Henchmania: Second Edition

Henchmania: Second Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Box contents

130 cards - 40 pawns - 5 site mini boards - 5 score meters - 1 Badge of Honor pawn - 3 dice - 1 manual - 5 Help cards - 1 day meter - 5 "Full" pawns

Goal of the game

The players represent the Lords from the city's 5 prestigious families. With the help from their faithful Henchmen, they have to earn as many POINTS as possible on their respective Coat of arms to become the next Bailiff of Montfleury.

Setup

Each player picks a Coat of arms and retrieves the appropriate number of Henchmen pawns. Each player starts the game with 5 POINTS on their Coat of arms.

Shuffle the 5 decks of cards and place them, face down, in their respective sites. Assemble the 5 city sites in the order of your choice. The discard pile is placed next to the sites.

The player with the dirtiest fingernails starts playing. If it's a draw, the youngest player starts. The first player sets the Badge of Honor in front of him and becomes the first player for this round.

Playing the game

The game is played over 4 days, and each day is itself divided into 3 phases:

Set the Henchmen pawns
Play the cards
End of the day

Every day, repeat the 3 phases. After Day 4, the Bailiff is appointed.

1. Set the Henchmen pawns

The Lord in possession of the Badge of Honor is the first to play. He may set a Henchman on one of the 5 sites and immediately picks a card from that site.

Rotating clockwise, the following players do the same. Repeat this setup until all players have placed all of their 8 Henchmen pawns, as to establish their 8 cards starting hand for that day.

When a pile is empty, immediately mix the cards from the corresponding discard pile as to form a new pile.

On each site, the number of available spots for the Henchmen pawns is limited:

2 players: 4 spots
3 players: 5 spots
4 players: 7 spots
5 players: 8 spots

When all the Henchmen pawns have been set, the player with the majority of Henchmen pawns on a site dominates it. There, he may draw an additional card. In case of a draw, no Lord dominates that site.

The players can then advance to the second phase of the day.

2. Play your cards

The Lord with the Badge of Honor starts playing. At their turn, the players play clockwise one card at a time.

There are three types of cards:

The Action cards - When an Action card is played, it is placed in the Discard pile of its original site and its effect is immediate. (Icon for Action cards: a lightning bolt, immediate effect.)
The Reserve cards - When a Reserve card is played, it is placed face up in front of the player and kept in the Reserve throughout the game - except if the text on the card specifies that it must be discarded to be effective. The effect of a Reserve card cannot be used from the player's hand but from his Reserve. A player can have up to 8 cards in his Reserve. If he wants to play a new card, he must discard one already used.
- The maximum number of the same card in the Reserve is shown on the card (a number icon). Caution: Any action for which this maximum amount would be surpassed is not allowed.
- The cards showing the arrow icon must be rotated horizontally to indicate that their effect has been used. If a rotated card was to move to another player, it is vertically rotated and can be used again. Caution: if the text starts by "At your turn", this means that the effect is used instead of playing a card from your hand.
The Trump cards - Each site has only one Trump card. A Trump card is an advantage for each player. It does not count in the Reserve and is immune to the effects on the Reserve cards. A player can only have one Trump card. If he wishes to use a new one, he must discard the old one. Trump cards are set next to the Coat of Arms.
- The cards showing the arrow icon must be rotated horizontally to indicate that their effect has been used.

If a player cannot play or decides to stop playing, he forfeits his right to play more cards for that day - except for a Guard card or an Armory card during a duel, see page 8 for the list of cards.

When all players have played their turn, they must discard all the remaining cards in their hand before moving on to the third phase of the day. They will start the next day with no cards, except for the ones in their Reserve.

3. End of the day

Starting with the Lord with the Badge of Honor and then in turn, the players report the POINTS from their Reserve cards.

The Performance cards earn:

1 POINT if you only have one
3 POINTS if you have two different ones
5 POINTS if you have three different ones

Once all the POINTS have been reported to the respective Coat of arms, the players rotate their cards vertically and gather their Henchmen pawns. If a player's score is over 30 POINTS or it's the 4th day, go to the End of the Game section. If not, the Badge of Honor is moved clockwise to the next player and the next day begins.

How to fight a duel?

At their turn, a player can challenge an opponent to a duel by playing the Glove card, making him an Attacker. The opponent may not refuse the duel and becomes a Defender.

Step 1: What can you use to fight?

The Attacker must declare his weapon of choice for the duel:

either by playing a single Armory card
or fight bare-handed, if the Attacker did not to pick an Armory card nor does not wish to play one for this duel.

The Defender must declare his weapon of choice for the duel:

either by playing a single Armory card
or fight bare-handed, if the Defender did not to pick an Armory card nor does not wish to play one for this duel.

Step 2: The dice roll

The Attacker rolls 3 dice, corresponding to 3 hits. Only the results equal or superior to the Attack value shown on their card are parried. With bare hands, the value is 6.

The Defender rolls as many dice as successful hits by the Attacker. Only the results equal or superior to the Defense value shown on their card are parried. With bare hands, the value is 6.

Step 3: The outcome

If at least one hit is not parried, the Attacker wins the duel. If all hits are missed or parried, the Defender wins the duel. Immediately report the POINTS on each Coat of Arms as indicated below.

