Intrigue City Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview of the Game
• Components
  • Descriptions
• Game Setup
  • Game Board
  • Player Board
• Round Sequence
  • Phase 1: Action Phase
  • Guild Favor Cards
  • Example 1
  • Phase 2: Round End
  • Example 2
• Era Change Round
  • Example 3
• Final Scoring
  • Example 4
• Card Symbols
• Guild Favor Cards Description
  • Crescent Moon (gained from Thieves Guild)
  • Dragon's Blood (gained from Alchemists Guild)
  • Eternal Seekers (gained from Clerics Guild)
  • Brotherhood of Steel (gained from Warriors Guild)
  • The Dreamers (gained from Artists Guild)
  • Raven Lords (gained from Merchants Guild)
• Influence Action Cards Description
  • Basic Influence Action Cards
  • Advanced Influence Action Cards
  • Printed on Board Influence Actions
• 2-Player Game
• Variants
  • Family Game
  • Quick Game
  • The White Vote
  • Advanced Game
• F.A.Q.

Overview of the Game

In each round of Intrigue City each player changes the influence that he and one of his opponents has on the Guilds of Aar.

Influence Tokens of three different values (1, 2 & 3) represent each player's control over a Guild. Perfect balance of influence - not too obvious, nor too weak - is achieved by having Influence Tokens with a total value of exactly six on a Guild; this is called an Equilibrium. At the end of each round each player scores Equilibrium Cards for every Equilibrium he has managed to maintain up to that point.

During the game players vote to increase the power of each Guild, also increasing the point value of that Guild's Equilibrium Cards, affecting each player's final score.

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 5 Player Boards
• 5 Intrigue Tokens
• 1 Round Token
• 6 Guild Power Tokens
• Influence Tokens of Value 1 (x33), Value 2 (x33) and Value 3 (x30)
• 5 Offensive Action Tokens
• 5 Defensive Action Tokens
• 30 Guild Favor Cards
• 90 Equilibrium Cards
• 60 Guild Power Cards (12 for each player)
• 1 Schemer Card
• 5 Basic Influence Action Cards
• 10 Advanced Influence Action Cards

Descriptions

Guilds: 1. Brotherhood of Steel Guild; 2. Eternal Seekers Guild; 3. Raven Lords Guild; 4. Dreamers Guild; 5. Dragon's Blood Guild; 6. Crescent Moon Guild.

Player Board: 1-6 the six Guilds; 7. Setup: Starting Influence Tokens (IT); 8. The seven ways to achieve Equilibrium; 9. Final Scoring.

Influence Action Card: 1. Title of the Action Card; 2. Targeted Guild and/or Chosen Guilds; 3. Value of the Influence Tokens; 4. Kind of interaction (Place/Remove/Move); 5. Type of Action Card (Basic/Advanced).

Game Board: 1. Intrigue Counter/Power Point Counter; 2. Round Counter; 3. Action Spaces; 4. Intrigue Value; 5. Action Spaces used only in a 4- and 5-Player Game; 6. Action Spaces used only in a 5-Player Game; 7. Guild Power Counters; 8. Printed on Board Action Card (not in a 2-Player Game).

Guild Favor Card: 1. Major Favor of shown Guild; 2. Minor Favor of shown Guild; 3. Trigger of Favor (shows when this card can be played); 4. Shows the Target and/or Choices of the Favor; 5. Value of the Influence Tokens; 6. Kind of interaction (Place/Remove/Move).

Guild Power Card: 1. Guild; 2. Power Value; 3. Power Value in a 5-Player Game; 4. Power Value in a 4-Player Game; 5. Power Value in a 2- or 3-Player Game.

