King of the Tabletop Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Inventory of Game Parts
• The Playing Pieces
  • Support Tiles
  • The Land Deck
  • The Playing Deck
  • Some Terms Explained
• Preparing for Play
• Sequence of Play
• Gold
• Prestige
• Roll for Special Character
• Building
  • Building Fortifications
  • Building a City, Village, or Mine
• Roll For Events
  • Events Explained
• Draw from Land Deck
• Purchasing Tiles
• Free Draw
• War
  • Select Attacking Army
  • Determine Initiative
  • Lining Up for Battle
  • Roll Dice for Each Battle
• Capturing Land
• Combat Dice
• Special Abilities
• Fortifications in Battle
• Applying Hits
• Special Characters
• Magic
• The Contents of the Playing Deck
• Game Etiquette
• How to Win
• Optional Rules
  • Royal Influence
  • Terrain Bonus
  • Army Reserves
  • Trading
• Rules Questions & Answers

Inventory of Game Parts

Your KING OF THE TABLETOP game should contain the following parts:

• 1 Rules booklet
• 276 small square cardboard tiles (you must glue these down and cut them out yourself), consisting of:
  • 54 Terrain tiles
  • 60 Gold piece tiles (money)
  • 11 Special Character Tiles
  • 27 Fortification tiles (9 Towers, 7 Keeps, 7 Castles, 4 Muniments)
  • 124 Playing Deck tiles, including:
    • 90 Character tiles (5 sets of 18 each)
    • 5 Mines (1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Copper)
    • 14 Settlements (5 Cities, 9 Villages)
    • 9 Magic Items
    • 6 Treasures
• 4 Player Charts (must be cut out)
• Lots of 6-sided dice (you must provide these)

The Playing Pieces

The playing pieces of KING OF THE TABLETOP are divided into three main types: those that constitute the Playing deck, those in the Land deck, and the Support Tiles.

Support Tiles

Gold

The number indicates the value. Gold is kept in a "bank" on the table and watched over by an honest banker/player.

Fortifications

The number in parentheses indicates the defense value of the fortification. One fortification may be built on each land tile. One level, starting with a Tower, may be built per turn. Thus, it takes 4 turns to build a Gran Muniment. Each level costs 10 gold pieces.

Special Characters

The numbers represent the combat value of the tile. Most have special abilities which are explained later in the rules. These pieces represent the upper crust of the fighters and nobles in the land. They are kept face up in the bank. Each player in turn may try to get one of these characters to join his army by a roll of two dice.

The Land Deck

The Land Deck consists of two types of pieces, land tiles and instruction tiles. On each turn, a player draws from the deck until he draws a land tile. If no instructions have been drawn, the player gets the land for free. Otherwise, the last instruction drawn must be followed before the player can claim the land tile.

Land tiles form the basis of each player's holdings. The characters drawn from the Playing Deck are keyed to different types of terrain. Cities, villages, mines, and fortifications may only be built on land tiles.

The Playing Deck

Characters

Most of the Playing Deck consists of characters. Each character is coded to a specific type of terrain. If a player has that type of terrain, characters keyed to that terrain may be placed in the player's standing army. The number on a character tile represents its combat value. Symbols and letters preceding the combat value indicate special abilities, explained later.

Cities and Villages

One city or village may be played on a land tile. The number represents the defense value, prestige value, and gold value. The more cities and villages a player has, the richer he becomes.

Mines

One mine may be played on a Mountain tile, instead of a city or village. The number indicates the gold and prestige value of the mine. A mine has no defense value. Mines may only be played in the mountains.

Treasures

The six treasures in the playing deck may be concealed in a player's hand. When he decides to spend one, the treasure is returned to the deck, and the player is given the listed gold piece value from the bank.

Magic Items

The Playing Deck contains nine magic items. When drawn by a player, these must be kept in the player's hand until he desires to use them. Magic can be used at any time, even if it is not your turn. The magic tiles are explained in more detail later.

Some Terms Explained

Defense Value — Fortifications, cities, and villages each have a defense value. This is the number of hits the tile may absorb before defenders within sustain damage. In addition, it is the number of combat dice the owning player may roll against attacking characters.

Combat Value — Special Characters and characters from the Playing Deck all have a combat value. This is the number of combat dice the character may roll during a battle, either on attack or defense.

Gold Value — At the beginning of each turn, a player collects gold from the bank, according to his holdings. Each land tile is worth 1 gold. Mines, cities, villages, and fortifications have a gold value equal to the number printed on the tile.

Prestige Value — Each land tile is worth 1 prestige point. Mines, cities, villages, and fortifications have a prestige value equal to the number printed on the tile. Each Special Character in a player's standing army is also worth 1 prestige point.

