Welcome to…
Gameplay
- King of the Castle is a game where I’m the queen, and everyone else is a noble from one of three regions, scheming to get their own guy on the throne.
- Yes, I am both the host and the Queen, who can make decisions that effect the game. Actions will be taken to mitigate my influence, however, and I’ll try to play more to the host side rather than the Queen side.
Schemes
- Schemes are everyone’s victory condition. Each region has three unique schemes that will be voted on at the start of the game. Each scheme involves one stat, and will be evaluated starting after a certain number of seasons (rounds).
- Schemes come in three stages, each involving a different stat; the first two are relatively easy, but the third is difficult.
- For example, a scheme might go “Raise Stability to at least 5 in 3 seasons”, then “Lower Own Defiance to 3 or less in 2 seasons” then “Lower Authority to 1 or less.” (This is not a real scheme)
- The last stage of a scheme always involves a change of a stat by 2, unless this is not possible or involves the Treasury.
- Schemes will always take priority over any other form of victory. If two schemes are completed at once, the victor is decided at random. (This is exceedingly rare)
Stats
- Stats are on a scale of 1-10, except Treasury and Wealth.
- The five Regional stats are:
- Trade
- Farming
- Millitary
- Faith
- Defiance
- and the three Kingdom stats are:
- Authority
- Treasury
- Stability
- Note that if any of the Kingdom stats reach 0, the game is over and a vote is held to determine the victor.
- There’s also each Noble’s individual Wealth, which may be spent occasionally.
- Stats may influence events, and they are also how Schemes progress.
Events
- Events are the bread and butter of the game, and how the nobles get to have their influence felt.
- Every season, there will be up to 3 events. In the actual game, it’s three every time, but some events have no held vote and are entirely decided by the Queen (me); I will usually randomize my choice in these events, and since no vote is held they are immediately processed.
- Events are things like “There’s a werewolf rampaging around” or “There’s a famine” or things like that. Once the event is explained, usually through dialogue between the nobles, me, and my advisors, then every noble will vote on what to do with the event, from up to 4 options.
- To vote, simply type /vote A/B/C/D in bold, and ping me.
- A non-comprehensive list of effects may be listed alongside an event; for example, it may be known that an event raises Faith, but not by how much, nor are any other outcomes listed. Most outcomes will be shown in some way, but not all.
Regions
- The three regions present in this game are the Barons of the March, the Counts of the East, and the Grandees of the South.
- The Barons are brash rural lords famous for their belligerence and fondness for hunting. Huzzah!
- The Counts are ruthless aristocrats steeped in secrecy. Allegations of forbidden rituals are unproven.
- The Grandees are impassioned duelists known for their strict adherence to honour, etiquette, and the Ninth God.
Rebellions
- Your scheme isn’t going too hot? Rebel! If 70% of all nobles in your Region agree to rebel, and that Region’s Defiance is higher than both Authority and Stability (not combined), then the region enters open rebellion!
- Special Rebellion events will occur during a Rebellion, which usually award a certain number of Victory Points to either the Rebels or the Loyalists, depending on what happens.
- If the Rebels get 5 Victory Points, the rebelling faction wins!
- If the Loyalists get 5 Victory Points, the rebellion is crushed and the game continues as normal.
- There’s a catch, though! While rebelling, your Scheme is paused! So, be sure to rebel only if your Scheme isn’t going to work out!
- If there’s 2 regions rebelling, and the Rebels win, a vote is held between the rebels to decide who wins the game. If all 3 regions rebel, the game is over and a vote is held between the first two regions to rebel to decide who wins.
The Nitty Gritty
Everything in this spoiler is mostly unimportant to playing the game. But it’s still good to know!
The Nitty Gritty
Claimants
- Every region has their leader—the guy they want on the throne. This is called the Claimant. A noble from each region will be randomly selected to be the Claimant; you may opt out if you want.
- If your region wins the game, the Claimant may be the Monarch in the next game! Of course, you may defer to a teammate if you can’t / don’t want to be the Monarch, and if no one wants to, I’ll just do it myself.
Laws
- Laws are how I influence the vote. There are three laws at game start: Veto, which prevents anyone from voting on a certain option, Monarch’s Vote, which is a single vote cast by me, and a third randomized law from a selection of options.
- Every Winter (4th season), the randomized law will be changed, subject to my approval.
Auctions
- The main use for Wealth is in auctions, where there are buildings, vying for funding. Each building makes a stat go up or down by 1, but only the 2 most funded buildings take effect. This will be explained more when it happens.
Queen’s Ambition.
- I have a way to win the game. Note that this is mostly as a timer on your Schemes, and is unlikely to happen, unless you guys all suck at scheming.
- There is a certain stat that I want to focus on improving, randomized at gamestart. After 11-ish seasons, an Ambition Event will appear, in which I will select a secondary stat to work on; 2 seasons after that, Ambition Events will start appearing more frequently, and I’ll start rolling dice based on those two stats to see if I win the game.
- Once again, this is mostly a timer on your schemes. In fact, I have delayed the Ambition event start date by 2 seasons from what it is in the actual game, making it even more of a timer.
- Also at some point I get married and have an Heir.
Taxes
- I might tax your region at certain points. Taxes come in three levels, and are individual to that region:
- Cruel Tax: +1 Defiance, +400 Treasury, -400 Wealth to all of its nobles
- Common Tax: +100 Treasury, -100 Wealth to all of its nobles
- Bribe: -1 Defiance, -700 Treasury, +700 Wealth to all of its nobles (edited)
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