The King's Guild
The King's Guild Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Quest Cards
- Treasure Cards
- Room Tiles
- Specialist Cards
- Setup
- The Turn
- End of Turn
- Hand Size
- The King's Funeral
- Offering to the Council
- Scoring
- Solo Rules
- Other Rules
- Appendix: Master Rooms
- Appendix: Specialist Cards
- Appendix: Treasure Cards
- Specialist Timing
- Game Symbols
- Turn Summary
- Credits
Components
- 1 Game board
- 6 Player boards
- 6 Guild tiles
- 12 Guild Sigil miniatures
- Resources: 8 cloth, 8 metal, 6 magic, 8 leather, 8 wood, 6 gems
- Quest cards: 12 Age I (leather/metal/wood), 12 Age I (gems/magic), and 24 Age II
- Offering to the Council & King's Funeral cards
- 4 player reference cards
- King's Statue & Shrine room tiles
- Common room tiles — 4 Warehouses, 4 Libraries, 3 Magic Arcaenums & 3 Gem Workshops
- Chamber room tiles (double-sided) — 6 Great Hall|Barracks, 6 Bedchamber|Kitchen
- 14 Master room tiles
- Treasure cards — 28 each of Blue, Red & Yellow
- Specialist cards — 12 each of A, B, & C
- Coins & Tokens — 18 gold, 22 silver, 48 copper, 1 thug, 1 baggage
- Scoring Pad
Quest Cards
Quest cards depict heroes visiting Greycastle and the items they need to complete their quests. Use your resources to craft items for the heroes and earn coins. Once equipped, heroes complete their quests, bring back treasure, and join your guild.
Each quest card shows:
- Item Cost — Resources you spend to craft this item.
- Item Value — Coins earned for crafting this item.
- Reward — The treasure card(s) awarded for completing this quest.
- Hero Type — Certain specialists and rooms reference these icons (mage, warrior, rogue).
- Item Type — Certain specialists and rooms reference these icons (weapon, armor).
Treasure Cards
Treasure cards represent the rare loot brought back by heroes returning from quests. They have a variety of effects, and you may play them anytime on your turn.
Keep your treasures secret. Your hand limit is 6 treasures.
Each treasure card shows:
- Color — Each color of treasure has a specialty:
- Blue specializes in gaining extra resources.
- Red specializes in Charms, which score prestige.
- Yellow specializes in gaining extra coins.
- Effect — You may play a treasure any time on your turn for its effect. (Then discard it face-up.)
- Set — Some treasures have a set listed. They can be collected to earn prestige.
- Sell Price — You may sell this treasure to the bank to gain coins anytime on your turn.
Room Tiles
Room tiles represent halls, chambers, and areas you can build onto your guild. They provide a variety of effects, or add to your guild's prestige based upon your accomplishments during the game.
Each room tile shows:
- Cost — The coin cost to build this room.
- Prestige — The prestige value of this room, or a star if the value varies.
- Effect — The effect granted by owning this room, or the conditions to score prestige from this room.
Specialist Cards
Specialist cards depict the townsfolk of Greycastle whom you can hire to help your guild. Each provides a unique ability.
Each specialist card shows:
- Cost — The coin cost to hire this specialist.
- Prestige — The prestige value of this specialist.
- Timing — The condition for this specialist's ability to activate. (See the back page of this rulebook for reference.)
- Ability — The ability you get when the specialist triggers.
Setup
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Place the game board in the center of the table.
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Shuffle the master room tiles. Draw 3 plus the number of players and place them face up next to the board. Return the rest to the game box. Place the King's Statue near the board.
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According to the number of players, stack Warehouses, Gem Workshops, Magic Arcaenums, and Libraries in their marked areas on the board. Return any remaining rooms of these types to the game box.
Players 2 3 4 5 6 Warehouse / Library 1 2 3 3 4 Gem Workshop / Magic Arcaenum 1 2 2 3 3 -
Individually shuffle the three sets of specialist cards (A, B, & C). Then draw cards facedown from each set according to the number of players. Return the remaining specialist cards to the box.
