Rules
Basics
The City
Card Breakdown
Starting the Game
The Turn
Common Effects
Example Game
Empire is a game of strategy, class conflict, combat, and logistics. You win by taking over the city, but there are many ways to do that. You can gather voting citizens and make your case in the Senate, take to the streets and win through control, or even just kill everyone in charge and control through fear. You will assemble a deck of characters from all stratas of city life, from the nobility, to the criminals, to the working men and women just trying to get by. Also magical animals and terrifying monstrosities. Can these disparate elements work together to secure victory for your side, or will your enemies scheme their way to the top? The only way to find out is to play.
Empire is a game for 2 to 4 players. Each of you assembles a deck of cards, and takes one corner of the Imperial Capital as your home base. As turns pass, you recruit members to your cause, collect gold, summon monsters, take over the streets, and work with or against the Law. Its up to you whether you want to work towards a diplomatic victory, engage with the criminal element, seek to rally the exploited foreign workers, or just overrun the enemy with a torrent of octopi. Each play style has its own challenges and satisfactions. But, no matter what you choose, everything takes place in The City, which is something of a character in its own right.
The City is broken down into 13 spaces, connected together to form the map that Empire is played upon. Each space has a special purpose, and we'll walk through each of them here.
1. The Wards
There are 4 Wards, one in each corner of the city. Each one is named after one of the four beasts which were said to have helped found the Empire. These wards are the starting spots for players. When the game starts you will select one ward to be your own, and you will recruit and strategize from that location. In addition, the ward's inhabitants protect their own, so your ward is where you can heal your forces, and defend yourself, as attacking into an enemy ward is a dangerous proposition indeed.
Rules: When you recruit a card, it is placed into your ward. When you sacrifice cards to recruit monsters, the sacfriced cards must be in your ward. A wounded unit that starts the turn in its ward is fully healed. Instead of recruiting a new unit in a turn, a player may attack any enemies present in their ward. This attack deals 5 damage, but if their are multiple foes, you can break that into as many attacks as you want, as long as the total damage is 5.
Ward Names: The four Wards, starting in the top right quadrant and going around clockwise are named: Chimera, Ouroboros, Pheonix, and Hydra.
2. The Streets
There are 5 streets, connecting the wards and the special areas of the city together. The streets can be a dangerous place, as the Law is rarely present and so criminals can roam freely. But, the streets are also what connects the city together, and if one can control them, then so too can they control The City. The Street in the center of the city is particularly notable for its narrow walkways and confusing geography. Few can navigate it quickly or safely, and it has come to be known as the Winding Alleys.
Rules: If a player starts there turn controlling 4 out of the 5 streets, then they win the game. If they control 5 out of 5 streets at any time, then they win the game. In a four player game, these numbers change to 3 and 4 respectively.
Winding Alley: While entering the Winding Alley is a normal movement, leaving can be more difficult, as its maze like nature obscures your destination. Any time a unit tries to move out of the Winding Alley, there is a 50% chance that they do not succeed.
3. The Senate
The Senate is the political center of the The City. It is where the elite and common go to talk things over and decide on the matters of the day. Everyone is equal here, as long as they are a citizen, though occasionally one might find a few people slightly more equal than others. For those seeking a political victory, this is the most important space on the board. Generally a safe place for those who follow the law of the land, for powerful Centurions defend this place from the Criminal element.
Rules: If a player has 3 more votes in the Senate than any other player, and there are sufficient voters present to make a quorum(usually 5), then that player wins the game. The Senate starts the game with two Centurions that defend it vigilantly, as well as one other random Law card.
4. The Barracks
The Barracks are where the Law is based. It is a well defended place, and a safe haven for law abiding citizens. It is also where one might go if they were interested in influencing the movements of the Law, for one reason or another.
Rules: Any player that has a unit present at the Barracks may move or reassign one Law unit at the beginning of their turn. A wounded unit that starts its turn in the Barracks is fully healed. One can Equip Items to units that are currently in the Barracks. The Barracks starts the game with a Constable defending it, as well as one other random Law card.
5. The Menagerie
The Menagerie is a place of powerful magic and hidden secrets. It is where the would be beast-masters travel, and a destination for all those that seek to harness the power of the inhuman monsters locked away in its depths.
