High Treason: The Trial of Louis Riel
High Treason: The Trial of Louis Riel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 45 Trial cards (Basic Game) and 6 What if? Trial cards for the variant. These cards have the words What if? under the illustration.
- 9 Phase Summary cards for 5 Phases: 5 Overview cards, 4 Details cards.
- 54 Trait markers, including:
- 18 Occupation (in 3 Aspects): Government Worker x3, Merchants x6, and Farmers x9.
- 18 Language (in 2 Aspects): French x5 and English x13.
- 18 Religion (in 2 Aspects): Catholic x7 and Protestant x11.
- 2 Plea markers (1 for each player) for Plea cards.
- 34 Double-Sided Sway markers.
- 1 Game Board.
- 9 Game Board Track markers (7 Trait Aspects, 1 Guilt, and 1 Insanity).
- 12 Juror cards.
- 1 Rule Book (You are reading it now).
Legal Counsel
Each Juror card in the game has 3 Traits: Occupation, Language, and Religion. Jurors always have exactly 1 Aspect of each Trait.
Setup
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Decide who will play the Prosecution (in red) and who will play the Defense (in blue).
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Place the game board on the table. The Prosecution sits on the red side (high numbers) and the Defense sits on the blue side (low numbers). The colors can be seen in the color gradient on the numbered tracks.
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Place the following materials on the game board.
- Place the Phase Summary cards into 2 decks in the corresponding locations on the board: 1 deck for Overview cards and 1 deck for Details cards. Sort each deck so that the Phase 1 card is on top and the remaining cards follow below them in ascending order.
- Place the Aspect markers on the highlighted start space on each Aspect track.
- Place the Guilt marker on the Start space on the Evidence of Guilt track.
- Place the Insanity marker on the Start space on the Evidence of Insanity track.
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Mix the Trait markers face down by group and leave them near the game board. Place the Sway markers nearby.
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Shuffle the 45 Trial cards and place them face down as a draw deck in easy reach of both players. Leave room nearby for a discard pile.
To play the What If? variant, shuffle the following 6 Trial cards into the deck:
- Chief Poundmaker
- Gabriel Dumant
- Father Julien Moulin
- Albert Monkman
- Juror lies in Voir Dire
- U.S. Citizenship
In this variant, it is assumed that Louis Riel's closest allies have not escaped and are also on trial.
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Each player takes the Plea marker in their color and places it in front of them with the blank star face up.
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Place the 12 Juror cards next to the board. For each Juror card, draw 1 random facedown Trait marker for Occupation, Language, and Religion. Turn the markers so the arrows are pointing away from the board and not at either player.
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Start the game with Phase 1 – Jury Selection.
Gameplay
High Treason – The Trial of Louis Riel is played in 5 Phases, each of which reflects a specific part of the trial.
- Phase 1 – Jury Selection (Voir Dire)
- Phase 2 – Trial in Chief (Part 1)
- Phase 3 – Trial in Chief (Part 2)
- Phase 4 – Summation (Closing Arguments)
- Phase 5 – Jury Deliberation and Judgment
The winner is determined after completing the last phase. The Guilt Values of all jurors will be added together (see page 15). If the total is 100 or more, the Prosecution wins. If the total is below 100, the Defense wins.
Legal Counsel
Based on the information you collect during this Phase of the trial, you will want to dismiss jurors who are truly skeptical of your side and retain those you believe will join your point of view - perhaps through convincing arguments.
Phase 1 – Jury Selection
In this phase you will play cards to learn more about the prospective jurors. At the end of this phase, 6 jurors will be dismissed reducing the number of jurors on display in half from 12 to 6.
Game Play in Phase 1 – Jury Selection
- §1 Each player draws 7 cards from the Trial deck.
- §2 The Prosecution begins card play:
- They play 5 cards one after the other for effect.
- Then, they set aside the 2 remaining cards (Plea cards) beneath their Plea marker.
- §3 The Defense follows with their card play:
- They play 5 cards one after the other for effect.
- Then, they set aside the 2 remaining cards (Plea cards) beneath their Plea marker.
- §4 Beginning with the Prosecution the players now alternate dismissing jurors one at a time until only 6 jurors remain.
Legal Counsel
Cards set aside under the Plea markers are called Plea cards and are used in Phase 4 - Summation. Try to set aside Attorney cards and cards with helpful Events for the closing arguments.
