with 4 Strength, a hefty loss from 9 Strength, but has gained 3 Wealth, for a total of 6 Wealth. House Jane on the other hand only has 2 Strength and 1 Wealth remaining, and is on the brink of Collapse!

Intrigue Cards

The three noble Houses are regularly in conflict or even at war with each other. Influence the outcome of these wars by encouraging treachery, hiring assassins and more.

Play Intrigue cards facedown at a House. At the start of a War, reveal all Intrigue cards at the two Houses at War. Resolve the Intrigue cards at the appropriate step during the War:

• Hire Assassin and Traitors resolve in step 1.
• Brutal Tactics resolve in step 2.
• Healers resolve in step 3.

Card anatomy: 1. Card name. 2. Card type and play indication. 3. Resolve during a War.

Example card: Hire Assassin. Its effect during a War is: -1 Wealth to this House, and -2 Strength to the opposing House.

Agreement Cards

What can be done can also be undone by vying for peace, as you point out the detriments of war or bring forth a scapegoat.

Play Peace Agreement cards faceup between two Houses. Either discard a Conflict card between the two Houses OR reveal and discard all facedown Intrigue cards at both Houses. Discard the Peace Agreement card after use. If there are no Conflicts or Intrigue cards, you may still play a Peace card, but it has no effect.

Play Trade Agreement cards faceup between two Houses. Note: if there is a Conflict card there, discard it. Then, both Houses gain 1 Wealth. Discard the Trade Agreement card after use.

Card anatomy: 1. Card name. 2. Card type and play indication. 3. Effect when played as Influence card.

Guild Cards

There are several minor factions you can sway to support a noble House. Use these Guilds to strengthen specific attributes at a small cost, or lure them away from one House to another.

Play Guild cards faceup at a House. The first time each respective Guild is played, adjust the attributes of the supported House as listed in the upper effect. If a particular Guild is already in play, you have to play it at a different House. This removes the Guild from the original House; discard their Guild card and resolve the lower effect. Then, the newly supported House resolves the upper effect.

Card anatomy: 1. Card name. 2. Card type. 3. Gained attribute(s) & cost. 4. Effect when lost.

Example: you play a Savage Clans card at House Rowel (5 Wealth, 5 Popularity & 4 Strength). The Savage Clans currently support House Clay (7 Strength). House Clay loses support of the Savage Clans, discarding the card, and reducing their Strength by 2 to 5. Then, House Rowel pays 1 Wealth & 1 Popularity for the support of the Savage Clans and gains 2 Strength (now at 4 Wealth, 4 Popularity & 6 Strength).

Planning Cards

With enough persuasiveness, you can even let the Houses change their plans.

Play Change of Plans cards faceup in front of you. Discard one card from the Time track, and add any card from The Court as last card on the Time track. Then, refill The Court. Discard the Change of Plans card after use.

Note: A Change of Plans card may cause a House to take multiple actions (or none) during a single Time track.

Play Thriving Guilds cards as last card on the Time track, with the 'Activate all GUILD cards' effect visible. When during step 3 (Time Elapses) a Thriving Guilds card is resolved, activate the upper effect of all Guild cards at all the Houses.

Note: All Guild cards are activated simultaneously.

Example: House Rowel (1 Wealth & 1 Popularity) is supported by the Merchant Guild & the Brewer's Circle. Thriving Guilds activates both Guild cards. House Rowel gains 2 Wealth at the cost of 1 Popularity from the Merchant Guild, and gains 2 Popularity at the cost of 1 Wealth from the Brewer's Circle. As both Guilds are activated simultaneously, House Rowel survives, and ends at 2 Wealth & 2 Popularity.

Card anatomy for Planning cards: 1. Card name. 2. Card type and play indication. 3. Effect when played as Influence card (Time track effect). For Thriving Guilds: 3. Time track effect when played as an Influence card.

3. Time Elapses

The Houses sometimes act on their own. You can use your influence to manipulate these plans as well.

At the end of your turn, resolve the top card of the Time track. There are four types of Time track actions:

1. If it shows a House, adjust the attributes for that House accordingly.
2. If it shows "Nothing happens...", nothing happens (...what did you expect?).
3. If it shows Most Popularity or Least Popularity, adjust the indicated attribute for the House(s) with the most or least Popularity.
4. If it shows the Activate all Guild cards effect from a Thriving Guilds card, activate all Guild cards in play (see previous page).

After resolving the Time track action, discard the card. When the last card of the Time track is discarded, immediately form a new Time track together with the other players (see next page).

Example: at the end of your turn the top card of the Time track indicates that House Jane loses 1 Popularity to gain 2 Wealth. Then you discard this card and the turn goes to the next player. (1) At the end of their turn, "Nothing happens..." As the Time track is now empty, all players collectively form a new Time track. (2)

Forming a Time track

When the Time track has no more cards left, all players collectively form a new Time track. Perform the following four steps in order:

I. Draw & contribute cards. Each player: draw one card from the top of the deck. Then contribute one card from your hand facedown. Form a pile with the contributed cards.

II. Add cards from The Court. Add the cards in the first two spaces of The Court, and the top card from the Influence deck, facedown to the pile. Refill The Court.

