Vindication: Leaders & Alliances Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Guild Leader Rapport
  • Unlocking Rapport
  • Gaining Rapport
  • Using Guild Perks
  • Initiating an Alliance
• Guild Perks
  • Circle of the Unbound Mind
  • Fellowship of the Light
  • The Twilight Brotherhood
  • Order of the Folded Leaf
  • Clan of the Echoing Blade
  • Tribe of Merchant Traders
• 3-Turn Example
• New Map Regions
  • Chronogate
  • Inn of the White Raven
  • Academy (Alternate)
• Guilds & Monuments Expansion Play Variant Rules
  • Revered Guild Status
  • Example
• Components

Setup

• Place each of the 6 guild leader boards in a row.
• All players take 3 rapport tokens of their own color and place them in their personal supply.
• Place the white rapport threshold marker on 20 on the honor (victory point) track. At the start of the game all players may place this token elsewhere; 20 is a recommendation.

Guild Leader Rapport

Unlocking Rapport

As soon as a player's marker reaches the rapport threshold (by gaining honor), it unlocks the ability to establish rapport with guild leaders. 1 rapport token is placed on the top unnumbered space of a guild leader's track, as shown in the illustration.

Players can establish rapport with any leaders in play, but they start with rapport in the guild of their own color.

Each turn, this player can now perform any of the following types of bonus action, as many times as they can afford:

• Gain rapport.
• Use a guild perk.
• Initiate an alliance.

Gaining Rapport

To establish rapport with one or more guild leaders, add as many attributes as you wish (return them to your sphere of influence) and move your rapport marker up that guild's track according to the cost shown:

• Gain 1 rapport: For 1 inspiration, knowledge, or strength, move up 1 space on the rapport track.
• Gain 2 rapport: For 1 courage, vision, or wisdom, move up 1 space on the rapport track.

Using Guild Perks

You can use as many guild perks as you can afford each turn. However, each guild perk can be used only once per turn.

To use a guild perk, move your rapport marker down the track as many spaces as needed to gain that perk. For example, you can move the marker down 2 spaces (and thus leave the board) to use Martial Occupation.

Initiating an Alliance

You can initiate only 1 alliance per game.

To initiate an alliance, gain honor equal to the numbered spaces under your two rapport markers on 2 different leader boards. If your rapport marker is not on a numbered space, you do not have enough rapport to initiate an alliance.

Then move the rapport markers to the open alliance spaces above the portraits of the guild leaders on those boards. If no open alliance spaces remain, an alliance cannot be initiated there.

Guild Perks

Guild perks can be used strategically to create interesting and powerful combinations on your turn. Most guild perks are not available outside this expansion.

Circle of the Unbound Mind

• Leading with Logic: Return a total of 2 influence from any companions in play. If none of them are your companions, gain 2 conviction. You choose each companion by moving 1 influence from each one back to its owner's sphere of influence. This can be a powerful advantage, slowing down opponents who are saving influence on companions to use their special abilities.
• Flash Portal: Teleport to any unoccupied location on the map. This action has nothing to do with your ordinary movement, and it can be used in addition to it.

Fellowship of the Light

• Spirit Projection: Your visit action this turn does not require adjacency. You may visit any region in play, no matter how far away it is.
• Call to the Light: Dismiss any companion. Its owner gains an empowered draw on any companion stack. No honor is gained or lost in these actions. This action can be used on yourself or on another player. All influence on dismissed companions returns to its owner's sphere of influence. The owner of a dismissed companion may perform an empowered action to acquire a new companion of any color.

The Twilight Brotherhood

• Master of Secrets: Draw 2 secret quests and keep 1. This ability costs 1 rapport for each secret quest you have. For example, if you have 3 secret quests, using this ability requires 3 rapport.
• Dirty Deeds: Place a black treachery block on any card; its text is nullified until the block is removed for 1 conviction. This ability negates all open-card abilities: pets, companions, relics, loot cards, character traits, infused crystals, and end-game bonuses for defeated monsters. It does not cancel end-game trigger cards or secret quest cards.

Order of the Folded Leaf

• One with Nature: Gain one: courage, vision, or wisdom. This ability is very helpful for players who want to vary their game by gaining certain heroic attributes.
• Return to the Wilds: Remove all control and fortification from an adjacent map region. This ability removes all players (including yourself) from that map region, as well as its fortification. This ability cannot affect a map region that has a monument on it (see the monument expansion rules).

Clan of the Echoing Blade

• Undying Resolve: Augment one potential directly to conviction. This ability is often used in combination with fighting monsters or taking control of a region card.
• Martial Occupation: Add 1 influence to an adjacent region that you do not control. You may co-control this region. Co-control example: if a green player visits a region controlled by orange and purple players, both the orange and purple players gain 2 honor. If the orange player visits the region, only the purple player gains 2 honor. Both the purple and orange players still gain honor for this region at the end of the game.