Card Play
During Phase 1 – Jury Selection, you play cards from your hand and use the Events highlighted in yellow on the Juror cards.
Most Events require you to reveal a certain number of markers for a given Trait. To reveal a Trait marker, flip it over to the front so both players can see it. You may also choose a Trait marker that has been previously revealed.
Example: You play the card for John W. Astley. Once you've decided on either the occupation or religion Trait, you then must reveal the required number of Trait markers of that type so that both players can see them (or all remaining markers if there are fewer than needed unrevealed).
Some Events let you peek at unrevealed Trait markers. When you peek at a Trait marker, make sure your opponent does not see the front! Then place it back on the juror and turn it so that the arrow on the backside now points to you. This indicates that you – and only you – can look at this Trait marker again at any time. If you are looking at a marker your opponent has already seen, just turn it face up and leave it so you can both see it.
Example: You are the Prosecution and play the Prosecution Attorney Thomas Chase-Chagrin. The Event allows you to view any 3 Trait markers on any Juror cards. If you play this card as the Defense, you are only allowed to peek at 2 Trait markers.
Some cards trigger a special Event during Jury Selection. Just follow the text on the card. You are not allowed to forgo an Event.
Each card is placed on the common discard pile after it has been played. The last 2 cards of the hand are set aside under the player's Plea marker.
Legal Counsel
The Events that reveal markers are unequally distributed. Language Traits are most common, followed by Occupation Traits, with Religious Traits being the least common.
Legal Counsel
It is better to know a little about many of the jurors rather than everything about a few. You want to learn enough about them so you know which ones to dismiss at the end of the jury selection phase.
Legal Counsel
Try to make the best use of card Events as you can and do not focus too much on the location of the Trait markers. The Prosecution Events usually sway the English-speaking Protestant merchants and Government Workers whose opinions are easier to define. The Defense Events usually persuade French-speaking Catholic farmers whose views are somewhat more difficult to determine.
Historic Background
The politicians in control at this time wanted to make sure Riel would be convicted. They moved the trial location from Winnipeg to Regina and secured a jury that consisted of only six like-minded English-speaking jurors instead of twelve jurors of mixed heritage and convictions. The defense submitted a detailed argument that Canadian law did not allow a jury with only six members to decide a capital case – but it was in vain.
Legal Counsel
You should ensure that the markers on the board are in the best interests of your side during Phases 2 and 3 – Trial in Chief (Part 1 and 2) and Phase 4 – Summation.
The Prosecution wants the Aspect markers for each to move towards the red side (the high numbers on the tracks) while the Defense wants to move them towards the blue side (the low numbers on the tracks).
In order for the Prosecution to win, the Guilt marker must be at least on space 2 of the Evidence of Guilt track and the final score must be 100 or more.
The Defense benefits greatly from having the Insanity marker as far to the left of the Evidence of Insanity track as possible.
Juror Dismissal
Once both players have played 5 cards and placed 2 cards under their Plea markers, it is time to dismiss 6 of the jury members.
Beginning with the Prosecution, each player dismisses 1 juror until only 6 jurors remain. The dismissed jurors are returned to the box and the Trait markers are returned — face down — to the supply.
Legal Counsel
The dismissal of a juror can depend on several factors and is an important strategic decision for both players.
The remaining 6 jurors now form the final jury for the trial. Place them next to the game board so that they have a good view of how the trial progresses.
Phase 2 – Trial in Chief (Part 1)
In this Phase, the Prosecution and Defense play cards to swear witnesses to certain statements in order to influence and consolidate the jury's opinion in their favor. Furthermore, evidence must be produced for the guilt or for the insanity of the accused.
Game Play for Phase 2 – Trial in Chief (Part 1)
- §1 Shuffle the Trial discard pile back into the Trial deck.
- §2 Deal each player 7 cards from the Trial deck.
- §3 Beginning with the Prosecution, both players take turns playing 1 card from their hand and then placing them in the discard pile.
- §4 After 5 card plays, the player sets the 2 remaining cards aside under their Plea marker.
For each card you play, you must decide whether to use it either for its Action Points (see pages 9 & 10) or to execute one of its Trial in Chief Events (see page 11).
Use Action Points
When you play a card for its Action Points, you must use the Action Points specified on the card to perform the actions listed below. You may do the actions in any order and multiple times as long as you have Action Points. You must use all of your Action Points.