Players 2 3 4 5 6 A, B, & C 5 7 8 9 10 Stack the specialists A on top of B on top of C, then place the combined deck on the board. Draw the first 5 specialist cards and place them face up in a row.
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Place all the coins in the center of the board.
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According to the number of players, place resources in their marked areas on the board. Return any unused resources to the game box.
Players 2 3 4 5 6 Cloth / Leather / Metal / Wood 5 6 7 8 8 Gems / Magic 3 4 5 6 6 -
Stack one Bedchamber|Kitchen per player and one Great Hall|Barracks per player on their marked spots on the board. Return any remaining chambers to the box.
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Individually shuffle the three types of quest cards (Age I gems/magic, Age I leather/metal/wood, and Age II). According to the number of players, draw cards facedown from each of the three shuffled sets of quest cards. Return the remaining quest cards to the game box.
Players 2 3 4 5 6 Age I (each type) 5 7 8 9 10 Age II 8 12 14 17 19 Shuffle the two sets of Age I quest cards together, then create the quest deck by placing top to bottom: Age I quest cards, the King's Funeral card, Age II quest cards, the Offering to the Council card.
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Draw and place 5 quest cards face-up in the empty slots. For a 5-6 player game, remove the quest deck from the board and place a 6th quest card in its place.
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Individually shuffle the blue, red, and yellow treasure cards. Place each deck on its marked area on the board.
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Shuffle the player boards and deal one to each player. Return any remaining player boards to the game box.
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The player who most recently had an adventure is the starting player. Going clockwise, take coins as follows:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Coins 3 4 5 5 6 6 -
Shuffle the guild tiles and deal one to each player. Players take their guild sigil minis and place their guild tiles on their player boards. Return unused guilds and sigils to the box. Going clockwise from the starting player, each player takes the starting bonus printed on their guild tile.
Then the starting player takes the first turn and play proceeds clockwise.
The Turn
Players take turns one at a time going clockwise. On your turn, take ONE action of your choice — Gather, Craft, or Expand. You may also play or sell any number of treasure cards.
Gather
Take up to 3 resources of the same type or 2 resources of different types. Place them in your storage area.
If a resource is out of stock, you may not take it.
You may not gather Gems until you build the Gem Workshop or Magic until you build the Magic Arcaenum.
Any time you exceed your storage limit, you must immediately choose and discard resources until you are within your limit.
Example: The Explorers League gathers three Metal and then discards one Wood to stay within their storage limit.
Craft
- Choose one quest. Pay the resource cost to craft one OR BOTH items for that quest, then take coins equal to the value of the item(s) you crafted.
- If you start a two item quest and only craft one item, place one of your guild sigil minis on the item you crafted.
- If both of your guild sigils are on quests, you may only start two item quests if you craft both items in the same action.
Completing a Quest
As soon as all of a quest's items have been crafted, that quest is complete. (The heroes always succeed on their quests.)
If you crafted all the items for that quest:
- Draw the quest's treasure card(s).
- Take the quest card and place it face-up to the left of your player board.
If you and another player each crafted one item:
- The other player (who crafted first) takes the quest card and places it face-up to the left of their player board.
- You draw and look at the treasure cards, choose one to keep, and pass the remaining card to the other player.
If a guild sigil was on the completed quest, return that sigil to its owner. Finally, draw a quest card and place it in the empty space on the board.
Example: (1) Greycastle Guard spends three Cloth to craft the Cloak, earning 3 coins and placing a guild sigil mini. (2) Later, Craft Collective spends three Leather and one Metal to craft the Boots, earning 4 coins and completing the quest. (3) Craft Collective draws both treasures and chooses to keep the yellow. Greycastle Guard takes the quest card and the blue treasure. (4) Then a new quest card is drawn to fill the empty space.