Preparing for Play

All players should help sort the various tiles. The Playing Deck, consisting of characters, magic, cities and villages, and the mines, are all placed in a clean, dry cup. The Land Deck, made up of land and instruction tiles, are all placed in a separate cup. The fortifications, Special Characters, and the gold tiles are all organized at the edge of the table to form a "bank" for easy use during the game.

Once the sorting is completed, each player takes a Player Chart and places it on the table in front of him. Everyone now rolls two dice and collects the amount shown in gold from the bank. The high roller is the first player. In case of a tie, roll again, but do not collect any more gold.

The first player now draws (without peeking) 10 tiles from the Playing Deck and places them face down in front of him. This is his hand. He then draws 4 tiles from the Land Deck in the same manner, but places these face up across the top row of squares on his Player Chart. If any of the 4 tiles drawn are information tiles, push them off the Player Chart to the center of the table (do not put them back in the cup yet) and draw tiles to replace them. Continue this procedure until the player has 4 land tiles.

The other players, proceeding clockwise around the table, draw 10 tiles from the playing deck, and 4 land tiles in the same manner. Players may look at the tiles in their hand, after they have been drawn. Once all players have their starting tiles, put any instruction tiles that were drawn back in the cup.

Before play begins, all players should look through their hands and place as many or as few tiles as they wish, face down, in the standing army box on their Player Chart. Only characters keyed to the types of terrain a player holds may be placed in his army. Cities, villages, mines, magic scrolls, and treasures cannot be part of his army. He does not have any Desert or Swamp land, so the Sphinx and the Crocodile cannot be placed in his army. Therefore, Rob puts his 2 Elves and 1 Centaur, face down, in his standing army box. The rest of his hand is kept face down, off the Player Chart, to avoid confusion.

Once all players have placed their standing armies, play is ready to begin!

Example #1: Rob's land tiles consist of 2 Forest, 1 Mountain, and 1 Plains tile. In his hand, he has 1 City, 1 Village, 1 Magic Scroll, 1 Ruby, 2 Elves (forest), 1 Sphinx (desert), 1 Centaur (plains), and 1 Crocodile (swamp).

Sequence of Play

KING OF THE TABLETOP is played in turns that are divided into four phases. During each phase, all players (beginning with the first player and proceeding clockwise around the table) perform the actions indicated for the current step.

When all four phases have been completed, the turn is over. The person to the left of the first player then becomes the first player for the next turn. Play continues in this manner until someone has accumulated 30 prestige points and built a Gran Muniment, thus becoming King of The Tabletop and winning the game.

Turn Sequence:

Phase 1, Collection & Construction a. Collect gold b. Count prestige c. Roll for Special Character d. Build (forts, cities, mines, villages)

Phase 2, Events (roll 2 dice, consult chart)

Phase 3, Acquire Tiles a. Draw from Land Deck (follow instructions, if any) b. Purchase extra tiles from Playing Deck c. Free draw from Playing Deck

Phase 4, War a. Select & pay attacking army (option) b. Determine initiative c. Line up for battle d. Roll dice for each battle and remove losses

No player may go on to the next phase until all players have completed the current phase. If a player forgets to take an action, and play has proceeded to the next phase, tough luck!

Gold

At the beginning of a turn, each player collects gold from the bank, according to his holdings. Each land tile is worth 1 gold. Fortifications, villages, cities, and mines are all worth their printed value in gold.

Example #2: Tom has 7 land tiles, 3 Villages (1 each), 1 Copper mine (1 gold), 1 Tower (1), and 2 Keeps (2 each). His total holdings are calculated as follows: 7 land = 7 gold; 3 villages = 3 gold; 1 copper mine = 1 gold; 1 tower = 1 gold; 2 keeps = 4 gold. 7 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 4 = 16 gold that Tom collects during phase one.

A player's gold must be kept face up by his hand. The total amount cannot be kept a secret. Treasures held in a player's hand, however, need not be revealed until they are cashed in for their gold value.

Prestige

After collecting gold, a player counts his prestige points. This is done to determine whether he is entitled to a bonus on the roll for Special Characters.

Prestige is counted in the same manner as gold: 1 point for each land tile, the printed value of each fort, village, city, and mine. In addition, a player also gets 1 prestige point for every 10 gold he has, and 1 prestige point for each Special Character in his standing army.

Example #3: In Example #2, Tom collected 16 gold from his holdings. He also has 1 Special Character (the Thief) in his standing army, and had 5 gold before he collected 16 more. For his holdings (counted in the same manner as gold), he gets 16 prestige points. His 21 gold gives him 2 more prestige points, and his one Special Character is worth another point. Tom's prestige point total is 19.

Players should be constantly aware of prestige point totals once anyone's score reaches 20 points or more. Any time, during any phase, that a player can prove that he has 30 prestige points and a finished Gran Muniment, he wins the game.

