Take the Throne Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Card Anatomy
• Setup
• How to Play
• Winning the Game
• Communication
• Example Turns
• Crown Deck Cards
• House Deck Cards
• Game Variants
• 2 Player Mode
• House Overview

Components

8 x Crown cards

Indicated by the Crown icon.

Core cards (6): Abdicate, Authority, Raid, Command, Consolidate, Defend

Additional cards (2): Chaos, Entrap

38 x House cards

Indicated by the Helmet icon.

4 decks of cards, identified by the house banners on the rear of the card.

Core cards (5): Attack, Charge, Feint, Infiltrate, Sabotage

Additional cards (5): Ally, Ambush, Dominate, Raven, Reinforce

44 x Victory point (VP) tokens

2 x player reference aid cards

1 x Monarch token

Card Anatomy

• A - Card name
• B - Crown or House icon
• C - Immediate action text
• D - End of turn text
• E - Strength value
• F - Player count indicator

Setup

For 3+ players:

1. Whoever sat on a throne last is assigned the role of Monarch. Alternatively, choose the oldest player. The Monarch takes 6 crown cards (indicated by the crown icon) and the Monarch token.
2. Each other player takes 5 house cards (indicated by the helmet icon). For your first few games, it is recommended to use the core cards, as indicated in the components section.
3. Each player takes 1 VP token from the supply. Place the other VP tokens in a pile within reach of all players.

For 2 players, read the standard rules and then refer to the 2 player section on page 18.

How to Play

Take the Throne is played over multiple rounds until the end game conditions have been met, with each round broken down into the following stages:

1. Card Selection Phase: All players simultaneously select one card from their hand and place it facedown in front of them.

2. Reveal Phase: The player with the Monarch token reveals their played card and resolves the immediate action on the card if it has one (indicated by the lightning icon), e.g. the Raid card forces another player to discard their played card. Immediate actions are mandatory and must be activated, even if it does not benefit the player. The player to the left of the player with the Monarch token then reveals and resolves the immediate action on their card if it has one. Play continues clockwise until all players have revealed and resolved their immediate actions if applicable. Once play has moved to the next player, any previous players cannot activate an immediate action on a card again, even if a card is replaced as a result of another player's action.

   If a card will discard another player's card, it is revealed and then placed face down in their discard pile.

3. Resolution Phase: Starting with the player with the Monarch token and proceeding clockwise, resolve the end of turn text on each player's card if it has one (indicated by the hourglass icon). This will identify if one of the house players will take the throne or if the player with the Monarch token retains the throne.

   Any cards that say 'contend the throne' will include a strength value number to the right of the text box.

   To identify if a house player will take the throne, after following any actions e.g. to discard the card, the player with the highest strength value will take the throne.

   In the event of a tie where two or more players have the highest strength value, the current Monarch (with the Monarch token) decides which player with the highest value will take the throne, e.g. if two players have an Attack card with a strength value of one, the Monarch decides which one of them takes the throne.

   If there are no cards with a strength value left in play, the current Monarch retains the throne.

   Once it has been identified if a house player will take the throne or if the Monarch retains the throne, victory points (VP) are awarded:

Winning the Game

The winner is the first player to reach 8 VP or more and end the turn on the throne. Even if another player has more VP, the player who has 8 VP or more and is on the throne at the end of the turn wins.

For example, if the current Monarch begins the turn on 6 VP and retains the throne, they will reach 8 VP and hold the throne at the end of the turn, thus winning the game. Likewise, if a house player begins the turn with 7 VP and takes the throne that turn, they will reach 8 VP and hold the throne at the end of the turn, resulting in them winning the game.

If unsure, check if the player holding the Monarch token after the cleanup phase has 8 or more VP. If so, they are the winner.

Communication

In Take the Throne, talking is encouraged! Players can communicate which card they have played before revealing the card but they do not have to tell the truth! Deceiving your opponents can give you a tactical benefit, so feel free to use it to your advantage!

