Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Key Components
• Victory
• Sequence of Play
  • Wake Phase (in order)
  • Act Phase
  • Rest Phase (in order)
• Major Actions
• Minor Actions (no Supply)
• Powers
• Writing the Chronicle

Setup

1. Place the map. Deal the Chronicled site cards and their attached denizen, edifice, and relic cards to the site slots, filling the Cradle, then the Provinces, then the Hinterland (top to bottom).
2. Place the round marker on the first (star) space and the Visions Drawn marker on "0."
3. Place the Chronicled goal reference near the map.
4. Collect the shared bank: 10 attack dice, 6 defense dice, the end die, 36 favor tokens, 20 secret tokens, and the People's Favor and Darkest Secret banner placards (People's Favor on its non-Mob side).
5. Place 1 favor on the People's Favor and 1 secret on the Darkest Secret.
6. Place 3 favor into each of the 6 favor banks (4 each with 5–6 players).
7. Choose a Chancellor (recommended: the previous game's winner), seated next to the Cradle; seat the others randomly.
8. The Chancellor takes their board, 24 warbands, pawn, Supply marker, the Imperial Reliquary placard, and the Grand Scepter relic.
9. Each other player, in turn order, chooses an Exile/Citizen board on its Chronicled side and takes 14 warbands, a pawn, and a Supply marker of that color.
10. Each player places their Supply marker on the leftmost Supply space.
11. The Chancellor takes 2 favor and 1 secret onto their board.
12. The Chancellor places 3 warbands on their board, 2 on the topmost faceup Cradle site, and 1 on each other faceup site with a denizen or intact edifice.
13. If playing the Oathkeeper of Devotion goal, the Chancellor takes the Darkest Secret; if the Oathkeeper of the People goal, the Chancellor takes the People's Favor.

Key Components

• The Map has three regions: the Cradle (2 sites) and the Provinces and Hinterland (3 sites each). Each region has a facedown discard pile; the favor banks hold favor; the World Deck holds denizen and Vision cards; the Round Track and Visions Drawn Track count progress; the Shared Bank holds favor, secrets, and pieces.
• Player's Board holds any number of favor, secrets, and warbands; up to three advisers (faceup/facedown denizens or facedown Visions) sit to its right; the Exile side has a Revealed Vision space. The surrounding personal bank holds warbands, relics, and banners.
• Imperial Reliquary Board holds four relics; Citizenship offers must include exactly one relic from here.
• Relic cards have a Recover cost (on their site) and defense dice; the Grand Scepter is a relic the Chancellor always starts with (its holder can offer Citizenship and exile Citizens).
• Banner placards (People's Favor, Darkest Secret) have a variable cost and add defense dice equal to the favor/secrets on them.
• Denizen cards have a suit (Arcane, Beast, Discord, Hearth, Nomad, Order), a possible restriction banner, and a power.
• Vision cards: whenever drawn from the world deck, advance the Visions Drawn marker; most faceup Visions give a victory goal.
• Site cards show a card capacity, a reveal prompt, a defense die and bandit, a relic recover cost, and a power.
• Edifice cards replace denizens in the Chronicle; their intact side has a suit, the ruined side does not.
• Goal Reference shows the Oathkeeper goal and Successor goal.
• Oathkeeper Title has two sides (Oathkeeper and Usurper) and is held by whoever meets the Oathkeeper goal (Supremacy: rules most sites; The People: holds the People's Favor; Protection: holds the most relics and banners; Devotion: holds the Darkest Secret). An Exile flips the title to Usurper if they hold it at the start of their turn; the Oathkeeper adds one defense die in Campaign as defender, the Usurper two.

Victory

Oath can end in four ways. After ending, resolve the Chronicle.

• Usurper Win: An Exile wins during their Wake Phase if they hold the Oathkeeper title on its Usurper side.
• Visionary Win: An Exile wins during their Wake Phase if they have a revealed Vision and have completed its goal (every Vision goal also requires that at least three Visions have been drawn). Goals: Conquest (rules the most sites), Rebellion (holds the People's Favor), Sanctuary (holds the most relics and banners), Faith (holds the Darkest Secret).
• Stable Regime Win: At the end of the fifth, sixth, or seventh round, if the Chancellor or a Citizen is the Oathkeeper, roll the die—the game ends and the Chancellor wins on a 6 (fifth round), 5–6 (sixth), or 3–6 (seventh). If the Chancellor would win, a Citizen wins instead if they met the Successor goal (Supremacy, The People, Protection, or Devotion).
• War Exhaustion Win: At the end of the eighth round, the game ends automatically; determine the winner by checking, in order: Empire if Oathkeeper (Chancellor/Citizen is Oathkeeper → Chancellor wins, or a Successor Citizen); Usurper (an Exile who is Usurper); Visionary (an Exile with a completed revealed Vision, ties broken Conquest > Rebellion > Sanctuary > Faith); else Empire (Chancellor, or a Successor Citizen).

Sequence of Play

Oath is played over up to eight rounds. In a round, starting with the Chancellor and going clockwise, each player takes one turn: the Wake Phase, then the Act Phase, then the Rest Phase. After every player has taken a turn, check for the Stable Regime Win, then advance the round marker.