Expand
Build ONE room and/or hire ONE specialist, in either order.
Build a Room
Choose a room (chambers are double-sided), pay its coin cost, and add it to your player board. Rooms must face the same direction and connect vertically or horizontally to your guild. You can't build if you don't have enough space on your board.
You may only build ONE of each room in your guild.
If you cover up a bonus on your player board, take the coins or resource from the supply if able.
Two player game only: Neither player may build both the Gem Workshop and the Magic Arcaenum.
Hire a Specialist
Pay the specialist's coin cost and place it in one of your chambers or one of the four spaces outside your guild. You may not hire a specialist unless you have space to place it.
ONLY IF you paid full price for the specialist, add a 1 coin discount to each specialist on the board to the right of the one you hired. (Those specialists now cost fewer coins to hire.) If this reduces a specialist's cost to 0, remove that specialist from the game instead.
Slide the remaining specialist cards to the right into any empty spaces. Then draw new specialist card(s) to refill the row.
Example: (1) The Holy Order pays 6 coins for a Warehouse and builds it on the bonus space to gain a resource. (2) Then they pay 3 coins to hire the Oracle, placing a discount coin on the 3 specialists to the Oracle's right (3). The Lumberjack slides over and a new specialist is drawn.
End of Turn
After taking your action and playing or selling any number of treasures, your turn is over. Play passes to the player on your left.
Hand Size
Your hand size is 6 treasure cards. If you have more than 6 at any time, you must immediately sell treasures until you have 6. The Library and some specialists increase your hand size.
The King's Funeral
When the King's Funeral card is drawn, set it aside. Players hide their coins and secretly choose an amount to bid on the King's Statue.
All players reveal their bids simultaneously. Then the player with the highest bid spends those coins and builds the King's Statue room in their guild. All other players keep the coins they bid. (If there's a tie, all players keep their coins and nobody builds the statue.)
Draw a quest to fill the empty space on the board.
Offering to the Council
The end of the game is triggered when the Offering to the Council card is drawn from the quest deck. Each player takes one more turn, including the player who drew the council card.
On each player's final turn, he or she may make an offering to the council instead of taking an action. To do so, place a guild sigil on the Offering to the Council card. You will score additional prestige at the end of the game for your remaining coins and resources.
If both your sigils are on quests, you may not make an offering.
Scoring
Each player takes any quest cards that still have their guild sigil on them and adds those cards to their guild. (Do not gain any treasure for those quests.) Then score prestige as follows:
- Charms: For each Charm in your hand, gain 2 or 3 prestige as shown. Then, the player (or players) with the most Charms gains an additional 3 prestige.
- Relics: Gain 2/5/9/13/17/22 prestige for having 1/2/3/4/5/6 different Relics in your hand. You may score multiple sets, but no Relic may be scored twice.
- Quests: Gain 1 prestige for each completed quest you have.
- Specialists: Gain the prestige listed on each of your specialists.
- Rooms: Gain the prestige listed on each of your rooms. Rooms with a star describe their scoring conditions, and chambers only score if occupied by specialists.
- Offering: If you made an offering, gain 2 prestige plus 1 prestige for every 3 coins plus 1 prestige for every 2 resources you have (round down).
- Total: The player with the most prestige wins! Ties go to the player(s) with the most coins.
Solo Rules
Follow the 2-6 player rules, but with the following exceptions:
Setup
- Play with 1 Warehouse, Magic Arcanum, Gem Workshop, & Library.
- Play with 3 each of gems and magic, and 4 each of cloth, leather, metal and wood.
- Play with 5 specialists of each type (A, B, C). Remove the Thug, Recruiter, and Smuggler before shuffling the specialist cards.
- Remove the 2 Spoiling Potions from the Blue treasure deck.
- Play with the same number of quests as in a 3 player game, but use all 6 quest spots. Place the deck off the board and next to the top right spot. Quests move counter-clockwise from it.