Tip: Pay attention to the Time track effects on The Court cards!

Example: in a 3-player game, the players contribute 3 cards. Then you add the first 2 cards from The Court, and 1 card from the top of the deck, for a total of 6 cards.

III. Form the Time track. Shuffle the pile. Flip cards one by one and place them on the Time track, from bottom to top. Place cards sideways, partly overlapping, with the Time track actions clearly visible. If the flipped card shows a House that is already present on the Time track, discard the flipped card.

Continuing our 3-player example: you shuffle the 6 cards, and place them one by one. The first and the second card both show House Rowel, so you discard the second card. The last card is again House Rowel, so you discard it as well.

IV. Houses not on the Time track take action. Each House that is not present on the Time track resolves their preferred action.

Continuing our 3-player example: as House Clay (currently 5 Wealth & 7 Strength) is not present on the Time track, they immediately perform their preferred action; House Clay loses 1 Wealth to gain 2 Strength (now at 4 Wealth & 9 Strength).

After forming the Time track, the next player starts their turn.

Tip: use the Active Player Marker to indicate whose turn it is after you have formed a new Time track.

Game End & Determining Victory

Council of Serpents takes place at a time of tumult & unrest. When a House Triumphs, it heralds the start of a new dynasty. When a House Collapses, the balance of power is shattered.

The game ends immediately when:

A HOUSE TRIUMPHS: This happens when at least one of their attribute markers is placed on the Triumph symbol (Wealth, Popularity or Strength rises above 12).

OR

A HOUSE COLLAPSES: This happens when at least one of their attribute markers is placed on the Collapse symbol (Wealth, Popularity or Strength falls below 1).

When the game ends, each player reveals their Ambition card(s). Any player who fulfilled one (or more) of their Ambition card(s) wins the game! Rarely, the game ends with no players achieving their Ambition. If this happens, no one wins. If multiple players meet one (or more) of their Ambitions, they share the victory.

When to evaluate

Check for the Triumph or Collapse conditions after fully resolving a card and after the 'Prepare for war' step when resolving a War (see Conflict cards).

For example: a War between House Clay and House Rowel ensues. House Rowel (2 Strength) gets Assassinated by a Intrigue card at House Clay, losing 2 Strength. This causes House Rowel to have less than 1 Strength, and thus they Collapse and the game ends immediately (before fighting the War!). The player with the Rowel Collapses Ambition card wins the game.

A second example: House Jane (9 Popularity & 8 Strength) fights a War for Popularity with House Clay (4 Popularity & 4 Strength). As House Jane has 4 Strength more, they steal 4 Popularity from House Clay. House Clay now has 0 Popularity remaining and Collapses, meanwhile House Jane now has more than 12 Popularity and Triumphs. Both conditions end the game. The players with Jane Triumphs & Clay Collapses now both win the game!

4-Player Game

A crowded Council results in unlikely allies.

In a 4-player game, the 1st and 3rd player form a team, and the 2nd and 4th player form a team. When one player in a team fulfils their ambition card, both players win the game!

Note: Your Ambition card is hidden from your teammate! You are free to discuss tactics and possible moves, but beware that your opponents are sitting at the same Council table and will hear everything you have to say.

Hidden & Open Information

You may not show your Ambition and Influence cards to other players. The top card of the discard pile is open information. Facedown cards are hidden information.

3 Player Variant - Keeper of Balance

Keeping the realm in balance is a daunting task...

Experienced players may shuffle the Keeper of Balance card together with the other Ambition cards during setup for 3-player games.

Deal two Ambition cards to each player as normal. If you have the Keeper of Balance Ambition card, ignore your other Ambition card (you cannot win the game with that Ambition card).

If the Influence deck runs out of cards, reveal the Keeper of Balance card, and win the game immediately! If no one reveals the Keeper of Balance, reshuffle the Influence deck as normal.

Solo Mode

When playing Council of Serpents solo, you are tasked with keeping the three Houses in balance. Your rival is the Serpentess who seeks to unhinge the realm. Will you be able to keep the realm stable for another generation or will you let it fall into chaos?

Solo components: 12 Serpentess cards (to choose her influence cards), 6 Windfall cards (to make your life easier), 6 Struggle cards (to make your life harder), 3 Tiebreaker cards (for if the Serpentess can't decide), and the Serpentess Reference.

Game Overview

You are a Keeper of Balance going up against the Serpentess.

In solo mode you play against an automated opponent, called the Serpentess. The rules for your own turns, the Time track & end game conditions are exactly the same as in the multiplayer game. The Serpentess has no hand of Influence cards, and plays an Influence card from The Court each turn, as determined by a Serpentess card. She uses a priority system to resolve the Influence card (see Serpentess Reference).

As the Keeper of Balance, you win immediately if there are no more cards in the Influence deck. You lose if any of the Houses Triumphs or Collapses.

Solo Setup

1. Setup the noble Houses. Place the three House boards in the centre of the table. For each House, place one of each attribute marker on their starting positions (marked with small icons: Wealth, Popularity & Strength). Place a Tiebreaker card at each House.

