From: "Roger Williams" Subject: kingmaker variant Gentlemen: This is an attempt to make kingmaker a bit more interesting and historical. - 6 Player Kingmaker - The Players - The Lancastrians : Lancastrian Royal Heirs Beaufort Clifford 8 cards The Yorkists : Yorkist Royal Heirs Duke of York Bourchier 9 cards Neville : Neville (Favours York) Scrope 8 cards Mowbray : Mowbray (Favours York) Cromwell 7 cards Percy : Percy (Favours Lancaster) Greystoke 6 cards Stafford : Stafford (Favours Lancaster) Audley 8 cards Turn Sequence : The Lancastrian player and the Yorkist player each have a turn, as per regular Kingmaker rules. It is only they who may crown heirs, call parliament, and receive crown cards. Other families may only move and fight, and they do so during the turn of the House they are aligned with. Crown cards : Each house receives (2) crown cards per turn. The house who possesses the sole king receives (3) cards, unless the king is out of the country. The cards may be distributed as the player sees fit. They may be placed on his own nobles, kept aside, or given to a family. Once given, they may not be taken back. All other rules still apply. Recruitment : (this section borrows heavily from a variant by Gabriel Gonzalez) Aside from the first Noble listed received at the start of the game, all Nobles, including Nobles that start the game aligned (Audley, Greystoke, etc. after they have been killed) must be recruited, and are never placed in the crown deck. To recruit a Noble, a player must send an already aligned Noble to a space which contains the home castle of the Noble to be recruited. At the end of the movement phase, the player rolls two dice. On a 10+, the Noble joins your faction, and is placed immediately on the board, and his card in the player's hand. The roll may be modified by the political leanings of the Noble to be recruited, and by what is offered as incentive. See the table below: (all modifiers are cumulative) +1 any office other than the following: +4 Chancellor of England +2 Constable of the tower +2 Chamberlain of Chester +2 Admiral of England +2 Marshall of England +2 Title +1 Bishop +2 Archbishop +1 Any combination of three other crown cards +1 per Noble in faction intrinsic strength 50+ +2 If faction controls sole king Political Leanings Lancaster York Percy +3 Neville +5 Talbot +3 Mowbray +3 Roos +2 Fitzalan +2 Holland +4 Pole +3 Greystoke +2 Bourchier +3 Courtenay +2 Hastings +4 Clifford +4 Herbert +2 Berkeley +2 Howard +2 Stafford +2 Scrope +3 Stanley +1 Notice some Nobles shown are the heads of factions; recruitment of these Nobles is only allowed in games where they are not represented by a player. N.B. political leaning modifiers are negative for attempts by factions aligned with the opposing House. (e.g. Lancastrians recruiting Hasting are at -4) If recruited, all cards offered must be given to that Noble, and if taken away, must be compensated for by an cards with an equal amount of recruiting modifiers. If not, the opposing House may immediately attempt to recruit said Noble, and if successful, is placed, with all posessions in any stack containing a Noble of that House. The same Noble may not have an attempt made to recruit him by the same faction two turns in a row. Alignment : Each family begins the game aligned to a particular House. During the game, a family may choose to switch alliance, or become neutral. Otherwise they move during the turn of the House they are aligned with. The order of movement within a House's turn is as per regular rules. When attempting to recruit nobles, a family uses the modifiers of the House he now serves; If it is not the House he Favours, a -2 modifier is applied to all attempts. NOTE : A House may refuse to allow a family to join them, but once joined, they may not throw them out. Switching Alliance : Should a family choose to switch alliance, they may not move during the turn of the family they are betraying. They do not have to specify they are changing alliance; they simply may not move. once they do turn their coats, the House being betrayed may attempt to recruit any nobles that are part of the traitors faction. Should the attempt be successful, the nobles recruited join the House's faction, but are first returned to their home castles. Becoming neutral : A family may become neutral at the beginning of any turn of the House they currently serve. The family leader is placed in his home castle. All mercenaries in his faction are removed to the crown deck. Both Houses may attempt to recruit any nobles of the neutral faction at the time they become neutral, but only those with a positive modifier in favour of their House. A family may join a House at the beginning of that House's turn. Heads of Family : Should the Head noble of a family be killed during play, his son (or brother) will take over for him. To simulate this, roll 1d6. This is the number of turns that the family must wait before he returns to play. On a roll of (6) however, the male line is extinct, and that family is out of play. The rest of the faction remains in play while waiting for the return of the head of the family. They may not change sides while family head is not in play. When returned, he is placed in his home castle and receives (2) crown cards. Victory : The player with the most points when one of the House's is extinct, wins. The points schedule is a follows : Offices - basic strength + 1/2(extra) Titles - Face value Bishops - 50 + 1/2(extra) Archbishops - 100 + 1/2(extra) Ships - Capacity/5 (including Admiral/Warden) Towns - Garrison/10 Mercenaries - Face/2 Noble (each) - Face + 50% On the winning side : +50% On the winning side, but not favoured house : +25%