Craft
When you complete a quest, do not draw a new one to replace the one you completed. An empty space will be left on the board.
Expand
- You may buy up to two things in any combination of rooms and specialists (i.e. two rooms, two specialists, or one of each).
- Do not place discounts on specialists in the solo game.
- After every expand action, remove the right-most specialist from the game, then draw a new specialist and refill the row.
End of Turn
- If all 6 quest spots have a card, remove the oldest card that does NOT have a guild sigil on it from the game. The oldest card is the one furthest away from the deck in counterclockwise order.
- Slide all quests (starting from the top right spot) one space counterclockwise until you fill the empty space on the board.
- Then draw a new quest card and place it in the empty spot next to the deck. There will be a new quest card revealed every turn.
The King's Funeral
When the King's Funeral is revealed, do not do what it says. Instead:
- Remove the right-most specialist from the game and refill the row.
- Place the King's Funeral card on the board in a quest spot. It will move like a quest every turn until it is removed from the board.
- While it's on the board, you may spend an action to build the King's Statue for 0 coins. Then remove the card from the board.
Scoring
Do not score bonus prestige for having the most Charms. Try to beat your best score to prove yourself as the most capable guild leader in Greycastle! Use this reference as a measure of your skills:
| Prestige | 0-49 | 50-69 | 70-79 | 80-89 | 90+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | RECRUIT | MEMBER | LEADER | KING | LEGEND |
Other Rules
Gems and Magic
You may not gather gems until you build the Gem Workshop. You may not gather magic until you build the Magic Arcaenum.
Some effects may specifically give you gems or magic, even if you aren't allowed to gather them. However, when an ability or effect allows you to choose a resource, you can ONLY choose from the resources you're allowed to gather.
Chambers
Chamber rooms allow you to hire more than 4 specialists. They also score you prestige if occupied with specialists by the end of the game. The Bedchamber and Kitchen require one specialist while the Great Hall and Barracks require two.
Specialists may not be moved after hiring them. When you hire a specialist, you may place it in any of your chambers.
Chambers are double sided. When you build one during an Expand action, you may choose either side to build.
Coins
Copper coins are worth 1, silver coins are worth 2, and gold coins are worth 5. The coin supply is unlimited. Use a substitute if you run out of coins. Players may hold any number of coins.
Crafting Two Items
If you want to craft both items for a quest in a single action, you must spend all the resources at the same time. You can't spend some, play a treasure, and then spend more.
Gaining Resources
When treasures allow you to gain resources, you must respect your storage limit, discarding if needed to make space. You can't use the resources you gained until after you place them in storage.
Running Out of Treasure Cards
If one of the treasure decks runs out of cards, remove a Scroll in that deck's discard pile from the game (if able). Then reshuffle the discard pile of that color to form a new deck. Players may look through the discard piles at any time.
In the rare event there are no cards in the discard pile to make a new deck, then that color of treasure is no longer available. Players should choose another color to draw instead.
Appendix: Master Rooms
- Hall of Mages, Rogues, and Warriors — Gain 4 prestige for each indicated hero icon on your quests.
- Hall of Cunning, Strength, and Wisdom — Gain 6 prestige for each complete set of indicated hero icons on your quests.
- Armory, Arsenal — Gain 2 prestige for each indicated item icon on your quests. (A quest with two icons of the same type can score twice.)
- Gallery — Gain 3 prestige for each complete set of weapon and armor icons on your quests. (You can match multiple cards together to make sets.)
- Depot — Gain 4 prestige for each different type of resource in your guild at the end of the game. You may still offer these resources to the council.
- Hall of Builders — Gain 3 prestige for each room in your guild, not including your starting guild tile. (All other rooms count, including Hall of Builders.)
- Tavern — Gain 3 prestige for each specialist in your guild at the end of the game. (It doesn't matter whether or not the specialists are in a chamber.)
- Throne Room — Gain 9 prestige, and an additional 6 prestige if you built the Throne Room adjacent to the King's Statue in your guild.