Rules: The player who Controls the Menagerie can recruit Monsters. One random Law card is assigned to defend the Menagerie at the start of the game.
6. The Market
The Market is where the trading and crafting that keeps The City running is done. It is a place where you had best watch your bag, but also one where you might find just about anything, from scented soaps and ornate utensils to well forged armor and crafty blades. The Market is the hub where all walks of life might find themselves bumping shoulders, from the most ancient family, to the newest immigrant, and perhaps even the crafty rogue.
Rules: At the start of their turn, a player earns one gold for each unit present in the Market. One random Law card is assigned to watch over the Market at the start of the game.
7. The Sky
The Sky above the City is beautiful and clear. Accessible only to a few flying monsters, the Sky is connected to every space in the city.
Rules: A unit may not enter this space unless they have flight. If a unit is in this space and they do not have flight, move them to the Twisting Alley, and deal 5 damage to them. Every space is considered adjacent to this one.
Components of All Cards
Lets start by talking about things that all cards have in common.
First off, every card has a Name. Its what you can call the card, and it also how we determine deck limits. Unless otherwise stated, you may only have 4 of any card with the same Name.
Next, every card has a Type. This can be pretty much anything, and is mostly a descriptor used to group similar cards. It only affects the game when a specific card effect reffers to a card Type. An example would be the Snake Charmer card, which specifically lets you summon cards of the Snake Type. Outside of these circumstances though, its mostly just used for flavor.
By contrast, the Class of a card is very important to how it is played. Item and Law class cards play entirely differently than other cards, having their own sections, while the four normal classes, Citizen, Criminal, Foreigner, and Monster also all play pretty differently. We'll get into the specific differences in the recruitable cards section. It is possible for a card to have multiple classes, though this is rare.
Next is ID. This is composed of a letter and a number, like C001 or C112. The letter tells you which set of cards this card came from, and the number is just what order the cards were put in that set. As an example, House Soldier's ID is C001 because it was the first card created in the original Core set.
Lastly, every card has an Effect. Well, some don't, but they'll still have a place for it, just with a dash where the Effect would go. Effects can do pretty much anything. There are some Effects that are common among a lot of cards that we will cover later on, but most cards will have a unique Effect to that card. An example of an Effect would be the Young Nobles Effect, "Recruit(+1 Gold)", which causes the person who recruits this card to gain 1 gold when they do so. House Soldier meanwhile has no Effect, so you will just see "-" for its Effect.
Recruitable Cards
OK, so now lets talk about the Citizens, Criminals, Foreigners, and Monsters I refered to earlier. While all of these cards play with similar rules, their are specific things that differ about them. We'll start with the similarities, then move on to the differences.
One thing all of these cards share is a Cost. Every recruitable card has a cost in Gold, Sacrifices, or Both. Sometimes that Cost is zero, but its still considered a Cost. The other cost that all recruitable cards have is that you can only recruit once per turn. So if you recruit one card, you can't recruit another until your next turn, even if you have enough Gold to do so. When you recruit a card, it is placed into your Ward. You must pay its Gold Cost, and if it has a Sacrifice Cost, you must also Sacrifice that many units from your Ward. Sacrificing a card simply means taking it off the field and sending it to the graveyard. Some cards will refer to Summoning, which is like recruiting, except it is does not count towards your one recruitment per turn, and the cards are often played into a different space besides your Ward. If you don't have the resources to recruit any cards in your hand, then you don't get to do so.
The other three stats that each recruitable card shares are Attack, Armor, and Health. Attack and Armor can be any natural number, while Health must be at least 1. Attack determines how much damage a card deals. Armor is subtracted from Attacks made against you, and Health is what is reduced by these Attacks. If a card is reduced to 0 health it becomes Wounded, which we will get into later, and if it is reduced below 0 it dies, being sent from the field to the graveyard.
These are the basic statistics of every card, though there are a couple more things that are implicit stats that every card has unless stated otherwise in its effect. These are include movement, which is one space for most cards, and control, which is also one for most cards. Now lets get into the differences between the different factions
We'll start with the Citizen. This card is voting member of the public. There are two important components of being a Citizen. One is the ability to vote. Each Citizen card has one vote, which allows one to win the game in the senate if one assembles a sufficient number of Citizens there. On the other hand, each Citizen has a duty to the Law, and represents their Ward and its honor. If a Citizen is seen to be breaking the Law, all Citizens of that Citizen's Ward will be treated as Outlaws for two Rounds. The last feature, one they share with the Foreigner, is that they are protected by the Law. Killing or assaulting a Citizen in anything but self defense, is a Crime.