Game Setup

Game Board

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the table.
2. Every player chooses a color of his choice and takes its corresponding Intrigue Token and Guild Power Deck.
3. Shuffle the Advanced Influence Action Cards and randomly choose according to the number of players as following:

Number of players	Number of Advanced Influence Action Cards
3	0
4	2
5	4

4. Shuffle the chosen Advanced Influence Action Cards with the five Basic Influence Action Cards and place them randomly face up on the Action Spaces on the Game Board according to the number of players. These are the actions that the Players, as members of the Spider Lodge, are going to use in order to strengthen their influence on the Six Guilds of Aar, while weakening the influence of their opponents. (ex. Manipulating a member of a Guild would be something subtle and its effect less obvious. On the other hand Blackmailing a member of a Guild will be more effective but surely draws unwanted attention).
5. Place the Intrigue Tokens of each player on the first space of the Intrigue Counter one on top of the other, in random order. This is the Intrigue of each player and represents his ability to involve in schemes and plots.
6. Place the Round Token on the first space of the Round Counter.
7. Place a Guild Power Token on the first space of every Guild on the Guild Power Counters. The Guild Power Counters show the power that each Guild has in Aar.
8. Place the Equilibrium Cards of the six Guilds face-up next to the Game Board. These cards are awarded whenever a player achieves Equilibrium in a Guild (see "Round Sequence"). They count as Power Points in the end of the game.
9. Place the Guild Favor Cards of the six Guilds next to the Game Board (minor side up). Guild Favor Cards represent a favor gained from a Guild after having interacted with it.
10. Place the Influence Tokens into 3 different piles according to their values next to the Game Board. This is the Influence Tokens Supply or simply the Supply. The different values of the Influence Tokens represent the intensity of the action taken.

Player Board

1. Each player takes one Player Board and 2 Action Tokens, one defensive (grey) and one offensive (black).
2. Each player takes 3 initial sets of Influence Tokens as shown below:

Set	Influence Tokens
1st Set	one "2" and one "3"
2nd Set	one "1" and one "2"
3rd Set	one "1"

3. The players place the above 3 sets of Influence Tokens on 3 different Guilds of their choice on their Player Boards.
4. Each player shuffles his Guild Power Deck and places it face down next to his Player Board. This Deck is used by each player during the game for voting in order to increase the power of a specific Guild.

Round Sequence

Intrigue City is played over 8 rounds. Each round consists of 2 phases:

• Phase 1: Action Phase
• Phase 2: Round End

After every two rounds an Era change occurs.

Phase 1: Action Phase

The Action Phase represents the interaction each player has with the Guilds in order to establish a balanced influence on them or destroy their relations with the other Council Members. In order to accomplish his plans successfully and become the High Councilor, each player has to be one step ahead of the others and keep a low profile so that his schemes will not be revealed.

During the Action Phase players take turns and play their two actions, one offensive and one defensive, in order to gather Influence Tokens that sum up to the value of 6 in every Guild. Each player plays an action (offensive or defensive) whenever he is the one with the lowest Intrigue on the Intrigue Counter (see below); this player will be called the "Active Player" from now on.

The Active Player during his turn does the following:

1. Places an Action Token
2. Performs the chosen action
3. Advances his Intrigue Token
4. Ends his turn

The Active Player can choose to play any unoccupied Influence Action Card on the Game Board (i.e. that has not already been played by another player in the same Round). First he places his available Offensive or Defensive Action Token on his chosen Influence Action Card on the Game Board, indicating an Offensive or a Defensive action, respectively:

• Offensive: The Active Player targets an opponent of his choice and carries out the chosen Influence Action (e.g. remove an Influence Token) on that opponent's Player Board.

  OR

• Defensive: The Active Player performs his chosen Influence Action on his own Player Board. Then he gains the corresponding Guild Favor Card (see "Guild Favor Cards").

Then, the Active Player adds the Action's Intrigue Value (number of spider figures next to the Influence Action Card) to his total, by moving his Intrigue Token on the Intrigue Counter. If by doing so he ends up on the same spot with another player, he puts his Intrigue Token on top of his opponent's.

After the Active Player has finished his action and moved his Intrigue Token, he ends his turn. The player with the lowest Intrigue becomes the Active Player. If a player has already played both of his actions, he gives his turn to the next player on the Intrigue Counter. If two or more players are on the same spot on the Intrigue Counter, the player at the bottom of the column is considered to be the one with the lowest Intrigue.

When all the players have played their Offensive and Defensive actions, the Action Phase is over.

Guild Favor Cards

After a defensive Influence Action, the Active player gets the targeted Guild's Minor Favor Card. If the defensive action has resulted in forming an Equilibrium on the targeted Guild (i.e. gathering Influence Tokens with a total value of six), he gets that Guild's Major Favor Card instead. A player cannot have more than one copy of each Guild's Favor Card. If he already has the Minor Favor Card and wins a Major, he upgrades the card he already has by flipping it.