- Vault of Riches — Gain 1 prestige for every coin you have at the end of the game. You may not offer the coins in your vault to the council.
- Shrine — The Shrine is not a master room. It is a starting chamber room for The Holy Order. The Shrine provides 1 prestige and an extra space to place a specialist.
Appendix: Specialist Cards
- Miner, Lumberjack, Tanner, Weaver — After you take a gather action, gain an extra resource of the indicated type, regardless of what you gathered.
- Blacksmith, Woodworker, Leatherworker, Tailor — These specialists reduce the cost to craft weapons OR armor by one indicated resource.
- Fighter, Ranger, Wizard — After you do a quest of the indicated hero type, you may pay 1 coin to draw a treasure of the indicated color. You get this bonus whether you started or finished the quest, but only once per quest.
- Adventurer, Minstrel — When you hire these specialists, you draw the indicated treasure(s).
- Craftswoman, Dealer — When you hire these specialists, immediately take an extra action of the specified type. The extra action follows the same rules as a regular action of that type.
- Courier, Peasant — These specialists provide one or two additional storage spaces for your resources.
- Alchemist — When you hire the Alchemist, immediately trade as many of your resources as you want for different ones in the supply, including gems and/or magic.
- Appraiser — After you receive treasure(s) from a quest, the Appraiser lets you draw one extra treasure of any color. If you do, you must then immediately discard any one treasure from your hand (even the one you just drew).
- Aristocrat — When you hire the Aristocrat, place the baggage token in an available chamber space. You must have space for two specialists to hire the Aristocrat, and the baggage can't be placed in your starting specialist spaces.
- Auctioneer — You may sell Relics, Charms, and Scrolls for 4 coins each. You can't sell any other treasures this way.
- Bard — During your turn, you may move your specialists to any available spaces in your guild.
- Builder — You may build rooms anywhere on your player board. You get twice as many resources and coins when you cover up bonus spaces on your player board.
- Curator — When you hire the Curator, you may search through the treasure discard piles and buy any number of Relics for 3 coins each.
- Inventor — The Inventor allows you to hold two additional treasure cards in your hand.
- Laborer — Instead of a normal gather action, you may gain 3 resources of any type(s) you can gather.
- Merchant — When you hire the Merchant, draw 3 treasures of any color(s), then immediately discard any three treasures (even some or all of the ones you just drew).
- Oracle — During your turn, you may look at the top 2 cards of the quest deck. Make sure to put them back in the same order after you look at them.
- Overseer — When you hire the Overseer, you also take the oldest specialist (furthest to the right on the board) for free. You must have space for two specialists to hire the Overseer.
- Recruiter — Doubles the value of discounts when you hire specialists. This can't reduce the hiring cost below 0 coins.
- Smuggler — When you hire the Smuggler, you may steal one resource from an opponent. You can steal gems or magic even if you can't normally gather them.
- Sorceress — Provides the effects of the Gem Workshop and the Magic Arcaenum, allowing you to gather both gems and magic.
- Thug — After you take a craft action, you may move the Thug token to a quest. Other players must pay you 2 coins to craft one or both items for that quest. If that quest gets completed, the Thug token is returned to you.
- Vizier — You automatically get to make an offering to the council on your final turn without spending an action.
- Warlock — After you take a craft action, you may destroy a Scroll treasure from your hand (remove it from the game) to get both effects of the Scroll. The next player gets nothing.
- Witch — When you hire the Witch, take a quest card from the board that only has one item on it. You don't get any coins or treasure from that quest, but the quest card will gain you prestige as normal during scoring.
Appendix: Treasure Cards
Relics
The 6 relics combine to form an ancient suit of armor. Players can collect Relics from all three colors of treasure, with 2 types of Relics in each color. Sets of different Relics score a lot of prestige. (Blue Relics: Ancient Breastplate, Ancient Helm. Red Relics: Ancient Sword, Ancient Boots. Yellow Relics: Ancient Gauntlets, Ancient Shield.)
