Tribunal 1920
Tribunal 1920 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules of the Game
1 game, 2 players, age 8+, 20 minutes.
Contents
- 1 Courtroom board
- 20 Evidence cards
- 1 Bribe pawn
- For each player, in their color:
- 7 Plea pawns
- 3 Hearing pawns
- 2 Investigator meeples
Goal of the Game
You must align 3 Plea pawns of your color on the Courtroom Grid to win 1 of the 3 Hearings necessary to secure a historic victory.
Setup
- Place the Courtroom board in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle the Evidence cards face down to form a deck, and place it beside the Courtroom board.
- Place the Bribe pawn beside the Courtroom board.
- Give each player 2 Investigator meeples, 7 Plea pawns, and 3 Hearing pawns of a single color.
- Each player draws an Evidence card.
Board elements: each Evidence card shows an Evidence type, a District name and Borough initials. The board has the Courtroom Grid, the Hearing Counter and the Boroughs column.
How a Hearing Unfolds
A game lasts 3 - 5 rounds, called Hearings. A Hearing comprises a succession of turns. Each player takes their turn, one after another. For the first Hearing, the first player is determined randomly. For the subsequent Hearings, the loser of the previous Hearing goes first.
On your turn, perform the following 3 steps:
- Draw (mandatory)
- Place a Plea pawn (optional)
- Discard (situational)
1. Draw (mandatory)
Draw an Evidence card and add it to your hand.
2. Place a Plea pawn on the Courtroom board (optional)
Designate a space where you would like to place one of your Plea pawns. You can designate a space in the Courtroom Grid, or one in the Boroughs. Each space can only accommodate one Plea pawn. Theoretically, in order to place a Plea pawn on a space, you must have the combination of cards this space requires in your hand, but YOU CAN BLUFF!
Examples:
- To place a Plea pawn on a space showing 2 Weapon symbols, you "must" have 2 cards with Weapon Evidence in your hand.
- To place a Plea pawn on a space showing Law, Fingerprint, Weapon and Witness, you "must" have 4 cards in your hand bearing the following evidence: Law, Fingerprint, Weapon, Witness.
- To place a Plea pawn on a space showing Brooklyn, you "must" have 3 pieces of Evidence (of any types) from Brooklyn.
When you designate a space, you are supposed to have the required Evidence cards in hand. At this moment, your opponent has the choice between saying, "OK," or calling out, "Objection!"
Saying "OK": Place your Plea pawn. If you placed it on the Courtroom Grid, move on to Step 3: Discard. If you placed it in a Borough, immediately apply that Borough's effect, and then move on to Step 3: Discard.
Calling out "Objection!": You must prove that you were telling the truth, or admit that you were lying.
- If you were telling the truth and have the required Evidence cards, show them, discard them, and draw the same number of Evidence cards from the deck. Then place your Plea pawn on the space you designated.
- If you were lying and do not have the required Evidence cards, you admit that you bluffed, but you do not show your hand, and you keep all of your cards. You do not place your Plea pawn. Instead, your opponent places their Plea pawn on any unoccupied space they wish (in the Courtroom Grid, or in a Borough).
Now move on to Step 3: Discard.
Support from the Jury
When you designate a Courtroom Grid space that would allow you to align 3 Plea pawns, your opponent can call out, "Objection!" as usual, but if you were telling the truth, you win 2 Hearings at once, and thus place 2 Plea pawns on 2 spaces of the Hearing Counter.
3. Discard (situational)
If you have more than 4 cards in your hand, you must discard the excess. The Evidence discards are face up, and anyone can look at these cards at any time.
End of the Hearing
After you have finished your turn, see if either of the 2 conditions to end the Hearing are met:
- Someone has aligned 3 Plea pawns (orthogonally or diagonally) of their color on the Courtroom Grid.
- The deck is empty, and no one has aligned 3 Plea pawns (orthogonally or diagonally) of their color on the Courtroom Grid.
If someone aligned 3 pawns, they win the Hearing and place a Plea pawn on a space of the Hearing Counter.
If the deck is empty and no one has aligned 3 pawns, whoever placed a Plea pawn on the highest space of the Boroughs column wins the Hearing and places a Plea pawn on a space of the Hearing Counter.
If there are no pawns in the Boroughs column, the Hearing is nullified and must be replayed.
Losing the Hearing: The loser of the Hearing places an Investigator meeple on one of the spaces in any Borough. Each Borough space can only contain a single Investigator meeple. For the rest of the game, the player whose Investigator meeple is there can place a Plea pawn on this space with merely 3 cards, rather than 3. (Text as printed in the rulebook.)
End of the Hearing: At the end of a Hearing, everyone discards all of their cards, removes their Plea pawns from the Courtroom Grid and from the Boroughs, but leaves their Investigator meeples. Form a deck once again from the discards.
Start a new Hearing: Each player draws a card, like in setup, then the first player of the new Hearing (the loser of this one) begins their turn.
End of the Game
As soon as someone wins 3 Hearings, they win the game and the trial!
The Boroughs' Effects
The Boroughs column, from top to bottom: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island.
Tip the balance (Manhattan): At the end of a Hearing, if no one has succeeded in aligning 3 Plea pawns, the player whose Plea pawn is on the highest Borough space wins the Hearing. This space has no other effect than to win the Hearing for sure, being the highest Borough space of all.
Hunt for evidence (Brooklyn): Immediately draw 2 cards and add them to your hand. This does not increase your hand limit of 4 cards.
Bribe (Queens): Immediately place the Bribe pawn on one of the empty spaces of the Courtroom Grid. This space is unavailable until the end of the Hearing. Remove this pawn at the end of the Hearing.
Reversal (Bronx): Move one of the Plea pawns on the Courtroom Grid to another empty space. It can be one of your pawns or one of your opponent's.
Discard evidence (Staten Island): Remove one of your opponent's Plea pawns from the Courtroom Grid.