Action Point Choices
- Sway a Juror (1 Action Point)
- Argue One Aspect (1 Action Point)
- Argue One Aspect In Depth (3 Action Points)
Action: Sway a Juror (1 Action Point)
Place a Sway marker in your color (Red for Prosecution, Blue for Defense) on a juror of your choice.
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You may place or remove a maximum of 2 Sway markers per juror per Trial card.
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If one or more of the opponent's Sway markers are already on the selected Juror card, you must remove one of these markers for one Action Point instead of placing one.
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Do not flip the Sway markers on a Juror card! There can only be 1 color of Sway marker on a juror at a time.
Imagine the jury's beliefs are like a counterweight scale: A juror with 5 of your Sway markers strongly tilts the scale to your side. To change that, your opponent must first bring the scale into balance (to 0) in order to then tilt it to the their side.
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Lock Juror: As soon as all of the fields on a Juror card are filled with Sway markers, this juror is convinced and locked. A locked juror can no longer be swayed with actions; only certain Events that specifically allow it can persuade them.
Legal Counsel
Give preference to "locking" jurors who are sympathetic to your opponent's side of the case. Not only does it protect them from being swayed against you, but they benefit you in Summation and their Guilt Value scores are modified in your favor at the end of the game.
Action: Argue One Aspect (1 Action Point)
Move an Aspect marker 1 space in either direction (⬅1➡). Then put a Sway marker in your color on an empty field next to the corresponding Aspect track.
- An Aspect marker can never be moved below 1 or above 10. Ignore any Events that would do this.
- If all three fields next to an Aspect track are filled with Sway markers, no matter whose, the jury determines this subject has now been exhausted and this Aspect track is now considered closed. Action Points can no longer sway closed Aspect tracks. However, certain Events that explicitly allow it may do so.
- You can only move an Aspect marker 1 space on your turn with this action. If you want to move an Aspect marker 2 spaces you must choose the Argue One Aspect in Depth action instead.
Legal Counsel
Changing an Aspect value affects the Guilt Value of any juror that has this Aspect. Therefore, it is worthwhile to sway some Aspects more than others!
Action: Argue One Aspect In Depth (3 Action Points)
This action works just like the Argue One Aspect action, except that the Aspect marker is moved 2 spaces in one direction (⬅2➡).
- You may only use this action to move an Aspect marker that you have not already moved with the Argue One Aspect action.
- You only place 1 Sway marker with this action.
- You may only make 1 "normal" or 1 "in depth" argument for an Aspect per Trial card.
Example: The Defense plays a Trial card for 3 Action Points.
As the Defense wants to place a Sway marker in an empty space next to the Farmer Aspect track, she spends 1 Action Point to move the Farmer Aspect marker (⬅1) thus moving that marker from space 6 to space 5. Then she places a Sway marker on a blank field next to the Farmer Aspect track.
Instead, the Defense could have spent all 3 Action Points from the Trial card to move the Farmer Aspect marker (⬅2➡) thus moving that marker from space 6 to space 4. Again she only places 1 Sway marker in her color in an empty field beside the Farmer Aspect track.
She could also have used 1 Action Point each to sway 3 different Aspect tracks for 1 space with the 3 Action Points from the Trial card.
Aspect Movement Icons
The icon for moving an Aspect marker in either direction 1 space is: ⬅1➡
The movement for 2 spaces in either direction is shown as: ⬅2➡
The icon for moving to benefit the Prosecution is: 1➡
Whereas movement benefitting the Defense is shown as: ⬅2
And so on.
An Aspect marker can never be moved below 0 or above 10 on its track. Ignore Events that would do this.
Implement Trial in Chief Events
When you play a card for an Event, implement the Trial in Chief Event as stated.
- Many Trial cards have more than 1 Event. You must choose 1 to implement.
- If the Event allows you to move markers on the Aspect tracks, you do not place Sway markers.
The background color of Events indicates whether the Event is generally positive for the Prosecution (red), positive for the Defense (blue) or neutral (green).
To implement an Event, do everything in 1 color box line by line.
Example: +1 Guilt and 1➡ to any one aspect. In this case move the marker 1 space on the Guilty track and choose an Aspect marker to move 1 space - both in favor of the Prosecution.
Attorney cards
An Attorney card is a normal Trial card that is very strong for one of the two sides and can perform special Events. Each player can also use any Attorney card for its Action Points.
