Knights

Knights Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction

By winning at knightly tournaments and capturing castles, the players try to become the most powerful lords in the land. To do so, the players must throw dice in the hope of getting the maximum number of identical values on them. Players can win a tournament, capture a castle and obtain special cards that will help them achieve their goals.

On each turn, each player throws the dice, trying to capture a card. The first to fulfil one of the three victory conditions shown on the goal cards becomes the winner.

Components

6 dice, 56 cards and a rules booklet. Cards: 16 castle cards, 9 knightly tournament cards, 23 special cards, and 3 goal cards.

Starting Layout

Choose the first player.
Remove five blank cards from the game - you can invent for yourselves what properties they will have, and then use them as additions to the game.
Place the 3 goal cards face up on the playing table. They should remind players of the victory conditions.
Take 6 castle cards of different colours with different coats of arms and shuffle them. Each player draws one card and places it face up in front of themselves.
Depending on the number of players, from 1 to 4 cards may be left undealt. Shuffle them with the remaining cards, then divide them into two approximately equal decks and place them in the centre of the playing table. Turn the top card of each deck face up.

Sequence of Play

Overview of Turns

Players take turns in clockwise order.

On your turn you throw the dice, trying to capture a card.

First you must say which specific card you want to capture. At the start of the game you must choose one of the two cards lying on top of the decks, but later you will also be able to capture cards belonging to opponents.

In the upper part of most cards, dice combinations are shown. To capture a card, you must throw a combination that must be stronger (better) than the one shown in the upper part of the card. If your throw succeeded (beat the combination), take the card and place it face up in front of yourself. Otherwise, place it face down under the deck on which it lay. The rules for capturing opponents' cards are similar but differ somewhat (see below).

Then the turn passes to the next player.

Throwing the Dice

The combination in the upper part of a card always consists of three red dice and one yellow die. In the text of these rules the red die is shown in bold type and the yellow one in italic type.

3 3 3 2

The example above means three red dice with the value 3 and one yellow die with the value 2. To capture the card, you must throw a stronger combination, for example three fours, three fives, or three threes and a four, four ones.

You always start your throws with all six dice. You may make up to three throws; however, you may stop at any moment if you are satisfied with the result. Before the second and third throws you may decide which dice to re-roll and which to keep, except for dice showing 6, which must be set aside (they will not be used).

Capturing a Card

When you have finished throwing, check whether you managed to capture the card:

Any four-of-a-kind (four dice with identical values) beats any three-of-a-kind (three dice with identical values), and any three-of-a-kind beats any pair, etc. For example, if a player wants to capture a card with values 3 3 3 2 and throws 2 2 2 2 on the dice, he gets it.
A set of five (three dice with the value five) beats a set of four, etc. For example, if a player wants to capture a card with values 3 3 3 4 and throws 5 5 5 on the dice, he does not get it.
If a player ties the red dice on the card with his throw, the values of the remaining dice must be compared with the yellow die. For example, with a throw of 5 5 5 4 3 6 the next in rank is 4, and with a throw of 5 5 5 2 2 6 it is 2.
If a player wants to capture a card with values 3 3 3 2 and throws 3 3 3 1 on the dice, he does not get the card, because even with a set of threes a one does not beat the value 2 of the yellow die on the card. But if 3 3 3 4 is thrown on the dice, the capture is considered successful.

Capturing Cards in the Decks and Cards Belonging to Other Players

A player who wants to obtain a castle or a special card lying on top of one of the two decks takes the actions described in the previous section. If he manages to throw the needed combination, he takes the card and places it face up in front of himself. Otherwise, he places it face down under that deck. Regardless of the success of the capture, he turns over the top card of the deck.

A player who wants to capture another player's castle throws the dice by the same rules. If he wins the card, the attacked player still has the opportunity to defend his castle. He also throws the dice by the same rules, and if he throws a stronger combination than the attacker, he keeps his castle. If the attacker's throw is not sufficient to capture the castle, the defender need not throw the dice for defence. A castle cannot be attacked if it is the player's only one.

If a player wants to capture another player's special card, he throws the dice by the usual rules. Defence of such cards is not provided for.

A player who has chosen a knightly tournament card lying on top of one of the decks becomes the organizer of the tournament. All players take part in the tournament, and the organizer gets the right to make four throws of the dice, instead of the standard three. The players throw the dice in turn (clockwise). The player with the best result wins the contest and places the tournament card in front of himself. In throws of the dice, pairs lose to threes-of-a-kind, threes to fours, etc. Poker combinations such as flush, full house, etc. have no value in the game. Tournament cards belonging to other players cannot be captured.

Continuing the Turn

A player may try to win only one card per turn. Regardless of the success of the capture, his turn ends and the turn passes to the next player.

But there is an exception. If a player successfully captures a special card from the top of a deck, he may try once more to capture either a card from the top of a deck, or an opponent's card. If he again manages to obtain a special card from the top of a deck, his turn repeats, and so on.

Placing a Card at the Bottom of a Deck

Before choosing a card to capture, a player may discard the card lying on top of a deck by placing it face down at the bottom of that deck. Then he must reveal the top card of that deck. However, when a player intends to capture several cards in his turn, he may change the top card of a deck only once.

Copies of Cards

Besides the exception from the rule concerning tournament cards, there is one more: players cannot capture cards identical to those they already have.

For example: a player who has a red castle cannot try to capture another such one, but has the right to attack a violet castle.

End of the Game

The game ends when one of three conditions is met:

A player has four castles of different colours.
A player has three castles of different colours and captures the throne. If at the start of his turn a player has three castles, he may try to throw on the dice a combination better than 5 5 5 1. If he succeeds, he captures the throne. In case of failure, the king takes retaliatory measures and takes from him one castle (the player's choice). This castle is placed face down under any one of the decks.
A player has two castles of different colours and has won three knightly tournaments (that is, there are three tournament cards in front of him).