Roll for Special Character

After collecting gold and counting prestige, a player has a chance to get one of the Special Characters (those left in the bank) to join his standing army. First, the player states which character he is trying for. Then he rolls 2 dice. If the dice total equals or exceeds twice the combat value of the character wanted, the player gets that character.

A player may add 1 to his dice total for every 10 prestige points he has. If no Special Characters are left in the bank, no roll may be taken.

Example #4: In Example #3 Tom counted 19 prestige points. This gives him a +1 to his dice total. (If he had just 1 more prestige point, he could add +2 to the dice.) Tom decides to try for Guilliame Tell, who has a combat value of 5. Ordinarily, a roll of 10 or better on 2 dice is needed to get him.

Tom rolls a 9 on two dice, and adds his +1 bonus to make 10 — success! Tom takes the Guilliame Tell piece and places it, face up, in his standing army.

Special Characters must always be kept face up in a player's standing army. When a special character is killed, his tile is returned to the bank.

Building

After rolling for a Special Character, a player has a chance to improve his lands through construction, by constructing fortifications and/or by playing a city, village, or mine in the land tile.

Note that the Player Chart allows room for one fortification and one "other" improvement for each land tile held. Only one fortification and one "other" improvement is allowed per land tile.

Fortifications are paid for with gold and taken from the bank. Cities, villages, and mines must be drawn from the Playing Deck and played from your hand.

Building Fortifications

Fortifications come in four sizes: Towers (1), Keeps (2), Castles (3), and Gran Muniments (4). Only 1 fortification may be built in a land. Each level of fort costs 10 gold. Only one level may be built in a given land tile per turn.

Example #5: Tom builds a Tower in a Mountain area, to protect a mine. On his next turn, he may pay 10 additional gold and replace his Tower with a Keep. On the next turn, 10 more gold replaces the Keep with a Castle. Finally, on a later turn, Tom pays 10 more gold to convert his Castle to a Gran Muniment.

A player may build as many fortifications as he wishes, provided he builds only one level per land tile per turn. However, no player may ever have more than 1 Gran Muniment.

Players are limited to the number of tiles provided with the game. If a player wishes to build a Keep into a Castle, but no Castle tiles remain in the bank, he must wait until a Castle tile becomes available before he can make the improvement.

Building a City, Village, or Mine

Cities, villages, and mines are not kept in the bank; they are only found in the Playing Deck. They may only be placed on land tiles during the Build segment of the first phase of the turn.

Only one city, village, or mine may be placed in a land tile. Cities and villages may be placed in any type of land. Mines may only be placed in Mountains.

For each city, village, or mine that a player puts onto his Player Chart, he may draw an extra tile from the Playing Deck. If the new tile is a city, village, or mine, it may be immediately placed, and another tile drawn from the deck.

If a land already has a village on it, and a player wishes to replace it with a city or mine, he may do so, but the village is discarded. Similarly, mines may be replaced by cities or villages, and cities may be replaced by mines.

Roll For Events

On every turn, each player rolls two dice of different colors, stating which is the first die and which is the second die. He then consults the Events Table and takes the appropriate action.

Events Table

1st Die	2nd Die	Result
1	1,2	Forest Fire
1	3,4	Prairie Fire
1	5,6	No Event
2	1,2	Floods
2	3,4	Earthquakes
2	5,6	No Event
3	1,2	Sandstorms
3	3,4	Willing Workers
3	5,6	No event
4	1,2	Good Omen
4	3,4	Mother Lode
4	5,6	No event
5	1,2	Pennies From Heaven
5	3,4	The D6 Tax Law
5	5,6	No Event
6	1,2,3,4	Good Harvest
6	5	Black Plague
6	6	Smallpox

Events Explained

FOREST FIRE — Point to each Forest tile in play (including your own), and roll two dice. If the result is 7, a forest fire has broken out in that land tile. Any other result has no effect.

If a fire occurs, any fortification in the land tile is reduced by one level. If a city or village is in the tile, the owning player must make a saving roll (roll 1 die; even = saved, odd = lost). If there is no surviving fort, city, or village, or there were none to begin with, the burned Forest tile is returned to the Land Deck.

PRAIRIE FIRE — Point to each Plains tile in play (including your own), and roll two dice. If the result is 7, a prairie fire has broken out on that land tile. Any other result has no effect.

If a fire occurs, any fortification in the land tile is reduced by one level. If a city or village is in the tile, the owning player must make a saving roll (roll 1 die; even = saved, odd = lost). If there is no surviving fort, city or village, or there were none to begin with, the burned Plains tile is returned to the Land Deck.

FLOODS — Point to each Swamp tile in play (including your own), and roll two dice. If the result is 7, a flood occurs in that land tile. any other result has no effect.

