Decktet
The Decktet Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Ranks
The core of the Decktet is the 36 card basic deck. It consists of 6 Aces, 24 number-rank cards, and 6 Crowns (crown symbol).
There is an Ace and a Crown for each suit. The number-ranked cards each have two suits, and there are three cards of each number-rank (like the rank 3 cards pictured in the example above).
There are also some extended deck cards: 4 Pawns, 4 Courts, and an Excuse.
The extended extras are a bit like Jokers in a mundane deck of cards. Leave them out unless the rules for a game specifically say to include them.
Suits
The suits are not paired up in the same way at every rank. The Savage is the only card in the whole deck to pair Leaves and Wyrms.
The structure of the deck is represented by a diagram of the six suits (Moons, Suns, Waves, Knots, Wyrms, Leaves) arranged in a hexagon, with a line between each pair of suits that appears together on a number-ranked card. The numbers on that line are the ranks that have that pair.
Although it can be daunting to look at, this diagram contains all the information about the number ranks. You can see that the Wyrms-Leaves pair appears only once, on a rank 3 card (the Savage). The more common Moons-Suns pair appears three times, at ranks 4, 8, and 9. Not every pair of suits occurs on a number card — for instance there is no line between Suns and Leaves, meaning no card in the basic deck has both of those suits.
Each Pawn and Court has three suits. The structure is represented in two more figures (one for Pawns, one for Courts), with each edge or line representing one card — the suits around each grouped edge are the three suits on that card. For example, the Pawn of Moons/Wyrms/Knots is represented by the upper left edge of the Pawns figure. Each suit appears on exactly two of the four Pawns, and likewise on exactly two of the four Courts.
Decktet suits
- Moons
- Suns
- Waves
- Leaves
- Wyrms
- Knots
Decktet ranks
- A — Aces
- 2-9 — Number ranks
- Pawns
- Courts
- Crowns
Marks
The people in the deck are marked with a person symbol and drawn as face cards.
The location mark and the event mark appear on locations and events. A few cards are both.
The Aces and the Excuse don't have marks.
Adaman
1 player
You are the heir to the throne, but the monarch might live a very long time. You intend to speed things along, but it will only work if the major personalities in the kingdom back your play. You need to buy, trick, or eliminate anyone who might stand in your way.
In this solitaire game, the person-mark cards represent different people in the kingdom who you need to control. All of the other cards represent elements which you can use to control them.
Setup
Shuffle together the basic deck (A, 2...9, Crown).
Deal five cards in a row; these represent people and events occurring around the capital city.
Deal another five cards below the capital to represent resources you have at your disposal. If you turn up a person-mark card when dealing your resources, put it in a row above the capital cards and deal another card to your resources. Repeat if the next card is a person-mark card, and so on until you have five resources none of which are person-mark cards.
The layout, top to bottom, is: the Palace (starts empty), the Capital (five cards), your Resources (five cards).
The row of cards above the capital represents people snooping around the royal palace. If you place a sixth card in the palace row, the game ends immediately. You only place cards in the palace if you turn up a person-mark card while dealing your resources, however, so there will typically be few or even no cards there.
Game play
You exercise your resources to control a card in the capital or palace rows. In order to do so, discard one or more cards from your resource row. The cards must all share a suit with the card you are trying to control, and the total of their ranks must be at least the rank of the target card.
Aces count as 1 (one).
Crowns count as 10 (ten).
Note that the cards from your resource row do not need to share a suit with each other, provided they share a suit with the card you are trying to control.
If you control a person-mark card, move it to the discard pile. If you control any other card, move it to your resource row; you may use it later to control something else.
After a play, deal cards so that the capital row has five cards. Then deal so that your resource row has five cards; put person-mark cards in the palace row, as above. When the deck runs out, continue to play until one of the end game conditions is met.
Ending the game
The game can end in three possible ways. One means victory, the other two mean defeat.
1. You have moved all of the person-mark cards to the discard pile. You have control of everyone who matters and can safely seize the throne. You win.
2. You cannot make any further moves, but there are person-mark cards remaining in the palace or capital rows. Without the backing of everyone, your plan must be abandoned. All that scheming for nothing! You lose.
