Pot de Vin
Pot de Vin Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
64 cards, containing the following:
- 52 cards distributed over 4 characters, which are called the Character cards, and symbolize 4 influent dignitaries: Aldo, Pietra, Enzo, and Ugo.
- Among this deck of 52 cards, there are 6 Guilds, which appear on the cards with numbers 4 to 12: Nobles Guild, Artists Guild, Traders Guild, Workmen Guild, Knights Guild, Assassins Guild.
- 16 Neutral cards, which appear on the cards with numbers 1-3 and 13:
?Card (Joker card counts as any guild, value 1)+2Card (Bonus card, value 2)-2Card (Penalty card, value 3)- Pot de Vin Card (see scoring on pg. 6, value 13)
Also included:
- 6 Player Aid cards
- 6 Treasure cards
- 1 Playing Mat
- 24 Bribe gems
- 1 Scorepad
Game Setup
(for 3 to 5 players / for 6 players, see page 7 of this rulebook)
Each player takes a number of Bribe gems, according to the Game Table.
The 52 cards are shuffled and a number of them, determined by the Game Table, are put in the center of the table, to form the draw pile (Trump Pile), which represents the number of rounds in the game.
The topmost card of the Trump Pile is revealed and will be Trump for the first round.
The remaining cards are distributed to the players, according to the Game Table depending on the number of players:
Game Table
| Players | Cards in the Trump Pile | Cards for each player | Bribe gems for each player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 16 | 12 | 4 |
| 4 | 12 | 10 | 2 |
| 5 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
Game Overview
The number of rounds is defined by the number of cards in the Trump Pile. In the first round, the Starting Player is chosen randomly. In the following rounds, the Starting Player will be the player who won the previous round.
In every round, the Starting Player must choose a card from their hand to play, and then end their turn. The next player, in clockwise order, must choose one of the following actions:
- Pass their turn, by playing a Bribe gem. If the player chooses this option, they do not play any cards this round. If the player has no more Bribe gems, they cannot choose this option.
- Play a card of the same character as the Starting Player. When the player chooses to play a card, it MUST be of the same character as played by the Starting Player (the first card played). If the player has no cards of the same character as played by the Starting Player, they can play any other card.
The round continues, always in clockwise order, until all of the players had their turn (passed or played a card). When all of the players have made their choice, the round ends.
In every round, the revealed card in the center, from the Trump Pile, determines which character is the Trump of this round. The Trump character will beat any card from the 3 other characters when played.
Determine now which player is the winner of the round:
- In case the players have only played cards of the same character as the Starting Player, then the winner of this round is the player who played the card with the highest value;
- In case the players have played other character cards, except for the Trump character for this round, then the winner is the player who played the card of the Starting Player character with the highest value;
- In case the players have played other character cards, including the Trump character for this round, then the winner is the player who played a card of the Trump character with the highest value.
The winner of the round receives all the cards and Bribe gems that were played this round. This includes his own card, cards played by the other players and the Trump card that was revealed this round from the Trump Pile. They collect all the cards won this round, and place them face up in front of them, rotated by 180° and separated in columns according to their colors/Guild symbols depicted.
If there were Bribe gems played this round, the winner places them on top of the Treasure card. All Neutral cards, including Jokers, Pot de Vins (13), +2s and -2s are kept in a separate column.
After the winner of the round sorts out the cards they won, the top card of the Trump Pile is revealed, and the character depicted will be the Trump of the following round.
The winner of the round becomes the new Starting Player and a new round begins.
If players have no cards left in their hand, their remaining Bribe gems must be removed from the game.
If the player that wins the round has no cards left, the new first player will be the next player in turn order.
End of the Game
When the Trump Pile runs out, the game ends.
The players who own Joker cards, must place them in a column of choice according to the following rules:
- Joker cards cannot be left on the Neutral cards column.
- Place them in your Guilds as you see fit.
- A Guild can never contain more than 1 Joker card.
- Joker cards cannot form a column of a certain Guild containing only Joker cards.
- If you cannot place a Joker according to these restrictions, discard it.
Scoring
Each player counts his victory points for each type of Guild, as described in the table below, or on the Scoring cards.
| Cards | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 Guild Symbol | 1 |
| 2 Identical Guild Symbols | 3 |
| 3 Identical Guild Symbols | 6 |
| 4 Identical Guild Symbols | -1 |
| 5 Identical Guild Symbols | -3 |
| 6 Identical Guild Symbols | -6 |
| 7 Identical Guild Symbols | 10 |
| 8 Identical Guild Symbols | 15 |
After that add/subtract the points from your Neutral Bonus and the Pot-de-Vin cards, as described in the table below.
| Cards | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 Pot-de-Vin | -1 |
| 2 Pot-de-Vin | -3 |
| 3 Pot-de-Vin | -6 |
| 4 Pot-de-Vin | 10 |
Finally, add 1 Victory point per Bribe gem added to your Guilds.
The player with the most Victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with the most cards is the winner. If the ties persists, the player with the most Bribe gems is the winner. If that still doesn't resolve the tie, the victory will be shared.
Team Play
(recommended for a game with 4 or more experienced players)
In a game with 4 players, 2 teams are formed.
Players take a seat at the table so that the players of each team play alternately (that is, no 2 players of the same team play one after another).
The winner of a round takes the cards and puts them in their playing area. They may not add cards to the playing area of their teammate, who keeps their own playing area to organize their cards.
At the end of the game, if both players of a team have a column of a particular Guild, then only the column with the fewest symbols is scored. The Joker cards are added after it is decided which column is scored.
The rest of the rules, and the scoring at the end of the game, are identical to normal game.
Game with 6 Players
In a game of 6 players, 3 teams are formed.
Choose the Starting Player randomly during the setup of the game.
Shuffle all of the 52 Character cards, and distribute 8 cards to the first 3 players of the first round; and 9 cards to the rest of the players.
The remaining card will be secretly discarded, forming the Trump Pile in the center of the table.
Each player receives 4 Bribe gems.
The three players who received 9 cards look at their own hand and secretly discard one card each to the Trump Pile.
The Trump Pile is shuffled, and the first card is revealed and becomes the Trump for the first round.
When a player wins a round, they take all of the cards played, including their own card, but they do not take the Trump card. This card stays in the center of the table. The next card must then be turned over and put on top of this card, and is the Trump for the new round.
When the Trump Pile runs out, all the Trump cards are shuffled to form a new Trump Pile. This will occur at the beginning of the fifth and the ninth round.
The game ends when the Trump Pile runs out for a third time, i.e. after 12 rounds.
The rules for scoring at the end of the game are the same as in a team game for 4 players.
Credits
- Game Designer: Warny Marcano and Fel Barros
- Publisher: ThunderGryph Games
- Illustrations: Weberson Santiago
- Product Manager: Gonzalo Aguirre Bisi
- Graphic Designer: Luis Francisco
- Mockups: Erick Rafael Tosco
- Translation & Editing: Board Game Circus, Steven De Tavernier, Jacob J. Coon, Daniel Theuerkaufer
- Graphics: Daniel Oswaldo Tosco
- Project Coordinator: José David Ortega
- Web Site: www.thundergryph.com
© 2017 ThunderGryph Games & Mandala Jogos, All rights reserved.