If a flood occurs, any fortification in the land tile is reduced by one level. If a city or village is in the tile, the owning player must make a saving roll (roll 1 die; even = saved, odd = lost). If there is no surviving fort, city, or village, or there were none to begin with, the flooded Swamp tile is returned to the Land Deck.

EARTHQUAKES — Point to each Mountain tile in play (including your own), and roll two dice. If the result is 7, an earthquake occurs in that land tile. Any other result has no effect.

If an earthquake occurs, any fortification in the land tile is reduced by one level. If a city, village, or mine is in the tile, the owning player must make a saving roll (roll 1 die; even = saved, odd = lost). If there is no surviving fort, city, village, or mine, or there were none to begin with, the Mountain is lost to the earthquake and returned to the Land Deck.

SANDSTORMS — Point to each Desert tile in play (including your own), and roll 2 dice. If the result is 7, a sandstorm occurs in that land tile. Any other result has no effect.

If a sandstorm occurs, any fortification in the land tile is reduced by one level. If a city or village is in the tile, the owning player must make a saving roll (roll 1 die; even = saved, odd = lost). If there is no surviving fort, city or village, or there were none to begin with, the land tile is returned to the Land Deck.

WILLING WORKERS — Your well paid construction crews finish one level of fortification for you. Improve any fort by one level (even if you built or improved it this turn). If you have no forts, build a Tower. Remember, you may only have 1 Gran Muniment. If there are no tiles available to improve any of your forts, or to build a Tower, collect 10 gold from the bank instead.

GOOD OMEN — Draw a free tile from the Playing Deck!

MOTHER LODE — Collect double the gold value from all your mines!

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN — Collect 1 gold!

THE D6 TAX LAW — Roll a die. Collect that many gold!

GOOD HARVEST — Collect your gold (as though you were just beginning a turn) again!

SMALLPOX — This affects all players. With a neighbor watching, players must point to each piece in their standing army and roll 2 dice. If the result is a 7, that character dies. Magic may not be used to save characters from smallpox. The magic bow or the magic sword may be destroyed if they are in the standing army.

THE BLACK PLAGUE — This affects only the player with the largest standing army. He must point to each character in his standing army and roll 1 die. The result is an even number, the character lives. If the result is an odd number, the character dies. Magic may not be used to save characters from black plague.

Draw from Land Deck

After the events phase, each player has a chance to obtain new land.

Draw one tile from the Land Deck. If it is a land tile, you may add it to your holdings for free. If the first tile you draw is an instruction tile, keep drawing from the Land Deck, taking one tile at a time, until you draw a land tile. All instructions except the last one (if more than one was drawn) are returned to the deck. You must follow the last instruction drawn if you wish to obtain the land tile.

If you acquire a new type of land, you may play characters of that terrain type from your hand into your standing army.

FOR SALE — You must pay (to the bank) the amount shown in order to gain the land tile. If you don't pay, the tile is returned to the deck.

LAND AUCTION — The land tile is put on public auction. All players with gold may bid. Proceeds are paid to the bank. If there are no bidders, you may take the tile for free.

FIGHT — The player on your left draws 4 tiles from the Playing Deck. Any cities, villages, mines, or treasures drawn are returned to the deck. These tiles represent the current owners of the land tile. If no owners remain, you may take the land tile for free.

You must defeat these owners in one round of battle (see War) to claim your land tile. You may use as much of your standing army as you care to commit. You need not pay gold to use your army in this instance. If you do not kill all the owners, or if you choose not to fight for the land, the tile is returned to the deck.

Purchasing Tiles

After the draw from the Land Deck, you may buy 1 to 4 tiles from the Playing Deck. You must pay in advance, and say how many tiles you want to buy:

• Draw 1 tile, pay 2 gold
• Draw 2 tiles, pay 5 gold
• Draw 3 tiles, pay 10 gold
• Draw 4 tiles, pay 20 gold

Free Draw

Whether you buy extra tiles or not, you may always draw 1 tile from the Playing Deck each turn for free.

When a player receives a new tile in the Playing Deck, he places it in his hand. You may also play a new tile directly into your standing army.

War

In the last phase of the turn you may, if you wish, send all or part of your standing army to attack the holdings of any one other player. If you choose not to fight, your part of the turn is over.

Wars are fought in this sequence:

1. Select & pay attacking army
2. Determine initiative
3. Line up for battles
4. Roll dice for each battle and remove losses

Select Attacking Army

To send an attacking army, you must first pay your warriors 1 gold for every 2 tiles you send. You may send all or part of your standing army. Put the attacking pieces out on the table in front of the lands of the player you intend to attack. All but the Special Characters may remain face down. The attacking army is now considered to be "in the field."