Next up, we have the polar opposite of the Citizen, the Criminal. Criminals are foes of the Law. They can't vote, and they are Outlaws, which means that they will be attacked on sight by the Law, and killing one is not a Crime. However, their actions are not affiliated with their Ward, and not penalty will fall upon others for the actions of a Criminal. Additionally, because of their close connection to the Streets, Criminals can detect units which are Stealthy.
Next we have the Foreigner. These characters are protected by the Law, but still can't vote. They are not Outlaws, and killing one is considered a Crime, but they are not as closely affiliated with their Ward, so if one does commit a Crime, while they themselves will be punished, that action will not affect the other members of their ward. Its worth noting that all three of these Classes are considered Human, which is something like an extremely common Type, something that only matters when referenced in the effect of a card.
The last of our recruitable Classes is the Monster. Monsters are not Human and are more difficult to recruit than the other Classes, as one must first control the Menagerie before Monsters can be recruited. Monsters are outside the law. They are not attacked on sight, like the criminal, but killing one is not considered a crime, and they will still be attacked if they themselves commit a crime. Additionally, a Monster may not Control a space, command the Law, or Earn Gold in the Market. In exchange for these many drawbacks however, the average Monster is more powerful than a Human of the same cost, and they come with a variety of powerful magical effects. A powerful Monster can turn entire games on their head.
Item Cards
Items are used by recruitable cards in order to increase their strength. Like recruitable units, Items have a cost, but unlike units, you have no limit on how many Items you can play in one turn. As long as you can pay the cost, you can equip the Item. The additional stat that items have, unlike all others, is called Equip. Its simply a description of what kind of card you can attach the Item too. For the most part this will be Human, but their are Items that only work for certain classes, some that work for Monsters, and even Items that attach to other Items. To play an Item, you simply pay its cost, then Equip it to one unit either in your Ward, or at the Barracks. If the unit it is attached too dies, or is Wounded, the Item is sent to the graveyard. Items do not have Attack, Armor, or Health. There is no limit to how many Items may be equipped to one unit. An example of an Item Card is Paperwork, an Item equippable to any Foreigner for the Cost of 1 Gold, which allows that specific Foreigner to Vote at the Senate.
Law Cards
Law cards are similar to recruitable cards in many ways, but have one key difference. They are not played by either player. Instead the Law cards act as a neutral third party, enforcing the Law, and keeping peace in certain parts of The City. The only difference in terms of stats between a recruitable card and a Law card is that Law cards have the Class Law, and they do not have a Cost, because they can not be recruited. Instead the Law cards are drawn from a special Law deck, and act according to a specific set of rules. The movements of the Law cards can be influenced by having a unit at the Barracks, but their actions are always the same; Kill Criminals, Kill people that commit Crimes. The Law starts out very powerful relative to the players at the beggining of the game, but becomes less important over the course of the game as the players recruit units powerful enough to battle and defeat the Law. The specific actions and placement of the Law cards will be covered in the next 2 sections. Attacking a Law unit is always a Crime. An important note is that if every Law Card is killed, the game ends, and the player who killed the most Law cards is the winner. An example of a Law card is the Lazy Gaurd, a reletively weak card, with Attack 2, Armor 1, and Health 1, who's effect is "Only attacks if Crime is committed." So a space protected by this Law card is much more favorable to Criminals than usual, as Criminals may enter with no problem, so long as they commit no Crimes.
Components
To play a game of Empire, you need 2-4 players, each with a Deck of at least 40 cards and a Law board of exactly 10 cards. You need the 10 Base Law Cards, and you need some way of representing the City. The decks must contain an allowed amount of each card.