Wake Phase (in order)

1. The People's Favor: If you hold it, resolve its "Wake:" power (place or move one favor to the least-favor bank; repeat once if on its Mob side; flip to Mob if it has 6+ favor).
2. Check for Win: If an Exile, check for Usurper and Visionary wins.
3. Flip to Usurper: If an Exile holds the Oathkeeper title, flip it to Usurper.
4. Use Site Power: If your pawn is at the Salt Flats, Mine, or Drowned Site, you may take one favor or secret from it.

Act Phase

In any order, take any number of actions: major actions, minor actions, and "Action:" powers (finish one action before starting the next; you may take no actions, or the same action multiple times if you can pay). To take an action that costs Supply, move your Supply marker right once per Supply spent.

Rest Phase (in order)

1. Return Favor: Move favor on denizens/edifices to their matching favor banks.
2. Return Secrets: Move secrets on denizens/edifices/relics to your board (flipping facedown secrets face up).
3. Refresh Supply: If an Exile or the Chancellor, move your Supply marker to the space listing the warbands in your personal bank (a Citizen refreshes to match the Chancellor's Supply).
4. Save Supply: Move your Supply marker an extra space left for each Supply you didn't spend (not past the leftmost space).
5. Use Rest Powers: Use any "Rest:" powers, once each.

Major Actions

• Search: Spend 2 Supply (or the Supply shown by the Visions Drawn track for the world deck). Draw 3 cards from the world deck or the region's discard pile (not both); if you draw a Vision from the world deck, announce it, stop, and advance the Visions Drawn marker. Discard all but one, then play the remaining card to your site, your advisers (up to three), or your Revealed Vision space (Exiles only), or discard it.
• Muster: Spend 1 Supply and place one favor on a denizen or intact edifice (not a relic/ruin) with no favor/secrets on it at your site; gain two warbands (a Citizen gains purple warbands).
• Trade: Spend 1 Supply, then either place a secret on such a card to gain 1 favor + 1 per matching faceup adviser (from the matching bank), or place two favor to gain 1 secret per matching faceup adviser.
• Recover: Spend 1 Supply and choose a facedown relic at your site or any one banner (even one you hold), pay its cost, and take it. (Banner costs and seize effects apply; the People's Favor stacks its paid favor into the banks, the Darkest Secret to the previous holder.)
• Campaign: Spend 2 Supply, choose a defender at your site (or the bandits), declare targets (their sites, relics/banners, and pawn+favor), roll attack vs. defense, resolve defeat (the loser kills half their force), the attacker's victory (take rule of targeted sites, take targeted relics/banners, banish the pawn and burn favor), and battle plans.
• Travel: Spend Supply based on region (1–4) and move your pawn to any site, flipping and revealing it if facedown.

Minor Actions (no Supply)

• Play or Discard a Facedown Adviser (as if searched).
• Use an Action Power on a card you have access to.
• Peek at a Relic at your site (or, with the Grand Scepter, any relic in the Imperial Reliquary).
• Move Warbands to/from Your Site (subject to permissions; Imperial players may exchange warbands).
• Offer Citizenship (Grand Scepter holder): offer an Exile exactly one Reliquary relic plus binding promises; the accepting Exile flips to their Citizen side, replaces their warbands with purple, and joins the Empire. Imperial players (Citizens and the Chancellor) rule every site with any purple warbands.
• Exile a Citizen (Grand Scepter holder): give five favor (modified) to flip a Citizen back to Exile.
• Self-Exiling (Citizens): give favor to the Grand Scepter holder to flip yourself to Exile.

Empire Rules Summary: With Citizens, the Chancellor always holds the Oathkeeper of Supremacy title (but all Imperial players share its power), Citizens refresh Supply to the Chancellor's, Imperial players help each other defend, Citizens may campaign against the Chancellor/other Citizens (but aren't Imperial players during those Campaigns), and picking up/exchanging Imperial warbands requires the Chancellor's permission.

Powers

Faceup cards, faceup sites, uncovered Reliquary spaces, and the Oathkeeper title each have a power. Access: you may use a card's power only if you rule the card or your pawn is at its site. Cost: pay a power's cost (place/burn favor or secrets). Standalone powers start with Wake:, Action:, When Played, or Rest:. Restriction banners (tree = site only, person = adviser only, chain = locked) limit faceup cards. Major Action Modifiers modify an action at its start (usually optional, single-use). Battle Plans are Campaign modifiers with a crown, used in the Use Battle Plans step, that add or remove attack/defense dice. Notable powers include Forced Citizenship, Free Travel, Binding Promises (enforced by the Tribunal), Adviser Limiters, and the Bandit Crown.

Writing the Chronicle

At the end of play, the winner performs these steps in order: Vow an Oath (choose a goal reference to carry to the next game); Offer Citizenship (if an Exile winner); Clean Up Map and Build Edifices (the Chancellor/Citizen winner may build or repair one edifice; shuffle sites and rebuild the map); Add Six Cards to the World Deck (based on your most common adviser suit and the favor-bank order); Remove Six Cards to the Dispossessed; Clean Up Relics; Save Map and Boards (stack sites and player boards into the World Box); and Rebuild the World Deck (shuffle 2 Visions into 10 denizens and 3 Visions into 15 denizens, stacking on the remaining denizens). This carried-over state becomes the starting point of the next game—the empire's continuous history.