Determine Initiative

Once your attacking army is in the field, you and your opponent must count the number of tiles in your armies. The defending player must count his entire standing army. You (the attacker) count only those forces sent to war. The player with fewer tiles may add one to his Initiative Die Roll. If both sides have an equal number of tiles involved, no bonus is added to either player's die roll.

You and the defender both roll one die. This is called the Initiative Die Roll. The player who rolls the highest number (roll again in case of a tie) is called the first player, and must line up his army first.

Lining Up for Battle

The first player must now place each of his tiles opposite (or behind) one or more land tiles in the defending country. When he is finished, there should be one or more rows of character tiles by the land tiles. When lining up, all but the Special Characters may still be kept face down.

The second player must now line up his tiles, on the opposite sides of the land tiles (attacker lines up in the field, defender lines up in his homeland). When all tiles have been placed, you are ready to resolve the battles.

Roll Dice for Each Battle

Each land tile of the defending player that is being attacked is considered to be a separate battle. The attacking player may choose the order in which each battle is resolved. As each battle is resolved, all tiles in that land are turned face up.

A battle is fought in two stages. First, all ranged weapons (labeled "R") are fired, and losses extracted. Then the surviving characters have hand-to-hand combat (rolling dice) and losses are again removed.

In each stage of a battle, first the attacking player and then the defending player roll their combat dice. Keep track of hits scored on a piece of paper. Once both players have rolled their dice, first the attacker and then the defender must remove one character for each hit made on his forces. The player suffering the loss decides which characters are killed.

Capturing Land

If all attacking forces in a battle are killed, the defending land tile is safe (even if all defenders were also killed). If all defending pieces in a land tile are killed and at least one attacking piece survives the combat, then the land tile is captured by the attacking player and transferred to his Player Chart.

If a land tile is not defended, and attacking forces are present in that land, it is captured without a fight.

A land tile containing a city, village, or fortification cannot be captured unless those pieces have been neutralized (see Fortifications in Battle) and no defending characters remain. If these conditions have been met, the capturing player must make a saving roll for each structure (roll one die; even = saved and captured, odd = lost, return to bank).

Mines have no combat or defense value. If the Mountain tile in which one is located is captured, the attacking player must make a saving roll for the mine, just as for a city, village, or fort.

If a player already has a Gran Muniment and captures another, the captured one is reduced to the next lower level of fortification available in the bank.

If you lose the only tile of a certain type of land from your Player Chart, characters keyed to that type of land are taken from your standing army and returned to your hand.

If you gain a new type of land, you may immediately play characters keyed to that land from your hand into your standing army.

A player who loses all of his land is out of the game and must return his holdings to the decks and to the bank.

Combat Dice

All character tiles have a number printed on them. This is their combat value, representing the number of dice they may roll in battle. A character such as the Cyclops, with a value of 5, may roll 5 dice in a battle.

A result of 6 on a die roll is a hit. Usually, one hit kills one enemy piece.

Special Abilities

Character tiles with a star (☆), infinity symbol (∞), C, or R printed before their combat number have special abilities.

RANGED WEAPONS (R) — Characters who use ranged weapons (bow and arrow, spear, thrown rocks) roll their combat dice first. Losses due to "R" dice rolls are removed before combat continues with hand-to-hand battles between the other characters. A character killed by ranged weapon fire does not participate in the hand-to-hand battle.

Characters who have already used ranged weapons do not roll again during hand-to-hand combat (but they may be killed during either ranged weapon fire or the hand-to-hand battle).

CHARGE BONUS (C) — Knights mounted on war horses are all able to receive a bonus for this ability. Each time a knight goes into battle, roll one die and add the result to the knight's combat value. Thus, the Black Knight (value 4) always rolls from 5 to 10 dice in combat (4 + 1 to 6).

MAGIC ABILITY (☆) — Characters with a star printed next to their combat value have magic ability. They score hits on a roll of 5 or 6 (instead of just a 6).

FLYING CHARACTERS (∞) — Creatures that are able to fly are somewhat harder to kill than other characters. After ranged weapon fire and again after hand-to-hand combat, a hit flying character is allowed a saving roll (even = saved, odd = lost).

A flying character hit during ranged weapon fire may be saved with a successful saving roll and still participate in hand-to-hand combat. If a flying character that is the last remaining defender of a land tile is hit but saves by rolling an even number, the land tile is also saved.

Fortifications in Battle

Cities, villages, and fortifications provide protection to all characters defending the land in which they are located. For the purpose of battle, cities, villages, and fortifications are all called forts.

The defense value of a fort is the number of combat dice that may be rolled against an attacking force.

The defense value of a fort is also the number of hits that the fort absorbs before defending characters can be hit. Once a number of hits have been scored equal to the combined value of all forts in a land, the forts are neutralized. After a fort has been neutralized, hits apply to defending characters in the land.