Guild Favor Cards can be played at any time during a player's turn in the Action Phase. Green (Raven Lords) and Blue (Dreamers) Favor Cards can be played only when the player is attacked by an opponent (see "Guild Favor Card Description"). After you play a Guild Favor Card, discard it by putting it back on its appropriate deck next to the Game Board.

A player cannot use the ability of a Guild Favor Card to target the same Guild that the card has been obtained from.

Attention! Guild Favor Cards can't be used in combinations! That means that every player can use only one Guild Favor Card each time.

RULE: A player can never remove all the Influence Tokens of a particular value from a Player Board. In other words, an action that removes the last Influence Token of its kind - e.g. the last white (value of 1) Influence Token on a player's board - is forbidden.

The Total Influence Value is the sum of the values of all Influence Tokens on a given Guild.

If the total influence value on a Guild equals to 6, the Player influences the actions of that Guild for his own purposes without being exposed doing so. This subtle method of influence and control is known among the members of the Spider Lodge as "Equilibrium", the key to the title of High Counselor.

Example 1

Nicole, Alex and Bill are enjoying a 3-player game of Intrigue City. At the start of the 4th round Nicole (purple) has 20 Intrigue, Alex (red) has 19 and Bill (blue) has 16. Bill has the lowest Intrigue so it is his turn to play. He has both of his action tokens available and choses to take his defensive action. He places his Defensive Token on the Blackmail Influence Action Card and thus, he places a "3" Influence Token on the Crescent Moon Guild, which already has a "2" and a "1" (Figure 1). He has influenced the Crescent Moon Guild, so he takes the corresponding Favor Card. He takes the Major Favor Card and not the Minor, because his action resulted in forming currently in that Guild an Equilibrium (total Influence Value of exactly 6). The Blackmail Influence Action Card has an Intrigue value of 3, so Bill advances his Intrigue Token from 16 to 19 on top of Alex' Token.

Now Bill and Alex tie for the lowest Intrigue. Because Alex' Token is on the bottom of the column, he becomes the Active Player. Alex decides to take an Offensive Action. He places his Offensive Action Token on the Change of Plans Influence Action Card and he decides to target Nicole's Player Board. He specifically targets the Raven Lords Guild on her board. So he takes an Influence Token of value "2" from the Brotherhood of Steel (the non-adjacent chosen Guild) and moves it to the Raven Lords (the targeted Guild), disturbing the Equilibrium Nicole had in both Guilds on her Player Board (Figure 2). Although Nicole has a Raven Lord Major Favor Card, which is used after another player has targeted one of your Guilds, she can't use it, because Alex targeted the same Guild that the Favor Card comes from (Raven Lords). Now Alex discards his Minor Crescent Moon Favor Card and removes from his own Player Board a "1" from the Raven Lords Guild, achieving in this way currently Equilibrium there (Figure 3). Finally, Alex by adding the Intrigue Value of the Influence Action Card he played, advances his Intrigue Token from 19 to 23.

Now, Bill is the player with the lowest Intrigue, so he is the Active Player again. He has only his Offensive Token left so he is going to perform an offensive action targeting Nicole or Alex.

Phase 2: Round End

After the Action Phase all players have interacted with the Guilds of Aar and now it is time to check their influence on them. Each player tries to have a balanced influence on as many Guilds as possible.

During the Round End each player checks the Guilds on his Player Board for Equilibriums (gathering of Influence Tokens with a total value of exactly six). For every Guild he has achieved Equilibrium in, he gets the corresponding Equilibrium Card of that Guild. Each player keeps hidden these cards from the other players.

Remember! Equilibrium Cards count as Power Points in the end of the game. If a Guild's power increases throughout the game (see "Era Change Round"), that Guild's Equilibrium Cards count for more Power Points.

After all Equilibrium Cards have been distributed to the appropriate players, all players take back an Offensive and a Defensive Action Token to use for the next Round. The Round Token is moved to the next space and a new Round, or Era Change Round, begins accordingly.