Creating the Law Deck
At the start of the game, the Law Deck is assembled. First, take 2 Centurions from the Base Law Cards, and put them on the Senate. Then take one Constable from the Base Law Cards and put it on the Barracks. Next, from the 7 remaining Base Law cards, randomly select 4 and put them face down as the start of the Law Deck. Then, each Player selects one card from their Law Deck, puts it face Down, then reveals it to the group before adding it to the Law deck. This step is repeated twice more, so that the Law Deck consists of 4 Base Law Cards, and 3 Law Cards selected from each player's Law Board. Once this is finished, the Law Deck is shuffled, and one Law card is placed on the Senate, the Market, the Barracks and the Menagerie. The remaining parts of the Law Deck are placed on the Barracks, face down. The Base Law Deck consists of 4 Centurions, 2 Constables, 2 Lazy Guards and 2 Racist Guards. Because the total number of each card in the Law Deck can not be greater than 4, no player may add Centurions, and only 2 Constables, Lazy Guards, or Racist Guards can be added to the deck by the players.
Location Selection
After the initial Law cards have been placed, its time to determine who is going to be placed at each Ward. In order to determine this, each player creats a list of the four locations in order of preference. If there is a tie for priority, that location is skipped and the next is selected. If all players have the exact same priority, then locations are selected randomly, from among the least desired locations. As an example, if player 1 had priority (O,G,P,H), player 2 had (O,H,G,P) and player 3 had (H,G,P,O), then we'd look at the first priority. Player 3 would get H because it was the only one that wanted it. Then player 1 and 2 would skip O because it was a tie. We look at the next one, and player 1 would get G. Player 2 would have to go all the way to P however because both H and G are taken by the time it gets to their chance. If these same players had instead all chosen the same thing, like (O,G,P,H), then they would all be randomly assigned one of G,P, or H.
Turn Order
You can have whatever turn order you want to choose, but if no one can agree on anything, then roll dice for first turn, then proceed clockwise around the City. If playing a match, it is considered good form for the winner of the last game to go last in the next game.
Draw
Once turn order is decided, everyone should sit down in their appropriate spots, then draw a hand of 4 cards. The first player can then begin their first turn.
Start Step
During the start step, the order of actions taken is up to the current player. All actions must be taken, but they can happen in whatever order the player chooses. The first action that always occurs is the player drawing a card. If a player is unable to draw a card because their deck is empty, then they lose the game. The second action that occurs during the Start Step is Earning. A player Earns 1 Gold for each human unit they control in the Market, plus any additional Earn effects. The third action is Law movement. If the player has a human unit in the Barracks, they may move one Law unit to an adjacent space, or return one Law unit to the deck, and replace it with the top card of the Law Deck. While Law units attack Criminals that move into a space that they are present in, they never attack when they move into a space. They always react. If this player had killed any Law units in the last turn, it also replaces the killed Law units with new ones from the top of the Law Deck. Another action that might happen, is the healing of any Wounded units that might be at the Barracks or in your Ward, and the healing of any damage on all of your units. Finally, anything written on a card that talks about the Start Step, or the start of the turn will happen during this step. One might also win the game during this step if they have 4 Streets controlled during this step.
Recruitment Step
During this step, the player may recruit one unit, and equip as many cards as they want to. They have to pay the requisite Costs before taking these actions. A recruited unit may not make a Move on the turn it is Recruited. Neither may a Summoned unit, on the turn it is Summoned. Alternately, instead of recruiting any units, the player may launch an attack on any units in their ward, splitting 5 points between however many attacks they choose. Alternately, a player may elect to skip this step and discard one card from their hand in order to gain 1 gold. This is called a Liquefy Action.
Action Step
This is the most complicated step, and the one where most of the action happens. It consists of a series of Moves, each of which has its own phases. By default a player gets 1 Move per turn, but the leadership ability lets you take additional Moves in the same turn. A Move consists of movement, law, attacks, 2nd law, effect, and final law phases.
Movement Phase In this phase, you choose which unit you want to move, and where you want to move them. Again, a Unit that was Recruited, or Summoned this turn may not make a Move. If you want to move multiple units into the same space, it counts as one Move per unit, but all phases are done together. Any units that want to Move, but not actually move to a different space, may do so, they just skip the first two phases. It still costs a Move though. You may only move into a given space once per turn, so if you are planning to move multiple units into one space, you need to do those Moves at the same time. Once you have selected the unit(s) you are going to move, and where you are going to move them, do so.
Law Phase If the Law is present in a space, and any of the units moving there are Outlaws, then the Law units attack the Outlaws. If more than one Outlaw is moving into a space, the player to your left gets to choose the laws targets. This works exactly like an attack, which will be described in the next phase.