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Objection!
If it is an Attorney card intended for your side (for example, if you are the Prosecution, it must be a Prosecution Attorney card), you can play it during your opponent's turn to prevent their chosen Event. This can only prevent Events and not the use of Action Points. When used, both cards are discarded without further effects.
When you do this, you do not draw a replacement card. You must continue this Phase with a reduced number of cards.
During Phases 2 and 3 - Trial in Chief (Parts 1 and 2), it is possible that your opponent will be able to play multiple cards at the end because you have used up your hand.
I Object! Objection is an Event. Therefore, you can interrupt your opponent's Event with your own Objection Event using an Attorney card for your side.
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Reopening an Aspect
Remove all Sway markers from one Aspect track and then (⬅2➡). You have reopened this Aspect with a new convincing reason to refocus the jury's deliberations on it.
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Compelling Persuasion of Jurors
Place a number of Sway markers equal to the total number of the Attorney card's Action Points to convince any juror(s) in the usual way (this can be used on more than one juror and on locked jurors). Through this, you can unlock jurors that are locked. In addition, there is no limit to how many Sway markers can be placed or removed from a juror with this action. (There is normally a maximum of 2 markers placed in the Sway a Juror action*.*)
Moment of Insight
Some of the Events for Phases 2 and 3 – Trial in Chief (Parts 1 and 2) provide a Moment of Insight.
This icon can be red (Prosecution only) blue (Defense only) or green (usable by both sides). The color of the icon corresponds to the background color for the Event.
If you use a Moment of Insight, you can either:
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Randomly reveal one of your opponent's facedown Plea cards (those set aside under his Plea marker). This card remains face up and you can view it at any time until the beginning of Phase 4 – Summation.
OR
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Exchange one of your Plea cards with a card in your hand. The Plea card is placed in your hand and the card from your hand is placed under your Plea marker face down, even if the former Plea card was face up.
Legal Counsel
With the help of Moment of Insight, you can regain the element of surprise in Phase 4 - Summation by replacing a faceup Plea card (and thereby making it face down again.)
Call a Mulligan
Once in the game and only during the Phases 2 and 3 – Trial in Chief (Parts 1 and 2), on your turn you may pass in order to take a Mulligan by discarding all of your cards and redrawing 1 less than the number discarded into your hand. Then, flip your Plea marker to show the word Mulligan. Once the Plea marker is flipped, you may no longer call a Mulligan; it is once per player. Then it is your opponent's turn.
Legal Counsel
Remember, with a Mulligan, you will only set aside 2 cards under your Plea marker at the end of the Phase. If you Mulligan too late, it can be fatal for you!
End of Phase
The Phase is over for a player when they are down to the last 2 cards in their hand. These 2 cards are automatically set aside under the Plea marker – adding to the 2 existing cards there. The opponent continues to play until they have only 2 cards left, which are then set aside under their Plea marker.
Phase 3 – Trial in Chief (Part 2)
This Phase is the same as Phase 2 – Trial in Chief (Part 1) except the Trial cards in the discard pile are not reshuffled back into the deck.
Phase 4 – Summation (Closing Arguments)
During this Phase, both players make their Summation and try for the last time to convince the jury of the guilt or innocence of the accused. After that, the lawyer's job is over and the jurors' time has come . . .
In this phase, you now play your card for exactly 2 Action Points (no matter what is on the card) or for your Summation Event.
Game Play for Phase 4 – Summation
- §1 Both players take the 6 cards set aside under their Plea marker into their hand.
- §2 The Prosecution begins and plays 3 cards one after the other.
- §3 Then, the Defense follows and plays all 6 of their cards one after the other.
- §4 Finally, the Prosecution plays their remaining 3 cards one after the other.
Action Points
If you play a card for 2 Action Points, you can only use these Action Points on unlocked jurors to do the following: Sway a Juror for each 1 Action Point (see page 9, Phase 2).
Summation Event
When you play a card for an Event, implement the Event listed under Summation Event (see right).
- Many Trial cards have more than 1 Event. You must choose 1 to implement.
- If the Event allows you to move markers on the Trait tracks, you do not place Sway markers.
Attorney cards
The Attorney cards can only be played for 1 of their Events during Summation. These Events are:
- Objection! See Phase 2 – Trial in Chief (Part 1), page 11.