3. There are more than five person-mark cards in the palace row. With so many people snooping about, someone has discovered your plot. You lose utterly. It's the gallows for you, old chum.
If you want to keep score, beyond just winning or losing:
1. If you win, total up the ranks of the personality cards you control and the cards remaining in your resource row. The ranks of the eleven personalities in the basic deck add up to 66, so it's 66 plus the ranks in your resource row.
2. If you lose, total up the ranks of just the personality cards you control. With the basic deck, it will be less than 66 since you lost.
3. If lose utterly, you score zero.
Playing well requires paying attention to who you have controlled and who is still hiding in the deck. Here's a list of the person-mark cards, along with their classic deck names:
| Rank | Suits | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Moons/Knots | Author |
| 3 | Suns/Knots | Painter |
| 3 | Leaves/Wyrms | Savage |
| 4 | Waves/Leaves | Sailor |
| 5 | Wyrms/Knots | Soldier |
| 6 | Moons/Waves | Lunatic |
| 6 | Suns/Wyrms | Penitent |
| 8 | Suns/Moons | Diplomat |
| 9 | Leaves/Knots | Merchant |
| Crown | Suns | Bard |
| Crown | Moons | Huntress |
Emu Ranchers
2 players
It's a hardscrabble life for emu ranchers like yourself, raising exotic birds for foreign markets. With the high cost for every bird you hatch, it probably won't be worth it in the end.
Each bird on your ranch is represented by a stack of cards. Cards in a single bird stack must all share a suit and must be in rank order. At the end of the hand, the value of a bird is determined by the total of the number cards in the stack. If the total is too low, then you can end up losing money on a bird. An Ace or Crown makes the stack worth more: more profit if you can cover expenses, but more loss if you can't. The object, naturally enough, is to raise profitable birds.
Setup
Deal six cards to each player. The remaining cards form the draw pile. There is no discard pile at the beginning.
Decide who goes first in some equitable way. Play alternates until the last card is drawn from the draw pile.
On your turn, you must do one of the following: HATCH a new bird, by starting a new stack; GROW a bird, by adding a card to an existing stack; or DISCARD a card. After that, you draw one card.
Hatch a new bird: You may start a new stack by selecting a card from your hand and playing it face up in front of you.
Grow a bird: You may grow a bird by adding a card from your hand to the top of a stack already in front of you. All of the cards in the stack must share a single suit, although of course number cards will each have another suit as well. Stacks must be in either increasing or decreasing order.
The order of ranks is A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Crown. You may skip ranks.
Example: The stack for a blue bird so far is Ace(Waves)-4(Waves/Leaves). You may only play a Waves card of rank 5 or higher on that bird.
If you hatch a bird with a number card, you do not need to declare which suit the stack will follow or which direction it will go. This will eventually be determined by cards you play when growing the bird.
When you add cards to a stack, you should set them at a bit of an offset so that both you and your opponent can see the ranks of all the cards.
Discard: If you don't want to play any of the cards in your hand, you may select and discard one card. Put it on the top of the discard pile, starting the pile if necessary.
Draw: If you discarded, take the top card of the draw pile. Otherwise, you may take either the top card of the draw pile or the top card of the discard pile (if any).
After you draw, your turn is over. If there are still cards in the draw pile, it is now your opponent's turn.
Year end
When the last card is drawn from the draw pile, the year ends.
After the year is over, you may play cards from your hand onto birds that you already have in play. However, you may not hatch new birds or draw cards after the year has ended. Since there is no further player interaction after the year end, you may lay down remaining cards without waiting for your opponent. Then discard any cards that you are not able to play.
For each bird, total up the number cards in the bird stack. If the total is less than 18, then the you lose money on the bird. If the total is 18 or more, then you may make a profit.
Losing Money: You lose points equal to the difference between the bird's total and the upkeep cost of 18. If the number cards total to 15, for example, you lose 3 points. Furthermore, you lose 5 more points if there is an Ace or Crown in the stack; 10 if there are both.
Example: At the end of the year, this is Braddock's stack for an orange bird: Crown-9-8. He loses 6 points; that's 18 - 9 - 8 = 1 for the number cards and 5 points for the Crown.