2. Prepare starting Time track. Place the Time track board to the side of the play area. Shuffle the 5 Starting Time track cards and place them on the board from bottom to top, partially overlapping so that their effects are visible.

3. Choose difficulty. Choose the difficulty level of the game, and according to the chosen difficulty, remove a number of random Influence cards from the game. Then, add random Windfall and/or random Struggle cards to the Serpentess deck (not to the Influence deck!).

Difficulty	Influence cards removed	Windfall cards added	Struggle cards added
Wormtongue	25	5	0
Spymaster	20	3	1
Master of Whispers	10	1	3
Lady/Lord of Shadow	0	0	5

For example, to set up a game with the Master of Whispers difficulty, remove 10 random Influence cards from the Influence deck, and add 1 random Windfall card and 3 random Struggle cards to the Serpentess deck.

4. The Court. Place The Court board next to the three Houses. Shuffle the remaining Influence cards and place them in a face down deck on the rightmost space on The Court board. Draw 4 cards and place them faceup on the spaces 1-4.

5. Serpentess deck. Shuffle the 12 Serpentess cards and any Struggle/Windfall cards added in step 3, and place it next to The Court board to form the Serpentess deck.

6. Player setup. Give yourself the Keeper of Balance Ambition card, and the Serpentess all of the other Ambition cards. Draw 3 Influence cards and give yourself a Player aid card. The Serpentess does not have a hand of Influence cards. Place the Serpentess reference sheet close by.

Start the game. The Serpentess takes the first turn.

Serpentess' Turn

Every turn, the Serpentess plays a card from The Court to cause as much disarray as possible.

1. Flip the top card of the Serpentess deck to determine which Influence card the Serpentess plays. If it shows a 1 the Serpentess plays the first card in The Court; if it shows a 2 she plays the second card, etc.

   Some cards let the Serpentess reshuffle her deck after her turn. Important: do not reshuffle resolved Windfall and Struggle cards back into her deck, as these get removed from the game.

2. The Serpentess plays the chosen Influence card. The Serpentess plays cards following a certain priority. Check the Serpentess reference for each card type. The Serpentess Reference is a separate printed sheet; its per-card Option A / Option B tables are not part of this rulebook text. For each card type, the Serpentess starts at Option A. and, if able, resolves the effect. If she cannot resolve Option A., resolve Option B. instead.

   Cards played by the Serpentess work exactly as played by a player unless stated otherwise in the Serpentess reference.

   For Guild, Conflict, Intrigue and Trade Agreement cards, the Serpentess checks which House has the most or least of an attribute. In the case of a tie between the Houses, follow the Tiebreaker order on the Serpentess card to determine where to play the Influence card.

   Important: only use the Tiebreaker order if there is a tie between two or more Houses for the most/least of an attribute.

3. Resolve the top card of the Time track as usual, and end the Serpentess' turn.

Forming a New Time track (solo)

When forming a new Time track, follow the standard rules. During step 1, the Serpentess adds a card from the top of the Influence deck instead of from her hand (as she has no hand).

Windfall and Struggle Cards

Unexpected plans come into play and can cause trouble to your elegant schemes or bring relief in times of adversity.

Windfall and Struggle cards change the difficulty of your game. Windfall cards help you, while Struggle cards hinder you.

When the Serpentess flips a Windfall/Struggle card in step 1 of her turn, you add the Windfall/Struggle card as last card on the Time track. Then the Serpentess flips another card from the Serpentess deck to determine which Influence card she plays this turn.

When, during step 3 of a turn, a Windfall/Struggle card is the top card of the Time track, resolve its effects. After resolving a Windfall or Struggle card, remove it from the game.

Card faces as printed: Windfall: "Most popular House(s) -1 Popularity; Least popular House(s) +1 Popularity." Struggle: "Strongest House(s) +1 Strength; Weakest House(s) -1 Strength."

Example turn by the Serpentess:

1. The top card of the Serpentess deck is a Windfall card, so you add it as the last card on the Time track and flip another card. This card shows a 2, so the Serpentess will play the second Influence card from The Court; a Hunter's Hall Guild card.

2. To play the Hunter's Hall, you look at the Serpentess' reference. Option A. of the Guild cards says she plays the Hunter's Hall at the House with the most of the first attribute gained (Strength). You compare Strength for all three Houses, and in this case House Clay and House Jane are tied for highest with 9 Strength. Because of the tie, you check the Tiebreaker symbol on the Serpentess card. It shows the Moon-symbol first. House Jane has the Tiebreaker card with the Moon. Therefore, you play the Hunter's Hall at House Jane and resolve its effect. (If House Jane would already be supported by the Hunter's Hall, you would go to Option B., the Serpentess would instead discard the card, and play the top card of the Influence deck.)

3. Resolve the top card of the Time track; a Struggle card. The House with the most Wealth gains 1 Wealth, while the House with the least Wealth loses 1 Wealth. Now it is your turn!

Transcription note: the printed example for step 3 shows Wealth icons, while the Struggle card face shown above reads Strength ("Strongest House(s) +1 / Weakest House(s) -1"). The source contains this mismatch; both are transcribed as printed.