Attack Phase Each unit that is part of the Move may select an enemy or Law unit to attack. You may choose not to attack with any or all of your units. All attacks are simultaneous. Each defender gets to counterattack at the same time and may choose among its attackers who to damage. Once each unit has selected its damage target, subtract the defender's Armor from the attacker's Attack and reduce the Health of the defender by that amount. Any unit reduced to exactly 0 health is Wounded, while any reduced to a negative number are sent to the graveyard. If any Moved units chose not to attack, they may, at this point, finish off any Wounded foe.
Second Law Phase If any of the attacks in the previous phase were Crimes, then the Law attacks those who commited them. Again, the player to your left gets to make decisions for the Law as far as targeting if there is more than one choice.
Effect Phase Any activated effects can now be done, in whatever order you choose.
Final Law Phase Lastly, if any of the actions in the previous step were Crimes, the Law attacks, just as in the previous Law phases. Worth noting is that each Law unit may only attack once per turn, so if a Law attacked in the first Law phase, it is not able to do so in the second, and so on for the third. The Law always uses the minimum amount of force required to kill or Wound Outlaws however, so if multiple Law are present in a space, some of them may still be available to attack in the latter phases, even if one did so in the first phase.
After this is finished, that Move is over, and if you have additional Moves, you may use them to move into a different space. Again, you cannot move into the same space more than once in a turn, so all Moves with the same target space must be done together.
End Step
This is where effects that say, "at the end of the turn" happen. Its also the phase where one can win through voting. The votes are tallied up during this step, and if their is a quorum and one player has at least 3 more votes than any other player, then that player wins the game.
Terms
Control: A space is considered Controlled by a player if they have the greatest number of units there. Monsters do not count for control by themselves, but may add to the number of units if a Human is present. Control is used for a couple of things. It determine who gets to Recruit Monsters from the Menagerie. It is how one wins via Street Control. And it also prevents units that can move 2 or more spaces from passing through a space. You can always move into an enemy controlled space, but you must end your movement there, and cannot simply pass through.
Wounded: When a unit is Wounded, you flip the card over so it is face down. A Wounded unit has no effects, stats, or name. They do not count for Control or even presense. During the attack phase, any unit can choose to finish it off, even if they have 0 Attack, and it will die. Killing a Wounded unit is not a Crime. A Wounded unit can Move, though it can never attack and it has no effects. If a Wounded unit is healed, either by an effect, or by being in the Barracks or their Ward at the Start Step, then it flips back over and regains all abilities and stats. When it is Healed in this way, it only recovers one health, so if it is a unit with more than one Health it will not be at full Health till the next turn.
Round vs Turn: An effect that refers to a round will last until the start of the start of that card's controller's next turn, or one full rotation around the city. As such, they will still persist during the other players' turns. Meanwhile, something that lasts for a turn will end during the End Step of the turn it occurs.
Complicated Rule Interactions
Multiple Classes One of the more complicated situations is what happens when a card has multiple Classes, changes Classes, or gains a second Class. This section will walk us through that. So first, lets look at Citizen.
Their are three major things that Citizen brings to the table. It lets you vote, it puts the honor of your Ward on your actions, and it makes it illegal to attack you. The first one will always transfer. Every Citizen can vote. Doesn't matter how you became a Citizen, you can vote. The other two depend on if you are an Outlaw or not. If you are an Outlaw, then your actions don't affect your Ward, and its not illegal to kill you, but if you are not an Outlaw, both of those things apply. So a Criminal who became a Citizen would get to Vote, but would not be affected by the other two, while a Monster who became a Citizen would gain both. A Foreigner who became a Citizen was already protected by the Law, so they would only gain the first two.
Now, if someone becomes a Criminal, then they become an Outlaw. This will negate both honor, and protection under the Law. The ability to detect Stealth will also be added.
Adding Foreigner doesn't have any effect under most circumstances, except when added to Monsters. For Monsters it will add protection under the law.
Adding Monster too a card doesn't really have any effect except making the card be considered a Monster for effects that mention that. Conversely, adding any of the above Classes to a Monster will also make the Human, which grants them the ability to Control Spaces, Equip Human only Items, and Earn Gold at the Market.