Possible Profit: If the total of the number cards is 18 or more, you still need to pay upkeep for the bird: Discard number cards from the stack that total at least 18.
You do not "get change" for cards if you discard more than 18. If there are any cards remaining — even if it's just an Ace or Crown — you earn some profit.
For profit, you score the total of any remaining number cards. Furthermore, you gain 5 additional points if there is an Ace or Crown in the stack; 10 if there are both.
Example: At the end of the year, this is Braddock's stack for a blue bird. He discards the 4, 6, and 8; these total exactly 18. This leaves the Ace, 3, 5, Crown. He scores 18 points; that's 3 + 5 = 8 for the number cards plus 10 for the Ace+Crown.
Your score for the year is equal to the total value of your birds. Add it to the score from previous years. It is possible to lose points for a bad year and even to have a negative total score from a horrific string of years.
The player who went first should go second in the next year. A game typically consists of the scores for four years, but you may lengthen or shorten this as desired. Since there is some disadvantage to going first, it's fairest to tally the score across an even number of years.
The extended deck
If you decide to use some of the extended deck cards, just shuffle them in at the beginning of the game. My preference is to use the Excuse plus either (but not both) the Pawns or Courts.
If you have the Excuse in your hand at the end of the year, you may discard one of your birds that would lose money rather than scoring it. If you have no losing birds, then the Excuse has no effect.
A Pawn or Court is a limited wild card. It may be played as any number rank, but only to grow a bird that matches one of the card's suits. A Pawn or Court may not be played as an Ace or Crown, nor may it be played to hatch a bird.
You do not need to declare the effective rank of the Pawn or Court when you play it, but you may not make a play which leaves no space for it at all.
Example: The stack for one of Morgan's birds is Ace-3-6-Pawn. If it is like this at the end of the hand, the Pawn can count as 9. If he adds a 9 to the stack, then the Pawn can count as 8.
Jacynth
2-3 players
Jacynth is among the oldest cities, and a map of its streets is a record of history. It is a haphazard maze of overlapping interests and neighborhoods, with intricate social bonds tying one block to the next.
You could control the city if you could control a nexus in that maze of ancient intrigue, but first you would have to find it.
This is a territory-control game. In addition to the Decktet, you'll need four influence tokens for each player. Each player needs a different colour or style of token.
During the game, cards are laid out to form a six-by-six grid that represents the city. Players claim areas by placing influence tokens on cards, aiming to control more of the city than their opponents do.
Districts: A district is a group of cards that share a suit symbol and are adjacent to one other. The cards in a district need not be in a straight line, but each card must share an edge with another card in the district. Districts do not connect across diagonals or across open spaces that do not have cards in them yet.
A number card (since it has two suits) will be part of two districts; one for each suit.
A player controls a district when they have an influence token on a card in that district.
You cannot place an influence token in a district already controlled by an opponent, but it is possible that subsequent card play will connect what had been two separate districts. If this happens, then the player whose token is on the higher ranked card controls the district. If you have more than one token in a district, the card ranks do not add together; only the highest ranked card counts for control.
Setup
The dealer shuffles the deck, deals each player a three card hand, and deals cards face up to form the initial play area. There are three possible initial arrangements: the Razeway, the Towers, and the Old City. With each, further cards are played around the starting cards so as to form a six-by-six grid.
The Razeway is the simplest of the starting boards. The Towers and the Old City allow for more strategic and aggressive play, at the cost of making the grid less obvious; you may want to place cards you aren't using face down to lay out the center of the grid.
Each player starts with four influence tokens.
Game play
Players take turns, starting with the player on the dealer's left. On your turn, you begin by adding a card to the city. Then you may place an influence token. Finally, draw a card.
Explore the city: Select a card from your hand and play it face up on the table, adjacent to one of the cards already in play. You must place it within the grid of the city.
Exert influence: If you have influence tokens remaining, you may place one on a card in play. You are not required to do so. You may place influence on the card you added this turn or on another card, even on one of the starting cards.
You may not place an influence token on a card that is part of a district controlled by another player. This restriction applies even if the card has another suit that also makes it part of a second district, where only one of the districts is controlled. You may, however, place an influence token on a card that is part of a district you already control. This can be a good idea if the card is part of an uncontrolled second district.