- Open a Juror's Eyes! Remove all Sway markers from a juror even if it is locked and place 1 Sway marker of your color on it.
- Compelling Persuasion of Jurors Place a number of Sway markers equal to the total number of the Attorney card's Action Points to convince any juror(s) (but not locked jurors) in the usual way. This is not limited to the usual 2 Sway markers when using Action Points.
Legal Counsel
Each Prosecution Sway marker on a juror counts as +1 towards the Guilt Value. Likewise, each Defense Sway marker counts as -1 towards the Guilt Value.
Phase 5 – Jury Deliberation and Judgment
The lawyers' job for the trial is done. Now it's time for the judge and jury to take over.
Game Play for Phase 5 – Deliberation
- §1 Evaluate the two Evidence tracks.
- §2 Starting with the Prosecution, players may now use the Deliberation Action Points of their locked jurors.
- §3 Determine the winner.
In this Phase, simply follow these steps:
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Consideration of Guilt
- If the Guilt marker has not advanced to at least 2 or higher on the Evidence of Guilt track, the judge finds there is insufficient evidence of guilt and dismisses the case. The Prosecution has failed to make its case and the Defense wins!
- If the Guilt marker is exactly on space 2, nothing further happens.
- If the Guilt marker is on space 3 (or 4), place 1 (or 2) Prosecution Sway markers on each juror that is not already locked.
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Consideration of Insanity
- If the Insanity marker is located on space 0 (or 1) on the Evidence of Insanity track, nothing happens.
- If the Insanity marker is on space 2 (or 3, or 4), move each Aspect marker on every Aspect track 1 space (or 2 spaces, or 3 spaces) towards Defense (⬅X).
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Reveal all of the Trait markers on Jurors.
Now the jury withdraws for deliberation, whereby locked jurors can convince unlocked jurors of their opinion.
- Use Juror Deliberation Action Points
- Locked jurors receive Deliberation Action Points as shown on the bottom of their card to be used as described below.
- Beginning with the Prosecution, alternate taking turns.
- When it is your turn, select one of your locked jurors and use its Deliberation Action Points for 1 of these 2 options:
- On an open Aspect track that matches an Aspect on your locked juror: move the Aspect marker on that track 1 space in your direction (⬅1➡). Then put a Sway marker of your color in an empty field next to this Aspect track.
- On an unlocked juror, who matches with an Aspect(s) of your locked juror: place up to 1 Sway marker on your selected juror per matching Aspect. You can place up to 3 total if all Aspects match. Two jurors with no matches cannot sway one another.
- IMPORTANT: Jurors newly locked by this process now also gain Deliberation Action Points that you may use on your turn. This is the domino effect of "groupthink".
Legal Counsel
By using jurors to repeat your arguments, you get the chance to have a "last word" in the deliberation room. This can be an important advantage!
Example for Step 4: Use Juror Deliberation Action Points:
Juror #1 (Catholic, English, Farmer) is locked for the Prosecution with 5 Sway markers. Juror #5 is locked for the Defense with 4 Sway markers.
The Prosecution now uses the 2 Deliberation Action Points that Juror #1 provides. He looks at the remaining Jurors to see if there is one that is close to being locked for the Prosecution.
Juror #6 only needs 2 more Sway markers to be locked for the Prosecution, but Juror #1 (being used to sway him) and Juror #6 only have one Aspect in common (both are Farmers). Therefore only 1 Sway marker can be placed, which is not enough to lock this juror – the Prosecution will have to look for something else!
The Prosecution looks at the other jurors and finds that Juror #3 needs only 1 Sway marker to be locked for the Defense. In addition, there are 2 common Aspects with Juror #1 (Farmer and English).
Therefore the Prosecution decides to use 1 of his 2 Deliberation Action Points to remove 1 Defense Sway marker from Juror #3. With that, this juror will now be out of range to be locked by the Defense, as his only locked juror (#5) has only 1 Deliberation Action Point.
Since there is no other juror available to lock, the Prosecution decides to spend the remaining Deliberation Action Point on one of the Aspect tracks.
Since both the English and Farmer Aspect tracks are already closed with 3 Sway markers each, the Prosecution uses his last Deliberation Action Point on the Catholic Aspect track by moving the Aspect marker (1➡) and placing a Sway marker in an empty field in the usual way.
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Calculate the Guilt Value for each of the six jurors as follows:
- Total the values of the juror's three Aspects.