Tribe of Merchant Traders

• Corner the Market: Freely redistribute up to 7 of your: inspiration, knowledge, and/or strength. This ability lets you freely move your current attributes of these types from one sphere to another. Example: you can move 5 of your 7 inspiration and 2 of your 3 strength to knowledge, then visit a monastery to increase several blocks at once.
• Free Looter: Draw 3 loot cards and keep one. Shuffle the others back into the stack. No honor is gained. This ability can be used without the Myths & Wonders expansion.

3-Turn Example

Turn 1: Gaining rapport. The grey player recently acquired a trait, using 2 wisdom. As a result, they gained 2 additional knowledge and decided to use them to raise their rapport with Xon by 2 spaces.

They also chose to use 1 vision and 2 vision to raise their rapport with El-Gishar (green) by 4 spaces.

Turn 2: Guild perks. The grey player can now initiate an alliance between these 2 guilds for 17 honor.

However, they consider it more advantageous to use guild perks, so they spend 1 rapport to use the One with Nature perk, gaining a second wisdom.

They also spend 2 rapport to use the Return to the Wilds perk, forcing the orange player to lose control of the Ancient Tomb. This lets the grey player visit it without giving honor to the orange player, then use their wisdom to gain a heroic trait and subsequently control the Ancient Tomb.

They could also have used perks (one use each) from other guilds this turn, but prefer not to do so.

Turn 3: Initiating alliances. The grey player chooses to use their guild leader rapport to initiate an alliance between the Order of the Folded Leaf (green) and the Circle of the Unbound Mind (blue). They now have 3 rapport with El-Gishar (green) and 7 rapport with Xon (blue).

They move their marker from the purple track to the last open alliance space above El-Gishar's portrait, lock it in place for the rest of the game, and score 3 honor. No new alliances can be made with this guild.

They also move their marker from the blue track to the first open alliance space above Xon's portrait, lock it in place for the rest of the game, and score 7 honor. Only 1 new alliance can be initiated with this guild.

Summary: the cost in honor. Using guild perks instead of an earlier alliance cost the grey player 7 honor in essence. However, the One with Nature perk gained them a trait (5 honor), and the Return to the Wilds perk gained 2 honor now plus 2 honor at the end of the game, and cost the orange player minus 2 honor at the end of the game, which totals 11 honor.

New Map Regions

The expansion adds three new map region tiles.

Chronogate

Move 3 conviction to potential, then take an extra turn.

• Notes:
  • The first turn: gaining this ability requires a visit action to the chronogate.
  • The extra turn must take place immediately after the current turn.
  • A player may visit the chronogate, take the extra turn, and then finish their original turn before taking the extra turn.

Inn of the White Raven

Dismiss any number of companions and gain 3 honor for each one.

• Notes:
  • Dismissing a companion is not the same as losing a companion; you do not lose honor points.
  • Gain 3 honor for each companion.
  • Dismissed companions are returned to the box (not shuffled into the stacks).

Academy (Alternate)

This academy tile functions exactly as the one in the base game. However, this version correctly shows the "2 honor" symbol. For this reason, many players prefer to use this version to eliminate confusion, and may opt to replace the other tile entirely.

Guilds & Monuments Expansion Play Variant Rules

Monuments in Vindication: Leaders & Alliances are additional components that can be added to games using the Guilds & Monuments expansion, with updated monument miniatures (see p. 38 of the base rulebook). After you have built a monument, you may place it directly on any region that only you control. This gives you the status of a "revered" guild.

Revered Guild Status

After your monument has been placed on the map, that region cannot be controlled by another player by any means, including the Return to the Wilds perk. This region and all adjacent regions that you control give you double honor when other players visit them, and at the end of the game.

Example

The blue player has built a monument on Fort. The blue player also controls the Ancient Tomb and an Inn.

Whenever another player visits Fort, the Ancient Tomb, or the Inn, the blue player gains 4 honor instead of 2. At the end of the game, the blue player scores 12 honor for these 3 map regions.

This does not apply to the Gaping Maw, the Holy Spire, the Library, or the Shrine, because those locations are controlled by other players. There is no effect on the Command Post, Temple Ruins, or Well of Wishes, which are outside the monument's reach.

Components

• 6 Leader Boards
• 10 Player Standees with Stands
• 15 Rapport Tokens and 1 Rapport Threshold Marker
• 3 Map Region Tiles
• 2 Alternate Dice
• 1 Gargantuan Mulberry Scumbag
• 1 Leaders & Alliances Rulebook and 1 Solo Adventures Rulebook