You may not place more than one influence token per turn. You may not place an influence token on a card that already has an influence token on it. You may not move an influence token placed on a previous turn.
Draw a card: Drawing a card ends your turn. After the deck is depleted, play continues until thirty-six cards have been played and the final player's turn is complete.
Scoring
At the end of the game, you score points for each district you control: One point for each card that comprises the district. The winner is the player with the highest total score.
There is no bonus or special advantage for having more than one influence token in a district, and no effect from unplaced influence tokens remaining at the end of the game.
A district may consist of a single card, if that card is not adjacent to any that share a suit with it. A single isolated Ace or Crown would be worth one point to a player who had a token on it. A single isolated number card comprises two single card districts, one for each suit, and would be worth two points.
The extended deck
You can add the Excuse, the Pawns, the Courts, or any combination of these.
The Excuse is a block card. It is not part of any adjacent districts, and no district may pass through it. You may not place influence tokens on the Excuse.
A Pawn or Court, since it has three suits, will be part of three different districts. Although they may be part of your districts, you may not place influence tokens on Pawns or Courts themselves.
Nonesuch
3-4 players
Nonesuch is a trick-taking game with this central rule: At the beginning of each trick, the player leading it names a specific suit which other players must follow.
Dealing and bidding
Randomly decide who will deal the first hand. Subsequent hands are dealt by the player on the old dealer's left.
The dealer shuffles the basic deck plus the Excuse. Deal cards out as evenly as possible to all players: 12 each with three players; 9 each with four players. This will leave one card left over, which is dealt face up in the middle of the table. If the up card is an Ace or Crown, then its suit will be the trump for this hand. If the up card is a number rank, then one of its suits will be trump; the player holding the Excuse will decide after bidding is complete. If the up card is the Excuse itself, then there will be no trump suit.
After looking at cards but before play begins: The player on the dealer's left bids, then each player clockwise around the table bids. There are three possible bids:
A bid of SOME means that the player expects to take at least one trick. The player scores one point at the end of the hand for each trick they've taken.
A bid of MOST means that the player expects to take at least half the tricks: at least 6 with three players; at least 5 with four players. If the player takes that many tricks or more, they score two points for each trick they've won. If not, then they lose one point for each trick less than half that they've taken.
A bid of NONE means that the player hopes to take exactly zero tricks. If they do, they score a number of points equal to the number of tricks in the hand (12 with three players, 9 with four). If not, they lose one point for each trick they've taken.
Once every player has bid, the player who has the Excuse reveals it and discards it. If the up card is a number rank card, then that player decides which of its suits will be trump. In any case, they take the up card into their hand to replace the Excuse.
Playing the hand
The player on the dealer's left leads the first trick.
You may not lead a card with the trump suit until a trump card has been played, unless you have nothing but trumps in your hand.
When a card is led, the player who led it must select and announce one of the suits on the card. If the lead is an Ace or Crown, there is no choice — just say what the suit is. For number cards, you need to select which suit other players will be required to follow.
Clockwise around the table, each player plays a card that has the named suit. Players who have no cards of the named suit may play any card from their hand.
If no trump was played, then the highest card of the named suit wins the trick. If any trumps were played, then the highest trump wins the trick. (As usual — Aces lose to 2s, and Crowns beat 9s.)
For the purpose of following suit, all that matters is the named suit. But a card counts as trump if it has the trump suit, even if trump is different from the named suit.
The winner of the trick leads the next trick. Once someone has played a trump, it is permissible to lead with a trump card.
Example: Wyrms are trump. Tarrant plays the 8 of Moons/Suns and calls Suns. Each subsequent player must play a Suns card if they have one. Raphael plays the 2 of Suns/Wyrms, which both follows suit (Suns) and is a trump card (Wyrms). Unless someone else plays a higher trump, Raphael wins the trick.
Scoring
Play continues until all cards have been played. After the last trick, calculate scores based on players' bids and the number of tricks they have won. The player on the dealer's left deals the next hand.
For the sake of having an official number, I recommend playing until some player reaches a cumulative score of 31 points or more. The player with the highest cumulative score is then the winner.