All three victory conditions are shown on the three goal cards, which lie in front of the players throughout the game.

Special Cards

Each special card gives a certain advantage to the player who owns it. The card can be used constantly, including on the turn in which it was obtained.

Die (8x)

The game has several types of dice (from 1 to 5). A Die card gives the opportunity to improve a throw, counting as an additional die with the fixed value shown on the card. For example, a card with a Die value of 3 converts a pair of threes into a set of three threes. A Die card can also be used as a yellow die.

Catapult (3x)

The Catapult allows four throws instead of three, when attacking an opponent's castle. It cannot be used to capture a card lying on top of a deck.

Tournament Champion (1x)

The Champion allows four throws of the dice instead of three, when taking part in a knightly tournament. If the owner of this card is the organizer of the tournament, he still may make only four throws, not five.

Pile (3x)

This card gives players the opportunity to change (discard) the top card of a deck twice (and not only once) per turn. The second change of a card need not directly follow the first. For example, a player may change the first card before throwing the dice. Then, having thrown the dice and won a special card, the player may first change the top card of one of the decks and only then throw the dice for a repeat capture of a card.

Castle Guard (3x)

This card protects two of your castles from attacks by opponents. To do this, the Guard must be placed on two castle cards before an attack is declared. On his turn the player may move the Guard to two other castles. The Guard himself is not protected from attack.

Special Card Guard (3x)

This card protects another special card from attacks by opponents. To do this, the Guard card must be placed on (covering) the guarded card before an attack is declared. On his turn the player may move the Guard to another card. The Guard himself is not protected from attack.

Treason (1x)

This card changes for the player the value of the dice on the castle card lying on top of a deck to 2 2 2 4. This card does not change the values on the cards of castles belonging to other players.

Protection (1x)

This card protects the player from the king's revenge. A player need not lose a castle when an attempt to capture the throne fails (see the second condition of End of the Game).

Copies of Special Cards

A player can never have two identical cards, including special ones. For example, a player can have only one Castle Guard card, but may simultaneously own a Special Card Guard card and other special cards. At the same time, he may have only one Die card with value 1, but also one each with values 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Special Situation

If a player has no opportunity to try to capture a card from a deck or from opponents because he himself owns exactly such cards, he must change the top card of one of the decks until a card appears that he can try to capture.

Hint

Since there are only 9 knightly tournament cards in the game, winning under the condition of victory in tournaments is quite a difficult task when playing with 5-6 players.

Two-Player Game

When playing with two, you can attack an opponent's castle only if he has at least three castles.

Example of Turns

Now it is Alice's turn. The opponents' cards do not interest her and she decides to replace the top card of one of the decks. Then she decides to try to obtain the top card of the other deck - it is a castle that she does not have, with the combination 3 3 3 2. She announces her choice and throws six dice, getting 5 5 2 3 6 6. She must set aside two sixes, and she also decides to keep two fives. She throws the two remaining dice, getting 4 6. She again must set aside the six. Then she throws the last die - and finally gets 5. Thus she has 5 5 5, which beats the combination on the castle card. She takes the castle, places it in front of herself and turns over the next card in that deck, on top of which the castle had lain.

The turn passes to Boris. He wants to try to get the special card lying on top of a deck, with the combination 4 4 4 1. He announces his decision and throws the dice - the result is 4 4 4 5 2 6. This is enough to beat the combination on the card, and Boris does not need to throw the dice again. So he takes the special card and places it in front of himself. Since he has just obtained a special card lying on top of a deck, he may continue his turn by choosing a new card to capture. The cards lying on top of the decks do not interest him, so he replaces the top card of one deck, since he has not used this property earlier in this turn. Unfortunately, this card does not interest him either, so he decides to capture one of Alice's special cards with the combination 3 3 3 4. He announces his intention and throws the dice, getting 4 1 6 6 6 6. He must set aside 6 6 6 6, as a result of which he has only two dice left. And since he has no further opportunity to obtain the desired card, his turn ends.

Christina replaces the top card of one of the decks, but now the top cards of both decks turn out to be identical. But she can try to capture the cards of opponents. Boris has two castles, so she decides to try to capture one of them with the combination on the card 4 4 4 2. She announces her intention and throws the dice, getting 4 4 4 3 6 6 - this is enough for capture. Boris throws the dice to defend the castle - the result is 4 4 4 5 1 6, which is better than Christina's result. Thus Boris's defence of the castle is successful, and Christina ends her turn without obtaining a card.

Dinara replaces the top card of one of the decks - the new card turns out to be a knightly tournament card. She announces that she is the organizer of the tournament. As organizer she makes 4 throws of the dice and in the end gets 3 3 3 3 4 6. Now her opponents need to throw stronger combinations. Alice gets an insufficiently good combination. Boris throws 4 4 4 4 3 1, which is better than Dinara's. And the strongest combination is thrown by Christina - 1 1 1 1 1 6. Christina wins the tournament and places the tournament card in front of herself. Dinara ends her turn without obtaining a card.

Alice's turn again. She announces that she will try to capture a special card from the top of one of the decks. Unfortunately, all three throws of the dice did not give the desired result. She places the card at the bottom of the deck and reveals a new one. Her turn ends without obtaining a card.

Boris wants to capture Christina's castle with the combination 4 4 4 2. As a result of three throws he has the combination 4 4 4 1 1 6, which is not enough to capture the castle. Christina does not even need to defend her castle. Boris's turn also ends without obtaining a card.