If a land tile is defended only by a fort (or forts) and no characters, all forts in the land must be neutralized for the attacker to be able to capture the land. If this happens, the capturing player must make a saving roll for each fort (even = saved and captured, odd = lost, return to bank).

Example #6: Tom is defending in a Forest area with a city (2) and a Keep (2). In the land he also has a Wildcat (3) and a Bear (2). Tom has no ranged weapons. His forts will absorb the first four hits scored against him.

Rob attacks, first with 6 dice of ranged weapons, followed by 15 dice in hand-to-hand combat. Rob rolls all of his combat dice first (since Tom has no ranged weapons), and scores a total of 5 hits. Tom fights back with 9 dice (2 + 2 + 3 + 2), and scores only 2 hits.

Rob's first 4 hits neutralize Tom's forts. His fifth hit kills one of Tom's characters (Tom chooses the bear). One defending character remains, so Rob has no chance to capture Tom's land tile or the neutralized Keep and city. Rob selects two of his characters to be killed, and the battle is over.

Applying Hits

In battle, after both players have rolled their combat dice, each player must remove a number of his characters equal to the number of hits scored by his opponent. The owning player always chooses which of his characters are to be killed.

Casualties are removed after ranged weapon fire, and again after hand-to-hand battle. All characters except the Swordmaster are killed by one hit. Dead characters are returned to the Playing Deck. Special Characters that are killed are returned to the bank.

If the defending player has a city, village, or fort, hits are first applied to these structures until they are neutralized (see Fortifications in Battle).

Flying characters get a saving roll if they are hit (even = saved, odd = lost). However, flying characters are lost if more than one hit is applied to them. If more hits are scored against a player's forces than he has characters to apply them to, extra hits must be applied evenly to any flying characters in the player's forces.

Example #7: Neil attacks Rob with a giant snake (combat value 3) and two ghosts (flying characters, combat value 1 each). In the battle, Rob scores 4 hits on Neil's forces. One hit is applied to each of Neil's three characters, and one hit is left over.

The extra hit must be applied to one of the ghosts, killing it without a saving roll. Neil may make a saving roll for his remaining ghost. If Rob had scored 5 hits, neither of Neil's ghosts would have been able to attempt a saving roll.

Special Characters

There are 11 Special Characters in the world of KING OF THE TABLETOP. They represent people of great importance or talent, or both. Initially, their tiles are kept in the bank. During the first phase of a turn, players have a chance to get a Special Character to join their army.

If a player rolls a number on 2 dice that is equal to or greater than double the combat value of the Special Character, he gets the tile for that character to put in his standing army. A player may add 1 to the result of his dice roll for every 10 prestige points he has (see Prestige Points).

When Special Characters are in a player's army, they must always be kept face up. If a Special Character is killed, either in battle or by other causes, the tile is returned to the bank and may be re-used.

The Elf Lord and Guilliame Tell are both great archers. The Arch Mage and Arch Cleric are pretty hot with magic ability. Sir Launcelot is the greatest knight in the land. The others have special features that need some explaining:

DWARF KING — If the Dwarf King is in your standing army, you receive 1 extra gold when collecting gold at the beginning of a turn.

SWORD MASTER — The Sword Master is the only character in the game that requires two hits to kill. In a battle, you may apply one hit to him, and he will still survive.

If he gets into a battle where too many hits are thrown against the side he is on, the first excess hit (one hit greater than the number of characters with him in the battle) must be applied to the Sword Master, killing him. You may, however, apply extra hits to flying characters in order to save the Sword Master (see Special Abilities, Flying Characters).

BARON MUNCHAUSEN and THE GRAND DUKE — Both of these gentlemen are military geniuses. Their skill in the art of siege warfare is amazing. When one of them is in a battle, attacking any type of fortification (including a city or village), one hit is automatically applied to the fort. If both are in the same battle, they apply two hits to any fort with a value of 2 or more. In addition, they may, of course, roll their normal combat dice.

THE MASTER THIEF — The thief may try to steal gold from the treasury of any other player. His attempt comes after the resolution of combat, just before the end of a turn. If you send the thief into battle, he cannot try to steal gold at the end of that turn.

To find out if the thief is successful, you and the player from whom you are trying to steal gold both roll one die. If you roll higher, the thief steals an amount of gold equal to the difference between the two die rolls. If you roll lower than your opponent, the thief fails to steal anything. If there is a tie, the thief has been caught in the act, and you and the other player must roll again. This time, if you tie or roll lower than your opponent, the thief is killed, and if you roll higher, the thief escapes with his life.

ASSASSIN PRIMUS — Usually the most sought-after Special Character, the Assassin may be sent to attempt to kill a member of the standing army of the player of your choice. As with the Master Thief, this attempt is made after combat is resolved, just before the end of a turn. If you send the Assassin into battle, he may not attempt a killing in that turn.

