Recruiting and Placement

A four-step turn, tableau constraints and the two displays.

The Messenger

Only the three face-up cards beside the Messenger’s location are available for your normal purchase. Castle and Village decks and discards remain separate. Everyone takes turns clockwise.

Spend a Key

Before buying, you may spend one and only one Key for either:

• Move the Messenger to the other location.
• Discard the three displayed cards at its current location and reveal three replacements.

You cannot do both with the same Key or spend a second Key for another normal pre-purchase action.

Buy a character

Take one face-up card from the Messenger’s location and pay its Gold cost. Add all relevant permanent discounts already in your tableau. The cost cannot fall below zero, and excess discounts never generate Gold.

A discount on the character being bought does not reduce its own purchase price. It applies to subsequent purchases.

Recruit face down

You may instead take a character without paying and place it face down. Ignore everything printed on its front: no ability, shields, banner, Messenger movement or points. Immediately gain 6 Gold and 2 Keys.

Place immediately

Place each card as soon as you take it. After the first card, each new card must touch at least one existing card along an edge. Your final tableau must be exactly 3 by 3; never extend to a fourth row or column.

You do not choose a fixed top-left position before placing your first card. Later placements settle which rows and columns are top, middle, bottom, left and right. Keep existing cards in their relative positions.

Resolve the ability

Resolve the newly placed card’s immediate effect. It counts itself unless it is a discount. Unless the card says otherwise, rewards go to you and count only your tableau.

• “Opponents” means all other players.
• “A neighbour” means choose the player immediately on your left or right.
• The six shield types are Nobility, Military, Faith, Craftsmanship, Scholarship and Peasantry.

Move and refill

If the purchased face-up character has a Messenger icon, move the pawn to its indicated location: grey/up for Castle or brown/down for Village. With no icon, or a face-down purchase, leave it where it is.

Then refill each display to three cards from its matching deck. Place discards face up to the left of their deck; they are public. If a deck runs out, shuffle its own discard pile into a new deck.

A location runs out

If shuffling still leaves too few cards to refill a location to three, remove that location’s cards from the game and move the Messenger to the remaining display. It can no longer change locations. A Key may still refresh the remaining display.

Source: official English rules, pp.5–9.