Guile Rulebook

Table of Contents

Contents
Set Up
Game Play
Game End
Variants
Credits

(8) Knights of the Round Table in two distinct factions:
- Allies of King Arthur
- Pawns of Sir Mordred
(3) Variant Cards — for use in Extended Cast variant
(10) Influence cards — three 1s, three 2s, two 3s, two 4s
(1) Turn Card — identifies the current Knight-Errant
(1) Cycle Card — sword points to the Start Knight
(3) Victory Cards — win (2) and Camelot is yours

Set Up

I. The start player is the person who most recently performed a chivalrous deed. This person chooses a faction to control: either the allies of King Arthur or the pawns of Sir Mordred. The other player will control the unchosen faction.

II. Place all Knights face-up in a circle, alternating them by faction. This forms the Round Table. The start player places the Turn Card outside of the Round Table above a Knight of their faction, and the Cycle card coins-down in the center of the Round Table. Excalibur should point towards the Turn Card, signifying the Start Knight.

III. Shuffle the Influence Cards and deal (4) face-down to each player. Place the remaining Influence Cards aside face-down; they will not be used this round.

IV. Each player selects (1) Influence Card, places it face-down in front of them, and passes the rest of the Influence Cards in their hand to the other player. Continue selecting (1) and passing the rest until each player has (4) cards total.

V. Each player looks at their cards and places (1) face-down on top of each of their faction's Knights. Remember to keep the Influence cards secret during placement.

See Diagram A for an example of the completed set up.

Game Play

I. The player controlling the Knight-Errant (identified by the Turn Card) takes (1) of these actions: i. Secretly look at the Influence Card of the Knight-Errant. -OR- ii. Exchange the Influence Card of the Knight-Errant with the Influence Card of any other Knight at the Round Table, including any Knight of their own faction. Influence Cards must remain face-down and unseen during this action.

II. Once the action is complete, move the Turn Card clockwise to the next Knight. The controlling player takes their turn, and so on.

III. Once the Turn Card returns to the Start Knight, the first cycle is complete. Flip the Cycle Card coins-up to signify that Influence will be totaled at the end of this cycle. Play continues until the Turn Card returns to the Start Knight once again. At this time, play stops and the round is over.

IV. Flip all the Influence Cards face-up beginning with the Start Knight and going clockwise. The faction with the highest total sum of Influence wins the round, and the controlling player gains (1) Victory Card. If there is a tie after totaling Influence, the faction with the highest-value Influence Card wins the round. If there is still a tie, the Influence Card with the dagger wins the round.

V. If neither player has won (2) rounds, follow SET UP steps III, IV, and V. Move the Turn Card clockwise to the next Knight, then flip the Cycle Card coins-down and point Excalibur at the new start Knight. (This ensures a different player starts the next round.) Begin a new round starting with GAME PLAY step I.

Game End

The player who wins (2) rounds is victorious and wrests control of Camelot from their opponent.

Variants

Code of Chivalry — To increase the difficulty of Guile, skip SET UP step IV.

Extended Cast — These characters are shuffled into the Influence deck in SET UP step III and their abilities are resolved when totaling Influence in GAME PLAY step IV.

Isolde — If on Sir Tristan, Isolde's Influence value is equal to King Arthur's highest-value Influence Card. If on Sir Palamedes, Isolde's Influence value is equal to Sir Mordred's highest-value Influence Card.

Morgana — Cancel the Influence Card of the first Knight that is counter-clockwise from Morgana. Morgana's Influence value is (0).

Merlin — Merlin's Influence is equal to that of the Influence Card directly across from him. If that card is an Extended Cast character, Merlin's Influence value is (0).

Credits

Game Design: Justin Schaffer Additional Development: Michael Huven-Moore Illustration: Brett Owens -- http://brettowens2d.tumblr.com

Special Thanks To: Mary Fisher, Michael Huven-Moore, Carey Doughty, Patrick Oliver, Darrell Lomelino, Lisa Liming Huang, Chris Grandinett, Katie Owen, Kate Walton, Heather & Wes Joyce, Matt Cocuzzi, Brent Povis, Mario Lurig, Chris Warren, Jonny Rotheram, Sarah Winter, and the rest of our family, friends, and fans for all their support in making this possible.