You and the player you choose to send the Assassin against both roll one die. If you roll higher, the Assassin has killed a character in the other player's standing army. If you roll lower, the Assassin fails, and if the die rolls result in a tie, both players roll again. In this case, both players roll again. If you tie or roll lower, the Assassin is killed, and if you roll higher, he escapes.

If the Assassin succeeds in his deadly deed, your opponent must randomly determine which character in his standing army has been killed. (This includes Special Characters.) This can be easily done by dividing the army into halves and rolling a die (even = one half, odd = the other half), and keep dividing the army into equal parts, by roll of a die, until 6 or fewer pieces are left "in the running." Then assign a number between 1 and 6 to each piece, and roll a die until one piece's number is up.

Magic

There are 9 pieces of magic in the Playing Deck. When you draw these, you must keep them in your hand until you use them. Generally, magic may be used at any time, even if it is not your turn. You may use the magic on your own forces, or to aid a friend or stop the player who is winning. A description of each piece, its effects, and when it may be played, follows:

LUCKY CHARM — This lucky little shamrock may be played any time you wish to modify any die roll in the game. You may change that die roll by +1 or -1. It may be the first or second die of an event, an initiative die roll, or a combat die roll during battle. The choice is up to you.

You must play the charm within a reasonable amount of time after the die in question has been rolled. If another die is rolled before you invoke the charm, you have missed your chance.

TALISMAN OF DELIVERANCE — A small green stone, fabled to have come from some other tabletop, this device may only be used after a war has been completed. During the war, set your dead to one side, instead of returning them to the deck or the bank. When the war is over, roll a die. The result is the number of characters you may bring back to life and return to your standing army.

Characters saved by the talisman are all saved too late to help in the capture, or prevent the capture, of land tiles. Once the talisman is used, it is returned to the Playing Deck.

DUST OF DEFENSE — You may blow this stuff into the face of an enemy, and end any one battle, before it begins! The attacking characters go home, and the land tile is saved. Once used, this piece is returned to the Playing Deck.

GOLEM — A part clay, mostly magic, monster. When called, the golem joins a player's army. It is immune to ranged weapons and may only be killed in hand-to-hand battle. The golem may defend or capture land for its owner. When the war is over, the golem is returned to the Playing Deck.

SCROLL, THE MIST — When read, this scroll causes a fearsome mist to spread over the countryside. It stops a war, in progress, or before it begins. All warriors go home and the gold they were paid was lost. Once read, the scroll is returned to the Playing Deck.

SCROLL, DISPELL MAGIC — When read, this scroll cancels all magic of any one player. It may be read at any time, but the effects last only to the end of the current player's phase of the turn. While under dispell, the player may not cast new magic, and any magic he has already played does not work. Characters in his army with magic ability only hit on a 6. As soon as the dispell wears off, the scroll is returned to the Playing Deck.

SCROLL, WALL OF FIRE — When read, this scroll creates a magic fort in any one land. The wall may be played in an undefended land, or added to any existing fortifications. The value of the wall is determined by the roll of one die. It may only be cast during a war. Once used, it is returned to the Playing Deck.

MAGIC SWORD — The magic sword is given to any character in a player's army. It cannot function alone. The sword imparts magic ability to its user, scoring hits on a 5 or 6. It does not improve ranged attack ability (R), but if it is given to someone with magic ability (☆), that character hits on a 4, 5, or 6.

The magic sword may be killed by a hit in battle (owner's option), by the assassin, or by disease. It remains in a player's standing army until it is killed, at which time it is returned to the Playing Deck.

MAGIC BOW — Like the magic sword, the bow is used by a character in a player's army. It cannot function alone. The bow gives magic ability to any character who has ranged weapons (R). If given to someone with magic ability (☆), they can make ranged attacks, but still hit only on 5 or 6. If the bow is given to a non-magic, non-ranged character, it simply imparts the ability to make a ranged attack (hit on 6 only).

The bow may be killed by a hit in battle (owner's option), by the assassin, or by disease. The bow remains in a player's standing army until it is killed, at which time it is returned to the Playing Deck.