Example Turns

Example turn 1

Isaac and Sophie have both played the Charge card, which are both discarded as more than one has been played. Helen has played an Attack card but it is also discarded due to Jon's Defend card. Jon retains the throne this round as no player has been successful in taking it from him. Jon takes 2 VP for retaining the throne and all players place their played card face down in their own discard pile.

Example turn 2

Isaac plays an Attack card. Sophie plays a Sabotage card and chooses Helen to replace her card. Helen replaces her Infiltrate card with a Charge card. Jon plays a Consolidate card but it will not trigger as Helen takes the throne with a strength value of 3. She takes the crown cards, the Monarch token and 1 VP. Jon takes Helen's house cards. All players retrieve all their played cards so they have a full hand again.

Crown Deck Cards

Raid Choose a house player to discard their played card. The chosen player's card is revealed and then discarded face down.

Defend Discard all Attack cards in play. This also means that any Infiltrate cards played will be discarded.

Consolidate Gain an additional VP if you retain the throne. If you retain the throne, gain 3 VP. (2 VP for retaining the throne and 1 VP from playing this card)

Command Look at any player's unrevealed card. Then choose a house player to replace their card for another from their hand. The two house players do not need to be the same, e.g. you can look at Player A's card and choose Player B to replace their card. The player chooses which new card to play.

Abdicate Give up the throne to take 1 VP. If no house player takes the throne, you take it back.

Take 1 VP immediately. If no other player takes the throne, you take it back (even if the Abdicate card is replaced). This doesn't count as retaining the throne so you would only take 1 VP at the end of the turn instead of 2. The Monarch token is still retained and decisions such as deciding ties are still made.

Authority If another player has more VP than you, take 1 VP from them.

Chaos Replace all house players' played cards with another card from their hand, chosen at random. If any house player has no cards left in their hand, they pick up their discarded cards.

Entrap If a house player would take the throne, you retain it instead. If no one would take the throne, you must choose a house player to take it and give them 1 VP. The VP comes from your own VP. If you have none, it comes from the supply. The house player also gains 1 VP for taking the throne.

House Deck Cards

Charge - Strength value: 3 Contend the throne. If more than one Charge card is in play, all Charge cards are discarded. Beats any Attack or Infiltrate cards in play.

Infiltrate - Strength value: 2 Contend the throne. If there are no Attack cards in play, discard this card. Beats any Attack cards in play but discarded if none remain. Beaten by Charge if one is in play.

Attack - Strength value: 1 Contend the throne. Beaten by any Charge or Infiltrate cards in play.

Sabotage Choose another player to replace their played card. If the Monarch retains the throne, gain 1 VP.

You must choose a player whose card has not been discarded already. The chosen player swaps their card for one in their hand. If the other player's immediate action has already activated, their immediate action on the new card doesn't trigger. Any end of turn effects are still valid.

Feint Spend 1 VP to play an additional card from your hand or discard pile. If you take the throne, gain an additional VP.

The additional card's immediate action also triggers if it has one. Both cards activate their end of turn text and both go into the discard pile. If the player has no VP, Feint can still be played without spending a VP.

If you take the throne at the end of the turn, you take 2 VP. (1 for taking the throne and an additional 1 for playing the Feint card)

If the additional card is selected to be replaced e.g. by Sabotage, Feint remains in play until the end of the turn.

Dominate - Strength value: 4 Contend the throne. Discard this card unless exactly one Charge card remains in play. Beats any Charge, Attack or Infiltrate cards but only if exactly one Charge card is in play.

Ally Discard the Monarch's card. If another house player takes the throne, they decide if they gain an additional VP. If they do, you gain 2 VP. If the Monarch's card has already been discarded, nothing happens. The end of turn text still applies.

The house player that takes the throne decides if they want to gain one additional VP (on top of the VP for taking the throne). If they do, all players who played Ally receive 2 VP. This decision only occurs once. If the player chooses not to take an additional VP, all players who played Ally receive 0 VP.