Example 2

Nicole, Alex and Bill have just played all of their Action Tokens in Round 4. They must check now the total Influence Value on each Guild on their Player Boards. Nicole has an Influence Value of 6 on the Brotherhood of Steel Guild and Alex has an Influence Value of 6 on the Raven Lords and the Dragon's Blood Guilds. Bill does not have a total of 6 anywhere. That means that Nicole takes a Brotherhood of Steel Equilibrium Card, Alex takes a Raven Lords Equilibrium Card and a Dragon's Blood Equilibrium Card, while Bill takes nothing. Now they take back their Action Tokens from the Game Board and advance the Round Token to the next space which is Era 2. They are going to have an Era Change Round.

Era Change Round

In certain time periods important events take place in the city that affect the influence of the Guilds on Aar and change their power and status. This change of power is also affected by the Council up to a certain point. These events and power play are represented by an Era Change Round.

In each Era Change Round the players vote for the Guild of their preference and increase its power. Through this voting system the players change the value that each Equilibrium Card is worthing at the end of the game. Every player draws the top 3 cards from his personal Guild Power Deck. He chooses one and removes the other two from the game. Then:

• Era 1 and 2: All players reveal the chosen cards simultaneously. Advance the Guild Power Tokens on the Guild Power Counters accordingly and discard the revealed cards.

OR

• Era 3 and 4: Each player places the chosen Guild Power Card face down onto a common deck next to the Game Board. These cards will be revealed at the end of the game.

After all players have finished voting, move the Round Token to the next space and start a new Round. If it is the last Era Change (Era 4) the game ends. Proceed to the final scoring.

Example 3

Nicole, Alex and Bill are having an Era 2 Change Round. Each one draws from his personal Guild Power Deck the top 3 cards, chooses one of them and discards the other two. When all the players have done so, they reveal their chosen Cards. Nicole reveals a Brotherhood of Steel with a value of 2. Alex reveals a Crescent Moon with a value of 3 (because it is a 3-Player Game) and Bill reveals a Crescent Moon with a value of 2. They advance then the Brotherhood of Steel Power Token two points from 3 to 5, and the Crescent Moon five points from 1 to 6. Finally, they discard the revealed cards and move the Round Token to the next space, which is Round 5.

Attention! If it was Era 3 or 4 the players would place the 3 chosen cards (one from each player) next to the Game Board face down without revealing them. These cards would be revealed during the final scoring and their value would be added then to the Guilds' Power.

Final Scoring

After the scheming, manipulation and intrigue that took place in that period of endless upheavals and machinations in the history of Aar, it is time that a new High Councilor is chosen.

1. The player with the highest Intrigue takes the Schemer Card.
2. Take all the Intrigue Tokens and return them to the first space of the Intrigue Counter. From now on, this counter will be used as the Power Points (PP) Counter.
3. Reveal the Guild Power Cards that you set next to the Game Board during Era 3 and 4 and advance the Guild Power Tokens on the Guild Power Counters according to their values. The final value of each Guild is the PP Value of its corresponding Equilibrium Card, representing the influence that this Guild has in the City.
4. Each player reveals his Equilibrium Cards and the scoring begins as following:
   • a) The player with the Schemer Card takes 3 PP.
   • b) Each player takes 1 PP for each Major Guild Favor Card that he has not used.
   • c) The player with the biggest variety of Equilibrium Cards takes 5 PP. In case of a tie all tied players take 5 PP.
   • d) Each player calculates the total Influence Tokens Value of all his Influence Tokens on his Player Board. Each player who has a total sum of exactly 36 takes 5 PP.
   • e) Each player takes PP according to the value of each of his Equilibrium Cards.

The player with the most Power Points is the winner of the game. In case of a tie the player with the most Equilibrium Cards wins. If there are still tied players, the player with the biggest variety of Equilibrium Cards wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.

Special Winning Condition: If at any time a player achieves Equilibrium in all 6 Guilds simultaneously, he instantly wins the game!

Example 4

Nicole, Alex and Bill have just finished the Era 4 Change Round. They proceed to the Final Scoring to find out who won the game. Alex has 52 Intrigue, Bill 51 and Nicole 48, which means that Alex takes the Schemer Card. They take the Intrigue Tokens and place them at the first space of the Intrigue Counter. They reveal the Guild Power Cards that have been placed face down next to the Board (chosen from Era 3 and 4) and they add their values to the appropriate Guilds. The final Guild Power values are as shown in the picture. The scoring begins.