The Contents of the Playing Deck

Desert

1 Sphinx ☆4, 1 Old Dragon ∞4, 1 Dust Devil ∞4, 1 Baby Dragon ∞3, 1 Yellow Knight C3, 1 Sand Worm 3, 1 Camel Corps 3, 1 Griffon ∞2, 1 Dervishes 2, 1 Dervishes 2, 1 Nomads 2, 1 Nomads 1, 1 Buzzards ∞1, 2 Vultures ∞1, 3 Skeletons 1

Mountain

1 Cyclops 5, 1 Giant R4, 1 Troll 4, 1 Blue Knight C3, 1 Giant Roc ∞3, 1 Dwarves R3, 1 Dwarves 3, 1 Dwarves R2, 1 Dwarves 2, 1 Great Eagle ∞2, 2 Ogres 2, 2 Mountain Men 2, 4 Goblins 1

Forest

2 Walking Tree 5, 1 Green Knight C3, 1 Wyvern ∞3, 1 Druid ☆3, 1 Elves R3, 1 Elves 3, 1 Elf Mage ☆2, 1 Elves R2, 1 Elves 2, 1 Wildcat 3, 1 Forester R2, 1 Bandits 2, 1 Bear 2, 1 Dryad ☆1, 2 Pixies ∞1

Plains

1 Great Hunter R4, 1 Wolf Pack 4, 1 Lion Pride 4, 1 Buffalo Herd 4, 1 White Knight C3, 1 Buffalo Herd 3, 1 Plains Eagle ∞2, 1 Ranger ∞2, 2 Tribesmen 2, 1 Villain 2, 1 Centaur 2, 1 Gypsies ☆2, 1 Gypsies ☆1, 4 Farmers 1

Swamp

1 Black Knight C4, 1 Vampire ∞4, 1 Slime Beast 4, 1 Basilisk ☆3, 1 Giant Snake 3, 1 Cutthroats 2, 2 Giant Lizard 2, 2 Huge Leeches 2, 2 Crocodile 2, 4 Ghosts ∞1, 3 Poison Frogs 1

Mines

1 Gold (4), 2 Silver (2), 2 Copper (1)

Settlements

5 City (2), 9 Village (1)

Treasure

1 Chest (40), 1 Diamond (20), 1 Emerald (20), 1 Sapphire (10), 1 Ruby (10), 1 Gold Nugget (5)

Magic

1 Lucky Charm, 1 Dust of Defense, 1 Talisman, 1 Golem, 1 Scroll — Mist, 1 Scroll — Dispell, 1 Scroll — Fire Wall, 1 Magic Sword, 1 Magic Bow

Game Etiquette

Players may not trade tiles with one another, nor may they loan gold to each other. They may, however, make alliances and attack the player who seems to be winning. Magic may be given to allies, or used against a common enemy.

If a player sends his army into the field, then loses the initiative die roll and decides he doesn't want to fight, his army will run away. They return home, shamefully, without fighting. The gold they were paid is lost.

Any die that goes off the table, bounces into an ashtray, or lands on anything but a flat surface must be re-rolled.

Cups are used to randomize draws from the two decks of tiles. When a player is to draw from either cup, someone else should take the cup, put his hand on top, and give it a good shake. That same person should then hold the cup so that the drawing player cannot see into it.

How to Win

The moment any player proves that he has 30 prestige points and a finished Gran Muniment, he wins the game. Or, if all other players are eliminated by loss of their lands, the remaining player is the winner.

Optional Rules

You probably should play the game once before adding any of these optional rules. I like all of them except the trading rule, which was put in for all you wheeler dealers out there.

Royal Influence

The Elf Lord and Dwarf King command great respect and loyalty from their followers. When the Elf Lord is in a battle, all elves fighting in the same land with him add one to their combat value. Any elves fighting against the Elf Lord in a battle must subtract one from their combat value. The Dwarf King has the same effect on dwarves.

Terrain Bonus

Everyone fights better on his home turf. Any character fighting in its own terrain (either on attack or defense) adds one to its combat value.

Army Reserves

Once an attacker's army has taken the field, but before the players roll for initiative, each player sets aside his reserves, if desired. Only flying creatures and Special Characters may be placed in reserve. The reserves must all be placed face up.

Roll for initiative, and set up armies in the normal way, but do not touch the reserves. Once both sides have lined up their armies, they roll again for reserve initiative. There is no die roll modification for this. The player who rolls higher must line up his reserves first.

Trading

During the last phase of a turn, a player may announce that he wishes to trade instead of going to war.

A player may trade anything he wishes, but remember that structures are built on land. If land is traded, any city, village, or fort on that land must go with it. Players may buy and sell characters and magic items. The trading player may only strike a deal with one other player in a turn.

Rules Questions & Answers

When are characters moved from your hand to your standing army? You may put characters into your standing army any time you draw new tiles from the playing deck. You may also play new characters from your hand any time you obtain new land (either from the Land Deck or through a war). You may not play characters into your army at any other times.

What happens if a player has a character in his army and the player does not have that character's type of terrain on his chart? This can happen when a player loses a land tile in a war. If characters are "homeless," they must be returned to the Playing Deck.

What happens during a black plague event result if two players are tied for having the largest standing army? The players roll dice, with the high roller suffering the plague.

If use the Lucky Charm, must I return it to the Playing Deck? Yes. It's not that lucky.