Law can never be added as a second Class, because of how Law cards interact with the game. Law cards may however have additional classes, though their effect is limited. A Law|Criminal can see Stealth. Other than that it only affects card effects, because Law cards can never be Outlaws, can never Vote, and are always protected by the Law.
In the current version of this game, Items may not have additional Classes. If this changes, so to will this rule.
Common Effects
The following is a list of keywords that are used to describe common effects, and what exactly those effects are. There are three kinds of effects here, passive, activation and active.
Passive
Passive effects are always active, and don't require any actions to activate.
Alleywalk: This card may exit the Twisting Alleys without a chance of failure.
Aura: This card grants its Aura effect to all allies in the same space.
Control: Thir card counts as additional units for the purpose of determining who Controls a space.
Fear: The cards described in this card's effect cannot initiate an attack on this card.
Fearless: Immune to the Fear effect.
Immune: The effect's listed can not affect or damage this card.
Leadership: The player who controls this card gets additional Moves during their Action Step equal to the leadership value.
Move: This card may move more than one space when it Moves. Cannot pass through a space Controlled by an enemy.
Observant: This card is immune to the Stealth effect.
Outlaw: This card will be attacked by the Law automatically, and it is not a Crime to attack this card.
Stealth: This card cannot be attacked, except by Criminals, or those with the Stealth or Observant effects while in the relevent spaces.
Venom: Armor is ignored when this card deals damage.
Votes: This card has more votes in the Senate than usual.
Unique: You may only have one copy of this card in your deck, and if this card is in play, no other player can Recruit or Summon this card.
Unlimited: You may have as many copies of this card as you would like in your deck.
Activation
These are not effects in and of themselves, but simply common ways to activate effects.
Crime: This effect may be activated during the Effect Phase of a Move, but if activated, any present Law will attack, as the action is considered a Crime.
Earns: This will be gained during the Start Step of your turn, assuming its conditions are met.
Liquefy: When this card is discarded for a Liquefy Action, gain this effect.
On-Death: When this card dies, this effect will go off. Additionally, this unit may choose to die instead of being Wounded. If they die while Wounded, this effect does not go off.
On-Kill: When this card kills another card, this effect will go off. If this card Wounds a card, they can choose to kill it instead. If they choose to Wound, this effect does not go off. If they kill a Wounded card, this effect will still go off though.
Recruit: This effect goes off when this card is Recruited, or when it is Summoned. If it is a Law card, it goes off when they enter the City from the Law Deck.
Sacrifice: Send this card to the graveyard to activate its effect. This must be done as part of a Move, unless it is a reactive effect that prevents or stops something, in which case it can be done at any time.
VersusX: This card gains its effect when it is fighting X, which can be a Class or Type.
X/Turn: This can be activated X times per turn. For most of these effects, you activate this effect as part of a Move, during the Effect Phase, but there are some that are reactive, or take place during the Start or Recruit step, in which case it does not require a Move to active.
Action
These effects are active, and require a choice on the part of the player.
Assassinate: This card may take its Attack Phase before the first Law Phase during a Move.
Defender: When another allied unit is attacked in this card's space, this card can choose to be the attack target instead of the original card.
Fire: Fire is almost like a unit. If Fire is in a space, that space is considered Controlled by the Fire, and not by any other player. If Fire gets control of enough Streets, it can win the game, meaning all players lose. Fire damage is not prevented by Armor. Any unit that starts their turn in a fire space takes 1 damage, and does not heal during the Start Phase. Fire has 1 Attack, 5 Health, and 0 Armor. At the end of each turn, Fire has a 1/6 chance to go out, a 1/6 chance to spread, and a 1/6 chance to move. If it goes out, remove it from the board. If it spreads, pick a random adjacent space, except the Sky, and add Fire to that space as well. If it moves, pick a random adjacent space, except the Sky, and move Fire to that space.
Flying: This unit has access to The Sky, a special space that is adjacent to all other spaces.
Group: When this card Moves, the Grouped units may also Move together with it, without having to spend any Moves on them. They use this units Movement and Movement abilities. All of these units must Move to the same space, though they may pick seperate attack targets once there.
Heal: This effect either restores all Health to a unit with less than their maximum, or restores a Wounded target to life, but with only one Health remaining.
Steal: This means you take the Item or Gold from the player of the card effected by this effect.
Coming soon!