Alex has the Schemer Card so he takes 3 PP. Nicole has 2 unspent Major Favor Cards so she takes 2 PP. Nicole has Equilibrium Cards from 2 different Guilds, Alex has Equilibrium Cards from 3 different Guilds and Bill has also Equilibrium Cards from 3 different Guilds, so Alex and Bill take 5 PP each. Each of them adds the total Influence Tokens Value of all the Influence Tokens on their Player Boards. Alex has a sum of 28, Nicole 34 and Bill 39, so none of them gains extra PP.

Now they have to calculate the value of their Equilibrium Cards that they have gained during the game. Alex has 4 Raven Lords Equilibrium Cards, which give him 4x6=24 PP, 2 Eternal Seekers Equilibrium Cards which give him 2x4=8 PP and 1 Dragon's Blood Equilibrium Card, which gives an additional 1x9=9 PP. So Alex has a total of 3+5+24+8+9=49 PP. Bill has 2 Brotherhood of Steel which give him 2x8=16 PP, 3 Crescent Moon which give him 3x6=18 PP and 2 Dragon's Blood which give him 2x9=18 PP. Bill has 5+16+18+18=57 PP. Nicole has 5 Brotherhood of Steel which give her 5x8=40 PP and 4 Dreamer which give her 4x3=12 PP. Nicole has 2+40+12=54 PP.

So Bill wins the game and gains the title of Aar's High Councilor.

Card Symbols

• Targeted Guild
• One of the Indicated Chosen Guilds
• All of the Indicated Chosen Guilds
• Basic Influence Action Card
• Advanced Influence Action Card
• Influence Token (IT) of Value 1 / Value 2 / Value 3
• Place on the Targeted Guild from the Supply
• Remove from the Targeted Guild to the Supply
• Move to the Targeted Guild from the Chosen Guild
• Move to the Chosen Guild from the Targeted Guild
• Perform both Actions
• Perform only one of the indicated Actions
• IT of different Value from the IT that was used in the previous Action
• Adjacent Guilds
• Non Adjacent Guilds
• Opposite Guild
• After you have used your offensive Action Token
• After another player has targeted one of your Guilds and has performed his Action

Guild Favor Cards Description

Crescent Moon (gained from Thieves Guild)

• Minor: When you target a Guild with your offensive action (i.e. a Guild on the Player Board of an opponent), you may place or remove a "1" IT on the same Guild on your Player Board.
• Major: When you target a Guild with your offensive action, you may place or remove an IT of any value on the same Guild on your Player Board.

Dragon's Blood (gained from Alchemists Guild)

• Minor: When you target a Guild with your offensive action, you may move a "1" IT to/from the same Guild on your Player Board from/to an adjacent Guild.
• Major: When you target a Guild with your offensive action, you may move a "1" or "2" IT to/from the same Guild on your Player Board from/to an adjacent Guild.

Eternal Seekers (gained from Clerics Guild)

• Minor: You can use an occupied Influence Action Card with your Defensive Action Token. Reduce your Intrigue by 1.
• Major: You can use an occupied Influence Action Card with your Defensive Action Token. Increase your Intrigue by 1.

Brotherhood of Steel (gained from Warriors Guild)

• Minor: You can use an occupied Influence Action Card with your Offensive Action Token.
• Major: You can use an occupied Influence Action Card with your Offensive Action Token. AND/OR Take the minor Guild Favor Card of the action's targeted Guild.

The Dreamers (gained from Artists Guild)

• Minor: After one of your Guilds has been targeted by an opponent's offensive action, you may move a "1" IT to/from the same Guild from/to an adjacent Guild.
• Major: After one of your Guilds has been targeted by an opponent's offensive action, you may move a "1" or "2" IT to/from the same Guild from/to an adjacent Guild.

Raven Lords (gained from Merchants Guild)

• Minor: After one of your Guilds has been targeted by an opponent's offensive action, you may place or remove a "1" IT on the same Guild.
• Major: After one of your Guilds has been targeted by an opponent's offensive action, you may place or remove an IT of any value on the same Guild.

Influence Action Cards Description

Remember!