Reinforce Used in 2 player mode. Put all your discarded cards back into your hand. If you are not currently the Monarch, gain 1 VP.

Reinforce also goes back into your hand. If played by the Monarch, they receive no VP.

Ambush If this card is viewed, discarded or replaced before it is revealed on your turn, reveal it and gain 2 VP. If revealed on your turn, this card does nothing.

Triggered by Raid, Command, Chaos and Sabotage cards.

If it is replaced due to another player's action, you gain the 2 VP and then swap Ambush for another card from your hand.

Raven If exactly one Raven card remains in play, take 1 VP from another player. If more than one Raven card remains in play, nothing happens.

You choose which player to take 1 VP from.

Game Variants

Once you have played enough rounds of the game to be comfortable with what each of the core cards do, you can mix up the game by adding new cards and playing different variants.

Mirror variant House players retain the Attack, Charge & Infiltrate cards. One player selects 2 more cards at random to make their deck of 5 cards. Each other house player takes the same 2 cards from their available card pool so that they have same 5 cards. The Monarch player retains the Raid and Defend cards and selects another 4 cards at random to make their deck of 6 cards. All other rules remain the same.

Asymmetric variant House players retain the Attack, Charge & Infiltrate cards. The Monarch player retains the Raid and Defend cards. All players then select at random from the available cards until their deck is full. (6 cards for the Monarch and 5 cards for the house players) All other rules remain the same.

2 Player Mode

2 player mode is played in a similar way to the core game of Take the Throne, with some slight differences:

Setup To setup, each player takes the following 5 house cards: Attack, Charge, Dominate, Infiltrate and Reinforce (shown with a 2 or 2+ in the player count indicator). Decide on a player to be the Monarch and they take the Monarch token. Both players start with no VP.

How to play The turn structure is the same as the standard version of Take the Throne:

1. Card selection phase: Each turn, both players simultaneously choose a card from their hand and place it face down.

2. Reveal phase: Once played, both players reveal their played card at the same time.

3. Resolution phase: Identify who will take the throne and assign VP:

   • If the player with the Monarch token retained the throne that turn, they gain 1 VP.
   • If the non Monarch player took the throne that turn, they gain 2 VP and take the Monarch token.

   If the player without the Monarch token does not take the throne, it is retained. In the event of a tie in strength value, the Monarch retains the throne.

   Example turn: Both players have played the Attack card. As the strength values are tied, the Monarch retains the throne and takes 1 VP.

4. Cleanup phase: The played cards are placed face down in a personal discard pile and a new round begins. Played cards are only returned to a player's hand when the Reinforce card is played.

Winning the game The first player to reach 8 VP and have the Monarch token at the end of the round wins the game!

Remember to check the player count indicator on the cards to make sure you are using the right cards for the number of players!

House Overview

House Coryll House Coryll fought for peace across the realm, strong believers that this was the best way to bring prosperity to their people. Under the strong leadership of King Hubert, they were able to achieve this, with the threat of their military enough to deter the rival houses. Since his demise, the other houses can smell blood; mobilising the Coryll military has become a necessity to try and retain their previous position.

House Blackwater House Blackwater are the most feared house in the realm. Serving on the throne over 200 years ago, they are now relentlessly driven by their thirst to rule once more. Whilst the size of their army has diminished in the last century, their training is second to none and their military are renowned for being the most formidable army in the realm.

House Trevelyan House Trevelyan are widely recognised for their ability to negotiate, regarded as allies to many of the Houses across the realm. They will be the first to admit however, that the art of negotiation favours those who hold the power, and they are not afraid to show theirs if challenged.

House Greystone Little is known of House Greystone due to their lack of involvement in politics in the realm. Keeping largely isolated across the narrow sea and repelling any scouting missions, many are wary of them, as it is often the case to fear the unknown.

House Landragon House Landragon are renowned for their financial prowess. Often acting as treasurer to the Monarch, their underhand methods have amassed a significant wealth, which they intend to pay mercenaries with to aid their efforts in taking the throne.