- If the juror is locked by the Prosecution, double the total. If locked by the Defense, halve the total instead (rounding it down).
- For each Prosecution Sway marker, add 1 to the total. For each Defense Sway marker, subtract 1 from the total.
Although unlikely, the result could be a negative value. This is allowed and, of course, is especially good for the Defense.
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Total the Guilt Value of all six jurors. If the total is 100 or more, the Prosecution wins. If the total is 99 or less, the Defense wins.
Example for Step 5 - Calculate the Guilt Value:
Juror #1 is a Protestant French Farmer. The Aspect marker for French is on space 6 and the Protestant Aspect marker is also on space 6, while the Farmer Aspect marker is on space 2. This gives a Guilt Value of 14. If this juror is locked, that value would be either doubled or halved.
This juror also has 2 Defense Sway markers (-2), so the final Guilt Value is 12.
Juror #2 is an English (4), Protestant (6), Government Worker (3) for a total of 13. However, he is also locked for the Prosecution, which doubles his Guilt Value to 26. In addition, there are 5 Prosecution Sway markers that bring the final Guilt Value to 31.
Juror #3 is an English (4), Catholic (2), Farmer (2) for a total of 8 with 2 Sway markers for the Prosecution for a final Guilt Value of 10.
Juror #4 is a French (6), Catholic (2), Merchant (5) with no Sway markers (0) for a final Guilt Value of 13.
Juror #5 is an English (4), Protestant (6), Merchant (5) for a total of 15 with 3 Defense Sway markers (-3) for a final Guilt Value of 12.
Juror #6 is an English (4), Protestant (6), Farmer (2) for a total of 12, locked for the Defense (halved=6), with 5 Defense Sway markers (-5) for a final Guilt Value of 1.
Accordingly, the final total Guilt Value is 12+31+10+13+12+1=79.
The Prosecution has failed to reach the minimum Guilt Value of 100+ in order to convict Louis Riel. Therefore, he is acquitted and not hanged!
In hindsight, it is clear that the Prosecution should have paid more attention to the Evidence of Guilt track in order to convince individual jurors. Likewise, they should have been more concerned with the Farmer Aspect track, which should have been on at least space 4.
Designer Notes
By Alex Berry
Being both a gamer and an attorney, I have long wanted to marry those activities together. My desire was to create a trial game that placed the jury as its focus, where the players had to convince the jurors of the soundness and righteousness of their arguments. That pursuit of "winning the debate" would be the very heart of the system.
Like the defendant in High Treason, I am a Canadian who came to America and, as such, drama from the trial of Louis Riel (a Canadian hero or villain, depending upon your perspective) has always intrigued me, and the charge of high treason motivated my game design energies. This trial is remarkable as it is the only major capital case in history (that I'm aware of) with only six jurors! This fit one of my design goals: I wanted a trial with only six jurors to keep things from becoming too unwieldy (keeping your eye on only six jurors being hard enough for the non-attorneys I hoped would play and enjoy this game). Therefore, this number looked right: Since the jury selection pool is only twelve, each player has only to excuse three potential jurors and empanel the remaining six. I imagined that would be simple and clear enough for the jury selection (voir dire) round of the game. It is very important in a real life trial, but keeping this fast, interesting, and reasonably realistic in a game was a challenge.
Jury Selection proved to be a bit vexing for the "new attorneys with a hand of cards" who were our play testers (and what a great and diverse lot of them helped us; I was very impressed with their feedback and suggestions!). Each juror's traits are abstracted, of course, and please note: If a juror is "English" or "French," you don't have to take that literally; what it really means is that they support the established political goals of that particular trait. For players of High Treason, we spell out these unwavering aspects very clearly for you on their counters, but in a courtroom, where the lines are not always so clear (people are naturally less forthcoming in a trial setting), attorneys have to be very cunning to get the best possible assessment of the jury pool before they start excusing jurors.
The goal of jury selection is not discovering whom you want to keep on the jury, but whom you wish to excuse from it. Legal Counsel columns abound in the sidebars of the rules, but to them let me add some more: I advise the Prosecution to avoid revealing Occupation aspects; these potentially reveal Merchants and Government Workers that the Defense will reflexively excuse. Instead, the Prosecution would benefit more by focusing on discovering the jurors' Religion and Language traits, to "smoke out" the sympathetic Catholics and French whom you should excuse. Obviously, reverse this advice for the Defense. Give this matter some thought and apply sound tactics regarding how much of what you are revealing, and on which jurors. Knowing a little bit about most of the jurors will allow you to make better decisions than knowing everything about only a few of them (and, of course, peeking is always more useful then revealing traits, because that knowledge is yours alone).