• Adjacent are two Guilds that share a common side. Each Guild has two adjacent Guilds.
• Non-adjacent are two Guilds that don't share any side. Each Guild has three non-adjacent Guilds.
• Opposite are two diametrically opposed Guilds. Each Guild has one opposite Guild.
• An opposite Guild is also considered non-adjacent, but a non-adjacent Guild is not always opposite.

Basic Influence Action Cards

• Manipulation: Target a Guild. Place or Remove an "1" Influence Token [IT] on that Guild.
• Bribery: Target a Guild. Place or Remove a "2" IT on that Guild.
• Blackmail: Target a Guild. Place or Remove a "3" IT on that Guild.
• Seductive Words: Target a Guild and choose one of its adjacent Guilds. Move an IT of any value from the chosen adjacent Guild to the targeted Guild.
• Change of Plans: Target a Guild and choose one of its non-adjacent Guilds. Move an IT of any value from the chosen non-adjacent Guild to the targeted Guild.

Advanced Influence Action Cards

• Establish Confidence: Target a Guild and choose one of its adjacent Guilds. Place a "2" IT on the targeted Guild and a "1" IT on the chosen adjacent Guild.
• Establish Power: Target a Guild and choose one of its adjacent Guilds. Place a "3" IT on the targeted Guild and a "2" IT on the chosen adjacent Guild.
• False Accusations: Target a Guild and choose its opposite Guild. Place a "2" IT on the targeted Guild and a "1" IT on the chosen opposite Guild.
• Double Crossing: Target a Guild and choose its opposite Guild. Place a "3" IT on the targeted Guild and a "2" IT on the chosen opposite Guild.
• Bluffing Maneuvers: Target a Guild and choose one of its adjacent Guilds. Move an IT from the chosen Guild to the Target and move an IT of a different value from the Target back to the chosen Guild. In case there are no adjacent Guilds that both have IT make only one movement.
• Claim Ground: Target a Guild. Remove an IT from that Guild and place a "1" IT to each of its adjacent Guilds.
• Web of Treachery: Target a Guild. Remove an IT from that Guild and place a "2" IT to each of its adjacent Guilds.
• Promising Arrangements: Target a Guild and choose an adjacent Guild. Place to the targeted Guild an IT and move an IT from the chosen Guild to the targeted Guild.
• Redistribute Power: Target a Guild and choose a non-adjacent Guild. Place to the targeted Guild an IT and move an IT from the chosen Guild to the targeted Guild.
• Disturb Balance: Target a Guild and choose one of its non-adjacent Guilds. Move an IT from the chosen Guild to the Target and move an IT of a different value from the Target to the chosen Guild. In case there aren't any non-adjacent Guilds that both have IT make only one movement.

Printed on Board Influence Actions

• Old Debts: Target a Guild. Place or Remove an IT of any value on that Guild or move an IT from any other Guild to the targeted Guild.
• Scapegoat: Target a Guild. Nothing happens. Attention! If you target a Guild with your Defensive Action, you still get the appropriate Favor Card. If you target a Guild with your Offensive Action, the targeted player may use the Dreamers or Raven Lords Favor Card.

2-Player Game

In a 2-Player Game there are some additional rules:

During the setup:

• Each player draws randomly 3 Advanced Influence Action Cards and keeps them hidden from the other player. This is the player's Advanced Actions Hand.
• Each player takes an additional set of a "2" and a "3" IT and places them on a fourth different Guild on his Player Board.
• Take an additional third Guild Power Deck, shuffle it and place it next to the Game Board. This is the Neutral Guild Power Deck.

During the game:

• A player may discard 1 Advanced Influence Action Card from his hand before carrying out the chosen Action and carry out that card's action instead of the chosen one. Each player has 3 Advanced Actions in his hand so this can be performed up to 3 times during the whole game.
• In Era Change 1 and Era Change 2 the players also reveal randomly one card from the Neutral Guild Power Deck. Advance the appropriate Guild Power Token on the Guild Power Counter according to the revealed value. Then discard the revealed card.

Attention! The Printed on Board Influence Actions "Old Debts" and "Scapegoat" are not used in a 2-Player Game.

Variants

Below you can find 4 different Variants of Intrigue City. Feel free to try out any one of them or a combination of them in order to experience Intrigue City in a different way.