Scrolls
Scrolls appear in all three treasure decks, and there are two ways to use them:
- Play a Scroll to give a big benefit to yourself and a small benefit to the next player; OR
- Save your Scrolls and build a Library to score prestige with them.
Charms
Charms are found only in the Red treasure deck. Each one earns you prestige, and the player(s) with the most Charms in their hand at the end of the game get 3 bonus prestige.
Resources
Many Blue treasure cards provide free resources. Remember, you can only gain resources that are in the supply, and you need to make room to store them.
Potions
- Spoiling Potion — Choose a type of resource. Each player loses a resource of that type, including you. This potion can be very useful if you need a resource that's out of stock.
- Lucky Potion — Doubles the treasure cards drawn and kept from a quest card only. If the quest is shared, both players' treasure cards are doubled. (Limit one Lucky Potion per quest.)
- Fortune Potion — Doubles the coins you gain when you craft an item this turn. Best used on high value items. (Limit one Fortune Potion per item you craft.)
Contract
The contract (from the Blue treasure deck) lets you hire a specialist without spending an action. Do everything you would normally do while hiring a specialist, like paying the cost, adding discounts, and refilling the row of specialists.
Coins
The Bag of Gold and Coin Purse treasures (from the Yellow treasure deck) can be sold for more coins than other treasures. Use that extra money to build rooms or hire specialists!
Treasure Maps
Treasure Maps can be discarded along with another treasure to draw two treasures of any color(s). Choose the color(s) you want before drawing any of the new treasures.
Specialist Timing
- Hand icon — When you take a gather action.
- Anvil icon — When you take a craft action.
- House icon — When you take an expand action.
- Lightning bolt icon — When you hire this specialist.
- Infinity icon — At any time during your turn.
- Hero-type icon — When you gain treasure from a quest of the indicated hero type.
Game Symbols
- Resources (cloth, leather, metal, wood, gems, magic) — Gain from gather action and treasures. Spend on crafting. You can't choose to gain gems or magic without a special effect.
- Treasure Cards — Gain from quests. Spend for various effects or keep for prestige.
- Coins — Gain from crafting items. Spend on rooms and specialists.
- Prestige — Gain from quests, rooms, specialists, and treasures. Earn the most to become the new King's Guild and win the game.
- Hero Icon (Mage, Warrior, Rogue)
- Item Icon (Weapon, Armor)
Turn Summary
- Take exactly ONE action.
- Play and/or sell any number of treasure cards.
Gather
- Take 2 resources of any types or 3 resources of the same type. Resources are limited in supply.
- Store the resources in your guild, making room by discarding others back to the supply if needed.
- You need the Gem Workshop to gather gems and the Magic Arcaenum to gather magic.
Craft
- Spend resources to craft one or both items for a single quest. Gain coins immediately for the item(s) you crafted.
- Once the quest is complete, gain treasure card(s).
- If you split the quest with someone, the first player keeps the quest card while the second player gets first pick of the treasure cards.
Expand
- Build one room and/or hire one specialist.
- Rooms must connect to your guild face-up. They provide resources or coins when built on a bonus. You can't build the same room twice.
- Specialists must be placed in a chamber or above your guild and can't be moved. Hiring a specialist at full price discounts all the specialists to its right.
Credits
Design: Matthew Austin Art: Laura Bevon Story: Brian Nichols Development: Matthew Austin & Andrew Federspiel Special Thanks: Jerrad Matthew, Kevin Kiniry, Lana Berman, Matt Brown & Alex Doudian Playtesting: Nicolo Guevarra, Ducky Osborne, Larry Lawrence, Cain Manoli, Paul Nowak, Monica Yencer, John Powell, Nick Prince, Jordan Cole, Joey Vigour, Gay Board Gaymers, First Play LA, and many more of my friends
Mirror Box Games, LLC 1901 N Pass Ave Burbank, CA 91505