Remember, your goal in jury selection is to sneak onto the jury those who, after the Trial in Chief cards are played, should be the most inclined to support your cause (Prosecution: English, Merchant or Government Worker, and Protestant; Defense: French, Farmer, Catholic). Don't let the starting values of the various aspects fool you during Jury Selection! It is where they end the trial that matters, and there will be a lot of cards played between Jury Selection and Deliberation. Examine your hand, look at your Trial in Chief Events on them, and play to your cards' Event strengths!
The Trial in Chief features other neat abstractions. You do not play cards to "direct" or "cross-examine" per se. Instead, a Witness card played shows the aggregate benefit to your case. That is, a Prosecution Witness card played by the Defense for its Action value represents a devastating Defense cross-examination of that witness, thus providing a net gain for the Defense. Note that card play during the Trial in Chief is not done in the same sequence that occurs in a real trial (with the prosecution putting on all their witnesses first, and then the defense bringing up their rebuttal witnesses). This realism was sacrificed so that the game would be more interactive and fun.
In the Closing Argument segment, as in a real trial, the Prosecution has a massive advantage from "having the last word." Here is some more "Legal Counsel" for High Treason: The Prosecution might not want to lock any jurors prior to their "rebuttal" (i.e., the last cards they play after the Defense is played out during Summation); doing so is to invite the Defense to unlock them with Attorney cards. I advise the Prosecution to save their most devastating attacks for that time when the Defense cannot respond!
The Deliberation stage represents the jurors talking in the jury room. If you have made some converts among the jurors (i.e., you have locked some of them), they can advocate for your cause among other jurors who are still vacillating. After all is said and done, after the jury deliberates, one of two things will happen: If they reach a score of less than 100, the jury is hung; if they reach 100 or more points, the defendant is hanged. Historically, they convicted the defendant, Louis Riel, but with lamenting from the jurors that the court should be lenient; it wasn't.
The threshold of 100 points is high, and dilettante Prosecution players will often lose until they gain some experience and begin seeing the "war" in this courtroom fought on four fronts: the jurors, the aspects, Evidence of Guilt, and Evidence of Insanity. The Prosecution needs a plan to do well on three of these "fronts" and not bungle the fourth. To help the Prosecution, the deck is stacked in their favor with more ways to add Guilt than to absolve it, about an equal number of ways to present and dispel Evidence of Insanity, and more Prosecution Attorney and "Star" Witness cards for big gains available. However, the Prosecution needs a plan and a homogenous, favorably disposed jury to pull off 100 points for the win, and that, members of the jury, is what this case (and game) is all about.
You will need to play High Treason several times to learn all the levels and tricks of good Prosecution, but they are there and you will be well rewarded in their discovery. The court is coming to order now; shuffle up the cards!
— Alex Berry
Credits
- Designer: Alex Berry
- Development: Alan Emrich
- Illustration: Mercedes Palacios
- Graphics: Tim Allen, Jared Gannuscio
- Additional Graphics: Christian Szymanski
- Rules: Noelle Le Bienvenu
- Production: Dawson Ellis
- Editors: Avalon Emrich, Matthew E. Deuber, Russ Williams, Tim Schuetz, Karen Wolterman, Petra Schlunk, Noelle Le Bienvenu, Ian McCormack
- English Translation: Ralph H. Anderson
- Executive Producer & Publisher: Dan Yarrington
- Play Testers: Mark Butt, Tom and Hayden Decker, Paul Farrell, Phil Fleischmann, Sam Furth, Amanda Hodge, Steve Johnston, Alexis Jones, Nathan Hansen, Jeremy Lennert, John Mason, Noah Massaro, Lance McMillan, Chris Meichtry, Robert and Barbara Nielsen, Barry Pike III, Brian Powers, Joanne Powers, John Prewitt, Dorian Richard, Daniel Robison, Phil Sauer, Petra Schlunk, Torin Schlunk, Matt Shirley, Alan Snider, Jeanne Ziegler
©2016-2023 Tabletop Tycoon, Inc. This is the 3rd edition of High Treason!
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