Family Game

This simplified, light version of the game will help you become acquainted with the game's basic mechanics, especially if younger players are involved. In the Family Game Variant of Intrigue City leave the Guild Favor Cards out of the game. The game remains essentially the same; the difference is that players do not get Favor Cards after a defensive action and, consequently, cannot use Favor Cards throughout the game.

Quick Game

If you want to enjoy a game of Intrigue City but you don't have a lot of time, we suggest you this variant in order to shorten the length of the game. The following changes apply to the normal setup of the game:

• Game Board: Place the Round Token on the third space of the Round Counter that matches to Era 1.
• Player Board: Each player takes an additional set of a "2" and a "3" Influence Tokens and places them on a fourth different Guild on his Player Board.

In the Quick Game Variant of Intrigue City the game starts with the first Era Change Round instead of a normal Round. After that, play the game as usual.

Attention! In a 2-Player Game each player places an extra set of a "2" and a "3" Influence Tokens and places them on a fifth different Guild.

The White Vote

It appears that sometimes during an Era Change Round a player may not want to play any of the three Guild Power Cards he has drawn. This Variant gives the players the option to have a White Vote, which means to stay neutral during the power-play between the Guilds in that Era.

During an Era Change Round a player may not reveal a chosen Guild Power Card. He places one of the cards instead face down next to his Player Board. This card doesn't add points to any Guild, neither in this round nor later. It is used as an indicator that the player has used his White Vote and the card is considered to be out of game. The White Vote can be used only once per game per player.

During the final scoring and after all PP are given, each player who has used the White Vote loses 2PP.

Advanced Game

The Advanced Game Variant of Intrigue City is suggested for Players that have mastered its core mechanics and want to try a new way to experience the game. This variant has two different versions:

A) Random Action Cards

During Game Board Setup apply the following changes:

1. Shuffle the Basic Action Cards and the Advanced Influence Action Cards into one mixed Influence Action Cards Deck.
2. Draw randomly the following number of Influence Action Cards according to the number of players and place them face up on the appropriate Action Spaces on the Game Board:

Number of players	Number of Influence Action Cards
2	5
3	5
4	7
5	9

Attention! In a 2-Player Game each player also draws 3 Cards randomly and keeps them hidden from the other player. This is his Advanced Actions Hand.

B) Fixed Action Cards Themes

In this version of the Advanced Game Variant we suggest you play with fixed sets of Influence Action Cards, which are built under different themes in the world of Intrigue City.

For more information stay tuned and visit www.purplegames.eu and www.goblinsonboard.com.

F.A.Q.

1. Do I play both of my tokens when it is my turn? No. You choose and you play only one of your two tokens (Offensive or Defensive). More precisely, you must choose first the Action Token you want to play, place it then on an Action Card and after that perform the chosen Action. Then you must move your Intrigue Token on the Intrigue Counter according to the Intrigue value of the Action Card you performed and your turn ends. If at that point you are still the player with the lowest Intrigue on the Intrigue Counter, you have to play the Action Token you are left with. In any other case, the player with the lowest Intrigue becomes the Active Player.

2. When do I gain Equilibrium Cards? When the Action Phase is over (when all the players have played both of their Action Tokens) and during the End Phase of every Round, each player checks his Player Board. For every Guild that he has managed to gather Influence Tokens with a total value of 6 (not seven, nor five, but exactly six), he gains the corresponding Equilibrium Card.

3. When can I play my Favor Cards? You can play the Eternal Seekers (brown) and Brotherhood of Steel (red) Favor Cards right before you place your Action Token on an Action Card. Dragon's Blood (purple) and Crescent Moon (black) Favor Cards are played after you have played your Offensive Action Token, while Raven Lords (green) and Dreamers (blue) Favor Cards are played right after an opponent has targeted one of your Guilds and has performed his Action. Once you have played your Favor Card, you must discard it. You cannot combine two or more Favor Cards in the same turn.

4. When do we reveal our chosen Guild Power Card after voting? In Era 1 and Era 2, the players reveal their chosen Guild Power Cards immediately. In Era 3 and Era 4 they keep their chosen Cards face down next to the Game Board. These Cards are revealed in step 3 of the final scoring.