Strategy
Suppose you lead the Crown of Suns, and Suns are not the trump suit. If one of the other players has no Suns, then they may play a trump and take the trick. Even if all of them have Suns, perhaps one of them will play a card with both Suns and the trump suit. How likely is that?
The answer depends on the trump suit. The suit-pair diagram (see Suits, above) summarizes the combinations: look at the line connecting the lead suit to the trump suit, and you'll see which cards have both of those suits.
If Leaves are trump when you lead Suns, for example, note that there is no line between Suns and Leaves. There are no cards with both those suits in the basic deck. So no one can both follow suit and trump.
If Moons are trump, however, look at Moons and Suns: 4, 8, 9. There are three Moons/Suns cards, at ranks 4, 8, and 9. Unless those cards are in your hand, you should probably expect someone to trump.
Thricewise
2-5 players
Thricewise is a game about the number three. Every turn, players select and reveal cards simultaneously. In order by rank, cards are added to a shared grid. Players score each time they make three in a row — a flush, a set, or a straight.
You'll need a pad or scratch paper to keep score.
Setup
Shuffle together the basic deck (A, 2...9, Crown).
Deal three cards to each player. If there are 2 or 4 players, deal four cards face up to form a 2x2 grid; if there are 3 or 5 players, deal six cards face up to form a 2x3 grid.
Game play
At the beginning of each turn, players each select one card from their hand and place it face down in front of them. Once everyone has made a selection, cards are revealed.
Provided all the cards are of different ranks, players place their cards in order of increasing rank. A player with an Ace would go first, then a player with a 2, and so on; a player with a Crown would place last.
If two or more players reveal cards of the same rank, their cards are deferred. Leave deferred cards face up on the table; they may be placed during a later turn. If your card this turn is deferred and you have deferred cards left over from previous turns, they all remain deferred until you get a normal play. Any players who have cards that are not deferred play normally, lowest rank first.
When adding a card to the grid, place it next to a card already in the grid. It may be adjacent orthogonally (touching edges) or diagonally (touching corners). Cards may not be played on top of other cards.
Scoring: If you play a card that makes three in a row (either orthogonally or diagonally) then you score points. The three cards may be a flush (three cards that share a suit symbol), a set (three cards of the same rank), or a straight (three cards in rank order). You may score multiple times with one card if it makes threesomes in different directions or of different kinds.
The cards for a straight must be in order. For example: 5-6-7 is a straight, but 5-7-6 is not.
Each trio is worth the rank of the lowest number card of the three: as few as 2 or as many as 9 points.
Ace and Crown are not numbers, and Aces and Crowns do not affect scoring. A set of three Crowns or three Aces is not worth any points, a straight A-2-3 is worth 2 points, and a straight 8-9-Crown is worth 8 points.
Hitting the edge: If the grid of cards is already six cards wide, then cards may not be played to make it any wider. Similarly, if the grid is six cards tall, then cards may not be played to make it taller. Until the grid reaches six cards in a direction, cards may be played to extend it on either side. As a result, the starting cards may ultimately be anywhere in the grid: in the center, on a side, or in a corner.
Deferred cards: If you have deferred cards on the table and are able to play in a later turn, then play the deferred cards along with your new card. Although only the new card determines when you are allowed to play, you may play the new card and deferred cards in any order you please.
If you do not get a chance to play your deferred cards before the game ends, then the cards are simply set aside.
Drawing cards: After everyone has played their card — or set it aside because it was deferred — each player draws a card. After the deck is depleted or if there are not enough cards left for everyone to get one, then nobody draws. But keep playing until players empty their hands.
Game end: The game ends after the turn in which players play the last cards from their hands. If players have deferred cards in the final turns or if the cards do not deal out evenly, then there will be gaps left in the tableau at the end.
Example: You play a Crown of Suns, with an 8 of Moons/Suns and a 9 of Moons/Suns already in place. It is worth 8 for the Suns flush plus 8 for the 8-9-Crown straight; a total of 16 points.
Example: You play a 5 of Wyrms/Knots with other cards as shown. You score 4 for the Wyrms flush, 4 for the Knots flush, and 5 for the set of 5s; a total of 13 points. Note that both flushes use the same cards (the 4-5-8) but they make flushes in two suits.
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