In case of victory for the Attacker:

+5 POINTS for the Attacker
-1 POINT by non parried hit for the Defender

In case of victory for the Defender:

+2 POINTS for the Defender
-1 POINT for the Attacker

After each duel, the played cards must be returned in the Discard pile of their original site, in the order of their choice.

Example: You challenge your opponent with the Glove and use the Axe (Successful Attack if 3 or more). You roll 3 dice and score a 1, a 3 and a 5: you are successful twice. Your opponent, who defends himself with the Coat of mail, tries to parry the 2 successful attacks and has to score a 4 or more; he rolls a 3 and a 4 and only parries one. You win 5 points and he loses 1 point.

End of the Game

If a player reaches 30 POINTS at the end of the third phase of any day, the game is over and the player with the most POINTS on their Coat of arms wins.

At the end of the fourth day, the player with the most POINTS wins the game and becomes the new Bailiff of Montfleury.

If a player goes over 30 POINTS, the 1 should be calculated as 31, the 2 as 32, the 11 as 41, and so on...

In case of a draw

In case of a draw between only two players, they have to fight a duel. At their turn, they become Attacker and Defender. The one who inflicts the most wounds after the two fights wins. They can use the Reserve cards in front of them. In case of another draw, they have to fight another duel...

In case of a draw between more than two players, the game continues for another day.

Custom mode

You may decide to change the rules of the game: 3 days for a quick game or 5 days for a long game. Or you may also want to lower the immediate win to 25 POINTS.

Notes about the rules

The Reserve cards are kept throughout the game, except if the text on the card specifies that it must be discarded to be effective.
At any time, the players can look at the discarded cards or at the back of their opponents' cards.
Some cards allow you to pick into an opponent's hand, like Drunkard or Trick for example. You may look at the cards' back before making your choice.
The cards with a benefit can only be played to your advantage. They cannot be played to help another player (e.g., Guard, Prayer, Holy Water). The Courtesan card is the only one allowing you to intervene in a duel in which you are not involved.
If you can move Henchmen on the board, do it to your advantage (e.g., Traitor). This way, you can dominate a site or make an opponent lose their domination.
The Reserve cards starting with "At your turn" are played instead of playing a card from your hand.
You cannot put down a Reserve card whose maximum amount has been reached (e.g., Belladonna Root).
You cannot discard a card from your hand to win a round.
If a player goes over 30 POINTS, the 1 should calculated as 31, the 2 as 32, the 11 as 41, and so on...

Notes about the cards

Apothecary Card: When you play the Apothecary card, you cancel a wound during the duel. Therefore, you can win the duel if you cancel the last wound of the Attacker.
Trump Cards: The Trump Cards are not counted towards the maximum number of cards in your Reserve. Therefore, you can have up to 9 nine cards down in front of you.
Porter Card: The effect of the Porter Card is played during the "Set the Henchmen" phase. You can place a Henchman pawn on a site, even if the maximum amount of spots has been reached or another Porter is already present.
Traitor Card: Whenever you play a Traitor Card, you immediately take the pawn. The next day, you will put down the Henchman pawn on the site of your choice and draw the card but the pawn will count for your opponent when majorities are calculated.
Nosy Parker Card: At the end of the second phase of the day, the players must discard all their cards in hand. But if you have the Nosy Parker in your Reserve, you can keep one card for the next day.
The Guard card must be played right after the Gauntlet card. If, in a hurry, the Attacker has already put down his Armory card, it can be taken back.
Penitent Card: This card protects you from the effects of the Brawl but does not cancel its effects for the other players.
Old Lady Card: On top of your own Trump card, you can benefit from the effect of a Trump card which is in an opponent's Reserve, even if it is rotated.

The additional cards

The 6 animal cards below are added to the piles for each site, for a total of 27: Mule, Vermin, Tomcat, Mutt, Pigeon, Ox.

Pick among the 5 Glove cards below to be added to the game. Then, remove the basic Glove cards to keep a total of 12: Falconer Glove, Gauntlet, Silk Glove, Velvet Glove, Hunting Glove.

Pick among the 8 Henchmen cards below to be added to the game. Then, remove the corresponding cards to keep the same amount as indicated on the list of cards: Porter, Gossip, Traitor, Drunkard, Helm, Mace, Round shield, Coat of mail.

The cards

Number of copies of each card in the base game.

The Tavern: Catch your opponents with tricks and ruses.

Gossip x8, Trick x4, Belladonna root x4, Drunkard x4, Traitor x3, Brawl x1, Boss Lady x1, Trump: Influence x1.

The Castle: Use your Henchmen to entertain the Royal Court with their performances to gain favor.

Minstrel Performance x6, Troubadour Performance x6, Jester Performance x6, Bear Tamer x3, Guard x2, Intrigue x1, Courtesan x1, Trump: Eloquence x1.

The Main Square: Assert your superiority in duels.

Glove x12, Porter x3, Public bawler x3, Nosy parker x2, Apothecary x2, Pillory x2, Old Lady x1, Trump: Bravery x1.

The Church: Your devotion is rewarded by Divine providence, improving your performance score.

Prayer x5, Holy water x5, Choir boys x5, Gravedigger x4, Penitent x4, Inquisition x1, Bigots x1, Trump: Providence x1.

The Armory: Gear up with accessories your Henchmen procure for you to get the upper hand in duels.

Dagger x5, Cudgel x4, Axe x4, Sword x1, Coat of mail x5, Iron shield x4, Complete armor x1, Damsel x1, Trump: Confidence x1.